magical new york

new year, new blog.

2011-01-03T23:19:00.002-05:00

one of my plans for the year is to start blogging here again. (i know, i know, i say that all the time...) but i really mean it. i used to love thinking about what to say here, and i want to get back to that.

we came home from a 10 day vacation last night (just to the midwest for the holidays, don't get too excited.) s watched the city lights from the window, trying to point out the landmarks as they shined, while i finished my book, clinging to my last moments of pretend-life. i was thrilled to come back to our apartment, glad to come back to work, but perhaps a tiny bit tired of coming home to new york. (don't get mad, but i might have a crush on chicago right now...)

this morning as i was walking to the train i heard adults cursing at each other on a construction site and i thought "yup! back in new york city!" and it made me laugh. this city is nothing if not a parody of itself sometimes.

every person in new york.

2010-11-18T20:53:00.003-05:00

i am totally in love with this picture, and this project. artist jason polan is attempting to draw every person in new york. some of the drawings are highly detailed pieces and some are just quick, artful sketches. (check out his picture of marathoners on the site--so fun!) i am also in love with the idea of being drawn for the project, but i'm still trying to think of a location in which to be spotted... perhaps i'll invite him to the museum?

don't read this unless you want to be embarrassed for me

2010-09-29T22:57:00.001-04:00

tonight i was invited to a sort-of work event as part of "a night of glamour" in celebration of giorgio gucci's new cognac (umm, ok.) but. BUT. we think it was a manufactured event for the real housewives, because i saw the following:

* jaclyn take a photo of her husband (chris?) and ashley at a table next to me
* kelly and sonja taking press photos (i had to scoot past kelly at some point so if my butt makes it in i'll be excited)--p.s. kelly is miles tall and very pretty
* alex and ramona talking in front of the cameras, cheating out and everything for their "real conversation" (plus i made eye contact with ramona, so, whee!)
* someone check in under the name danielle staub (not actually her; like i'd miss my chance to pull out her extensions)
* simon telling people that he was a housewife (they kind of didn't get the joke, but asked for a photo anyways)

but BEST: i had a conversation with dina manzo! we were in line for drinks when she walked up, and i told her that she had been my favorite (true) and she thanked me and then i said that i was sad she had left the show, and she told me she was sad that i was sad. then i asked if it was hard to watch it now, and she said she tries not to watch, and i said that made sense and i wished her luck. (um, crazy pants, right? also, lady is pretty and petite!)

also, this is by far the most embarrassing post i've ever written but i also got to taste too much of that celebrated cognac so let's blame it on that, shall we?

my best celeb sighting yet!

2010-09-12T01:18:00.002-04:00

the scene: i am walking quickly down the street, and end up behind two slower-moving young men. they stop and i move to go around them as they turn to go into a store and we nearly run into each other.

me: oh sorry, excuse me.
michael cera: oh, excuse me.
me (taken aback): oh, um, sorry.
jason schwarzman: oh, sorry.
me: oh, sorry, um, excuse me.

so basically, i had an awkward conversation with two of the more-famous awkward-character actors of our time. and yes, we all looked each other in the face and made eye contact. (my mom asked.) awesome. also, they both looked like the characters they usually play. cera was in a plaid button down tucked into slim jeans, and schwarzman was wearing a suit. and he had a mustache.

now that both s and i have had random interactions with michael cera, my sister thinks we should invite him to the wedding. he's on the list after the obamas.

slinking back in, tail between my legs.

2010-08-28T18:34:00.009-04:00

so this little blog baby has been neglected for some time, no? apologies all around, but i've been cuh-razy busy this summer, including:

- a get-away to montauk, where we got ENGAGED (!)
(thumbs up for weddings!)

- visits nearly every weekend from family and friends
(eating our way around the city with guests--this was at co)

- major work events (including a promotion and the departure of two of my coworkers)
(the goodbyes are killing me!)

- some wedding planning
(didn't pick this one. duh.)

- trips out of town (upstate new york, d.c.)
(miss you, spitfire lake.)

consider this my (maybe) comeback.

this is an old memory.

2010-04-13T21:51:00.001-04:00

my friend erin just blogged (on her sweet mommy blog swonderland) about catching someone propose in a driveway as she went past, and it made me think of one of my favorite new york memories.

christmas of my freshman year of college (when i was at nyu and didn’t know what to do with myself), my friend chelsey wanted to go see the tree at rockefeller center. we took the train uptown and looked at the window displays, and gazed at the tree and went to watch the ice skaters. while we were standing there, a couple came up to us. “can you take our picture?” the man asked, and we agreed, and the woman went to stand against the railing as he showed us how to use the film camera. before joining her, he leaned in and whispered “and can you take a lot? i’m going to propose.” we squealed as quietly as possible, and instructed them to say cheese. “take another!” the woman shouted. “just in case!” and i happily snapped away as the man pulled out a blue tiffany’s box and got down on a knee.

i still think of them sometimes. i was so thrilled to take those photos that i hope they showed off and maybe occasionally still look at. it felt so magical, being asked to help someone propose to the person they love, in rockefeller center with the skaters and the windows and the tree. there is something so sweet about love in the city.

so this is embarrassing.

2010-03-21T17:58:00.003-04:00

this evening i saw simon, the husband of alex mccord (a real housewife of new york city) in the neighborhood. i guess i vaguely knew that they lived in or around the heights but i never really thought about seeing them. though i've seen maybe two episodes of the show, i totally recognized him, which i'm kind of ashamed to admit (and i refuse to call this a celebrity sighting.) but the new york times loves the housewives franchise (especially the new jersey-ites), so i guess i'm in good high-low company.

a night with the "hi-def yo-yo ma"

2010-03-18T14:07:00.004-04:00

note: this was originally published on my museum's blog. i have pulled portions and added a few details.

hold on,
one strong,
and you’ll never be alone,
each day, each night,
we pray our dreams take flight,
cuz i need you, and you need me,
and together we stand for unity.

so goes the hook of “the forum”, a song off of dana leong’s latest album, milk & jade. the artist and his multi-talented collaborators celebrated the CD release at symphony space on friday, march 5 with an audience filled with fans and friends. it was a night that rejoiced in unlikely unions, the chance for long-time listeners and first-time initiates to enjoy leong and his unique blend of hip-hop, jazz, electronic and classical music. dana leong in concert is unlike any other musician i have seen—he is incredibly inventive, weaving his personal history (classically-trained cellist and trombonist, of chinese and japanese descent) with his artistic influences (jazz and pop greats, local NYC MCs, film and fashion), to create a new kind of performance. with a foot propped on his electric cello, he bobbed and moved, occasionally grabbing the mic to emphasize a lyric or reaching to hit his laptop to introduce a new electronic element to the sonic landscape. his biography includes a mention about his work with artists including dafnis prieto, ryuichi sakamoto, DJ spooky, wynton marsalis, yoko ono and kanye west, and i think this best describes him: if all those amazing and disparate artists got together and had a baby (just go with me on this one), it would be dana leong. he is more than one influence, he is more than one style, he is even more than one instrument (and somehow manages to play many at once.) he unites cultures and musical styles in a new way, and makes it wholly his own.

his guests that evening were equally talented. hagar ben ari (who performed live but is not on the album) rocked out on the bass for much of the evening, and added a wistful solo to the opening of “opus one ‘why i cry’”, a hauntingly beautiful song about the tragedies of human life. it is rare that electric bass is played as a melodic (rather than strictly rhythmic) instrument in concert, and it made me wish for more of that. as a former cellist, i recognized some of her technique and was jealous of her skils. core rhythm, the anchoring MC of the evening, is leong’s most frequent collaborator on milk & jade projects, and their chemistry is apparent. it is a pleasure to watch fellow musicians enjoy each other’s work and processes (core rhythm spent much of the night nodding his head and pounding his heart when not rapping), and these two clearly work well together. core rhythm’s lyrics are clever and deep at the same time, and while it can be tough to decipher those lyrics in a live show, the audience got a copy of the words in their programs, which helped quite a bit. the guest rappers were a somewhat weaker bunch in person, though it gets better on CD. as a total "america's best dance crew" nerd, i also thoroughly enjoyed the popping and locking of dancer tommy “hypno” chan, who did a fantastic and fun robot to a song that combined human and technological sounds for a truly modern performance. dana closed the show with a cover of "a change is gonna come" by sam cooke, with his trombone singing the melody. it is a testament to his training and his artistry that i had tears in my eyes; his trombone sounded like a human lament, and it made for a powerful end to the show.

i was lucky to get enough tickets for myself, s, a friend and my mother, who was in town for the weekend. we all loved the show, despite being of different ages (and musical persuasions.) i look forward to hearing him again. symphony space, by the way, is awesome. it looks like it may have been recently renovated, but it is a beautiful space, and a great, intimate place to hear a concert. too bad it's so far up on the west side.

happy new year!

2010-02-16T00:12:00.004-05:00

february 14th marked the first day of the lunar new year, a holiday i have been celebrating over the entire month (and will continue to celebrate) with the museum. events and programs at work and in other venues have abounded, and i was lucky to attend the met's recent event in honor of the new year, which included delicious food, strong drinks, and (best of all) a private viewing of mastering the art of chinese painting: xie zhiliu (1910-1997).

the show is truly epic--it spans decades of the artists life and work, including early studies as well as their final finished products. the studies are always my favorite. as a student of art history, i am interested in the pieces themselves, but i am also completely fascinated by the process. what inspired them? how did they learn their skills and artistry? how was that applied to this piece? there was a study of birds' feet that particularly captivated me, as xie zhiliu had spent hours and hours observing and illustrating the incredible detail of the scaly skin and long talons of the toes. to then see those same feet in a painting gives me such joy--it's like i know a secret about the artist and his work.

my other favorite part of the exhibit were the seals. chinese artists sign their pieces using seals (called chops) that are at once both their name and a representation of the self--xie zhiliu used different chops over the course of his life. many of them were truly lovely, and often very clever in translation. again, it's the element of getting a look behind the curtain, a look at the artist as a person and not just a master, that i really enjoyed.

there is a lot to see (and it is somewhat tucked away upstairs) but it is well-worth a trip to see his studies and seals. i was so grateful to be included in the event, and get a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the met and a master at work.

*if you are interested in lunar new year events, check out explore chinatown's calendar of events. the main parade is next weekend, so there's still time to celebrate!

gawker stalker

2010-02-09T23:13:00.003-05:00

yesterday, at my fancy business lunch in rockefeller center at ruhlmann brasserie (i know, i know, i'm totally awesome), my boss came back to the table from the restroom and was like "oh my gosh! celebrity sighting! eliot spitzer is right by the bathroom!" (of course, we made a few jokes about his proximity to the ladies' room...) later, i had to use said facilities, and as i passed his table, he looked up and kinda checked me out. we even made eye contact. i'm not necessarily proud of that, but i do think it's really funny.

also of note: this was by far the schmanciest lunch i've ever had--everyone was in suits eating steaks drinking wine and making deals. it was not my usual scene, but it was kind of fun to try it on for size.

the view from the top

2010-02-07T21:31:00.004-05:00

s and i celebrated our five-year anniversary on thursday with dinner out at mexican radio and a surprise trip to the empire state building. the esb has been on the us map for awhile now, but tickets are a little expensive, and we'd heard horror stories about the lines, so we'd skipped it in favor of other excursions. i am so, so happy we finally went! (although i highly recommend going on a weeknight in the winter--we practically ran through the building. i cannot imagine waiting in room after room of lines.)

it was cold and windy and eerily quiet and totally beautiful. (ok, full disclosure: it was freezing cold. but getting the 86th floor almost completely to ourselves? totally worth it.) the view was incredible. i took great delight in pointing out landmarks we're used to seeing from ground level: theatres we've visited, the washington square park arch, the bridge we've walked across. it was also strangely silent--we were too high up to hear street noise, not even honking horns, which is unheard of (ha!) in new york.

i felt like i got a new perspective on new york from so high up. the city at once feels enormous and tiny. from the sidewalk, 10 blocks can feel far and neighborhoods are defined by individual blocks. from up in the air, the city is distilled into heights and lights. at one point, i turned to s and exclaimed "this is our city!"

as i explained to a friend the other day, i often have moments where i am thrilled that this is my life. i spent much of my youth wanting to live in new york. when it didn't work out the first time, i was disappointed, but i knew that i wanted to try again when i had the time and energy to make this place my own. moving here as an adult, i've been able to really create a space here (between career, friendships, apartment, and fabulous relationship) that has helped me fall in love with this city for real--not a film new york or a fiction new york but a true new york. and seeing it all from the top of the empire state building helped put it all into perspective.

present mirth hath "present laughter"

2010-01-30T17:46:00.002-05:00

one of the benefits of dating someone with other interests is getting introduced to new things (and doing some introducing.) s, as an audio engineer, is always bringing new music into my life. as a theatre nerd, i have gotten to bring to him the joys of a live play. for christmas this year, i gave him tickets to see present laughter, the noel coward revival starring victor garber.

we saw the show in previews, which i really enjoyed. they were still working out the kinks, and i liked getting an almost-backstage look at their processes. little, almost indecipherable, trip ups (on lines and telephone cords) help the magic to me--you realize that they're real, that this is happening for you right now. that human effort is such a rewarding element in a live play. (it should never look like work, per se, more like play, but i like knowing it's all unfolding in front of me.)

it's an enjoyable show--noel coward is always funny--and the cast does well, for the most part. victor garber seemed to be holding back at times. his character gary essendine is accused of over-acting so often that i would have liked to see a little more over-the-top from him, but i thought he performed well. i especially liked harriet harris as gary's long-suffering secretary monica, and enjoyed the balance between love and exasperation that lisa banes struck as his ex(ish)-wife liz.

i went crazy for the art deco decadence of the set, although s wasn't too keen on all the marbled wood and golden fixtures. the costumes were similarly lovely and sumptuous, and fit the characters well. gary's dressing gowns did an especially good job at playing their part, and a set of pajamas added a nice visual joke in the second half.

overall, it was a very enjoyable night at the theatre, and i would recommend it. i would also recommend using the roundabout theatre's preview ticket system. the tickets were extremely well-priced, and we had good seats. i look forward to the rest of the season.

you're funny.

2010-01-10T11:11:00.002-05:00

i did improv in college. (did you know this? have i mentioned this?) everyone always says to me "oh, i could never do improv! it's so scary! how do you 'be funny' on command?" to which i say: i felt the same way. until i jumped onstage and went for it, and had the time of my life.

i was fortunate enough to get involved with an incredibly talented group of improvisers, who became more than friends, became my family. it is the one thing i miss more than anything else (except for my girlfriends who live in chicago), and the one thing that i could (more easily than say, those far-flung friends) get back if i really tried. i need to stop missing, and start doing.

i took my mother and sister to the UCB theater last night for a show (death by roo roo--they're very funny, i'd seen them before so i knew what to recommend.) every time i go there, i'm reminded that i should be taking classes, should be working my way through their system, should be auditioning and eventually performing. i was good at improv in college. i don't say that to brag; i loved it, and i worked at it, and i was good at it. and i miss it.

i learned last year that no one but me can make me go after the things i want. so i'm keeping myself accountable to my new year's resolution and plan to take a class. i'll let you know how it goes.

2009

2009-12-31T20:53:00.002-05:00

it was a good year. it was an incredibly busy year. i lost 35 pounds, we moved into a new apartment and neighborhood, i got a new job, and somehow forgot to write in here. for that, i am sorry (if anyone is still out there.) no resolutions here, but do know that i hope to capture a few more of my outings in the coming year on this blog.

let 2010 begin. i'm ready for you, new decade.

some incongruity

2009-11-16T21:32:00.001-05:00

you know what's funny? a monk (a franciscan monk, in full-on vestments) with a brooklyn accent. a tough guy of the cloth.

the last picture show

2009-10-14T21:34:00.002-04:00

i will admit to loving mom and pop businesses, little home-grown stores or organizations operated out of crazy spaces, with a shoestring budget and plenty of charm. new york has plenty of those, seems to nurture their odd independent businesses, although my favorites are the movie theaters.

when we lived in park slope, we could easily stroll down to the pavillion, and often did to catch a new release on their old screens. the theaters were aging and somewhat ill-tended, but it was such a neighborly audience that i loved going to see movies in that place. there's a big fancy multiplex on court that is maybe 10 minutes away, and it was perfect for "up" and "harry potter" this summer, but my favorite movie theater in the nabe is cobble hill cinemas, just a few minutes in the other direction. they run special deals on thursday nights, though their regular tickets are still much cheaper than the fancy screens down the street, and they sell delicious popcorn, and they have painted film scenes on the walls (which is both funny and terrifying, when you come face to face with a four-foot-tall crazy-jack-nicholson-in-the-shining picture) and old movie posters, and signs on the stairs saying "only 20 more to go!" ("i counted 19" said s, last weekend when we went to see "inglourious basterds"), and comfy seats (though not such great speakers) and they play a mix of wide-release and indie films, and i just love it.

probably secretly (or not-so-secretly and maybe i'm just totally clueless) they're owned by someone more incorporated than my next door neighbors, but it still feels like a local spot, the kind that seem to be holding out better in new york than anywhere else, the kind that help to make this city so unique.

hey soph

2009-10-02T00:08:00.003-04:00

today in my new cool work nabe (described perfectly by a reviewer as "on the transitional frontier between proletarian chinatown and posh soho") as i was headed out in the late afternoon for some much-need warm caffeine, i spotted sofia coppola walking towards me. she is distinctive looking, and yet also fairly normal in appearance at the same time. (i was on the phone with s and told him about my sighting, and he said "i wouldn't have recognized her." but he doesn't love marc jacobs or "the virgin suicides" as much as some people i know, so that makes sense to me.) anyways, i was overwhelmed by a desire to say hello to her.

i'm sure we're all glad that i did not.

home sweet home

2009-09-28T22:54:00.002-04:00

we moved into a new apartment a little while ago. did i mention that we moved? i must have. it was a big process (i've written about the hunt before), and we ended up finding something nearly-perfect (it's always nearly)--nicely sized and in great shape in a cute building plus a balcony with just barely-there views of governor's island. there are so many things i love about our new apartment, but the biggest thing is that it makes me feel like i have finally arrived in the new york life i always planned to live. it's funny, isn't it, how little it takes to make us feel like we're living the life we dreamed about? for me, it is our stairs. we have these real, honest-to-goodness brownstone-brooklyn stairs leading up to our double front doors, and every time i walk up them i think "ah yes, i live in new york, in an apartment i picked out and pay for, that i furnished and keep clean and love in the morning when the sunlight comes in perfectly from across the water."

the inside makes me happy, too. from the staircase in our little brownstone, i can hear our neighbors listening to music and washing dishes and laughing at the tv. i love our communal domesticity. one of my most favorite things about new york is getting to live in an apartment building. i much prefer shared spaces, even small ones. as a child, i hated living in a house, it made me too nervous; the unexplained sounds in daylight and dark, too many doors and locks to keep track of safely, the silent little-town nights outside my window, the space between neighbors too far to walk comfortably without shoes. (i used to tell myself i would only live in a big house some day if i got really famous and could hire people to hang out in my house all the time.)

this place we live in, that we picked out--it’s what i always thought new york life would be. i admit to being inspired by a vague pastiche of old tv shows where everyone knew their comic-relief neighbors (tv new york of the 80s and even 90s, before everyone got rich enough to live in fancy lofts by themselves.) i wanted the cramped spaces and the lived in rooms, the real life that says "this city is mine, i made it so." it was never a glossy new york that i craved, but a familiar one. i’m not one for stilettos and taxis and fancy drinks (at least not very often)—i wanted (and i got) bagels and coffee from the same little place every saturday morning, a favorite bar for date night drinks, good friends who will meet me at our spot.

and an apartment, small and charming and surrounded by other people living out their new york dreams.

commuter coincidence

2009-09-16T09:42:00.004-04:00

i like to say that new york is the biggest little small town in the country. i feel like people stick to their neighborhoods and social spheres, so that even in this city of however many millions, you tend to run into the same people.

yesterday morning i saw the same girl on my morning commute in to work and on my evening commute home. (a funny coincidence because i was running a little late to work, and had left a little later in the evening.) i noticed her in the morning because i liked her dress (unusual color and draping, looked comfortable but chic), so then when i saw her on the stairs of the court street station as i was coming home, i thought "oh, there's that dress again!"

comedy/drama

2009-08-14T20:21:00.003-04:00

we've had lots of lovely visitors this summer, which always means getting to be tourists in our own city. it also usually means getting to see at least one broadway show, and this summer i was lucky enough to see three!

the s family came to stay (in our teeny-beany bk apartment) for a week-ish in july, and it was a lot of fun. they touristed by day while i worked, and then i'd take them to dinner or a show in the evenings. through tdf, i got us tickets to mary stuart, which was absolutely phenomenal. we expected it to be a bit dry (it is a history play, after all), but the story and writing were extremely engaging, and the action moved along quite well. the cast did a fantastic job, which helped as well. it is (unfortunately) rare that a show has one, let alone two, strong dramatic roles for women, and both actresses blew me away in their parts. harriet walter as elizabeth takes on an icon and humanizes her, letting her vulnerability show through her icy reserve at key moments in the play. janet mcteer is a powerhouse as mary--it was impossible to take your eyes off her onstage, and her vocal and physical life held such power and passion. it was a really powerful night at the theater, and i felt very lucky to get to see such wonderful women at work.

s' mother is a big american idol fan, so when she saw that constatine maroulis was performing in rock of ages, she decided she wanted to go for her birthday. i always love a good campy musical--and am an unabashed 80s hair metal fan--so i was happy to tag along with the family to the show. it was a surprising amount of fun. the music is loud and goofy and it was hard not to sing and dance in my seat. the cast was clearly having a great time as well--especially franz, who (among other things) just wants to make chocolate, and lonny, the over-the-top narrator. constantin has a surprisingly strong voice, which certainly helped sell the show. all in all, i had a lot of fun, and was happy to get to go.

we rounded our summer of shows out with the norman conquests at circle in the square (the show sadly has now closed.) it was my first time at an alan ayckbourn play, and i enjoyed myself immensely. i don't often laugh out loud at plays, but it was incredibly funny, and the cast (imported from london and the old vic) was really very talented. it's part of a trilogy--you can see one or all, in any order--and centers around a family house in england and the crazy family that's descended upon each other for the weekend. s and i meant to see the other plays, but we ran out of time, which is too bad. it was really a wonderful revival, and i'd love to see more.

the land of lost souls

2009-07-29T14:58:00.002-04:00

this is not post about a magical part of new york, but about an important part nonetheless. my book club has been reading "the land of the lost souls" by cadillac man, a homeless writer who's lived on the streets for years and chronicled his life and loves and those he's lost. his original article about life on the outside ran in esquire back in 2005, and much of it is expounded upon in the book. it's a difficult read. the things he describes are not pretty at best; awful and heart-breaking at worst. it's not always a nice depiction of our city, but at the same time there are a lot of bright moments of human interaction. he has a love affair with a young woman that he saves from an attack; there are friends that he can count on from all walks of life; diner owners and kindly waitresses offer extra cups of coffee or food to go.

it's a hard read but worth it. it opened my eyes to the people that i often don't see. i think that most people have a hard time interacting with the homeless in this city. it makes me sad to see people so down and my heart goes out to them, but it's difficult to know what a donation is actually going to. cadillac man is honest--most of the money that people beg for goes to alcohol or drugs; those who don't use and are homeless by choice often prefer to work (by canning or doing odd jobs) to pay for their small living expenses. and many people are dangerous, to fellow homeless and to "outsiders" as he calls those of us fortunate enough to go home at night. this is a tough city to survive in no matter what your means, but the world cadillac lives in is rougher than any i think i could imagine. it just made me feel very blessed that i came to this city with a job and a home and a support system, and that i am able to make a living and keep myself comfortable. in these economic times (how sick are we all of this phrase?) it's a good reminder: i have a roof over my head and food on my table, and i am very lucky indeed.

stand clear, if you please

2009-07-24T22:59:00.002-04:00

today i was on the 1 train, and i had a particularly genteel conductor, who said, as we waited at penn station:

"step in please, don't be tentative. step in please, we're ready to proceed."

if only every commute was so pleasant.

independence days

2009-07-12T17:37:00.003-04:00

bonjour! c'est bastille . . . day. (jour du bastille? je ne sais pas--my high school french is starting to fail me.)

today is bastille day, the celebration of french independence (post-marie antoinette, right? my high school history is starting to fail me.) there is a little french community here in cobble hill, so on bastille day a few neighborhood restaurants get together to put on festivities. i met up with aa and her boyfriend p on smith street, for sausages (p), ice cream sandwiches (aa) and iced tea (me.) in spite of the heat, it was surprisingly crowded, as people ate and drank and played petanque in the streets. it was such a fun little celebration and i enjoyed hearing random passersby speaking french. i love how new york cultural events bring out people of that nationality; as i mentioned to p, if i lived in paris and they threw a 4th of july paty, i'd totally go. there's something so universal about the need to spend special occasions with people who share your traditions.

speaking of the 4th, we had a really great experience this year. we hadn't made plans to leave town, as s's family was headed into town for vacation last sunday. this turned out in our favor, as his boss invited us to watch the fireworks--over the hudson this year--from their offices on the 11th floor of the film center, on 9th avenue. after a day of chores, visiting with family, and board games and dinner on the balcony, it ended up being the perfect way to spend the evening. low key, but a perfect vantage point and comfy chairs, and without the pressure of the crowds usually associated with big city events. as we toasted with champagne and one of the adults softly sang the star-spangled banner, i felt very patriotic indeed.

it's (finally) sunny in new york city

2009-06-27T12:36:00.004-04:00

we've been experiencing some major june gloom here in our fair city. rainy forecasts for days on end, with a peek at some sun, and then back to rain again. wash, rinse, repeat. it's hard to get motivated to leave the house when it's raining all the time. i think all of new york is feeling a bit down--people have been going about their business easily enough, but the city really comes alive in the summertime, and we've needed some sun to shake us out of some winter doldrums that were particularly bad this year.

one of the best things about summer is eating outside, so i've been especially missing sidewalk dining. last night, we ate dinner at the totally delicious pacifico, and sat outside on the patio. the weather had been threatening a storm all night, but we lucked out, and without rain, it was the perfect temperature for al fresco dining. i like pacifico for the range of non-red-meat choices beyond just rice and beans (i've had everything seafood on the menu, and think the grilled salmon is best), and s gets the same fajitas every time--the man can't get enough of their pineapple salsa! i do think the service isn't great, but the margaritas more than make up for it, so no complaints from us.

today, finally, it's gorgeous. we've got the back door thrown open, and i can see clouds hovering over governor's island. s and i are nesting, still putting everything together in the new place, but the plan today is to run our errands in the sunshine.

stone cold (silver) fox

2009-06-14T20:11:00.004-04:00

as i was walking to a performance from work the other day, doing the new yorker mental-map thing (this street, or that? if i go here i hit this, if i go this way, i get to here), when my thoughts were interrupted by the very attractive mr. anderson cooper walking towards me. he was on some sort of pda, and was shorter than i pictured (you know, all the times i pictured anderson cooper walking towards me), and was extremely hot. like, involuntarily smile to yourself hot.

mk had meant to walk with me (we were headed to a work event), but had been held up in the office. when we met back up later, i told her she was going to wish she had been with me. of course, then she could not think of who anderson cooper is (thus somewhat dampening my brag), but i plan to remedy that problem soon.

so sorry.

2009-06-04T20:59:00.002-04:00

i'm sorry, magical new york. i've totally failed you. one whole month without posts...

i have a few excuses. we've been out of town (family things), and we moved again, and have been trying to save money, and blah blah blah. the truth is, things haven't been magical enough recently to make me want to write anything down. so i have a june resolution: find one thing each week (bonus points for more!) to write about. bear with me, and we'll get through this together. if you're even still there.

on loving new york

2009-04-25T13:20:00.001-04:00

…quite simply, i was in love with new york. i do not mean “love” in any colloquial way, i mean that i was in love with the city, the way you love the first person who ever touches you and you never love anyone quite that way again. i remember walking across sixty-second street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. i was late to meet someone but i stopped at lexington avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that i had come out out of the west and reached the mirage. i could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and i could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and i knew that it would cost something sooner or later—because i did not belong there, did not come from there—but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs. i still believed in possibilities then, still had the sense, so peculiar to new york, that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month.
--joan didion

i grew up loving a new york that i had created out of movies and photographs and my grandparents’ stories about dancing at fordham parties, and when i finally moved here at 17 (a baby age!) it was too different from what i had needed it to be. so i came back older, maybe wiser, at 22 (still a baby age! such babies we were, we are), and grew to love a new new york, both better and harder than the one i had created, but so much more satisfying for it.

but my new york, the one i invented and the one i inhabit, is filled with this sense of possibility. it’s what keeps me here, on my toes, looking around the corner for the next magical opportunity.

sorry.

2009-04-15T00:14:00.002-04:00

i took a bit of a hiatus. not for any good reason. just because i've been busy with life and stuff. (you know, life and stuff.)

here are the things i should have written about:

my parents came to visit. we went to museums and the ucb theater to see some improv and theater for a new audience to see some othello. we ate delicious food at otto and mexican radio and it was great to show them around town again.

our dear friend t came to visit. he and i walked over the brooklyn bridge and ate vegan cupcakes and went out for a friend's birthday on the lower east side. we took him to the city reliquary and the ucb theater to see some better improv, and it was grand.

a high school friend of mine came to visit new york, and we saw each other for the first time in a few years. we walked her and her boyf around park slope and took them to a record release party and out in williamsburg and she feel in love with bk.

we decided to move so we've been looking at apartments again (it's the most wonderful time of the year!)

it keeps pretending to be spring

and then it decides to be winter.

i promise to have more to say in the coming weeks.

modern art like whoa

2009-03-11T21:54:00.005-04:00

my parents were in town this past weekend for work (my mom for a conference, my dad for a meeting) and to hang out with me. we had a great time (enough for multiple entries, lucky you), and spent much of the weekend in museums.

i like to say that i was raised in museums. my father worked at the virgina museum when i was born, and they used to sell a post card of our little family: mama, papa and baby me looking at artwork. my parents taught me to look at art with a critical eye, to appreciate the beauty and power of a work, to consider the context of time and tastes, to form my own opinions of what is worthwhile. going to MOMA with my father is different than going with anyone else; he has a love, a reverence for the works of modern masters that is inspiring. he will pause to consider a piece for minutes at a time, letting the colors and forms move through him, sharing his new perspectives. i don't race through the galleries, but i think i often move too fast to experience the pieces in the way that he does. it was so much fun to explore the MOMA's permanent collection with him, to take each piece at a time and truly consider it fully.

on sunday we savored the fair weather (come back, sunshine!) as we walked up to the whitney. i am embarrassed to admit that we hadn't yet been to the whitney, especially considering it is on the us map (not for lack of trying! when we went last summer it was packed, with a line down the block and then some.) somehow i missed the eggleston and calder shows, which i regret completely. but i am glad that we were able to go this weekend. the whitney is sort of a bite-size museum, enough to fill a few hours, but not so large that you miss out on anything if you've got less than a day. (or a week--i'm looking at you, met museum.) we started from the top and worked our way down, first through the permanent collection which is heavy on the edward hopper, though still enjoyable--i do love me some claes oldenburg. their two major exhibits were "synthetic", which explored both synthetic materials and subject matter, and "site", devoted to the impact of place and process on works of art. there was an excellent video installation called "electric earth" in the site-specific exhibit which tracked a protagonist in-tune with the world and its sounds as he moved (and danced) through a desolate urban landscape. the artist had arranged multiple video screens through the space, so that the viewer progressed with the character through the world, always able to hear (and often able to see) what had come before and what was yet to come. we spent the most time in that installation, overwhelmed with images and sounds.

they were finishing the new jenny holzer exhibit, and i hope to make it back to see her installation. "protect protect" runs march 12 through may 31, and is billed as her most comprehensive exhibit in 15 years. as a fan of both art and words, i am always interested in jenny holzer's works, for their cryptic, insightful quality and modern-age presentation. i think the whitney is definitely worth a visit, and i hope to get back soon.

a "marquis" name

2009-03-01T20:05:00.004-05:00

it's been too long, i know. but i'm starting march off right!

tonight mk and i were walking to the train after work talking about our day, when i had to interrupt. "mk!" i hissed. "it's geoffrey rush!"(i sincerely hope he didn't hear--i'm usually not a gawker.) and there he was, walking down broadway right next to us.

he was a bit of a power walker too, and we ended up about half a block behind him all the way to columbus circle, which was actually pretty cool--in his wake, he left people turning to their companions going "that was geoffrey rush! the actor! the oscar nominee!" it was so great to watch everyone's faces as they walked past him and turned in recognition and awed respect. not a bad way to end the day.

2009-02-19T11:40:00.001-05:00

“i left the east coast and everything it stands for. i’m living in a place where no one ever asks what college i went to, never mind my SAT scores. i didn’t consciously want to reinvent myself, but i liked the opportunity to start over, sans the burden of the preconceptions of those i went to school with. i haven’t struck it rich and famous. and now i’m wavering, the economic chaos impacting my ability to have hope. but when i’m driving in my car and the right record comes pouring out of the speakers, i feel confident, i believe i can make it.”
— bob lefsetz (via lefsetz.com/wordpress)

we talked about this issue of what i called “east coast snobbery” about colleges at my book club last night, much to the chagrin of the girls in my book club who went to a snobby east coast college. (they’re not snobs, but their school could reasonably be called that.) i do think it’s a uniquely east coast question; when we first moved to oregon, my mother remarked that unlike back east, no one ever asked what school she had gone to when they first met her. (i myself went to a state school, and i thought it was great. i learned more than i thought i needed to know and i made some lifetime friends. that’s really all that should make it a “good” school.)

i moved to the east coast to consciously reinvent myself; i grew up in a sleepy college town that no one ever left, and i didn’t want that. i came to new york, or at least to my idea of what new york is, wanting to make a new me, a stronger, smarter, more fulfilled me. and i’ll agree with lefsetz, the economic situation (especially in new york) has me wavering between hopeful and hopeless sometimes. winter in new york is all about survival, and this winter has been particularly tough. but spring is right around the corner, and there is no better time to be in new york, when the city airs itself out and gets back to the business of being fully alive. i can’t wait to throw open the windows again.

rebus

2009-02-07T13:59:00.003-05:00

s gave me an excellent present for christmas: membership to moma for the year. this past weekend we decided to take advantage of this and headed over to the museum for the afternoon.

their big show right now is "marlene dumas: measuring your own grave" (through february 16--a valentines date perhaps?) our review was mixed. her brushy, ethereal technique works well in paintings of the deceased--i pictured their souls hanging around, waiting to see what happens next. but massive canvases of little girls hanging from nooses are not really my thing; i had not seen a large-scale presentation of her work, and what can be powerful in small doses is somewhat overwhelming in total. the most interesting thing is a room of quick sketches called "models" (i believe they are studies of all of the people who stopped by the model for her over a period of a few years.) they are revealing in their simplicity, the faces distilled to piercing eyes or strong noses, everything else rendered unimportant. in an interesting twist, amongst the pictures of women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities, there is a portrait of a snake. i think that all of her work has a sense of the dark, almost brutal, parts of life, and this room is a distillation of that philosophy.

pipilotti rist has transformed the atrium into "pour your body out" (this just closed), a large-scale multimedia installation that encouraged visitors to take their shoes off and dive into her world of sounds and sights. while the explanation invited adults to make new friends, no one around me wanted to talk about rist's swim through a menstrual ocean (why not, new friends?!), and s was too shy to sit on the iris couch with me. he was concerned about the sound in the space--it was too open, too noisy to achieve the cocoon effect rist seemed to be going for, and perhaps the experience would've meant more in a more intimate space. but i love taking my shoes off in museums, so i considered it a minor success.

our favorite show, however, was "artist's choice: vik muniz, rebus" (through february 23.) to steal from the description, a rebus is a combination of unrelated visual and linguistic elements which create a larger deductive meaning, and muniz has raided the museum's collection to put together a startlingly engaging little exhibition. each piece is taken out of context (no title, no artist), so that the focus is solely on the piece and its relation to those that precede and follow it. i enjoyed the pieces in a way that i usually do not--instead of connecting to an overarching theme, each piece is examined for its own meaning and merit, and is connected to the other pieces in new ways. "do these relate because of imagery, or material, or meaning, or is simply enough that you are here to look at this piece?" the exhibition asks. we found ourselves making new connections between pieces, enjoying them on a purely experiential level. (my only complaint: the exhibit is too short. i wanted everything we saw to be this engaging.) i think it's worth it to go to see this exhibition alone.

garlic and sapphires

2009-01-28T21:33:00.002-05:00

i've been trying to eat like ruth reichl recently. my book club last read "garlic and sapphires: a critic's life in disguise" about her tenure as the chief restuarant critic for the new york times in the 1990s, and the thing that struck me most about her writing was the way she described experiencing food. each bite was a search to taste each distinct flavor, to search out the components to understand the whole. her relationship to food is complex and pleasurable, as much about the science of the cook as the artistry of the chef. so when i say i've been trying to eat like ruth reichl, i don't mean that i've been heading out to le cirque in a bright red wig, i mean i've been trying to deepen my understanding of what i choose to taste.

with that in mind, i closed my eyes with each new bite at centro vinoteca, where aa, mk and i went to celebrate restaurant week. we started with piccolini, and i appreciated the brightness of the lemon aioli on my shrimp and chickpea fritter and the richness of the truffled deviled egg. the creaminess of sunchokes contrasted nicely with the texture of the chanterelles and walnuts in aa's soup, and i am sure mk enjoyed her upscale blt bruschettas. but it was the entree that really taught me to taste like a critic. kabocha squash ravioli in brown butter with walnuts and vincotto tastes at once familiar (ah, squash ravioli, you think to yourself, i know this one) and unusual (oh perhaps i was too hasty, you realize), the vincotto and brown butter lending a thick sweetness, the walnuts adding a crunch. kabocha squash has some of the richness of butternut, but a more unusual finish. i know i looked silly, sitting there with my eyes closed, exploring each new taste, but it was worth it. (the desserts are skip-able. my chocolate cake was nothing to blog about. my dirty martini, however, was spot on.) i look forward to going back to centro vinoteca, to taste new tastes again. thank you, ruth reichl.

yes we did.

2009-01-20T21:32:00.001-05:00

did we inaugurate my president today?

why yes, yes we did. and i am proud to be an american.

doldrums

2009-01-19T00:10:00.002-05:00

not gonna lie, s and i have been doing some serious conversating about our future in new york. we're having a crisis of faith, if you will. job, apartment, family; it's hard to see where all of it fits here in this city, where we fit in this city. there are so many things i love (you get to read about all of them), and then there are some things that i do not love (and those i usually keep to myself.) anyways, my lovely friend jay, who has an excellent way with words, has put all of this into an extremely eloquent post, winter. the truth is, she's right: new york is an easy city to love, and a hard city to love, and it so rarely loves you back. but when it does, it is so worth it. keep walking, lady, i'm on my own path too.

you will know him

2009-01-15T12:30:00.002-05:00

overheard in the office.

tall, thin german man with ponytail: if you see ziggy--you will know him; fat guy, always wears a hat, even when he sleeps--if you see ziggy, tell him i said hi. we used to work together in munich.

don't you kind of wish you knew a german musician named ziggy, sleeping in a hat in munich?

when you talk music

2009-01-09T01:43:00.003-05:00

one of the nice things about working in a music-related industry is that i get to go to a lot of free concerts. (don't get excited, i'm not talking about fancy famous rock bands, i mean jazz and musical theater and classical. although if that's your thing, please get excited.) one of my very good friends works with the american classical orchestra, and she offered us tickets to "levin & mozart", an evening featuring robert levin on pianoforte. i went tonight with aa, and yes, the mozart was great, and beethoven's pastorale symphony no. 6 was really fantastic.

but the absolute best thing was levin's improvisation. he asked audience members to write out two measures during intermission, and then he picked four to play and improvise with (in the style of mozart.) he then explored this incredible piece created from almost nothing. when the improvisation exercise was first described, i pictured a kind of halting exercise, him just goofing around. you know how people talk about music as another language? i'd never really understood that until tonight. he played music with the same ease that i tell a story or make conversation, picking up on patterns and themes, exploring tangents while remaining true to the original point. it was amazing to hear someone play such beautiful, complicated music off the top of his head. (and yes, i recognize that this is what jazz is, and i understand that as a language, but classical music has such strict connotations that i had never experienced this before.)

i am thankful i was able to go.

(the title is a reference to one of my most favorite podcasts from this american life. give it a listen, it's really great.)

209 reasons

2009-01-04T21:40:00.002-05:00

in this new year, i am trying to enjoy where i am and what i am doing, instead of focusing on "the instead". a resolution, you say? sort of. rather than resolve, i decided to make a list of changes i want to accomplish in this new year, and work from there. i've already got some good plans in the works.

anyways, an important thing to me is to appreciate new york while i live here. and to appreciate brooklyn, because it is becoming my home, and i am starting to grow a lil bk pride. in my blog stumbling, i discovered a new site i like very much, even if i can't say their name aloud in polite company. (like, at work or in front of my parents.) they compiled a list of 209 reasons why brooklyn is so damn badass, and i think it is great. there are already a lot of things on there i know and appreciate, and a few things that i am like "ooh, gotta look into that!" so, read, enjoy, move to my nabe and let's get a bagel.

welcome 2009, you delightful creature. i've got big plans for you.

top ten

2008-12-30T17:01:00.002-05:00

i've been out of town for the holidays in d.c., but i head back to my beloveds (ny and the boy) tomorrow, just in time for new year's eve. in honor of the end of this year and the start of the next, i would like to present my top 10 list of things that happened this year. some are specific, and some are more general, and all are previously referenced in this here blog (which means you can go back and read more!) and everything meant something to me, whether meaningful or just fun. now we've had plenty of ado. and so . . .

10. i enjoyed all that restaurant week had to offer. i love a fancy night out to dinner and drinks, and restaurant week is a great way to experience places i might not normally be able to afford. i've marked my calendar for this year, too.

9. i heard a lot of new music. from hearing friends play downtown, to the mars volta at terminal five, to eric bibb on governor's island, to fred sherry plays zorn, we had a lot of great auditory experiences this year. i look forward to discovering more new music in 2009.

8. i watched men battle to eat the most hot dogs at coney island. i know it may sound strange that this was one of my favorite things, but the contest was hilarious, coney island was as weird and wonderful as i had expected, and the day was all-around perfect. i will always remember my view from the top of the wonder wheel.

7. there were some great celebrity sightings this year, including christian bale, tony danza and the johns (hodgeman and oliver) of comedy central fame. i promise i'm not a rubbernecker, but come one--there's something kind of cool about seeing someone famous right next to you.

6. i went to a number of museums, and saw courbet at the met, miro at moma, and the next generation at the whitney biennial. there's a lot of art in this city, and i aim to see more in 2009.

5. s and i enjoyed "spring awakening" and my mom and i were enthralled with "gypsy", among other shows. i saw some fabulous theater, and even got an autograph from miss patti lupone.

4. we got to see a game in the soon-to-be-old yankee stadium. all team loyalties aside, there was something special about going to a game in the same stadium my grandfather had visited. as new york grows and changes, the opportunity for that gets smaller and smaller (my g'pa lived here in the 20s through the 50s--this is a different city.) plus i am a huge nerd for baseball, so it was a great time for me. we'll see if i can convince s to go again this spring.

3. i've had some "only in new york" experiences, including seeing paul simon perform at "revenge of the book eaters" and crashing a vampire weekend after-party with some delightful new friends. for me, this is why i moved here, why i stay here--i don't always love the challenges, but i do enjoy the rewards.

2. i made a lot of new friends, like mk, aa, my neighbor, ls, and others, and got to reconnect with other people, including jay and zp. for me, it is the people that make the place, and i am thankful to have such wonderful people in my life here in the city.

1. we moved into our own apartment. we'd been in progressive co-habitation since college, and of course we lived with the boys in boyland when i first arrived, but this was the biggest step we've taken towards saying "you are the one i will be with for good." and it feels good; it feels great. even when things are not so perfect, there is no one in the world i would rather buy towels with, wake up to in the morning, cook dinner for on the weekends, share a tiny apartment with. in a year that often felt like growing pains, this was the easiest, best and most rewarding step towards adulthood.

thanks for following me down memory lane. what did you love about 2008? (oh, and if one thing you loved about 2008 was this business, magical new york, fear not: my new year's resolution is to blog more. yay!)

snow day

2008-12-20T00:05:00.002-05:00

i inadvertently taunted mother nature the other day--it had snowed for maybe five minutes before giving up. "what a tease!" i thought. "i know what you're capable of, new york. i remember the blizzard on valentine's day in 2003." i woke up to a soft white world this morning, with a few inches on the ground and more coming down. it was beautiful, albeit a little cold. i had planned to meet up with s for christmas shopping and a movie in the city before heading to dinner with some friends, and so i hopped on the train. despite bloomberg's dire predictions on the news this morning, the snow didn't deter us, although the later sleet and then freezing rain and hail made the wandering a little less pleasant.

manhattan sidewalks tend to clear themselves; the heat of the subways melts anything that might want to hang out for too long. the strangest thing about snow in new york is how quiet it makes everything. the sounds of the city are muffled by the snow on the ground, so that the whole place becomes preternaturally silent. brooklyn is especially eerie this evening; i can't hear the usual neighbors and street sounds. it's like having my own private city, which is a strange feeling. i'm just hoping that there's enough on the ground tomorrow for some frolicking in prospect park. here's looking at you, white christmas.

saturday night alright

2008-12-09T23:21:00.003-05:00

saturday night was epic. jay and i started the night with dinner on st marks in the snow with a new friend. romantic yes, but good schlepping-to-the-subway weather no. this led to a cabbie who had no idea how to get to williamsburg, which is always an adventure, and eventually we got on the right track. we had headed cross-brooklyn to the lovely kat's ugly christmas sweater party (an excellent event last year as well.) we were first to arrive and first to leave--we couldn't stay forever, as the possibility of rap stars was calling my name, but we did get in some good goofy picture-taking in ugly christmas sweaters. thankfully jay's friend l-t was driving, so we were spared further cabbie distress, although there was some real celebration when we finally navigated our way to DUMBO. we had planned to attend the book party for "digging for dirt: the life and death of ODB" (did you know about my love for the dirt? it is bottomless), but we arrived too late for the party, probably just missing the RZA (i wish.) the party had moved on to drinks at superfine, where we took more goofy pictures, this time in l-t's wonder-woman jewelry. while deciding on our next move (bar? home? chicken fingers?), the girls got a call inviting us to party at vampire weekend’s sweet apartment “the boneyard” (i think it’s hilarious when people name their homes.) it was a little like being back in college--a small space packed with hip kids mixing vodka in red plastic cups, although clearly we hadn't gone to the same school. everyone there was a columbia grad except for the girl who asked us if we were also columbia grads, and sighed with relief when we said we were not. it was a fun mix, but by that point we'd had enough of the evening, and i had to work in six hours, so we called it a night. i (luckily) got a doorstop drop-off, and a pillow-side recap with s. and then promptly passed out.

it was one of those "anything could happen!" nights that i love. saturday night was why i moved to new york, for the possibility in every evening.

*when they turn this into a movie (which hello, totally gonna happen), there will probably be a few key differences: we'll probably start the night out with some simple goal, and then each event will lead to another, escalating throughout the film, teaching us things we never knew about ourselves and each other. also (and sorry s--steady long-term relationships do not a good "wild and crazy night" movie make), there will need to be some romance. probably one guy we see everywhere we go until we end up together at the end. also, i will not have to work the next day. totally cramped my style. anyways, i digress.

in which i go on an adventure

2008-12-05T21:21:00.003-05:00

i got a call this morning from s's mother, asking if i could do her a favor. his teenage cousins have asked for "big, knock-off dolce&gabbana purses" for christmas, and as she couldn't find any in indiana, she wondered if i knew where to find them in new york. i happened to be headed to chinatown for birthday party supplies anyways, so i said i would be happy to wander down there looking for the fakes.

i wasn't sure where to start, so i headed down canal street, the faux-purse runway, wandering into every storefront that wasn't already monopolized by diamonds and perfumes. usually when the hawkers whisper "handbag? handbag?" to me as i walk by, i ignore them, so i actually found it fun to say "yes, take me to the gucci" today. i had finally found a couple of cute purses (a "versace" and a "d&g vogue") at some unnamed place on canal and chrystie, when the woman helping me asked if i wanted to see more. she then ushered me and about 10 other women through a false wall and down some stairs into a hidden basement room filled with chanel, coach, fendi and gucci. (the whole day, i couldn't stop thinking about the episode of "sex and the city" where they go to los angeles and samantha buys the fake fendi, and she has to go to the valley and buy out of some guy's trunk.) they lock you down there until the sales people can confirm the coast is clear to emerge with some probably ill-gotten goods, which feels a little sketchy, but it was also kind of funny to me that fake purses are such serious business. the woman waiting on the stairs with me was from alabama, and i guess this is a big deal for tourists--everyone in the store had accents (eastern european, southern, scottish), and seemed really excited about buying their illicit purses. i ended up buying the two i had originally wanted, which were kept upstairs in the clear, and was even able to haggled the price down. it was a totally new experience for me, the hiding and the negotiating, and actually a lot of fun. only in new york, right? (oh, and la, i guess.)

special victims

2008-12-02T09:56:00.004-05:00

they are filming "law and order" (i am not sure which iteration) outside my office right now. i love this show, though i had to stop watching it when i moved to new york. too many recognizable crimes in recognizable locations. anyways, i plan to spend my lunch break trying to lurk into the shot. exciting!

(i have more things to talk about, but this is breaking news and therefore takes precedence.)

equus

2008-11-22T13:04:00.003-05:00

you may not know this, but one of the only reasons anyone reads my blog is because once someone i work with saw daniel radcliffe at starbucks. (i kid you not: that got linked somehow on imdb, and legions of ladies who love hp came running.) so i may be about to quadruple my readership. we shall see.

my cousin was in town last weekend, and as a fellow theater-lover, he wanted to take me to a show. (and no one turns down free broadway!) he let me pick between "equus" and "spamalot", and as i am more into the order of the phoenix than [insert clay aiken reference here], i chose the depressing play about a horse. (also, clearly i am not a claymate, as i could not come up with an aiken reference. i consider this a personal victory.)

"equus" is an interesting show, as it takes a horrific actual event (the blinding of horses), and tries to suppose a reason behind it. daniel radcliffe plays the stable boy who is locked up after maiming the horses he seems utterly enamored of, a wounded boy who has a religious-ecstatic relationship with the animals. as an actor, he did quite well, i thought, at moving between the sullen bits in the hospital and the scenes that show his life pre-crime: at the beach (when he first sees a horse), dealing with tough parents, going on his first date. the play and production itself left something to be desired. as dictated by the script, it's a spare production with very few set pieces and a lot of blocks that get moved around by the actors an almost distracting amount. it's extremely talky, and richard griffiths, who plays the psychiatrist, was saddled (ha! horse pun!) with much of the monologizing, which he seemed somewhat fatigued by. the most evocative element was the horses, played by men in delicate metal horse head-pieces and hooves, who truly moved like the animals, stomping and strutting and reacting to the slightest irritant. (horses are actually an excellent metaphor for the mental state of this play, i think, in that they are so on-edge, so uneasy, and also so controllable by their man and master.)

overall, i am glad i got to see it, but it wasn't the experience i was expecting. i am an emotional person, easily moved, and even i left the audience dry-eyed. the play didn't produce any new emotions in me, i felt no sympathy for the characters or their situations--in a way, it felt very clinical. which i suppose is alright for a play that rejects religion and experience and is essentially about psychiatry.

art attack

2008-11-17T22:34:00.004-05:00

i've had family in town off and on for the last two weeks, which is both fun and exhausting. it has meant some home-town-touristing, which i always enjoy.

this past weekend my cousin was visiting, and was very interested in visiting MOMA. i am always game for some modern art, so saturday morning we got up early (crack of 9 am!) and headed up there. we started from the top to try to beat the crowds, and s and i spent a good hour enjoying the fantastic show joan miro: painting and anti-painting i have long enjoyed miro's work for his whimsical reinterpretation of familiar subjects, a kind of soft picasso i think (all of the creative placement without the sharp edges of cubism.) my favorite part of the show was a series that placed collages side-by-side with the paintings they inspired. miro had given himself the exercise of painting from combinations of cut outs from machine catalogs, and it was incredible to recognize the curve of a handle of the plummet of a lever in the painting. it is the kind of display of process that you don't usually get to see, and that i think is so interesting. i think my love of art history stems from a kind of nosiness--i don't just want to look at the piece, i want to understand it in a larger context; who made it, and why, in what time and place, in response to what or whom. it also gave me an idea for a show i would like to curate (either in life or my head.) s was looking forward to looking at music, but i felt it was poorly arranged. there were some interesting pieces, but with little access (only one pair of headphones, MOMA? in a media exhibition? seriously?) we only had a couple of hours in the museum, so we moved much faster than i would've liked through their permanent collection and some new photography, thought it was wonderful to see what we could. and now i know i need to go back sooner rather than later.

(we skipped their big show, van gogh and the colors of the night, in part because it required timed tickets and in part because i didn't feel the need to stand ten-deep in front of the night cafe. i would like to try to see it some other time, however, perhaps on a weekday.)

a couple of weekends ago, i took myself to the guggenheim to see my beloved building uncovered post-renovation. i admit to being somewhat divided on the current exhibitions. catherine opie: american photographer is a well-curated look at her career, from early portraits of friends and self to later series' on families and nature ("icehouses" and "surfers".) her portraits are gorgeous, often close-cropped faces or bodies on display with vivid saturated backgrounds. her early portraiture focused on members of her los angeles community, with a lot of tattoos, piercings and indeterminate (or undiscovered) gender. (it was pretty interesting to watch the faces of my fellow gallery-goers.) i was especially taken with her later series, "domestic", in which she photographed lesbian families at work and at play, in really intimate, touching photographs. her outdoor work was really lovely as well, especially the "freeways" series, which looked like something out of an apocalyptic italian art film, all swooping curves and abandoned stretches.

i was less taken with theanyspacewhatever, the major exhibition that has taken over the rotunda. i enjoyed pieces, but felt the whole was lacking a unified theory. there were some interesting interactive bits--i took my shoes off to sit on the pillows and view "chew the fat", i enjoyed a beverage as i watched a film in "cinema liberte", and i would've killed to spend a night in the revolving hotel room. i particularly liked the hanging signs, though embarrassingly i now cannot remember who created them. i think that there were also pieces missing when i attended (this space left intentionally blank for performance, perhaps), which made it oddly empty at times, which felt strange for the exhibition supposedly welcoming back the museum after their big renovation. i don't mean to sound cranky--i love the guggenheim, i've just seen better shows there. i will go back, however, to see the jenny holzer illumination one friday. i love me some jenny holzer.

the change we need

2008-11-12T21:33:00.002-05:00

i know no one comes here for the politics, but i have two things i would like to talk about.

1. the amazingness that was the 2008 election. i woke up at 6:30 am to vote, and walked around the corner to my polling place and stood in line with tears of pride in my eyes at the other people waiting with me to vote for a new future. there were families and my peers and old ladies with walkers, and i felt like this was something to remember. i sat on pins and needles the rest of the day at work, and watched the election returns in the apartment, where i could hear the cheers and fireworks go up in my neighborhood when they called the election for president-elect barack obama. (i wish i could've shared it with someone, but alas, s had to work and when i went to meet a friend, i went to the wrong place. oops.) it felt like an important night to be alive.

2. when i went to nyu, every week an anti-war protest marched down broadway, until their yelling and clanging became sort of routine. i haven't seen a protest in person in awhile (had we all given up?) until tonight when i got out of work, and gay-rights activists were marching down broadway for civil unions. (it was also fairly anti-mormon, i guess in response to the recent sickening passage of prop 8 in california.) i teared up once again, this time not with pride but sadness. i was incredulous that such a hateful thing could pass in this country. for a people who claim to support freedom, we do an awful lot of oppressing of our own fellow citizens. the cruelty we are capable of continues to astound me. what i don't understand about the gay marriage issue is how anyone else's union, gay or straight, could detract from your own. if someone doesn't want to get married in your church or temple, why should it matter to you that they now have more rights in caring for each other and their family? it doesn't. love is love, no matter whom it is between. in an age of anger and fear, we should be celebrating every opportunity we have to join two people in love.

i will be back to regular programming soon. tomorrow, perhaps.

boo.

2008-11-01T21:17:00.003-04:00

i love halloween in this city. truthfully, i can see people in costumes more regularly throughout the year here than other places i have lived, but on oct 31, people really come out of their shells. there were costumes on the streets, costumes on the subway, costumes at work. i spent the week in a tizzy, trying desperately to find my dress (s and i went as ned and chuck from pushing daisies--apparently we are the only ones who watch that show, but whatevs), and finally found something at the atlantic center last night (thank the gods for target, am i right?), where children were trick-or-treating through the mall.

i always wondered where children trick or treat here in the city. we were encouraged to sit outside our building with candy if we wanted to, but i got home a little too late for that. seventh ave in park slope hosts a huge halloween parade, and i saw some darn cute kid costumes. little critters, a lot of tiny superheros, even a miniature buckingham palace guard. though what i particularly loved were the parents. to see a joker pushing a stroller . . . well, it's a pretty funny anachronistic visual. (side note: s was wearing a tie and cardigan with dress pants and converse as his costume, and said to me "i could've just gone as a park slope stay-at-home-dad" and i laughed so so hard.)

we went to a really fun halloween party thrown by my neighbor, and had a great time, despite having to explain our costumes to all of the tv-less attendees. there was candy aplenty, and some pretty potent punch, as well as a great dance party. i think i'm kind of an elaine when it comes to dancing. my moves aren't too smooth, but they're pretty entertaining. for me, at least. the best part was the homemade pinata, a "punkin" (pumpkin with a mohawk) filled with adult treats like scratch-off lottery tickets and mini bottles of dewar's. i was the only one who wanted to take a whack, so to speak, and so i kicked off my shoes and went in swinging. i haven't laughed so hard in awhile. it was a great night.

happy halloween to all. i hope you had a sweet night.

penelope

2008-10-22T14:46:00.002-04:00

i just saw kristen schaal at the Y. (i've had all of the jewish holidays off in october, which means that on wednesdays i've been house-wifing it; cleaning, baking and going to the gym at mid-day.) i happen to think she is pretty funny, and while i love her on "flight of the conchords" (such a great show!) i particularly love penelope, princess of pets.

ruby the bird is my fave (i have an odd fondness for foul-mouthed animal puppets.)

blog baby

2008-10-19T20:02:00.003-04:00

i totally missed the one-year anniversary of my blog! what a bad mama! well, happy birthday blog, i owe you a cupcake. in honor of such, i would like to return to the snapshot post, and take a break from the long recaps.

tonight mk and i came home on an a train full of entertainment. first a man got on and sang this beautiful song. (i have no idea what it was.) he had one of those voices that sounds full of anguish and love, a voice that has lived a real life. i gave him all the change i had in my purse. then we witnessed a dance-off between a teenage boy and an adorable dancing toddler. seriously, this baby breaker had to be no more than four or five, and he was popping and locking across the car, despite falling down a few times due to the motion of the train and his own under-developed center of gravity. the entire car loved him. one of the cutest things i have seen in a long time. i love it when the commute can surprise me in a good way.

thank you, mood

2008-10-18T16:42:00.003-04:00

my mother visited this week, in town for some work meetings and some nyc-touristing fun. we packed a lot into tuesday (i know, this is a much-belated post), so bear with me!

we started by heading down to brooklyn heights and walking along the promenade. i think brooklyn heights is one of the city's prettiest neighborhoods, and the view of lower manhattan is an unusual one (and something you of course cannot see when you are in the city.) we meandered down to brooklyn bridge and fulton ferry state parks, and through DUMBO, window-shopping and coveting (well, for me at least) bridge-view properties.

s met us at the morgan library to explore "drawing babar", an exhibition of the paintings and processes that created babar, the be-suited elephant my sister and i grew up with. the morgan is a beautiful space, especially now that they've completed a beautiful renzo piano-led renovation. the exhibition was really wonderful. jean du brunhoff created the story, and his son laurent continued the tradition. they both had very different processes. jean would sketch and re-sketch, in pencil, moving the text and pictures around the page up until the final draft. laurent, on the other hand, would paint huge swathes of color across the page leaving space for his text. it was a great exhibit, and if you grew up with babar, i highly recommend it.

fabrics galore!

we walked west and headed to mood, the fabric store of project runway fame (well, for us, at least. i'm sure FIT design students know it for their own reasons.) my mother used to sew us halloween costumes and christmas dresses, so it made her happy to peruse the organzas and satins.

my mother is a long-time fan of patti lupone, and gave me the recording of "evita" at an impressionable age, so i have long time as well. so i knew that it would be special for us to see patti in "gypsy" on broadway. we had a wonderful dinner at nizza, a new restaurant on 9th ave. it was delicious, and it is always nice to discover a new place to dine in the theater district. we had center-mezzanine seats at the st. james theater (thanks again to tdf), so we had a great view of the stage. unfortunately, laura benanti wasn't performing that evening, but the understudy to louise did very well. patti lupone, of course, was the highlight of the performance, putting her heart into every word. she has an incredible voice, not even always a beautiful voice, but so full of character and experience. i had chills during her final number, and we lept to our feet with everyone else for the standing ovation at the end of the show. she is a real treasure. when we were leaving, my mother noticed that people were waiting for the actors, so we decided to wait and see patti. we thanked her for her wonderful performance, and while usually i am too embarrassed to do this, we got her autograph, which was very exciting.

wednesday my mother had meetings all day, but we were able to meet up for coffee and shoe-shopping before i put her in a cab to the train station. ccome back soon mama! we've got so much more to do! i love having visitors. who else wants to come see new york?

revenge of the book eaters

2008-10-13T09:11:00.003-04:00

s and i felt very privileged to attend "revenge of the book eaters" last tuesday, the fundraiser for 826 NYC, the wonderful writing-tutor secret lair behind brooklyn superhero supply (which i have written about here.) i am on their mailing list, and got an email a few weeks ago about the fundraising event, and bought tickets immediately. (poor s, i emailed him afterwards and was like "i'm going! you can come too! give me $50!" i'm lucky he loves me and books.)

it was described on gothamist as a music-saturated nerdfest, and boy was it. ira glass opened the evening with two stories. i have to say, seeing ira glass while listening to ira glass is a wholly different experience, especially sharing it with so many other people. usually listening to ira glass is fairly intimate for me, as i mostly listen to podcasts on myPod, so it's just me on the train with ira in my ears. john oliver, of daily show fame, mc'ed the event, and was totally fantastic. we loved his comedy, and were laughing to tears at some points. two new musical acts followed, very good in their own right but not necessarily my taste. kyp malone (of tv on the radio) read a really sweet story by 826 students about monkey love. then my heart almost stopped because paul simon, my life-long musical love, came out and played "mrs. robinson" and "the boxer" and a brand-new song he had recently written and never. before. played. (be still, my heart!) it just felt so special. he played with a very talented man whose name i cannot remember (so sorry!) who played guitar, cello, and a haunting woodwind (maybe a pennywhistle? not usually described as haunting, i know.) it was wonderful. equally wonderful was the next performance, a surprise from angelique kidjo. she has an incredible voice that sent chills down my spine, and sang two songs, the second an african blessing that she had everyone join in on. it was so powerful, hearing hundreds of voices soar through town hall.

dave eggers and sarah vowell (president of the board of 826 NYC) came out to do some thanking of the attendees, performers and volunteers, and to make some palin jokes (oh sarah, you're everywhere!) then the piece de resistance, a new play by jonathan franzen, read by the author with bobby cannavale, patricia clarkson, parker posey, and tunde adebimpe. it was adapted from the new book state by state, about the fifty states, and it was a love letter to new york state. it was a really wonderful end to a truly magical new york evening.

the play's the . . . oh, you know

2008-10-06T22:10:00.003-04:00

september was my no-fun month, so i made the decision (consciously or unconsciously) that october would be full of fun, and it has kicked off with a bang.

seeing a broadway show is on the us map, so thursday night s and i went to see "spring awakening" the 2007 tony award winning coming-of-age musical about love and rebellion. it was really fantastic, so full of energy and emotion. it reminded me of "rent" before it reached mythical status, when it was still new and invigorating. the songs and music have wonderful range as well; loud and exciting at times, soft and touching at others. (i'll admit it; i cried at the end.) the cast was really great as well, though it would have been something special to see the original broadway cast. almost every young actor was making their broadway debut, and their energy and joy in the opportunity were infectious. s got the soundtrack last night, and i can't stop listening to the songs.

i've been getting over a cold (well, i've had a cold for over a week now, so i hope i am getting over it), so we laid pretty low this weekend, working, running errands, attending a bake sale for obama. sunday night, however, i went to see "the seagull" with aa. i feel chekov is better appreciated with age. now that i am older and have experienced the slings and arrows of outrageous life, i can better understand the emotions simmering under the surfaces of petty interactions. it was a truly beautiful production, both the acting and the artistic direction. kristin scott thomas is wonderful as arkadina, pulsing with pent-up energy and anger and jealousy. her aging actress is almost pitiable in her need for affection and adoration, but too cruel in her treatment of her son and nina to inspire true sympathy. i was very impressed by carey mulligan's nina as well (even though my actor-brain was giving my own line readings and admiring her physicality), and liked some of the men. mackenzie crook, or gareth from the british office, was pathetic enough as konstantin, and i liked art malik as dr. dorn very much. in fact, only peter sarsgaard as trigorin seemed out of place, but i think that was more his spotty english accent than his acting. (although i recently read that chiwetel ejiofor did trigorin in the original english staging, and i wish wish wish i had seen that--i think he's a really fantastic actor.) the production values were also really wonderful, mostly spare with hints of elegance. aa and i were particularly jealous of arkadina's costumes, simple yet gorgeous, and i really liked the delicate, keening score. (oh, and lest you think i suddenly found a pile of money on the ground, i scored both tickets through the theater development fund, which provides discounted tickets to members who work for arts non-profits.) it won't be here for long, and i recommend it very highly.

seeing theater always makes me miss the stage. i spent my whole life identifying as an actress, and yet here i am in new york city, sitting behind a desk. and today the director of our theater program and i were talking about something and he said "oh, you like theater, don't you?" and it made me realize that i know and work with people who have no knowledge of whole parts of me. i have always been a performer, from the plays of emily dickinson's life i staged at age five, to improv and theater productions in college, and it is only now that i no longer have that creative outlet. it was theater that brought me to new york in the first place, when i came out here to attend nyu's tisch school of the arts, and i hate to think i could give up on it so easily. i can ignore the longing when i haven't seen any shows, or spoken recently with my "theater friends", but seeing these two very, very different and yet equally impressive shows has made me miss the theater more than i have in a long time. i need to find a way to express myself again.

tomorrow night s and i are headed out once more, so check back soon. i promise more posts this month, as things are looking up.

the mannequin district

2008-09-25T20:57:00.003-04:00

one of my favorite things about new york is how specialized vendors gather together and certain areas become the "something district." florists gather and we get a flower district, designers flock and suddenly there's a fashion district, and somewhere south on broadway is what i have termed the lightbulb district (literally store after store of lightbulbs, strings of lights, and goofy lamps.)

we recently discovered a new, and creepy, one: the mannequin district.

(i know that looks like a cool storefront club, with hip kids lounging in awkward poses, but it is a store full of mannequins in repose, with more mannequins, including pieces, in the back.)

we were walking in the west twenties the other day (i think wandering after i met up with s after work), just peeking into shops, and suddenly every store on the street sold mannequins and their parts. windows full of heads, hands and feet, bodies standing at attention or lying in uncomfortable ways. it was amazing. and amazingly creepy. it was after closing time, so it was strange to see so many "people" in dark stores. only in new york, i think, is there a block devoted to the sale of mannequins.

new york i love you, but you're bringing me down

2008-09-20T20:09:00.003-04:00

thursday night i felt like an adult. as we sat in the restaurant drinking and eating, aa and her boyfriend, s and i and mk, talking about the new york financial situation and what our friends were going through, i had a sudden feeling of being very, very grown up. these were things that adults talked about when i was small--politics, economics, real estate and families. and these are the things that i now talk about.

sometimes it hits me in a wave: this is my life, this is what i do, this is where i live, these are the choices i make that affect everything else on the list. sometimes i am a little in awe of the fact that i chose to move here, knowing it would be hard, welcoming that challenge, and am still here. i've had a hard september; i got sick and i felt very overwhelmed by this place. my neighbor and i (who coincidentally is still my neighbor, even though we moved. he moved as well, and is now still just a few blocks away) were talking the other night about how difficult a city this can be to live in, and he said that's why people usually prefer to visit. there's so much constant action and stimulation that it's great in short bursts, but can be exhausting in perpetuity. i feel like i've hit a plateau, and i know that i need to work through this to get to better times, but i have to say, i'm a little tired. and i know this blog is my exercise in optimism, and this may seem like i'm complaining more than usual, but i want to say this: i am still optimistic. i'm not giving up. i know things will get better. i am working to find a way to make them better.

and that's why i haven't been posting. there'll be more in the future. stick with me.

fish-licious

2008-09-15T20:51:00.004-04:00

when we saw these neon fish at the new york aquarium, s said "ooh, fish-licious! blaine would like these fish." um, ok sweetie.

(i know i've been absent for awhile, but we went on vacation--hi mom and dad!, and then i was sick for two long weeks, which was a total bummer. oh, also, i'm kinda broke right now, so we haven't been going out and about much. but that all changed this weekend!)

the new york aquarium is on the us map, and originally i had wanted to head out there for the big baby birthday bash, back in june, but we missed that so we decided to go out this saturday. it was one of our quicker tourist trips, what with coney island being a short 30 minute ride from our neighborhood. i am a HUGE fan of zoos and aquariums (i used to work at a zoo, too, and i really kind of miss it), so i was very excited. we started at the otters, watching them eat on their backs and roll around, and headed to another tank to watch the shark feeding. the sharks share their home with one large ray and four super cool sea turtles. they also didn't eat anything. we watched the keepers drop fish after fish in and taunt the sharks with squid on a skewer, and the only ones eating were the very greedy turtles. ("it's more of a turtle feeding frenzy," said the woman next to us. i couldn't have agreed more, ma'am.) where was the dramatic gnashing of teeth and blood in the water?! (well, not blood for the kids' sake, but seriously, i wanted to see some shark teeth.) but i really liked the turtles, and took way too many pictures of them.

they had a couple of interesting exhibits, like "alien stingers" (jellies, coral and anemones) and something about the water's edge, which included a touch pool, but i've honestly been spoiled by west coast aquariums, and i missed interactive exhibitions. on a whim we decided to stay to watch the california sea lions perform, and i am so glad we did. they were so smart and really funny, giving flipper high-fives to their trainer and doing dances and racing around in the water. we hadn't sat in the front row in fear of getting splashed, but i wish we had because the front row all got kisses on the cheek from osborn, the older (and more talented) or the two performers! i highly recommend the show if you head out there. i have a funny video of osborn dancing, so if i can remember my vimeo log-in, i'll try to post it later.

the rest of our weekend was spent in co-habitational bliss, doing laundry and baking cookies and completely re-arranging the living room. s is off nights this week, which happily means that i get to see him every night when i get home (whee!) and i think we may try to do something else fun this week, so i promise more posting now that i am back in top form.

whee!

2008-09-03T17:43:00.002-04:00

this is my 100th post, and to celebrate, i'm on overheard in new york!

some so-so shoe jokes

chromomaniacs

2008-08-27T23:01:00.003-04:00

i know, i know, a post is owed.

s and i are members are of the met, a true new york treasure, and i've been itching to see the superheroes: fashion and fantasy exhibit before it disappears. (it's still there through september 1, and they'll be open labor day. go! quickly!) we went saturday, and while the galleries were a little busy, it was a very worthwhile experience. they've divided the collection into categories, such as "the mutant body" or "the patriotic body," which made for unusual curatorial notes. they combined costumes (from movies like "iron man" and "the dark knight") with pieces by designers like john galliano, alexander mcqueen and john paul gaultier. some of the designs were really incredible (and some felt like their inclusion was more of a stretch), but it was really interesting seeing fashion in a new artistic context.

having seen ads everywhere in the city for jeff koons on the roof, we were excited to check that out as well, but unfortunately it wasn't as impressive as i expected. there were three pieces, of which i thought "balloon dog", the star of said ads, was least evocative. i really enjoyed "coloring book", a large, bright, graphic representation of a children's art project. it was really beautiful and unusual, and i liked it very much.

we stumbled upon j.m.w. turner: painter of light (habitually chic wrote a post with some wonderful images from the exhibit.) i'm not normally big on landscapes, so i didn't originally want to go in, but i am so glad we did. turner was a bit of a maverick landscape and history painter, who experimented with color and form, and was a devotee of the concept of The Sublime, which seemed to be characterized by menacing clouds and snowpiles. his colors were the most sublime part, i felt, in part because he was so willing to use saturated colors that (while possibly not found in nature) looked quite natural in his compositions. i am a huge watercolor fan as well, and his watercolors were especially beautiful and colorful and experimental. (some of his studies were just huge swaths of color with little details to ground them.) plus i really enjoyed the biographical notes. every explanatory panel would discuss his influences and work, and then mention the constant critical pans the work received. some of them were very funny (we particularly liked that he was accused of "chromomania"), and it was a nice change from the usual accolades most individual exhibits are filled with.

you've got a little more time to see j.m.w. turner (september 21) and jeff koons (october 26), and i recommend it all.

crazy old men

2008-08-18T22:26:00.002-04:00

i don't ever need to post again: the most blog hits i will everget were because i wrote about a co-worker seeing daniel radcliffe. sigh. but about the old men . . .

last week aa and i were headed to the farmer's market outside our office when we spotted regis. i saw him walking towards us--shorter than i expected (though i really never thought about his height), uncannily tan, wearing a gorgeous purple tie--and hissed "a! it's regisss!" (emphasis mine, to express hissing) and she said "i know, i saw him!" he was like a small, sweet, orange grampa.

s and i were talking this weekend about the new york city runway of crazy hobo couture, and my favorite local catwalker is a man i call "old elvis." he looks sort of like an elvis impersonator on an off day, with a slightly deflated pompadour, seventies glasses, high-ish collars--nothing that would look too off on their own, but combined they create a deliciously kooky look. i saw him at the grocery store a month or so ago, but recently i've been seeing him as i come home from work in the evenings, which means we are neighbors. he looks the same, in stores and on the street. who is he? i want to know, 'cause in the words of my fave, tim gunn: "that's a whole lotta look."

the 'klyn

2008-08-11T10:10:00.004-04:00

s and i went to terrace bagels--per usual--on saturday and saw a man wearing a t-shirt that said "the 'klyn", which i found hilarious. i assumed it referred to brooklyn, but if it is something inappropriate, please let me know.

my sister was in town this weekend, hanging out before her red-eye flight to uganda for a photojournalist assignment. (she's the exciting one.) usually when people come to visit, i run us ragged walking the island of manhattan, but i realized this weekend: i live in brooklyn. there's plenty of great stuff here. let's spend the day in my neighborhood.

we started out slow (i am a notorious over-sleeper), and then wandered park slope, checking out the greenmarkets and stopping by brooklyn superhero supply. we walked down to root hill cafe (on carroll st and fourth avenue), a newer coffee spot opened by a woman i used to work with. they have one of the last clover espresso machines made pre-starbucks, and they brew an excellent cup of coffee. even my sister, the snobby barista, liked her beverage. (if you go hungry, i recommend the amazing grilled cheese, although splitting it is better, if not for your stomach than at least for your heart.) we hopped on the R and headed down to court street, to wander through cutey-cute-cute brooklyn heights and walk along the promenade. my sister was very impressed with the view of manhattan, as she had never seen it that way before. we wandered along the water to brooklyn bridge park, which seems to be under-construction and headed towards a better, brighter future. (it looks like it is going to be wonderful... someday.) we walked around in dumbo, stopping into adorable, over-priced stores. it started to rain, so we trained back home to grocery shop and stop into a few stores on seventh ave. i made falafel for dinner, and we played rummikub (the fast moving rummy tile game!) and then i tried to get some sleep. (i've been having super-weird dreams lately; i wish i had a dream-decoder book, cause i want to know what vampires mean.)

we'll have dinner out tonight, someplace fun in the neighborhood, and then i will pack her and her backpack into a car bound for jfk and uganda. it was fun having someone to explore with.

flourish and botts

2008-08-08T15:41:00.004-04:00

one of the women in my office saw daniel radcliffe (harry potter) at the starbucks down the block from us. he's in town to work on equus, i believe. every other woman starting screeching, wondering if they might be able to run back and see him. i found this hilarious, in part because i think of him as the little boy wizard. he might actually be rather close to my age (under-21 though, i think), so i would never think of him as an object of desire. but those celebrity sightings, they're always turning us all to mush.

also spotted (same starbucks): allison janney (who i think is really cool.) very tall, pretty in person, wearing a cool headband, drinking a triple-soy latte. (that's a latta soy!) and: mark summers, dining at cafe fiorello. aa gets the credit for spotting him--she watches a lot of food network.

also, also: i know i have been a bad blogger recently. i have been broke and super-busy, and my leisure activities have been confined to throwing a lovely apartment-warming party, and watching project runway with my gals (go daniel!) this weekend should prove magical, however. stay with me, lone readers!

underground reads

2008-08-02T14:13:00.002-04:00

s has magical moments that he refuses to guest-post which leaves me to do the honors. this past week, he was reading "the heart is a lonely hunter" on the train (which i had pulled out of the bookshelf to read, and he scooped me!) a man asked to interview him for his blog about what people read on the train, and s agreed.

my boy is internet famous!

i think it's actually a really interesting idea for a blog, and i plan to keep up with it. in fact, you'll find a link to the left. and it inspires me to do more reading on the train. recently i've been listening to myPod a lot, which while great, means i am not reading as much. an august resolution? perhaps.

the governor's island

2008-07-29T23:27:00.005-04:00

on friday afternoon s got a text from a friend from work, j-dubs, asking if we wanted to go to governor's island. i had been noticing the posters on the subway, and it felt like synchronicity, so we decided to go.

the ferry is free from battery park, and only a few minutes' ride (which i was appreciative of.) admission to the island is also free--it's a national park now. the island used to belong to the armed services (i think first the army and then the navy), and they left in 1996 and donated it to the city of new york. they've slowly been rehabbing the island, returning it to greenspace for recreation. they have concerts on saturdays, and we made it there in time to listen to the roots music of eric bibb, a really incredible guitarist. it hardly felt like we were in the city; we wandered down bricked side streets (no cars are allowed on the island) and sat on a wide grass lawn under an avenue of tall trees. even the air was cleaner and fresher.

eric bibb and friends

after we listened to the music, we wandered around the island. because the island was first fortified in the late 1700s and was still inhabited until the late 1990s, there are many generations of buildings and fortifications all over the island, so it was fun to explore those. (although i think next time i want to take a tour.) ALSO, and pretty cool, i think they recently filmed an episode of top chef on the island, because i found this spike tape on the ground.

(it says tom and padma, in case you can't read it.)

one of the old houses on the island was hosting an international exhibition by members of the sculptors guild called in-site, with some really incredible sculpture and installation pieces. it was really great to stumble on the surprise of impressive art in the middle of nowhere (in the middle of new york.) it felt like a treat to stumble on governor's island in general; it's like a well-kept secret. the island wasn't crowded at all, and it is full of rolling green hills and tall shade trees. i plan to go back again and again. who's with me?

real fandom

2008-07-29T11:37:00.002-04:00

overheard last night at the laundromat.

major mets fan (in jersey and hat, attached to transistor radio): mets, baby, mets! (this was said repeatedly, to no one in particular.) i just want 'em to beat those yankees. i always say, if the yankees got in a plane crash and died, i wouldn't cry. i don't wish 'em dead, but i wouldn't be sad if something bad happened to them.

i don't think i have ever been that invested in any thing (people certainly, but not a sports team.) it's a devotion i don't totally understand.

tonight: governor's island updation--with pictures!

rock stars

2008-07-25T18:41:00.004-04:00

as i have mentioned before, my friend my neighbor is in a band that plays around the city, and as friends, we all try to support him by going to concerts. (easier said than done--many nights i am more into pjs than djs. ha ha ha ha. just kidding.) last night, his band was playing a festival he had organized at fontana's on the lower east side. (fontana's was actually pretty nice inside, and much larger than anticipated. i did not enjoy wading through the garbage of eldridge street, however. but i do want to go back for the dance parties.)

mk and i dragged s along to have a drink before we paid the cover and went to hear the bands. (he had a late-night session, so he couldn't stay.) the band that played before them, king charles, was actually a lot of fun, very high energy, falling all over the stage. sad red is, as the name might imply, a little quieter than a band of old rock and roll covers, but they played an excellent show. i think they played new material, or at least it was new to me, and it was louder and faster, with more words, than i had remembered. (the last show we went to, though it is a little hazy in my memory, felt a lot sleepier.) i had a really good time. i also got to meet his dad, who you may remember i heard speak about his work at the national gallery back in june. i told him my dad was a long-time admirer of his work, and he thanked us for supporting his son. i love having friends in bands; i really like going to live music, and it's always more fun when i know someone on the stage.

the f wasn't running downtown from delancey (thanks, mta) so we had to take a cab. our driver had no idea how to get to park slope, so we tried to direct him. (i have little sense of direction, but after two gin and tonics, i was even more confused.) i finally got home around 1 am, which made this morning a little rough, but i only had to work a half-day, so it could've been worse. i had originally planned on visiting my sister in boston this weekend, but i had a long week and she has to work on sunday, so we decided we would plan for a future weekend when we would both be less tired and more available to do fun stuff. (plus she's coming to visit in a few weeks before she flies to uganda.) this means that instead, i get to sleep in tomorrow before s and i meet up with some friends to go to governor's island. more to tomorrow, then.

stay-cation

2008-07-21T23:24:00.003-04:00

i've said it before, and i'll say it again: one of the best things about living in new york is that everyone comes here to visit, which means i keep getting to see people i would not get to see otherwise.

sunday i had brunch with a friend of mine from college (she is still finishing up, spending the summer interning in nyc) at the marvelous sette in park slope (i say go for brunch; it's fixed price, including unlimited cocktails, whee!), and we spent a few hours catching up on each others' lives and college gossip. afterwards i headed uptown to spend the afternoon on the backyard patio of a garden apartment on the upper west side, sweating and cracking jokes with s's studiomates at their summer party. (it has been a very long time since i sat in someone's backyard. i want a garden apartment.)

today i had dinner with my high school boyfriend, now someone i can consider a friend. (it took some work.) his great-grandmother, a fantastic old new yorker who i had the pleasure of getting to know when i was at nyu, just passed away at 99 years old, and he was in town for her memorial. i got to see his parents, too, whom i had not seen in a few years (apparently the family were all asking about me.) we went to curly's lunch (he's a big vegetarian too), and caught up about our lives and the lives of our high school friends. it was really fun to see him again--now that we've gotten beyond the tears (me) and weirdness (him) of our high-school-sweetheart-break-up, i really enjoy his company as a friend. he also lives a totally different life from me or anyone else i know (river raft guide/snowboarding instructor/nature teacher--aka, most like to go "into the wild"), which makes for very entertaining stories.

it's always fun to see old friends. thank you, new york.

holy hotness, batman

2008-07-14T18:31:00.002-04:00

i just saw christian bale.

not in a cool way, not in a bumped-into-you, you're-kind-of-pretty, come-be-in-my-next-movie way. in a usual way. "the dark knight" is premiering at the theatre down the block from my office, and i am currently holed up here until 7 pm, and i watched them set up the tents earlier today, and could hear the screaming as i typed, so when ls and the new girl went running down the hallway to go see the celebrities, i abandoned my post and went running with them. we got there in time to see christian bale walking the red carpet, smiling and signing autographs. good gracious, that man is gorgeous. it was worth it just to see him.

though it would be more worth it to bump into him. and then get to be in his next movie. just saying.

also? this never happened in bloomington.

back in the bk

2008-07-13T20:50:00.003-04:00

i know it's been a whole week since i blogged, but for good reason. i got home yesterday from a family vacation in maine. (my grandparents owned a cabin there for many years, and my mother often waxes poetic about summers spent canoe-ing across the pond, walking into town to the pine tree frosty, and playing softball on their lawns.) we stayed in a beautiful lodge right on the waters edge, and spent our days reading, hiking, canoe-ing, and walking into town to the pine tree frosty. (seriously, so good.)

being in maine brought up a lot of feelings i have about where i have chosen to live. i grew up in oregon, and i loved it while i lived there, and there are things i miss. i miss the cool smell of pine forests, the blue of the sky on a clear day, the sound of the windchime on our front porch. it was a grand and beautiful place to grow up; as a child i felt safe, loved and encouraged by my parents and my community, and i feel that it helped make me open-hearted and excited about the world. but it is not a place i could ever return to. my heart truly belongs to this city we live in, and despite its dirt and grime, i love it in an often irrational way. being out of new york made me realize what a new yorker i have become. (s laughed at me when i was trying to explain this and said "and the bagels weren't bagels!") i feel tied to this city, i feel connected to it in a way i never felt about oregon (or it wouldn't have been so easy to leave.) i am the only person i know who left without hesitation, who moved on to such a tremendously different life. most of the people i went to school with are still in our little hometown, married with children and working local jobs. (a lot of the people i went to college with are still in the midwest, married or engaged and pursuing their dreams out there.) my choices have always felt different, and often difficult, in part because i have always chosen another path. not necessarily in a rebellious way, or in a particularly alternative way, but i guess i have felt that i could see the traditional option, or an option that felt safe, and i have chosen instead something that excited me (even as it scared me a little.) i am living a life i have fought for, a life that requires effort, and thus brings me a lot of happiness and satisfaction.

the other day, we were on the train and i looked up and saw the following quotation, which i have meant to share for awhile, and that i think sums up what i am trying to say (i am quite sick, so my powers of explanation are not at their best.)

there are roughly three new yorks. there is, first, the new york of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. second, there is the new york of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. third, there is the new york of the person who was born somewhere else and came to new york in quest of something...commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion.

--e.b. white, here is new york

urban parenting

2008-07-06T21:57:00.002-04:00

little girl, maybe four years old, looking at broken glass spilling out of a brown paper bag: what's that?
father: broken glass.
little girl: what happened?
father: someone dropped their beer.

i'm not sure my parents would have been so honest.

history in the making

2008-07-05T17:03:00.007-04:00

hey, america. happy birthday!

in honor of your special day, we spent the day yesterday at the international nathan's famous hot-dog eating contest.

s had done his research, and we knew we needed to get there somewhat early in order to get a good view of the contest. we showed up around 11:30 am (it is supposed to start around noon) and were able to squeeze in close enough to get a view of the left side of the stage. there's quite a bit of pre-show (got to give those espn talking heads time to speculate about kobayashi's odds), and we immensely enjoyed the dancing hot dogs. after a half hour of bad emcee jokes and ineffectual cheerleaders, the eaters took the stage to pumped-up music and bios like "the mayonnaise-eating champion of the woooooorld!" while something like 10 people competed, including an old man and a couple of women, as well as a possibly-retired rapper who had entertained the crowd during the pre-show, the real contest was between "america's son" joey chestnut and the injured-yet-still-fearsome takeru kobayashi. the two have squared off on multiple prior occasions, and seem to trade titles back and forth. (i highly recommend reading their bios, if only for the hilarity. they discuss their training regimens, previous world records, and other ridiculousness typically reserved for actual sports.) after the introductions, there was a big count down, and then they started the shoveling. (at that point i turned to s and said "so now we just watch them eat for ten minutes?" he just laughed at me.) it ended up being remarkably entertaining, as i felt a kind of disgusted awe and began cheering along with everyone else. seriously. the emcee would yell "and joey chestnut has just eaten TEN hot dogs in ONE minute!" and the crowd would go wild. this year, they both managed to get down 59 hot dogs in the regulation ten minutes, for a history-making tie. the overtime round required one to eat five hot dogs faster than the other, and joey just barely eked out a win. (an OT that favored his start-strong, finish-weak style; had it been to eat more in a certain amount of time, i think kobayashi, even injured, could have pulled out a win. but that's just my amateur opinion.) it was over quickly, and the crowd didn't stick around to watch the closing ceremony.

we wandered along the boardwalk, avoiding the fried clams and freak-shooting, and eventually ended up near the wonder wheel, which at 150 feet is the tallest ferris wheel in the world. i wasn't about to jump on the cyclone (the scary rattling wooden coaster), so i convinced s to go on the wheel with me.

it's a fairly calm, slow ride, but you do get a great view of the beach and surrounding area, and we enjoyed sitting on top of the world for awhile. once we got back down, we strolled around a bit more, looking at the rides and snack shacks and old posters. i had wanted to come to coney island before it's changed by gentrification, and we got to see a little bit of everything it's known for; dirt and grime, games, rides, an old-fashioned freak show. i don't know how to feel about "the future of coney island"; on the one hand, it's kind of a gross place. on the other, it's always been that way, it's sort-of famous for being proud of being that way, and i don't agree with the need to clean everything up. i'd like to go back, if only to take more pictures and maybe to work up the bravery to ride the cyclone. s considered a hot dog (in honor of the day), but the wait was at least a half hour (everyone else was feeling honorific), so we headed home to eat.

the former co-inhabitants of boyland moved out to a former furniture factory in greenpoint and they've carved out a recording studio and some bedrooms on one of the floors. (it's really an amazing space, although the entrance leaves a little something to be desired. let's just say i'd rather visit.) their building has an incredible roof, with amazing views of manhattan, so last night we camped out up there to ooh and ahh over the fireworks. last year i spent the fourth in d.c., but i honestly felt the display here was more beautiful and inspiring. i'm not particularly patriotic, but i do love fireworks. (as ls and i agreed, i like to feel the boom.) we were a little far away to feel anything, but we had an excellent vantage point, and watched the fireworks explode over the river with the skyline in the background. it rained a little, but, intrepid city-folk that we are, we stood around under umbrellas watching the fireworks light up the sky. there were people i knew, and people i didn't, but i felt no shame in clapping my hands with glee over it all. i felt proud to be a new yorker, at the very least.

mom genes

2008-07-01T20:01:00.002-04:00

i've got babies on the brain, not because i want one right now (no worries, dear s) but because there have been cute babies galore popping into my life: my cousin just gave birth to a precious child, one of my ex-coworkers brought her adorably fat infant in to visit, and many of the blogs i follow keep posting pictures of their (super cute) pregnant mama bellies or too-sweet toddlers (i'm looking at you, clark kent.) plus there was this really funny little baby on the train this morning in a front-carrier who looked like a little man trapped in a parachute. he was gripping the straps around his shoulders and had a very worried look on his face. the girl sitting opposite me couldn't stop smiling at him. i love observing people's secret baby smiles, half at the baby and half to themselves. it's one of the cutest things you can catch a person doing (especially a boy--swoon), and everyone near me couldn't stop grinning at the nervous little guy.

we've been watching a lot of episodes of the wire recently, and it has made me desperately want to adopt everyone last one of those corner boys and take them home and bake them cookies and give them back some innocence. (call them my angelina jolie mom-to-the-world genes.) it also reminded me that i really miss volunteering with kids, and i want to volunteer. i am going to re-apply at 826nyc and look into becoming a big sister. i love this city, but i just move through it, and i want to have an impact while i am here, even if it's just on one or two people.

swamp city

2008-06-29T21:43:00.008-04:00

new york has been hot and rainy and full of things like thunderstorms and lightning bugs flying down my shirt. (for seriously. not as bad as the time i found a bee in my mouth, though. i am fairly bee-a-phobic*.) which just makes coming home and turning on the ac and sitting in our gloriously unpacked apartment so. much. better.

this weekend was all about the unpacking. we bought a delightful desk-shelf-thingamabob at ikea and spent friday putting it together. (there is comedy monolog gold in the "putting together a piece of veneered-furniture from ikea is like your relationship put to the test"--thankfully we passed with flying colors.) i unpacked everything while s was at work friday night (which is how i like it--then i can put everything where i want it to go) and then saturday we did errands and sat around feeling smugly self-congratulatory about now living in the best apartment in brooklyn.

"really?" you say (you are fairly doubtful.) "see for yourself!" we say.

our pineapple-glazed living room.

the cubbies in all their glory.

the kitchen (i think i managed to crop out the dishes that need doing.)

once we've put away the laundry, i will post pictures of the bedroom (where the magic happens, says mtv cribs), and once we've got a cuter, less-moldy shower curtain, you might get to see our w.c.

saturday we took the path train to new jersey to meet up with the entire extended family of s, gathering to relax for a week in the hamptons (that's me, green with jealousy over there.) s had never been to new jersey, so we pretended we were on a grand adventure. mostly we talked about our jobs and new york city commutes and ate chinese food, but it was fun to see everyone.

all of this domesticity aside, what i really wanted to post about is this: i keep seeing hilarious t-shirts, and i want to share. last week, headed to the grocery store in the slope, i saw a guy waring a shirt that said (in multi-colored, bedazzled letters) "i'm stanky rich." not stinking, or filthy, or anything else i have ever heard before, but stanky. i am stanky rich. (i happen to find the word "stanky" hilarious, so maybe that's just me.) then today a girl got off the train in front of me with, pardon the indecency, the biggest chest i have ever seen. her shirt, stretched taut, said "don't hate me because i'm beautiful ..." and then something else i couldn't see. i thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if it then said 'hate me because i have ginormous boobs'?" i turned around to look, thinking surely no legitimate clothing company could be as gauche as i, and there i read, in stretched ribbed-cotton letters, "don't hate me because i'm beautiful, hate me because i have huge boobs." then i almost walked into a pole, like the rubber-necker i am.

*apiaphobic, maybe? i should look that up.**

**apiphobia! (do i know my latin or do i know my latin!)***

***i do not in fact really know any latin.

walking on water

2008-06-22T18:54:00.003-04:00

i know i am acting like i've just discovered the camera recently, and in part i have rediscovered the camera (thanks due to the wonderful cams i got for christmas), but it's also partially because i have been doing things, you know, like having fun, recently. and then documenting said things in pictures.

yesterday s had to work in the morning, so we had saturday night date night. we've been itching to do more things off the "us map" (not u.s. as in united states, or even as in us weekly, of trashy mag glory, but us as in we) i made back in february, so we met yesterday afternoon at the base of the brooklyn bridge. (actually, tragically, we met in city hall park, and then mistakenly walked south down broadway to the staten island ferry and along the water back up to city hall park and to the base of the bridge.) the brooklyn bridge has a wooden walkway suspended above the traffic, with state-park-style placards along the way, mapping out old new york and the physics of bridges. i walked across the brooklyn bridge when i still attended nyu on the instructions of my father, and it was a pleasant, educational stroll. it's apparently much more popular on hot saturdays in june, and we had to hustle to keep up with the flow of walking traffic, but we still managed to stop in the middle, tourist-style, to take pictures and admire the view. (i took the above photo looking up at one of the piers, or whatever that's called. i obviously don't remember the info i read.)

once off the bridge and back safely in the bk, we headed to brooklyn bridge-fulton ferry state park to look for some dinner. we forewent the block-long line at grimaldis (some other time, i suppose) and had dessert first at the brooklyn ice cream factory, some of the best 'cream i've ever tasted. (super rich though; i couldn't finish my one scoop, and s, usually a champ, was bested by his two-scoop cone.) we ate overlooking the water with a view back at manhattan and the bridge we'd just crossed.

for dinner we trekked to smith street for pacifico and drank margaritas under the lights strung up on the porch. we were both pretty tired from the day (s had worked, i had run errands, we both had gotten lost and found our way back to brooklyn again), but we had a lovely dinner. we got home in time to watch the wire (we're total addicts) and fall asleep before work today. a miraculous date night indeed.

feelin' blue

2008-06-18T21:46:00.003-04:00

when s and i decided to live together, i was a little nervous that i would get lonely. not when he was here (duh), but in the evenings when he is at work and i am hanging around the house. (you: then blog more.) to be honest, i love being in the apartment by myself, but i miss having someone one to talk to. i'm a fairly chatty girl, and without a roommate or a boy, i have to let a lot go unsaid. which is why i particularly miss having a pet. i know it makes me sound like a crazy cat lady, but i used to talk to our cat when i was living at home. and now i wish i had a cat (or dog, especially a dog) to talk to. or maybe i just wish i had this little guy:

cute attack!

on a more new york note, i was completely intrigued by a little old man on the train yesterday. he was wearing an electric blue fedora and two hands full of rings, and then some faded t-shirt and white pants. he seemed lost, because he was poring over a subway map, but then he shuffled off at bergen street (which isn't necessarily a tourist attraction.) he was a real character. i liked him.

back for more

2008-06-16T23:04:00.006-04:00

so you know what's silly of me? i get upset when the blogs i read don't update. and then i go more than a week without a post? boo, me. boo. and so: again with the pictures.

two weekends ago, i went down to washington d.c. to see my parents.

sup, d.c. still inspiring after all these years.

also inspiring: attending hillary clinton's concession speech with my mother. while i didn't necessarily want to get attached to either candidate this early, i admit to feeling sad. it was hard to listen to a strong, intelligent, brave woman capitulate. it felt important, being there.

then we went to a nationals game. they lost, miserably, to the giants. but it was made much better by the presidents race (big foam-headed presidents teetering along the diamond.)

we also spent an afternoon at the national gallery listening to my neighbor's father give a lecture on his amazing photography (randomly: my father has admired his work for years, we went to the speech, i suddenly had an uncanny sense that he might be his dad, and then he put up a picture i saw in my neighbor's apartment), seeing "sex and the city: the movie" (i will wait until everyone's had a legit chance to see it before i say how i really feel), and packing up a rental car with my boxes of books. monday my mother and i drove back to brooklyn and unpacked and ate at two boots (omg, smoked mozzarella) and went to bed.

early last week was abominably hot, so i forced s to buy and install a bedroom ac (best. purchase. ever.) and we existed primarily on ice and watermelon. last week was also all about work, so i didn't do all that much (although mk and i had a delicious dinner at barrio and then a delicious bottle of wine and some delicious work gossip on thursday night.) this past weekend was all about the apartment, so we spent friday organizing and saturday painting. pineapple grove is a bit bright, but i still love how its warmed up the living room. we also scooped up an excellent find at a stoop sale (who else thinks stoop sales are the best?): 12 fishs eddy dinner plates and 12 side plates in the pantone collection for only $30. they're probably the prettiest thing we own.

we've got a big jar of change that needs some counting. i think this weekend will be all about fun.

playing catch-up

2008-06-08T23:24:00.005-04:00

i'm a no-good, terrible, very bad blogger, but i have been too busy to update. a lack of internet makes updation a little trickier as well. but i promised an update about our apartment and the bowl-a-thon, so i'm going to resort to that old lazybones standby and do a picture post.

apartment

living room.

kitchen.

bedroom.

i know it looks a bit like a bomb went off (primarily a book and shoe bomb, i discovered in my unpacking) but can't you see its potential? think of these as before pics; i bet you can't wait until our apartment is posing in its formerly size 0XL pants.

bowling

my fellow charity bowlers (they feature in previous tales of happy hours, lost-watching parties and band concerts.)

we're an expressive bunch.

i didn't get many action shots, but we weren't all that active anyways. my teammates bowled well, i bowled terribly (but i did avoid any further injury), and we all had fun.

too tired to type

2008-06-02T17:07:00.002-04:00

on friday, s and i spent 16 hours moving, just us and a cargo van and the sustaining promise of greek food. i know my posts have been all "wah, so tired" but it's true! i don't think i have ever felt every muscle in my body ache at the same time. and after spending the day moving from a third-floor walk-up to a third-floor walk-up (which is insane, btw) i was so tired that i laid down on the ground (not the sidewalk, but almost) just so my ribcage would stop throbbing.

but, BUT, it was all for good! because now we are living in our lovely and wonderful new apartment in park slope, slowly unpacking and putting our lives in order and enjoying living alone. i know we've basically cohabitated for the past three years, camping out in each others dorm rooms and college apartments (and then the glory of boyland), but this is the first time we have really officially lived together. and it is wonderful. i love coming home to s, to our apartment, to our dishes and futon and movie nights. it might be the honeymoon period still, but so far this is pretty much bliss.

i am updating from work (oh, the scandal! but i have been so productive today) only because we don't have internet at home yet. but i promise to update again soon because tonight we bowl! i'll post pictures and a great recap of the night's hilarity. i predict rediculousness indeed.

i want to make a pun on "gala"

2008-05-28T23:17:00.003-04:00

but i can't i am too tired.

the venue: the mandarin oriental hotel, 36th floor, looking out over the tree tops of central park and the building beyond, lit up like a string of christmas lights after the sky darkened.

the performers: the adorable children of the special music school and philip glass. philip glass, playing his own composition, captivating the audience for a few moments. it was so beautiful, listening to philip glass, looking out the windows at blue blue sky.

the food and drink: begged for (maybe even flirted for?) but worth it.

the celebrities: usher passing through the lobby (short, cute, unobtrusive), bob kerrey (who said to me at check in "bob kerrey", tiny and dapper in his tuxedo, and i said "kerrey?" like i didn't know who he was), philip. glass.

the train ride home: never have i been so glad to see an f train.

this is one of those "only in new york" nights, when you feel so privileged to be a part of this city and its communities of artists, intellectuals and philanthropists. but next time, i want to be seated at the table.

OH, and it's not too late! i am still begging for my charity bowling team to help raise money for HIV/AIDS research through broadway cares. you don't have to sponsor my every pin bowled; if you go to the link below, you can donate online. (you can also mail cash and checks to me in brooklyn. email me for my real live mailing address.) every $5 helps (although every $25 helps even more!) if you donate, i promise i will bowl my best in your name, and in the name of raising money for a very important cause. you can click here to donate $5, $10, $25 and $100,000,000 to the cause. i know it can feel like a lot, $5, but it would make a real difference to those working to find a cure. if you have ever read something i wrote and liked it, or laughed at it, or thought about it again, please consider donating. i promise even a little bit makes a big difference. the bowl-a-thon is next monday, june 2, so please donate soon!

downunder

2008-05-26T19:49:00.004-04:00

i know we put it to a vote, but we didn't get to go into the city this weekend for fun galore, because we are now important grown-ups who have to do things like shop for housewares and pack and watch episodes of "the wire." but we did have a lovely weekend.

we spent saturday afternoon walking around dumbo, exploring the many new and beautiful furniture shops and clothing boutiques that have taken over the former industrial neighborhood. while i had heard all sorts of things about dumbo, i had never actually been, and i totally fell in love. it is like a pretend new york, all old buildings turned into beautiful lofts, with cobbled streets and beautiful people, full of resturants and chic stores, with a view of the manhattan skyline to boot. we saw multiple weddings and a fashion photo shoot, so you know i'm sold. (another neighborhood to add to our "when we make it big, we'll live there" list--here's looking at you, west village.) we started with shopping along front street (pictured above), including a stop at the dreamy design store prague kolektiv and then wandered through brooklyn bridge park. the park was holding 125th birthday celebrations for the beloved bridge (you don't look a day over 124!) and while we were late for the music and too early for the movie, we did enjoy a stroll through the park. lovely, right?

sunday s had to work so i packed and did crosswords (a real lady of leisure, no?) today we had brunch with our couple friends, my owf and her boy (this is a goal of mine, couple friends. we sort-of had them in college, but i love couple friends and we've never gotten any great ones off the ground, but aa and p seem to make a great match) at cafe luluc, a super cute spot in carroll gardens. (can we just talk about how much i love the french tradition of eggs served with fries? it surprised me the first time, but then i was like "hello, genius." there are few things i like more than french fries. those french, they really get me, you know?) aa and p have lived in boerum hill for five years now, so they are like our sage old friends, full of "have you seen this?" and "oh, you have to go there!" i feel like a little kid when they get started, but it really is wonderful to have friends who are so happy to play tour guide.

the rest of the afternoon pre-s-on-a-train-to-work was spent packing (dear goodness, how did we fit so much into so little space?) and then napping. for me, that is. it is very suddenly summer here in our fair city, and my best defense, beyond ac (which we will not install until we move into the new apartment), is a nap. seriously, i am a southern belle, aren't i, napping away the afternoon. now i am sitting here, sweating in front of the fan, getting ready to do a crossword or two. it's back to work tomorrow, and then a busy week (we are having our gala on wednesday, which should make for exciting posting) capped off by our big move. i promise words and pictures later.

more scot-cops (like "hot cops" but sadly without the GOB)

2008-05-22T19:05:00.002-04:00

so, remember my post about the scopsman? (ha! it still makes me laugh.) i have seen him a few other times in the neighborhood, but tonight i saw another scottish cop in vest and kilt, only this one was standing on my corner playing bagpipes. bagpipes. on my corner. for no reason. (can anyone think of a reason? is there a holiday i am missing?)

also, no one but s voted on the weekend's activities, which means he wins.

us weekend

2008-05-19T18:49:00.003-04:00

this weekend was nice and relaxing. friday's weather was discouraging, so i spent the day doing laundry and lazing, and then we ordered in indian food and caught up on our season finales. (oh my gosh, lost.) saturday was gorgeous, so we spent the day on foot, walking park slope with a stop for tasti delite and a ramble through the park. everyone was out on saturday, soaking in the sunshine and blue skies. prospect park hosted baseball games for the small and tall, a wedding or two, a number of picnics, many happy dogs, and us, holding hands and making plans (for the new apartment.) saturday night i went to an 80s-themed birthday party tragically cut short by the fact that i had to work at 8 am on sunday.

it was a brooklyn weekend--i didn't get on the train once, and i definitely didn't go into manhattan. it was a nice weekend, but we've been so consumed with apartments and travel that i feel like we haven't been exploring as much as i like to. for valentines day, i made s an "us map" to new york city, a sort of resident's tourist guide of the places i want us to visit. and so i propose a poll (you can vote in the comments. and s, you can vote too): which of the following should we do next?

1. a trip to the south street seaport to see bodies the exhibition, which results in a post full of "eww! ... but also ... cool!"

2. a day at the museum of natural history. more eww/cool, but artsier. (this post may require references to noah baumbach.)

3. a morning walking the lower east side on the orchard street walking tour. it'll be more blogging about bagels, and other important jewish-new york landmarks.

vote or die.

fun and money

2008-05-16T11:43:00.002-04:00

last night was the much anticipated work happy hour. i left work early on wednesday feeling ill, but i managed to rally to see my coworkers thursday evening. i have never been a happy hour person, i don't actively seek out those kinds of deals, but when i can get a bombay sapphire and tonic in nyc for $3, i think it may be time to change. anyways, we started at a fratty bar on the UWS (beer pong, anyone?) and hung out with everyone we work with under the age of 40 (minus my neighbor, who had to work.) then aa, mk and i came home to brooklyn for some delicious greek food and wine at olive vine, which is a neighborhood favorite of mine. (their hummus is great, their grape leaves are excellent. and so cheap!) we got drunk and gossiped about work. and then we decided we weren't going to talk about the office, and instead talked about "the office" (s and i haven't seen the season finale, so don't tell!) and then talked about work some more, because really, it is inevitable. we also have a love of theater, food and brooklyn in common, but it was thursday and we just got a new coworker, so office it was. i walked aa to the train and myself home (i feel pretty safe in my neighborhood, although the apartment we are moving to feels even safer, so i am very excited for that!)

this is not necessarily a post about new york, but i will be doing it in new york, and you'll get to read about it later (and if you donate i'll give you a major shout-out on here) so here goes:

i know that everyone i know is broke and trying to make it here, and usually i am not one for begging for cash, but i am willing to ask when it is for a good cause. my work friends and i have formed a charity bowling team to help raise money for HIV/AIDS research through broadway cares. it's sort of like an old-fashioned jog-a-thon, but you don't have to sponsor my every pin bowled; if you go to the link i have so helpfully included, you can donate online. (you can also mail cash and checks to me in brooklyn. email me for my real live mailing address.) every $5 helps (although every $25 helps even more!) if you donate, i promise i will bowl my best in your name, and in the name of raising money for a very important cause. you can click on this link to donate $5, $10, $25 and $100,000,000 to the cause. i know it can feel like a lot, $5, but it would make a real difference to those working to find a cure. if you have ever read something i wrote and liked it, or laughed at it, or thought about it again, please consider donating. i promise even a little bit makes a big difference.

also, if you know of anyone looking for a way to donate to a great cause, please pass this link along. thanks! m

old new york, young new york

2008-05-13T23:24:00.003-04:00

one of the things i like about my job is the variety of people i get to work with. i especially like the elderly people, because they are so comfortable with themselves. like marthann, who wears the most amazing outfits i have ever seen. like an all-denim outfit that included denim wings on her pants legs, and a necklace and earring set she had hand-made out of house keys. or joyce, who has worn heidi braids every day of her life, and probably cat's-eye liner for the last fifty years. or evelyn who gave us all copies of a cd she had made of herself singing french opera songs. she is my favorite, evelyn, in part because she always seems completely surprised that i recognize her, pleasantly surprised, and calls me things like "lovely" and "sweet". today she looked at my name plate and said "oh, lastname? is that how you say it?" i have one of those impossible-to-pronounce-unless-you've-heard-it-before surnames, and when she pronounced it perfectly, i was surprised and said that yes, that was it. then she asked if it was czech (and it is slovak), so i was even further surprised. she went on to tell me that she was israeli, and was shipped to prague when she was a young woman to work for a diplomat there. a real idiot, she said. she was pregnant and had to hide her pregnancy (or she would have lost her job), and he used to call her into his office every five minutes for various reasons. there was a safe in her office that she had to lock every time she stepped away, and every five minutes her little tiny pregnant self had to lock and unlock and open the door of this giant safe. "i had an easy delivery," she confided, "after getting up and lifting the safe so many times." she still remembers driving through czechoslovakia in the middle of a rainy night (which i told her was still more than i had seen of it.) now she lives in new york, with the daughter she put through college ("she has more education than i ever had" she told me) who chairs the german department at nyu. she almost stopped her story half way in, claiming i wouldn't want to hear her old story. i told her to remember more for the next time she came in.

tonight i met up with a good friend of mine from college, in town for a few days for an interview, at pianos on the lower east side. (it's been a real reunion week for me.) we talked the usual, discussing current relationships, jobs and living situations (that adult stuff), and he made me laugh like he always has. he is not seriously considering a move to new york, but it was good to see him and catch up, to pretend this is what it could be like if he moved here. (i think my goal is to eventually get everyone i care about to move out here so that i have my circle around me again.) i stayed out later than i usually do when i am alone (i'm a real wimp about that train ride home late), in part because i was sad to say goodbye to him. i miss people, ya know? but it is good to feel young and free in new york.

guest post: magical-detroit

2008-05-12T23:03:00.003-04:00

not really. detroit was a little gross. a little too deserted for my tastes. (as my dear zp said, he lives in bushwick, and there were parts of detroit that made him nervous.) but we were there for a wedding of two of my dearest friends, not to take in the sights of the motor city.

i always wanted an older brother, but i wanted him to be funny and smart and really nice to me and sort-of goofy and date someone really cool that i could look up to. that's how i feel about alex and katy, like they are my friends, but also like they are a part of my family. (i cried when he told me they got engaged. from happiness. that is how much i like them. and weddings.) so for them, i would go to detroit. zp, s and i flew out friday afternoon, escaping nyc's sudden torrential rainstorm on friday, and were picked up by alex and joe ro. we ate lasagna at alex's parents' house in grosse point and played pool and darts in the basement (i felt about as far from new york as possible) and then went to our hotel. the renaissance center (or "ren cen" as the locals call it) is three towers of hotel, gm office buildings (which explained the cars parked in the motor lobby), and restaurants, shops, bars and weird mall-like space where a country festival took place our first night. we caught up over drinks in the bar and then spent the rest of the evening filming lip dubs on the various hotel floors. (never done a lip dub? they're too much fun, especially with the boys you did improv comedy with for three years in college.)

saturday was the wedding, and we got up and ready and headed to the whitney, a well-restored old mansion. alex and katy got married on a landing in front of a gorgeous stained glass window with traditional vows and then some words they had written themselves. i cried, of course, as s squeezed my hand. then we had brunch in a warm, sun-filled former parlor, and laughed as their parents and friends toasted them in the main room. (and ok, i got a little teary again.) they cut the cake (seriously, so delicious) and took pictures, and we hung out with alex's little brother, a detroit artist. then it was back to the hotel for naps before we went to the russell industrial center, a space that has been converted into beautiful, light, enormous artist studios. (i said to zp, "this is what new york used to be like," except the stairwells smelled better.) there were some great things and some ok things, but i love wandering through studios or gallery spaces looking at new work. it was a great way to spend some time before we headed to the majestic for the afterparty, with bowling and karaoke and pizza and beer. i am not the best bowler, nor am i a stellar karaoke-r, but i have a lot of fun doing both, especially after pizza and beer, and double-especially with those boys i love so much. we hung out until late, and headed home to the ren cen for more drinks, food and goofiness before everyone passed out at four am. i was nervous about missing the flight, so i stayed up to pack and check their breathing, and slept very little.

sunday was quiet, and we napped in the cab to the airport. zp, s and i boarded our tiny plane in the rain back to nyc, and joe ro headed home to la. we spent the afternoon lazing, tired from the trip. it was one of the best trips i have taken in a long time. i am pretty good at fooling myself, distracting me with new places or people or shiny things, but then it hits so hard: i miss my friends a lot. zp, joe ro, alex and i saw each other at least three times a week for three years in college (we were in an improv troup together), more than i saw my family. they were my family, and i miss them so much. it was so great to see them again, to laugh at the stupid things we've always laughed at, but also to revel in grown-up life together, to celebrate each others' successes, and to celebrate alex's marriage. i write about what makes me feel like an adult, but nothing has made me feel more grown-up than flying in to see one of my dear friends get married, to have a reunion with people i love and haven't seen in almost a year. it was a great weekend, and while i was glad to come home to new york, i was sad to leave their company. (though it should be noted: zp lives here in bk as well, and it is shameful that i see him as rarely as i do. we made a promise to see each other more often, and i plan to try to follow through.)

now i am back, and with good news to boot! we got the apartment we thought we didn't get! we sign our lease wednesday, and i am already majorly nesting, daydreaming about sleeper sofas and wall colors. seriously, i am overjoyed.

oh, and also: i added a new blog to the list: cellphone pix, zp's photoblog. (it is as it sounds.) i like it a lot, not the least because you can see a picture of me trying to quick-dry my feet at laguardia on friday after the rain.

park lunch

2008-05-07T21:28:00.004-04:00

ok, so work happy hour got canceled (which i am not too broken up about.) and we didn't get the apartment, which i am a bit broken up about. (though i am trying to look at it as the opportunity to find something even more perfect.) but i did have a lovely lunch with s, who worked in the morning and then in the evening, leaving him free to meet me for a delightful picnic in central park. we went to balduccis for provisions and then walked to a shady bench and enjoyed our food while listening to an angry park security guard complaining about some girl who liked to gossip (um, pot calling the kettle something?) and wanted her to bake something with sugar in it ("bitch knows my kids is diabetic!" was one choice line) to her silently put-upon friend. it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but not at all humid, slight breeze, squirrels gamboling, birds chirping (and eating the noodles someone had dumped on the path), ladies complaining.

i wanted s to write a subway stories guest post, but he is blog shy, so i will share: today he sat on the train with a man with deli bags full of live fish (in water), taking them home to his four aquariums. "i just like fish!" the man kept explaining, also careful to clarify "i don't sell them, i only buy them. i just like fish!" apparently he was a large man with waist-length dredlocks, with bags upon bags of colorful fish. i wish i had seen him.

eight belles

2008-05-06T20:57:00.002-04:00

hi there, sweet blog o' mine. sorry i've been absent, it's just that i am still trying to find an apartment. anyways.

s and i had a mostly relaxing weekend, sleeping in, cooking good food, looking at apartments. friday we went into the city and bought him new work clothes and shoes (i got him to buy those docksiders, which really feeds into the crush i have on the preppie 80s look.) we also saw "21" which i enjoyed, though i am aware it was not the most important movie to come out this weekend. (we had not bought our tickets in advance.) we also had the distinct pleasure of going to a derby party. (in a not-so-derby-party neighborhood, but oh well.) i wore a big hat and a dress and pearls, s wore a tie and seersucker pants. i quipped that we looked like we were going to church, and instead we were going to drink mint juleps and bet on horses. it was a lot of fun, and i got to share the one horse racing story i have, about visiting the horse plantation that spawned seabiscuit, war general, secretariat, funnycide and barbaro. we didn't stay out late (s had to work from home, like a good little freelancer), but we did enjoy the party.

this week is all about getting ready for the wedding we are going to in detroit this weekend (aa, my owf gets to go to france this summer for a wedding, and i get to go to detroit) and finding a place to live. i am becoming somewhat ambivalent about our impending homelessness; it will work itself out, won't it? tomorrow night is a work happy hour, sure to be entertaining as i work with some people i love and some people i think are really weird, so hold me to it blog, and i will post again tomorrow.

eh, spaghetti!

2008-04-30T23:30:00.002-04:00

i totally forgot this excellent overheard from friday night (that i overheard with my own ears.)

toy soldier guarding fao schwartz: the store is now closed. no exceptions.
a man wearing pants that could only be european: (said in the worst italian accent i have ever heard, sorry if it was real) but meester, we are from eetaly!

we almost died laughing. seriously, my italian accent is better.

on vacation in my own backyard

2008-04-29T20:54:00.004-04:00

i had a lovely long weekend with my parents. i really like my parents, in large part because they are my parents, and in large part they are also my really nice, smart, interesting friends who don't let me pay for my own cupcakes. we have a lot in common, aside from being related, and i really like talking to them. and i would write that even if they didn't read this.

friday we took them to clemens for incredible fresh tex-mex and my dad bought a mexican wrestlers mask from the proprietors. then we took the subway (it was weird for me to picture my parents on the subway; they don't strike me as train people, so it was funny to ride with them) up to bryant park, where their lovely hotel was. we walked a square up to fao schwartz (everyone loves giant toys!) and along the park to my office, and then down 9th avenue to a delicious little italian place. then back to bryant park and to bed for us all.

saturday we brought them terrace bagels (i am a really good daughter) in the city, and all trekked to various museums, my dad to the met for the jasper johns gray show, my mom, s and i to the guggenheim for the incredible cai guo qiang show. it was a really intricate installation, with site-specific work about the intersection of cai's ancient chinese heritage, modern chinese upbringing and current new york life. it is the kind of show best experienced in person (so that you can walk among the wolves or take the yak canoe through the built river), and really a once in a lifetime opportunity, since some of the pieces were created specifically for this space. it was a lot to think about, and we talked about it the rest of the weekend. after an adventure (two closed subway stations and a bus!) we headed down to the village and the deliciousness that is john's pizzeria. once on bleecker it is difficult, of course, to not go to magnolia for some buttercream love, and my kind pa stood in line while we cooed over marc jacobs. (in retrospect, i should have tried something on. i probably could have gotten the sweet gift of good design.) i then walked us back up to the flatiron (with a stop to buy cushier socks and shoes) to fishs eddy, where we all admired the cheeky dinnerware. my mother and i, always the avant-garde pair, saw a really great new play at nyu, "i have loved strangers" (by anne washburn.) it was set in ancient new york, and various plotlines about a corrupt king, true and false prophets, and revolutionaries were intricately woven together. (a post-modern apocalypse play is a great follow up to an installation about controlled violence and painting with gunpowder. and cupcakes.) we cabbed uptown (i think i walked them out) and met s in the hotel bar for a drink.

sunday they made it to brooklyn on their own, and we walked park slope, stopping in to cutesy shops and spending lots of time at brooklyn superhero supply. after a gourmet market lunch, i sent them off and spent the afternoon looking for apartments (we are still future-homeless.) it was a full weekend, but a grand one, and now i am looking forward to the next one. i plan to sleep in.

let the right one in

2008-04-25T00:04:00.002-04:00

for future reference, when i say "i don't like scary movies, and i get scared really easily", a movie about a vampire and a little boy who fall in love is still likely to scare me, despite all the love stuff. especially if set in 1980s sweden.

tonight mk, aa and i went to a screening of "let the right one in," a very sweet swedish film about oskar, a loner who is ostracized by his peers but befriended by a strange girl who lives next door. when eli and her father move in, people in the town start dying mysterious violent deaths, and oskar soon realized that eli is a vampire (with a heart of gold), and his only friend. i really liked it. it was incredibly atmospheric and the acting was superb, especially by the two children, and i was on the edge of my seat most of the film. it was interesting, too, where the film found its heros (in an outcast and a monster) who were the most human characters of all. the film was picked up by magnolia pictures, and will be released soon in the us, and i definitely recommend it.

we waited around to say hi to aa's movie exec boyfriend (thanks for the tickets!) and i looked in vain for famous people, and then we decided to look for food. i remembered the dessert truck was quite near us, so we shared a chocolate bread pudding with creme anglaise (oh my goodness, so delicious) sitting on a washington square stoop. then we came home to brooklyn and had drinks and cheese at sample, which was cute though not necessarily my style. (i am not a huge wine and cheese person, and while my drink was good, it was tiny.) plus it was a little on the warm side, and it's not hot enough outside yet to be too hot indoors. anyways, very cute, and i appreciated that they suggested it because of my well-known love of vintage maps. (which were wonderful.) mk and i cabbed home (no way was i walking as possible vampire prey) and now i need to clean before my parents arrive tomorrow. till next time.

oh, and because i know a few people read this, i'd love some feedback. what are you doing this weekend?

low art on the lower east side

2008-04-23T23:02:00.003-04:00

i am sorry blog, but with my new love the apartment search, i have been neglecting you. (last night i sat by the phone waiting for a landlord to call, and when he said i was very nice but it just wouldn't work out, i hung up the phone and then cried. this is just like a bad relationship!)

i had a four day weekend that s and i didn't really know what to do with, so we went to a friend's band's show and cooked food and looked at apartments and took naps and did laundry and walked around in the sunshine and ran errands and just generally lazed.

tonight mk and aa and i went to see a show on the lower east side (i will not print the name, i don't want to hurt them) that was one of the worst pieces of theatre i have seen in a long time. the show itself was awful, pieced together and incoherent, awkward and not funny when it meant to be and unintentionally hilarious at other times. it included clearly fake weapons, a "crazy audience member" who interrupted three times, a random lesbian kiss (that came out of nowhere-ha! a great pun), gratuitous cursing and drug references and songs that i might've written in third grade. AWFUL.

we prefaced it with a delicious dinner at veselka, where we shared pierogis, latkes, stuffed cabbage, beet salad and kielbasa--they ate it, not me--like the good little jewish center employees we are. seriously delicious, we all walked out fat and happy (into the trap of awful theatre.) have i mentioned how lucky i feel to have made such fantastic friends from work? it makes the job worth doing, sometimes.

tomorrow we are going to a premier at the tribeca film festival, and this weekend my parents are coming to visit, so i should have lots to say soon. stay with me, readers in sweden, chicago and lake charles, louisiana. i promise to write more soon!

baby love

2008-04-16T20:44:00.004-04:00

new york is filled with adorable babies in strollers and walkers, climbing on subway seats and toddling through the parks. today the cutest little mini downtown boy got on the train. he was probably about four or five years old, and he was wearing a plaid fedora over curly hair, a tan jacket, tan pants and little plaid airwalk slip-ons. (clearly dressed by his dad.) he was kind of squirmy, and i think he kicked or bumped the lady next to him, because she had the sourest look on her face. i think his dad just ignored her though (which i would have done too) because she kept over-exaggeratedly rubbing her leg or ankle. some people aren't kid people, which i totally respect, but come on.

i am definitely kid people, however. i love children. and i think i might have some spring baby fever. last night i dreamt s and i had three little kids, the youngest was named owen, and i carried him around on my shoulders. a few nights ago, i dreamt i was about to give birth to a new baby (we already had a son named parker) that i wanted to name molly, but i was waiting for s to get to the hospital. parker, molly and owen, huh? still better than one of my most favorite overheards:

angry woman to friend: i have a contention with the way people pronounce my daughter's name. i did not name my daughter 'lady nasty'! i named my baby girl 'la dynasty.'

ah-ma-zing.

he's just not that into you

2008-04-15T20:56:00.003-04:00

i know that it is a great writing cliche to say that "___" is just like dating! seriously, it is just like a relationship! but i can't help it, and here i go being trite, commonplace and hackneyed: trying to find an apartment in new york is just like dating.

1. you answer ads on craiglist. i've had more than one missed connection with a cute apartment drenched in sunlight and newly renovated all for just $1200/month (no brokers fee!) just off the f train. it's about as much a fantasy as the idea that that cute hipster was really eyeing you on the L train monday morning.

2. you find yourself dressing up for the occasion. sometimes i think "yes, jeans and sneakers! i'm a casual girl, no need to pretend i'm fancier than i am! i'm hip like this neighborhood!" and then sometimes i think "better put on those pearls, i want to look like i can afford this place." (well, fake pearls. but it was the UES.) i put as much, if not more, thought into what i wear to look at apartments as i ever did back in my datin' days. (i think about what i wear around s, too, but let's face it: he is as impressed as he will ever be.) and on days when i have to go straight to viewings after work, i am concerned about what i am wearing, and if it is good enough. seriously.

3. you wait by the phone. these landlords and broker, oh they promise to call you back. but they don't. not for minutes, sometimes hours (occasionally days), toying with you as you wait breathless by the phone. or the gmail. seriously, i can't stop checking my gmail. but that might not be new.

4. you do things that are out of character. have you ever met me? i love to sleep. i value sleep higher than most other things in life, and this morning i got up to look an apartment at 9 am before work, when normally i would roll out of bed at 9:10 (cursing the fact that i had overslept, yes. but that is beside the point.) last saturday i dragged s into manhattan to look at apartments on the man's one morning off. we skipped bagels, that is how serious i am.

5. sometimes it's not you, it's them. sometimes the apartment has just been rented. sometimes it gets rented as you are deciding. sometimes you fall in love with a perfect no-fee park slope beauty and four hours later when you call to write a deposit, it has just been deposited-on. you have been deposited-on. and even though it's them, it still hurts.

6. you question if they like your for your money. we work hard for our money, s and i, but the fact remains that we are broke. we have stellar credit (or at least i do), and earn enough each month to pay what we are looking at, but the fact is, we are young and underpaid and if we earned the 40x the rent they require, the rent we think we can pay, well, we'd be looking for nicer, more expensive apartments. which means we have to deal with guarantors and long credit checks, and i totally get it. if i were a landlord, maybe i wouldn't want to deal with it either.

7. you're totally smitten. apartment-hunting is my new workday fantasy; i dream about finding a floor-through brownstone apartment on president street in the slope, just waiting for us to move in. it's all i talk about, too. i bet my friends are rolling their eyes about me and my new love, the one bedroom.

8. you're always a bridesmaid, never a bride. eventually you start to feel like the apartment spinster, as if everyone else has found a place, and you will be left out in the cold, living in the park with your twelve cats and hair curlers, going to bed every night with a good book, your friends politely ignoring your invites to imaginary housewarmings. "poor m, they will say. she was such a nice girl, until she fell in love with that flashy downtown condo (who took up with that i-banker), and then it was all over." i'm starting to feel a little panicky (though s, ever the rock of logic, reminds me that we have a month), a little like it will never happen for me.

9. you consider the last resort: an arranged marriage. young and naive, i thought i could find our dream apartment online by myself, without paying one of those "broker fees" i kept hearing about. the truth is, you see more and better apartments with a broker, which costs between $1800-4000 (yes, i too choked on my own whatever when she told me that.) but the more i look at random things i have found on cl and beyond, the more i think that maybe there is something to the broker after all.

i know all this sounds crazy, but just like dating (seriously, it is just like a relationship!), i have begun to doubt myself. i can't sign a lease on my charm and batted lashes alone, and the longer it takes, the more i worry. i just have to remind myself: i found my s, i will find my apartment, we will make it a home, and i never have to move again, if i don't want to. those twelve cats will have to squeeze in however they can.

florent!

2008-04-10T22:06:00.002-04:00

dear florent,

we love you. i love the vintage maps that make up your menus and wall decoration. i love the friendly, well-dressed gay waiters. i love the louisiana crab cakes and kir royales. i love the cobblestones i teetered over in the heels i am not used to wearing on a date with my delightful boyfriend. i love the t-shirts you sell (especially the marie antionette.) i love the florent timeline on the board.

s loves "the best burger [he] has ever had in the city."

we love you. please don't close.

love, m and s

hip! hip! jorge!

2008-04-07T21:06:00.006-04:00

saturday was the most beautiful day i have seen in a long time here in nyc, and it was perfect timing, too: we went to the yankees game. yankee stadium is in it's last season (you could see the cranes slowly building the new ballpark just beyond left field) and i just had to see a game in the stadium my grandfather used to go to. i bought s tickets for his birthday back in march, and all week they kept predicting rain, so when we woke up to blue skies and sun, i knew the day was totally blessed.

yankee stadium has its own subway stop, it's own little world. the surrounding streets are devoted to baseball paraphenalia (my favorite store: stan the man's baseball land for men, women and children.) we entered through gate four and climbed slowly to the top of the stadium, seated high above the field (sorry again, sweetie) with a view of green plaid fields and miniature men in white. it was a perfect, gorgeous day, and despite the cold breeze, i was happy in my new hat, pretzel in hand, nestled up against my love, watching the bronx bombas (as s liked to say. he does a good silly accent, that boy.)

they lost, the yankees, though not as pitifully as they almost did. we were down 6-1 for a lot of the game, until jorge posada sent some runners home. the crowd went totally crazy, which is of course why we go to sporting events in the first place, that joy in shared victory (they've done psychological studies about it, how happy people can be when their teams are winning.) the guys behind us were a powerful cheering section, going horse with their cries of "here we go yankees, here we go!", "john-ny dam-mon", and my favorite "hip! hip! jorge!" we had a yankees family in front of us, mom and dad and sons and daughters and a granddaughter, all in hats and jerseys, noo yawk voices calling down the guy carrying hot dogs. i felt like we were a part of the crowd--no one knew we weren't just as die-hard as them (i think i put on a pretty good show, too, jumping out of my seat at the exciting moments.) it was just such a perfect afternoon.

i took the cutest pictures of us in our matching hats, too. if i give up on my psuedo-anonymity (i mean, only my friends read this anyway), i shall post them.

big love

2008-04-02T23:41:00.002-04:00

this is my most favorite thing i have seen on the train in a long time:

a man, fairly non-descript, reading The Sweet Refuge 1: I Will Love Again from Precious Hearts Romances, The Best Love Stories of All Time.

it made me smile. and furtively copy it down in my moleskin.

also, today i loved: the gangs of mormons in suits, posing for pictures like religious-pilgrim-tourists in front of the upper west side church of jesus christ of the latter-day saints. at first i saw all these men in suits and i figured there was some sort of banking convention until i saw a goofy twenty-something kid posing with hands up and a silly smile with the temple in the background. amazing. normally that kind of shameless touristing is relegated to times square.

new crush: gustave courbet

2008-03-30T21:18:00.009-04:00

he's pretty good looking, right? the bohemian artist crush?

friday night i met s after work, the plan being to head up to the guggenheim to see the cai guo qiang show that i am desperate to see. but when we walked up to the museum, the line stretched out the door and down the block, and i just didn't want to peer past ten pairs of shoulders, even if i was paying what i wanted. being in the neighborhood and the proud owners of memberships (thanks again, mom) we decided to spend the evening in the met. they've got two really fantastic and different shows right now. we started with the gustave courbet show, a remarkable collection of paintings. we'd spoken briefly about courbet in my college survey courses (which tend to hit the "big points"), and we talked mainly about his social paintings, depicting the peasant classes in his hometown, never before the subject of serious paintings of great beauty (if included in art, they were idealized or background characters, which is what made realist scenes like the burial at ornans so shocking and spectacular.) so what i didn't know is how prolific courbet was, at realist scenes, portraits of friends and family, nudes, land and seascapes, images of the hunt, and my favorite, self-portraits. courbet was pretty handsome (hence the crush), but what i really loved about the portraits is that he liked to paint himself in character.

the desperate man has been incorporated into the show's logo, and stares you down as you enter. his eyes are mesmerizing (i promise the internet does this no justice), and while he looks crazed, he also radiates with purpose, a desperate man on a mission.

i also really liked the wounded man (i mean, he's an old-hollywood heartthrob, am i right?) this originally included a sleeping woman, and no wound, but when he broke up with then-girlfriend virginie, she got painted out of the picture and he shot himself with crimson paint. (ladies have never had an easy time in the art world.) aside from my new crush, it was a really interesting show, and i felt i developed a new appreciation for an artist i mainly knew from a throw-away joke in picasso at the lapin agile.

we followed courbet with the jasper johns: gray show, which was really beautiful and powerful in its simplicity. johns, a prolific artist fond of exploring the repetition of familiar images and motifs seen in new ways, is particularly interested in the color (or lack of?) gray, and this exhibit is full of paintings, assemblages and prints in the monotone. it's actually much more visually arresting than it might sounds, especially because johns is a master of so many different art-making techniques (i was particularly wowed by his prints on plastic--they have a really incredible translucency to them) and employs a variety of patterns and images. i think s was less impressed by johns (he really liked the courbets), but i was in modern art heaven.

post-museum, we headed down to e 6th street for some indian food. when i went to london a few years ago, we went to the east end for dinner one night (london's curry capital.) it was the only place where i have ever walked down the street as people tried, one after the other, to lure me into their restaurant. s had never experienced this before, so 6th st and its hawkers caught him a little off-guard. we got ambushed into one restaurant, and narrowly escaped with our lives when i realized it wasn't the one we wanted (seriously, they chased me shouting "miss! miss! this table!" as i ran for the door, politely refusing all the way) before finding some delicious food, chewed to the dulcet tones of a sitar player one table away.

saturday was our lazy day (s paid his taxes, i did crossword puzzles in the sunshine from the window) until we decided to go out with our roommates to union hall last night. have i written of my love for union hall? it's what i imagine a turn-of the century men's club to look like, with red velvet sofas and bookshelves to the ceiling, indoor bocce ball courts and painted portraits of shriners on the walls. we put ourselves on the list to play, but bocce is quite popular with park slope hip kids, and i was content just to watch. there was burlesque in the basement last night, but we stayed upstairs to talk and drink and talk some more. union hall feels cozy, like you're hanging out at the apartment of your coolest uncle. we went out early, and got home in time for me to go to bed and wake up ready to head to work this morning. it's about as perfect as a saturday gets, i think.

today

2008-03-28T00:49:00.003-04:00

today i helped my boss write a witty birthday card for philip roth. seriously, philip roth. they had lunch a few weeks ago because he wrote about her boyfriend in a part of the human stain, and she bought him a card and then couldn't figure out what to say.

dear philip,
if you are reading this, i made that funny monica-lewinsky-purse-company joke. it was me. let's be friends.
love, m

i want to study at the graffiti research lab

2008-03-26T23:24:00.001-04:00

i think this is amazing:

G.R.L. @ M.o.M.A. from fi5e on Vimeo.

anyone want to go to the armory show with me this weekend? if i used my aging student id, it'll only be $10.

best weekend ever

2008-03-22T19:45:00.004-04:00

some weekends, i think, are really fun and relaxing and you see people you like and have fun. some weekends are productive--you get some chores done and feel good. THIS weekend, however, was a fabulous combination of the two.

thursday: s and i went out to dinner at the delicious miracle grill, this cute little southwestern place in park slope. i like anything with tequila, but the limon fresco was particularly good. we had one of those big relationship talks over dinner, too, and i was further reminded of why he is so important to me, why this relationship is the best i've ever had (and ever will have.) i took him out for amaretto sours at 12th street bar and grill, which i like better in the daytime. (it's quieter, with fewer dudes watching basketball on tv.) but it's a nice spot, and it feels like a neighborhood place, which i like a lot. we ambled home to push a few epis of house m.d. and fell asleep.

friday: i had an appointment to get my taxes done, which i know sounds all fancy, but i had five jobs in three different states last year, and i am not so good with the math and the numbers, so i walked down to colacino partners and handed over my w2s. s had to bring me my checkbook, so in thanks i took him out to brunch at dizzy's, which is one of my favorite neighborhood spots, and usually packed full of local families. we ate and chatted and squeezed out to head home so that s could go to work. i did laundry (the machine is finally fixed) and then headed into manhattan to the park avenue armory (which is such a cool building) to meet up with a friend from work, bhr. he's also a former art history major, so we had a great time discussing the pieces in the whitney biennial. (unless you read this and go sunday, you've missed the chance to see some very cool stuff, at least at this satellite space.) i particularly liked the piece by mk guth, ties of protection and safekeeping (2007-08), an interactive installation, where the artist had people write on red flannel in response to the question "what is worth protecting?" (which of course provides a multitude of responses, some faux-profound like "children" and some silly like "catties are god's favorite creatures," which really made me laugh.) the flannel flags were then braided into long ropes with artificial hair and strung around a room, so that the pieces brushed your shoulders as you walked through. it looked like a strange set-piece, and i liked the feeling of standing in a room strung with wished-for protection. also worth my free admission was dj olive (gregor asch)'s triage (2008), a tented room with cots that we laid down on in order to listen to the soundscape. it was a totally different way to experience an installation, and i loved listening to the piece. (also, this middle-aged asian tourist was totally freaked out by a woman who had fallen asleep experiencing the piece. she didn't believe us when we told her the woman was real and just asleep, and got really close to her, just to check, and then jumped back in fright and ran away when the sleeper turned her head. then the woman took pictures. it was hilarious.) last night was the co-worker park slope happy hour no. 2, as organized by myself and ls, another work friend. bhr and i took the train to bar tano, a totally cute bar on a not so totally cute corner. my owf, her boyfriend (whom i had not yet met, but really liked), my neighbor, his roommate and ls were all there, and we had a nice evening talking work and non-work. (i also had the most delicious drink ever, the tano, which is muddled orange, whiskey, triple sec and some other things. to-die-for, i thought. i know this now sounds like the weekend of acohol, but it wasn't really.) after a while, and being joined by another co-worker, we decided to get mexican food and hang out at our apartment. the six of us converged on boyland and ate, drank and played wii for a few hours. i really really like the group i've met at work. the young contingent, at least. everyone is a lot of fun, creative and smart and looking to find new ways to hang out. (next up: basketball on the roof playground.)

saturday: s and i spent our morning in ritual, eating bagels, drinking coffee and watching tv. (i love our saturday morning tradition. i look forward to it every week.) i mentioned i wanted to clean up the kitchen before we did anything else, and my off-handed comment turned into an intense afternoon of spring cleaning. i scrubbed the kitchen and did four more loads of laundry, s cleaned and organized the bedroom, and together we tackled the living room. (the bathroom is its own beast, to be done sometime this week.) it feels like a new apartment (almost), and i took great delight in opening the windows and letting in some fresh air. now i am blogging and he is talking to his parents, and soon we will settle down for the night.

i love getting to do new york things, like experiencing some art or getting a drink with co-workers. but i also like doing things that remind me that this is where i live, and this weekend made me feel really at home.

really magical new york

2008-03-18T20:57:00.002-04:00

new york from above looks like jewels, if you had strands upon strands of tiny twinkly gems of every color that you could toss in the air and let land as they wished, criss-crossing or spreading out and always, always shining.

new york from above looks like ropes of christmas lights hung by a well-meaning grandfather (sometimes in a pattern and sometimes what can gently be described as abstract) and viewed through squinted eyes, or maybe eyes bright with tears from the beauty of it all.

new york from above looks too precious to be real, like the night sky in cartoons, all bright pin-pointed promise.

new york from above looks like the grains of sand still trapped in the cuff of my warm vacation denim, golden grains cascading across dark indigo, reminding me from whence i return.

i have all sorts of things to say about my beyond-lovely vacation, but as we flew in tonight, and i was thinking about the hassle of finding a cab and getting home and going back to work tomorrow and needing to do laundry (and on and on and on), i looked out the window and was taken aback by the beauty of this city from the air. it looked perfect and bright and i was reminded again of why i am drawn to this burning-alive city. oh, new york. you get me every time.

goin' to carolina

2008-03-15T14:26:00.002-04:00

dearest new york,

you did this on purpose, didn't you? the day i am all set to jet off to charleston, thinking "see ya, eskimo city", you get warm and beautiful, all blue skys and light breezes. feels like fifty-two degrees? where were you last week? and i bet you made sure s didn't have to work today, so that we could go run errands in the sunshine and coo at puppies in t-shirts and little babies in cowboy boots. it certainly was no accident that they made my bagel perfectly and that we had one last episode of project runway to watch (yes, i know, behind the times) so that i spent my saturday in perfection. i get it, new york. you're nervous, afraid i'm going to south carolina and will come back changed, in love, maybe a little more tan. (well, i can hope, right?)

but don't worry, my darling. you will always be my first love, my last love, (and dare i be too carrie bradshaw), one of my greatest loves. so let's make next week special; i haven't gone out in far too long. we'll go on a date on thursday, take in the sights and sounds of this bright-lights big city. i'll miss you, but i know this absence will make my heart grow fonder.

goodbye for now (only a few days!),
m