povertyjetsetkim

did I forget to mention...

2009-07-24T15:01:00.002-04:00

I went to the NY Times building a couple of months ago? No, I don't mean I stood outside, or even that I just stood in the really cool lobby... I went upstairs. Okay, okay, say what you want about the fading glow of newspaper journalism, but going inside the beehive of the NY Times was pretty cool. I was one of the people from my office there to meet with one of the multimedia guys about multimedia stuff (I won't bore you...). Anyway, if you've ever been in a newsroom, you'd note this too: It was ridiculously quiet in the newsroom. So quiet, I'm pretty sure Bill Keller heard our guy when he whispered "Yeah, that's Keller. Whatever you do, don't mention The Daily Show..." The cubicles were only waist-high — which is bad if you'd like to be out of your neighbors' site lines for even a second. And apparently you have to go 20 blocks to find "anywhere decent" to eat. (Also, there were several full-grown trees in their courtyard. A feat in New York, New York.).

Actual academic thing learned (from the horses' mouth): If you want to see some great online media (minus the frickin' awesome typeface in its print version), go to The Guardian — where ny times online media guys find inspiration.

Acadia, Mount Desert Island, Maine

2009-07-09T16:39:00.005-04:00

Recipe for regrouping: grab some friends, your dog, and head back to nature. Headed up to Acadia National Park this past weekend with some friends. We camped at Blackwoods Campground with two tents, and managed to not get wet ("Stay away from the sides of the tent!"), eat some delicious food (despite some harrowing hibachi cooking, and Diane's efforts in the dark), and find all of Lucca's poo (a very necessary thing in a campground).

Met up with some other friends for some barbecue, and one of my best Fourth of July's. There were some amazing moments driving out of our misty campground, and being enveloped in sunshine — and vice versa. The weather this summer has definitely made an impact on everyone's moods. You can tell when it's finally sunny. Believe me.

We managed to hike the Acadia Mountain Trail (rated strenuous), most of the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail (also rated strenuous, and booty-defying, considering how slippery the face was due to all. the. rain.), and swim in Echo Lake. Of course, there were jaunts into Bar Harbor for ice cream and parades, and an amazing ferry ride, or mail-boat ride depending on who you asked, to Cranberry Island — beautiful until the mosquitoes came out of hiding.

some such thing

2009-04-22T13:31:00.003-04:00

this semester, I've been taking a sign language class. yes, yes, it's all fine and dandy to be taking a sign language course, and learning your ABC's,
but then you're expected to be thrust into the world of the deaf social, and then write a paper about it. and this paper will say: How awkward. For me, not for those forced to interact with me. It's like walking into a theoretical math seminar, in French, and being able to say, "Bonjour. Je m'appelle Kim."

crazy busy = no time to blog = silly

2008-11-20T09:23:00.002-05:00

wow, wow, wow. practically all of november has passed me by... well not really, but it's passed the blog by. poor blog. but let me do some appeasing.

m and I went to see Tom Stoppard's play, Rock 'n' Roll at the BU Theatre a couple of weeks ago. It takes place in Cambridge, England, and pre-Velvet Revolution Prague (and, to be fair, a little post-velvet, too) following a Stoppard-ish character who is definitely more into his records, than the politics around him. Anyway, once again, the women in the cast blew me away.

Last night, m and I went to see our friend's documentary, journeying to Taiwan. She and her coworker produced, edited, and starred in the film -- a pretty big feat! We were totally impressed, not only by the amount of work they did, but the end product. I'm set to go to Taiwan... ride the train, little some candles, and eat spicy shrimp.

Headed to hang out with the folks for Thanksgiving, so if I don't write again today (entirely possible) have a great turkey day!

halloween costume #1

2008-10-31T14:09:00.005-04:00

still appropriate to wear to work... the wicked witch of the east, before the house dropped on her.

tonight is more dressing up, party-going. and then, tomorrow, I get in some nat time! hurray!

happy halloween, kids!

moment of zen... oh wait...

2008-10-29T10:55:00.001-04:00

oh jon stewart, before you were on comedy central, you introduced some pretty wicked/radical/freakin' awesome bands.

including this one.

kisses.

communist dracula pageant

2008-10-27T14:50:00.006-04:00

communists, vlad the impaler, and bears, oh my! Perfectly fitting for Halloween, The Communist Dracula Pageant, written by Anne Washburn and directed by Anne Kauffman, is an eastern bloc circus, drawing parallels between the notorious Romanian regime of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, and frickin' Vlad the Impaler, another vicious Romanian, otherwise known as Dracula. although hundreds of years apart, both seemed to suck the life out of the Romanian people. go figure.

my absolute favorite was Karen MacDonald, who played the fake-scientist know-it-all Elena Ceausescu perfectly (not that I knew Elena), especially her post-dead monologue, complete with bullet holes.

The disillusioned dictators were perfect characters in their own reality, and the Communist Dracula Pageant makes their reality better than fiction.

needless to say, m and I enjoyed it, and the A.R.T. venue (a place we've wanted to go to for awhile.). good thing i won those tickets.

sigh. if only this were out now...

2008-10-21T15:20:00.003-04:00

people. it's been one of those days. so i need me some truffle shuffle, and johnny depp. and i need it now. Goonies in the Caribbean. genius.

changing appearances

2008-10-18T02:19:00.005-04:00

new banner, by marie.

beautiful photos of mannequins in a chinatown storefront window.

just in time for halloween. hopefully, i can snag one of these hot happening hairdos myself...

the globs. cd releasing. in all their glory

2008-10-18T01:46:00.003-04:00

glowing lollipops! giant, inflatable balls! duct tape dresses and suits! giant puppets! it's not a night at the circus, but The Globs' cd release gig at Harper's Ferry October 14. spectacular, spectacular, indeed.

happy to be alive. by marie.

reflections in the bar casino tv thing at harper's ferry in brighton. if you look verrrry carefully you'll see me next to the pool table. by marie.

flip flop break dance

2008-10-18T01:01:00.003-04:00

all i need is my huge boombox, some old-school reeboks, and a little "rappers delight" and we'd be set for some '80s breakdancing. these kids today. i tell ya.

p.s. what's some sugar hill without some grand master?

unraveling

2008-10-17T14:44:00.004-04:00

i've noticed something... whenever i write down a goal, project, something-i'd-like-to-try thingamajig in here, i tend to get it done... or at least attempt to get it done.

i've had a sew/craft/art idea rummaging around in my head for weeks now, and i'm hoping this theory will work. because it sucks not being in a creative rut, but being in a doing rut. procrastination, once again.

last night, m and i spent a significant amount of time boning up on our flash expertise. sitting in front of a computer for hours, playing with all the tools, we started to vegetable-ize. it became necessary to put in the witches of eastwick. halloween is coming, after all.

speaking of which, what am i going to be for halloween? creative juices, start working. now. do it.

the photo above is of a sweater that i borrowed from my mom's discard pile. the hearts are unraveling, but i still love it.

wiggle room

2008-10-08T09:19:00.006-04:00

sometimes, after all the hectic happenings (and the impending hecticness... this weekend is going to be a blurrr!), you need to work in some downtime. so we headed to the Blue Hills Reservation, just a hop, skip, and a jump outside of boston for some hiking. And much needed doggie time (sidenote: his energy is endless. I'm not kidding. after hiking up and down, over rocky terrain, and slippery roads, he was still bouncing.).

The hike was beautiful, even though the fall foliage promised wasn't as eventful — still plenty green last weekend! We sat by Houghton's Pond afterwards to guzzle the last bit of relaxation before heading home. Sunday was cold, drizzly, and we lost our soccer game. boo. hiss.

But with the Boston Latino Film Fest, Open Studios, and free music throughout, we'll be wishing for that drizzly day, I'm sure. shmoozing, no matter what the cause, is never as fun as one would hope...

delicious samosas, horrid photo

2008-09-30T11:42:00.006-04:00

well, since i'm about to eat this ridiculously tasty treat, i figured i'd photograph it for posterity... however, my computer sucks photography-wise. it just wasn't meant to go there, for quality, i mean.

anyway, i made samosas this weekend for a party, and decided to recreate the magic last night for m. and i to indulge in for ourselves. (plus I had leftover ingredients...).

Anyway, here's my wanky samosa recipe directions. I tend to eyeball it a lot, but I'll try my best:

fillo dough (keep refrigerated until ready to use)
1 cup peas (I used frozen organic ones)
1 carrot, chopped finely
2 small potatoes, boiled until soft
1/2 onion (or more, depending on how onion-y you like it)
1 section of garlic, minced (is it a clove?)
1 cup chopped cilantro
a little fresh ginger, chopped
juice of half of a lime
spices to dash in: paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, curry, cinnamon

boil the potatoes until soft, meanwhile sauté the onions and garlic on a medium heat (add some water to not burn the garlic). add the carrots, peas, cilantro, and ginger. add the potatoes. put into a bowl, and let cool while you ready your "fillo dough filling station."

pre-heat oven to 425.
put some olive oil in a bowl, and ready a brush, or a teaspoon (I use the back of the spoon to spread the olive oil onto the fillo dough). ready a nonstick baking pan, or grease.
open the fillo dough package, and select two sheets together. (you can cut them in half, length wise, or fold in half to get the right size. I'm definitely not an expert, it's just my way of getting that really delicate fillo dough to stay together).
Put a tablespoons-worth of filling on one end, then fold the dough back and forth, into a triangle. (like folding a flag for all you boyscouts out there). seal the end with some olive oil.
put on the pan, and repeat with the rest of the filling.

bake the samosas for 15 minutes, or until brown.
then eat.

quote of the day, y'all

2008-09-23T08:00:00.005-04:00

At a BU Q&A with Susan Sarandon last week, this question was posed:

Is Sarah Palin a feminist?

I don’t understand how anyone can claim that she’s a feminist. Is it because she’s cute and feisty and spunky? Is it because she carries a gun and shoots animals from a helicopter? That’s not feminism — that’s the worst aspect of violent male behavior. I think she completely compromises the idea of feminism. And I think it’s a cheap shot to compare her to Hillary Clinton. They don’t have anything in common.

I mean, when you get a woman in government, you want the right woman. You don’t want just any vagina!

travel imminent...

2008-09-22T14:00:00.003-04:00

by mfc

crossing my fingers that our turkey day travel plans aren't going to mimic this movie (classic, though it may be). although, now that I think about it, we will probably take the T, get on the plane, and be picked up in a car. well then, i guess it's inevitable! all we need is steve martin, and there'll be no stopping us.

anyway, i know it's a long way off, but we've already booked that flight, and are definitely heading to portugal in january, but except for a hostel booking, that's it. we did listen to a bit of portuguese last night, and i have to say, it's easy to hear how daunting the language can seem.

read this. since no one else is covering it

2008-09-22T13:59:00.001-04:00

thank god for k.p. (and boom boom, i guess). at least she's covering the gas-crisis-that-wasn't. check it out. and report back.

oh snap, lindsay.

2008-09-17T13:18:00.005-04:00

Ro.Lo. Like the candy.
Apparently, (since I'm not really in the know, but she intrigues me so I read this stuff) Lindsay Lohan wanted to stump for Barack Obama, but was turned down with a polite ''thanks, but no thanks,'' according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

She offered to host events for younger voters, but the Obama's people said uh uh. Frankly, it seems she's gotten a lot more into politics since she claimed her minority status. now it's not all fun and games, huh lindsay? well, actually, it probably is more fun... and unfortunately more games, considering women. well, some women.

And riding right onto the baby train, big news, of course, Lohan wants to get preggers and raise the baby with Samantha Ronson, according to British newspaper The News of The World. way to rock it, l-lo.

p.s. Here's a parting smack — that Lohan ''is not exactly the kind of high-profile star who would be a positive for us," an Obama team member said.

p.p.s. i'll stop now. i promise i'll be back to other things in the next post. or maybe not! time to join the paparazzi bandwagon, right?

rockport, ma. sept 13

2008-09-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

halibut point, cape ann, ma. photo by d.

if you're coming from ohio, and worried about leaving your brethren back home, don't worry — rockport is chock full of ohioans (including a few of us, by birth... oddly enough). we saw the license plates first, followed by the natty dress rocked by ohio retirees (trust me, i can say this, because i know).

so, the nat-ster, m., and our friend, d., took a road trip up to halibut point state park, with a stop at a little cove along 127. the quarry at halibut looked really, really, familiar, but that could have just been a coincidence. then, we headed to rockport, to check out motif #1, eat lunch, and enjoy the lovely, non-walmarty commerce of bearksin neck. and eat ice cream.

rockport is a mere hop, skip, and a jump from boston, up route 1, and it's on the commuter rail line, so if we want to go back (which we do) and take our bikes (which we do), we can — without worrying about parking.

reflections

2008-09-15T15:20:00.003-04:00

dumplings. dumplings. by m.
this was a weekend to point to and say, 'ha! there is such a thing as true, continuous happiness. so there.' in the midst of work, and getting ready for m's photography show (which is amazing!), i think we were walking around in a stupor. but, the opening on friday was fabulous — friends coming from out of town, enjoying each other's company — and the weekend just flowed from there, with nat and our friend from nashville heading to rockport, missing the ridiculous rain somehow, sailing on sunday, and another jaunt to chinatown with henry and sofy. love.

sun sun market, by m.

ode to the t

2008-09-14T20:00:00.001-04:00

by m.
it's been more than a year now since we moved from the mecca of motorists, (otherwise known as the midwest), to boston... and i still love the T. i heard from all the other bostonites that after 6 mos. i'd be done with the crowded, rank-aired, delayed, 'another-train-is-behind-us' hoopla, but i'm not. and it tisn't just because of gas prices, or the stress of the commute, or that i get home in the same amount of time regardless of the weather (hello snowstorm of december '07! 20 minutes! in my pj's while everyone else is still in their cars for another four hours!)... it's actually because riding in the car hurts my ass. i must have had a callous or something from my early years driving every. where. but, heading to rockport this past weekend gave me butt burn, and a crick in my back.

so anyway, thanks, T, for saving me bodily pain. even if you are annoying sometimes.

p.s.

2008-08-14T20:48:00.000-04:00

i can't believe she won austntm. seriously. it was rigged.

Peanut Butter... and Jelly

2008-08-14T15:48:00.004-04:00

for me, it's hard to eat potato chips without craving a juicy orange after... analogy meaning, I like my salty and sweet together.

In the online video world, I guess my equivalent would be combining a debate on taking the veil on blogging heads tv with (what else?) Australia's Next Top Model on youtube. So, here's a taste of viewing, kim-style:

happy watching!

Bar Harbor, Maine. July 21 to 23

2008-08-01T13:17:00.002-04:00

M and Le Doggie were able to come on this leg of the trip, after a short and ridiculous hot stop in Boston. We stayed in a teeny tiny cottage on Mount Desert Island that actually had a bit of room to spare after fitting in five adults and one puppy (kind of like a clown car in house form).

The mood was perfectly Maine-ish, with some overcast skies and cooler days. We hiked up Cadillac Mountain, explored Acadia, and Bar Harbor. M and I even had a chance to do some beach explorations near College of the Atlantic, while the fam did shopping in town. Can't wait to go back -- it's only a five hour drive, people!

Vermont. July 12 to 18

2008-07-28T12:59:00.003-04:00

there is always too much to say about vacations... especially my parents' version of a vacation. As mentioned in previous posts, my parents love love love to go go go. We stayed around Mount Ascutney, which was covered in wildflowers and ski lifts (unfortunately inoperable during the summer. what gives? does no one understand the power of a summery ride up the mountain? Ober Gatlinburg, anyone?). Each day was packed with visits to the Old Constitution House, Saint Gaudens Memorial, Quechee Gorge, a trip down to Fort Ticonderoga, and the Shelburne Museum (which is totally what my uncle will have to do with all of his stuff).

Saint Gaudens Memorial. By my Dad.

Bikes at the Constitution House. By me.

final frontier

2008-07-07T14:31:00.005-04:00

well, it was a completely productive fourth of july weekend in boston (which i don't say very often. so let's celebrate). not only did we paint our bathroom on sunday (even behind the toilet. seriously), nat came up on friday and in no uncertain terms claimed it was screenprinting time... okay, so she didn't 'claim' anything, but she did arrive with several newly bought plain t-shirts and asked, "so, are we screenprinting guys?"

I have to say, even though the above example is a more funk-a-fied print than what I had planned, there were no bad ones in the bunch. we each made a design and had the chance to see our creative sides turn into wearable art. wearable unique cool art, that is. (I'm feeling italicized today...).

anyway, m. turned out to be the screenprinting maximizer. anyone surprised? no. didn't think so. it wasn't just one print per shirt. ever. it was at least two prints, front and back, in different colors.

needless to say, we haven't put any of it away, because, according to her, we will be doing more screenprinting this week. until i head to the woods of Vermont with my parents and uncle bobby. hence william shatner below. I'll have to tell that one later....

museum of science

2008-07-03T15:03:00.001-04:00

The museum of science is on my mind, not only because i recently re-found some photos from our first visit there (ha!), but because they have a new planeterium show (did I say I was a nerd?). Anyway, if you are as concerned/fascinated with the demotion of Pluto as I am, then What Happened to Pluto? is right up your alley, as well. I mean, one second it's part of our planetary hub, the next it's just a rock in the kuiper belt. it's got to sting. it really does.

a spoonful of sugar

2008-06-23T15:23:00.002-04:00

before I met m, there was a long list of (un)official guidelines I was looking for in a partner... you know the type, must have: a sense of humor, a sense of adventure, confidence. nothing set in stone, mind you, but another one was exhibited last night when she convinced me to pull out my cello and play a little. just for fun. I whined. I was agitated. But it was nice sitting in our slightly muggy little living room playing whatever she pulled out of my music bag. So, I guess, another one would be: must challenge me and push me to do what's good for me. like eating vegetables or something.

anyway, it's been awhile since I've taken photos of my cello (Charlie, yes he has a name), but I do have one of me cleaning up a little on the sailboat. enjoy.

frankie say reeelaaaxxx

2008-06-18T12:36:00.003-04:00

been doing a little couch sitting (equals reading, watching movies, staring at the sunset through our front windows), a little walking around the neighborhood, a little cooking, a little staring out into space wondering if my tomato plants are going to grow a tomato or two. m keeps asking me if they're okay, by the way, which is not really so funny because i do tend to talk to my plants and give them words of encouragement. oooh frickin' salmonella won't stop me once those red fruits start popping out!

anyway, here's a little bit more reflection. patty griffin. trust me, you can take the extra two and a half minutes out of your day to take a listen.

check one off the list

2008-06-10T14:52:00.002-04:00

Ranjani Shettar. Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles.
Well, surprise, surprise! It didn't take until August to get my foot in the door of the ICA. The Street Level exhibition definitely pulled me in, especially seeing Robin Rhode's performance art up close and personal. I don't think the Anish Kapoor exhibit would have been quite the same without the crowds provided by the free Thursday nights. Walking up to his sculptures and seeing the reflections/the engaged masses really added to the experience. Loved it!

gardening

2008-06-05T14:29:00.003-04:00

on the way back from new york, I carried this container full of herbs all the way. on the bus. on the subway. up the stairs. they were a gift from our friend, jess, and they seem to be doing well. it's amazing how different food tastes with fresh herbs added to the cooking. in one word, deeelish!

I also picked up a a couple varieties of tomato plant (in hindsight... why? but maybe I can compare/contrast), some peppers, and a couple seed packs of squash and carrots (the baby variety). It's all about the container garden, since we don't actually have any dirt around our apartment to grow veggies. it's all concrete and asphalt, folks. but i decided to not let it stop me this year.

watercolors

2008-06-04T14:45:00.001-04:00

I added some orange circles last night, which looks purty, but haven't taken a pic yet of the next process. welcome to the way i define therapeutic. (and a theme I apparently like to follow)

a night down christopher street. nyc.

2008-06-03T22:52:00.005-04:00

Piper Perabo in Reasons to be Pretty. Photo by Joan Marcus

Thursday, May 22. While our friends rounded out their ultra-list of new york [read: statue of liberty, ellis island, ground zero, little italy, AND the empire state building. yes.], m and i made a beeline for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. More than 20 years after the rest of us, M has discovered the delights of children's literature, and she had to know if the Met was as fabulous and free as described in "The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."

After a cozy little lunch with our friend, Jess, across from Bryant Park it was off to the International Center of Photography to see some... photography... and then to sweet shop Serendipity. oh the dreams i've had since of that apple pie...

Anyway! The adventure continues, since M wanted to walk from our chelsea hotel down to christopher street. we almost walked past the Lucille Lortel Theatre, until Piper Perabo's name jumped out at us (Did I mention that Imagine Me and You is our ultimate feel-good flick? some girls like Fight Club. We're more of a happy ending type family).

Pablo Schreiber threatens Thomas Sadoski, right before Sadoski kicks his ass.

We checked out the box office, and scored front row seats to Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute. Other than the disappointment in a lack of nudity (the poster threw me off), the play was great, offset by performances by Pablo Schreiber (Kent), and Alison Pill (Steph). But wow, Thomas Sadoski (Greg), was amazing. His interactions with girlfriend, then ex-girlfriend, Steph were painfully realistic and full of humor.

Afterwards, we saw the cast on the street (fighting the temptation to say hi.) then grabbed some sweet potato fries at Cowgirl. We were sleepy and happy and heading back when fake snow and lights caught our attention on Bleecker Street. Yes, that's Catherine Zeta-Jones across the street, doing several takes for her movie, The Rebound and while I have nothing else other than the fact that she gave a wave from the makeup chair, and that she's tiny (breaking news!), it was cool to see the filming. (fake snow! christmas wreaths and lights! wonder when this one's coming out....)

pork and nail polish. together. forever.

2008-05-27T15:03:00.002-04:00

you know you can't help yourself. click on the photo to learn why you, as a woman, need both pork and nail polish. please. (it's stuff like this that makes me love salon.com. and stuff like this that makes me cry a little).

Orleans, Massachusetts, Cape Cod

2008-05-26T11:24:00.002-04:00

Photo by J. A.

There are only a few types of vacationers. One type prefers to stick their umbrella in the sand, lay down their towel, slather on the sunscreen and work on their tan for five to seven days, approximately. Type B can only be defined as the 'crammers' — You make a list of everything you want to do in a place and god willin' and the crick don't rise you're gonna do them. I, of course, grew up with the type b's of this world and found it hard to identify with the former, until I began traveling without my family... and discovered the oftentimes neglected type c — you make a list, grab the sunscreen, and go with the flow. sometimes you see the pantheon, sometimes you go to the coliseum, but darling, you can't see it all and still call it a vacation.

Two of our friends came to visit last week and proved that actually it doesn't matter what type you are, as long as you have a great time with your selected type. After picking them up in Providence, R.I., we drove on a whim to Orleans, Mass. and it wasn't beach weather, but it was beautiful... after that, we no longer had them captive so they ran amuck, covering as much as possible. They're exhausted now, but they had a grrreat time.

Sunday Sailing

2008-05-25T11:38:00.000-04:00

Sunset in our neighborhood, by Nat.

After a whirlwind of Boston fun with some friends in town (including the awesome Museum of Science, a short trip to Harvard, and Cape Cod), we ventured to NYC (more on that later!). So this weekend, we took Nat and her boy out on a Piers Park Sonar for a spin around Long Island, since it was Marie's personal goal to go under the bridge out there.

What a ridiculously beautiful day, although I have to say I'm slightly tired (but it's a good tired!).

high on chocolate

2008-05-19T10:47:00.004-04:00

apparently I can't get enough... my cravings for balloon rides have seriously escalated... anyone else? white water rafting after? followed by some luscious chocolatey nougat?

at work, rest, or play

2008-05-18T10:39:00.001-04:00

for those hearty woodsmen (or, ehem, women), don't forget to pick up your milky way bar! oh, the good old days, when after a long day of white water rafting you build a fire and sink your teeth into a nice candy bar. delish!

** check out the covert use of a (gasp!) real milky way used as a prop... the extra tug needed to extract both sides, with that nougat and caramel center.

from the art

2008-05-06T10:47:00.005-04:00

William Cordova, "Wholesellers, Retailers & Bullshitters" (detail), 2005. Ink, graphite, gold leaf on paper.

It's been a while since I last mentioned the ICA, and how much fun I have there, but here's another great time to broach the subject once again: Street Level presents recent work by three promising artists whose works draw directly from street culture: Mark Bradford (Los Angeles), William Cordova (Lima, Miami, New York) and Robin Rhode (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Berlin). And it's up through October 19. Guess what? It's still May. But don't think, well hey, I have time, because I always do that, and then frick, it's November and you've wasted a perfectly good art exhibit. Again.

Robin Rhode, Still from "Untitled, Harvest," 2005. Digital animation.

So, you heard it here first. I've made a solemn vow (ooh, I might regret this!) to go to the ICA. so there. and have a great tuesday.

Mark Bradford, "Spinning Man" (detail), 2007. Mixed media collage on canvas.

only a few more days

2008-05-01T12:21:00.003-04:00

to see the BU mfa art exhibit. and it's free. plus there are paintings of naked women, which supposedly is revolutionary. I guess the TV reporters never heard of this work of art. i heard it also caused quite a stir in its day...

The MFA Student Exhibitions 2008 runs through May 4. The MFA Graphic Design Exhibition is at the BU Art Gallery at the Stone Gallery, 855 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA. The MFA Painting and Sculpture Exhibition is at the 808 Gallery, 808 Commonwealth Ave. The MFA/BFA Art Education and Studio Teaching Exhibition is at the Commonwealth Gallery, 855 Commonwealth Ave.

the globs

2008-04-29T13:51:00.004-04:00

take a listen to the globs, here at their good old MySpace page. My favorite is "I Hate the 21st Century," but Marie is partial to "Happy 2 B Alive." They have this poppy keyboarding flair, but seeing them at the Middle East last night definitely solidified their rock-a-bility (not to be confused with rockabilly. *sigh).

this was the second trip to the M.E. within three days, since we met up with Marie's friend Mandy there on Friday night, ate some middle eastern food, and drank sam adams summer ale (I liked it, but Marie is a dark-beer kinda girl). there were swarms of lesbians there (ehem, kristin) otherwise known as 'faaamleee' thanks to my former coworker ms. tammy.

last night's trip was a bit unexpected, since we haven't been out to see a friend's band in a while... our friend, linda, is the bassist and she was fabulous — but of course, she didn't think so, which is an annoying musician thing they do (I'm allowed to say that since I've done it many a time... a minor temper tantrum in the choir room after a particularly heinous cello performance at church in sixth grade will bring a slight cringe to my dad's face every time... all he said was, "you did a great job," poor man).

anyway, two thumbs up from the peanut gallery.

p.s.

2008-04-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

it's my sister's birthday, the day i feel like she's catching up to me, again!

happy birthday, pootsk!

long weekend

2008-04-22T15:36:00.003-04:00

a shot from montreal, unrelated to this post of course

here in beantown, we celebrate a little known holiday called patriots day, which equals a day off for some and not for others (as the woman in the dunkin' donuts said, while trying to find out if any banks were open to provide her with ones and fives: "this is one of those half-ass holidays").

unintentionally in celebration of a random holiday, m and i met a friend i hadn't seen in a year in a half on friday. then, we spur-of-the-moment style, boarded a bus the next day to nyc to see a friend's thesis show. the conversation was philosophical, discussing political protests and constantly fighting for the truth through protest/art... my question was, how do you know what the truth is/where to find it? how do you make that decision? gut reaction?

then we took the 3 a.m. train home.

in other news: we won our soccer game sunday, yeah! and spent a day at the beach with the pup monday, yeah! and I got a sunburn, boo...

ouch!

2008-04-14T12:09:00.000-04:00

here's something my sister sent me. it reminded me of my student newspaper days. *sigh* i still don't quite know how we did it, but maybe it was headlines like this that pulled us through (hehe. pun intended)

After the LSU tiger's hired Trent Johnson as the head coach of the mens
basketball team, the student's daily newspaper headline read:

"LSU officially grabs Stanford's Johnson"

I haven't seen if this is actually true, yet. but i love the fact that it might have been...

comics that make you go hmm...

2008-03-31T13:48:00.000-04:00

well, for instance, this one makes sense, kinda... but there are others, many others that make me wonder what in the flip is going on... like this one:

but then again, i don't always make sense either. which makes me smile. thanks, natalie dee.

shirley you jest

2008-03-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

so while I continue to think about happy sad songs, I'll post a lovely pic of miss shirley henderson, who I recently saw (in a bit of a catty role) in miss pettigrew lives for a day... a cute little film, especially if you're tired of the dark and dreary and need a bit of (as me mum says) "escapism."

however, if you're not feeling fluffy, marie and I just rented cinema paradiso, which was scrumptious.

Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa

2008-03-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

it's a beautiful, but frrrreezing day. and independent of that inspiration, i have otis redding's "sad song" stuck in my head. Who can't love sad sad sad lyrics, combined with a pop-y beat and a tune in a major chord? According to the 20 something chick who sometimes hits the Gov't Center subway station with her guitar, the happiest sad song is, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

Any others? Let me think...
cat stevens, "here comes my baby." ruth brown, "mama, he treats your daughter mean." michael jackson, "billy jean." the rosebuds, "leaves do fall."

down in the valley where the green grass grows

2008-03-25T15:37:00.001-04:00

If the headlines splashed across major newspapers (here and abroad) are any indication of the state of things, it's getting purty depressin' around the u.s. of a. And it's not all jump rope games and playing tag anymore.

I saw an article by Margarita Mooney and Deborah Rivas-Drake, "Colleges Need to Recognize, and Serve, the 3 Kinds of Latino Students," which may sound confusing (besides the fact that one has to wonder how they even received grant money to interview their sample. does the government have grant money anymore?), but they just split them up into whether they get along with white people a lot, a little or not at all (still a deciding factor in success, apparently. unfortunately.).

Of course, discriminating factors were thrown into the article, but Mooney and Rivas-Drake chose to end the article on a upswing... that word, hope, a dangerous thing.

jump

2008-03-23T11:12:00.000-04:00

flexibility. the tool of youthfulness... sitting on trains for hours this week made me realize that without flexibility stiff joints, and pain made me feel older than I am. And perhaps being flexible wasn't just about physical age. I think it's something that I struggle with mentally/emotionally is adjusting fluidly to change. Not falling into a stagnant (un)growing time. But, being flexible doesn't mean being unfeeling, or glossing over emotions haphazardly. It's a form of adaptation -- opening your arms, stretching your toes, feeling the tendons, muscles, nerves react. It's not painless, but it seemed to me it was more painful coming out of stasis than continually stretching.

montreal

2008-03-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

so last week, we threw our cares behind us and headed to the land of ice and snow, maple syrup and art galleries, otherwise known as old montreal. or, heaven in the bleak of north america.

of course, a bus to new york, then a 10 hour train ride to montreal would seem ludicrous to some (considering it's roughly a six hour car trip from boston to montreal), but why take the easy way, when amtrak's involved? in the words of my lovely travel companion, "this was a one-time only thing. if we were in europe, we would have been through three countries by now." but, I do have to say, the progressively more snow covered landscape was lovely on the train portion... and every train ride seems to have depth and meaning, more so than a car, which is why we wanted to go by train in the first place. it's also like taking the subway here in boston — the close proximity of so many people, not really interacting, but reacting to the space you're given. I found myself organizing my little seat area — blanket, crumbs, waterbottle, books, journal—almost unconsciously.

and it was nice to be deposited right near old montreal, and our cute little hotel.

you can see from this photo the light, white hot in the cold air, montrealeans strolling without hats or gloves in the presence of such brightness. we wandered down st. paul's street, ate little dinners of pasta, a little lunch of polish pierogies. one night we took the metro to see the more modern downtown area and caught a movie — in french of course. mostly I guessed at the plot, but it was interesting to focus on the cinematography and watch the expression in the actors faces/gestures...

back in the day

2008-03-07T10:58:00.001-05:00

i wore track suits... and wished i could get my bangs to flip. *sigh

shout out

2008-03-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

#61-Bicycles

And of course, it goes without saying that white people who ride bikes like to talk about how they are saving the earth. If you know a person who rides to work, you should take them aside and say “Hey, thanks. Sincerely, The Earth.” Then give a thumbs up. That white person will ride home on a cloud.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

some such subtlety

2008-02-28T14:43:00.000-05:00

this morning, i looked up from my suitcase (where my clothes are living until my dresser is built. soon. soon.) and saw big, white flakes falling from the sky. and i heard a thud as my heart hit my stomach, because it's that time of year when all you can think is, "beautiful, picturesque snow? again?" but it was beautiful. and picturesque. and i tried to remind myself that i'll be wishing for some fresh, cold air come july.

bright side, guys.

knick knack paddy WHACK

2008-02-26T13:42:00.000-05:00

::photo by blind.phineas::

not to start off too philosophical or anything, but where does all of life's crap come from? spontaneous generation? wandering in off the street? bringing its friends? let me clarify, since you probably think I'm talking about drugs, sex or even rock n roll, but no. I'm just talking about crap. the kind that turns up when you're moving. the things/stuff/ephemera that find its way onto bookshelves, in drawers, on cabinets and subsequently mocks you after you've moved the real furniture... as if to say, what? you thought I was cute? cuddly? interesting? well, I'll show you cute — I can multiply myself 20 times into all different shapes and sizes! ha ha! eat that, kim!

so. moving's going well... wishing your day is bright and cheery, and your design aesthetic is minimalist.

see through

2008-02-19T14:27:00.000-05:00

::Surrounded by Water at BUAG ::

down down down to the tips of my toes you'll find... paint! frickin' everywhere. it has slithered like some slithy tove under my fingernails, on my elbows and atop me head. marie believes my hair looks quite nice the color of "spa." I can't wait until we turn on venture violet, or jardin. someday, i'll be a paint namer... much the same training as crayola crayon color namer. anyway, we're attacking the spackled past recognition walls (?) and ceilings in our new apartment. we decided this was the best thing to do after a long luscious weekend in providence with friends.

it's decidedly domestic, considering the rest of the time was spent viewing burlesque, persepolis, a play on sally mann, and a sex workers art show. love it.

livers of life

2008-02-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

screen shot from ::being dead::

i think i should say something about how cruel foie gras is or something with that subject... moving on...

the redstone film festival is opening tomorrow. my favorite entry? jeff boedeker's being dead. i mean the still photos of fruit always do it for me... and subtitles. speaking of which, marie and i finally saw mostly martha, that german vixen meets culinary hard-ass type flick, and (although it didn't have subtitles, there are those irish accents...) once, which just made me wish i was in a band...

we're heading to party town this weekend, otherwise known as providence, r.i. to hang with nat and jessica.

i'm feeling a bit flippant right now (and i think it's showing in this entry), so i apologize... in other news, i saw this dad showing his three-year-old daughter how to push the walk signal yesterday. he held her hand and waited for the lights to change... very cute.

snow globe

2008-02-08T15:54:00.001-05:00

it's back to winter, as the groundhog says (although... i'm not sure how the little bugger would not see his shadow with all those frickin' camera lights around. just sayin'... i'd crawl back in my hole too...). other happenings this week...we voted in the primary (no lines! god bless this state), the lunar new year is upon us, (and has brought one of the worst signs for my poor little doggie sign -- the rat. i'm supposed to hunker down and not spend any money. ha! it probably also means that i'll want to spend more money... like a craving... for a couch... or cute rainboots... of course.)

parentheses aside, we're going to see an awesome play this weekend... angels in america. and before you go saying, whoa, that's long, hold your horses -- they split it into two parts so we not only get to go see a play saturday, we get to go back sunday! downside is, meryl streep and mary louise parker probably won't be there. *sigh*

square

2008-01-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

Uniform Studio Journal...
:: I started making these little swatch cards to keep track of the fabrics I have. Each one is marked on the back with tape listing the quantity and width of the bolt. I’ll use these at the show to keep track of how many items can be ordered from each fabric. I really like seeing all of the different colors and textures together.::

re: kristin's writers strike post-tv addiction

2008-01-28T09:11:00.000-05:00

::not my house. duh::

somehow i feel inspired by kristin's blog, yesterday, "The Strike Rocks My World," wherein she finds she can now tear herself away from the small screen and enjoy the other fruits of living...

here are mine:
1. going out to dinner any time of night you want
2. laundry at the spanish laundromat, complete with awesome music to fold by
3. sewing/painting/getting my artsy side on
4. talking on the phone to friends far and wide
5. playing games
6. i second the movie outing
7. walking the pupster
8. planning out our new apartment

new apartment? well, really it's just the two floors above the one we're living in now. yes, you heard right. somehow our little hideway got sectioned off by the apartment gods into a studio (?!) and a two-floor taj mahal. so we're moving on up in a couple of months and the thought of a) actually having room to breath/work/relax and b) not having to rent a u-haul are making me ecstatic! oh and you can probably cross off number 2 up there because we'll actually have a frickin' washer and dryer. oh happy day.

time to figure out paint colors. i love it.

strrrretch

2008-01-23T10:46:00.001-05:00

contrary to the pre-new york jitters, all went well. however, we're having a serious need for sleepytime back here in boston. i was pleasantly surprised to get the chance to see the broadway play, august:osage county, on sunday. talk about getting sucked into the dramatic family dysfunction! even with the need for two intermissions, i was enthralled from the first monologue to the last whimpers. the set. the set was amazing — built like a giant dollhouse, minus the mute refrain from any nora-like character.

stay warm! and stay healthy. it's been frightful lately.

dog walking dog

2008-01-18T12:39:00.000-05:00

woke up early and had time to walk lucca in the rain. every five steps he'd shake from head to the tip of his tail. what a prancer.

heading back to new york tomorrow morning (early! early!) to meet up with marie and company. crossing my fingers this trip will end up being better/less weird/less pretentious than last time. but, as i told my friend andy, sometimes you have to put up with hipster vomit (figurative. not literal. i hope.).

busy bee

2008-01-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

waking up, I feel like I'm hit with the unending lists of things to do/see/be hovering in the recesses of my brain. that's why I love the bubble-y chart that won craziest list on www.todolistblog.com. in order to properly function, i need to make lists... organize those jumbled bits of thought into a coherent pattern that can be crossed off, and added to. i think it's inherited from the doodle genes that came from my mom... but if it's not written down, it probably won't get taken care of, especially if my brain is focused elsewhere (is it ever NOT focused elsewhere?) and if the task is especially harsh (mailing bills or something).

anyway, here's a to-do list for today:
1. do interview
2. write story (asap!)
3. pick photos for slideshow
4. put away laundry
5. decide on dinner... yum
6. make sure web site works. really works. not kidding.
7. check others' stories
8. decide where to go when i can finally take a vacation.
9. edit audio
10. play with puppy (note: move to top)

that's not it (it never is) but it's a start! have a splendid day...

happy holidays

2007-12-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

::embroidering has just begun on this side::
and here's another example of my gifting sensibilities this year. by now, I'm sure you're thinking, what's up with all this white? this is going against my color grain... but at the same time fits completely with my first rule of any artistic pursuit — follow that gut instinct. and in this case, that white fabric and I fell in love. and now I'm about to send it across the country on its merry way.

I've really jumped into the making stuff kick this year... hilarious because the amount of space we occupy now is a postage stamp compared to our digs in Nashvegas. And even if I did want to sew with a pattern, there would be no room to lay it out. I have just enough room to haul out my sewing machine between meals and marie's projects in the "kitchen" to sew my small-ish stuff. and yet, I have to say, I love it. (although. a crafting room would be great. just saying).

Angry Chicken has some hilarious gift tags to print out... if you know they're going to the kind of person who has a sense of humor. (and, of course, I do know those kinds of people!)

hand made holiday

2007-12-17T18:32:00.000-05:00

from pillows to purses, hopefully I'm getting it all in.
these photos are ridiculous, since there's basically no light here on the east coast after about 3 p.m. but I figured they'd never been seen if i didn't post now, since they're heading under a christmas tree soon. I usually get the pre-gift jitters about now... wondering if the present will be well received, or if it'll end up hidden away and unloved. hopefully, I'll hit the next stage in the gifting process... it doesn't matter as long as I tried my best, made something I'd love to get, and made it to the best of my ability. whew. hope i get to that place soon.

p.s. the lining of this bag, which I didn't photograph, is vintage fabric with cute, wise sayings... the most apropos right now? a stitch in time saves nine (or seven hundred in my case).

snow daze

2007-12-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

oh the holidays... nothing motivates me like the thought of a snowed-in Sunday, when it's not impossible to get out of the house but pretty undesirable! so, here's the sewn, and still unstuffed pillow I'm probably going to give to a lucky recipient this Christmas... probably one of those people on my list who I never know what to get for them (read: me mum). This same person deserves an all-expense paid trip to Italy for a month, but since I can't quite afford that, a handmaid pillow is the next best thing...

hope you're having a great weekend, and aren't covered in slushyness!

pregnancy pregnancy jiggety jig!

2007-12-11T14:03:00.000-05:00

::Michael Cera and Ellen Page at the Toronto premier of JUNO::

It seems like the topic on everyone's lips these days, from celebrity baby bumps to the hottest indie flicks— pregnancy. Marie and I went to the latest offspring offshoot screening, Juno, last week. Awesome soundtrack, great story and the acting — cutthroat zingers delivered effortlessly by Ellen Page, and my favorite person in the whole movie, Allison Janney. Jason Bateman and Michael Cera never actually interact in the movie, but do seem to fit in a vehicle together, post their "Arrested Development" hijinks.

I do have to say, however, that I found the parental reaction to Juno's pregnancy to be a bit unrealistic... maybe it's just me, but I don't think most parents I knew in high school would take it as calmly if their daughter walked in preggers. but I'm sure that's just my midwestern upbringing talking. Another thing that bothered us was the insert of a Gibson guitar plug, not because we're guitar-hating neo revolutionaries, but because of Gibson's conservative stance on pregnancy, homosexuality, etc. and if we let it, the whole plot was being influenced by the Gibson agenda in our brains. I had no problem with Juno's eventual decision, but I had a sour taste in my mouth after the whole promo. Thoughts? Please.

BUT that doesn't mean you should have any sour/bitter tastes, because this flick is worth seeing (especially after the Love in the Time of Cholera drivel we sat through. shudder).

by any other name?

2007-12-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

Poverty Jet Set: (page 6)

A group of people given to chronic traveling at the expense of long-term job stability or a permanent residence. Tend to have doomed and extremely expensive phone call relationships with people names Serge or Ilyana. Tend to discuss frequent-flyer programs at parties.

—Douglas Coupland's Generation X

Even though I'm not technically in the realm of generation x-ers, I think this is still pretty pertinent... thought I'd share the meaning behind my choice of url. AND because today is my friend Natalie's birthday and she read this awesome tome with me in college during our even awesome post-apocalyptic literature course. Where we also watched, coincidentally, Red Dawn.

laisse tombe les filles

2007-12-05T14:54:00.001-05:00

some sixties vibes from France Gall to get you over humpday...

p.s. don't let the Munster-like intro turn you off... on the other hand, if you're as big of a fan of the Munsters as I am, go ahead, compare away!

record(ed)

2007-11-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

apparently awards season has started down in the land of indie. here's a delight from Craig Zobel's candid study of the recording industry: "Great World of Sound."

advertising+art

2007-11-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

::Trend:: by Matt Siber, from the series “Compare to…,” 2006/2007. Digital C-print, 25 x 20 inches.

because I'm on a roll... the Photographic Resource Center has this awesome paradoxical show up right now, AD/AGENCY, featuring photographers who manipulate advertising images, or use and abuse commercial photography to comment on consumerism. The best part is that the curator, Leslie Brown is showing it now! During the holiday blitz! Art humor.

one more reason...

2007-11-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

::Lucy In the Field With Flowers::
Oil on canvas by Unknown
24" x 30"
Acquired from trash in Boston

...to love Boston. MOBA — the Museum of Bad Art. This place is on my wish list of visitations here in the greater beantown area. And the whole idea of the museum reminds me of a documentary we saw a month ago — My Kid Could Paint That — about the debacle surrounding 4-year-old Marla Olmsted. The doc not only addressed whether or not Marla could actually paint the works displayed under her name, but if what she was said to have created was actually ART. love it. love it. Personally, I'm not here to judge Marla (she's got enough to worry about) or art (plenty of awesome books/magazines/critics to do that). But it is interesting to jump into the whole debate and throw some opinions around.

For example, I recently got into a heated debate about when someone can be defined as an 'artist.' We had to actually call up a third party to ask their thoughts. This third party put in her two cents on putting it at, 'when a person creates art, they are an artist.' This same third party just told me two weekends ago that (and I quote), "Painting is dead." Which leads me to believe getting your MFA in New York is potentially hazardous to your health. Proceed with caution.
(*disclaimer: I've also known several others to get their mfa's in new york who've turned out fairly normal... of course it took a moment or two for them to snap out of their pretentious fog... it happens, I guess).

bronx=up, battery=down

2007-11-15T13:09:00.000-05:00

once when I was a baby (don't worry, I don't actually remember this... it's been retold to me so many times it's become family folklore), I was having a pissed off moment. You know the type of moment -- the kind where my parents tried everything. Fed me. Changed me. Walked me. Nothing worked. So my dad started singing a song from On the Town (the Broadway version as you'll obviously notice)... "New York New York It's a helluva town/ The Bronx is up and the Battery's down/The people ride in a hole in the ground/ New York New York! It's a helluva town!" and then Gene Kelley proceeds to do several amazing dance moves...

ANYway, he sang it approximately 56 times in a row. I can't be certain as to whether I kept crying because he was singing, or stopped because he'd hit that magical number of 56...

But anyway, I've been humming that song all day, because we're heading to la grande pomme tonight and I can't wait! So here's to you, dad. and gene kelly, of course.

i made myself go...

2007-11-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

because it looked like it might not be my cup of tea. You know, when you see a poster of Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden looking all sad and distraught, and the title of the movie seems uninspired (Rails & Ties? really?), it just puts me in a 'do I hafta?' mode. But, it was a free screening, which trumps all the other excuses bar none.

And... it was good! The acting wasn't contrived, the plot was believable and the sad parts didn't bother me. The night turned out well — slices of pizza from Emma's, watching a great movie with marie — actually making me forget that I'd waited for a half an hour in the cold for the bus to take me to Kendall... *sigh*

bambino

2007-11-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

and here he is, sent all the way from baltimore, evey's baby boy.
what a doll! can't wait to meet him.

sometimes you just can't help yourself...

2007-11-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

...you get sucked into the weird recesses of flickr. this is an example of what happens when the Secret Science Club has a contest. and not just any contest, but the third annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest. And there you have it. A squirrel with a sombrero.

p.s. would this be considered art? or humor? or art with humor? or... just too weird and sick for words? I think I may enjoy visiting the 'humor' camp too much.

may i take your order?

2007-10-31T14:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

blurring the lines

2007-10-29T16:37:00.000-04:00

::dancers::

I enjoy watching a project unfold/develop. Seeing a mismatched bunch of steps become a collaboration of movement. Trying to think of my own projects and find the ultimate unblocker: motivation.

the weekend cannot come fast enough

2007-10-25T15:41:00.001-04:00

in other news, here's George Dvorsky's blog about Dumbledore's 'outing.'

pillow

2007-10-22T13:16:00.001-04:00

it's a little lumpy, but here's a pillow I made for marie this summer. It includes two of her favorite things -- purple and circles. Oh and believe me, the symbolic reasons behind both are deep and long winded. Actually, I loved the colors together, and had fun with fabric paint. This was during the summer when I had more downtime than I needed... now, of course, I wish I had more!

Here's a detail:

mismatch

2007-10-21T13:38:00.000-04:00

before moving back north, I had big bouts of downtime at my last job... hence hand sewing this pillow together at my desk during breaks. I have to say, initially I wanted things to line up (maybe to justify some sort of quilting law...) but then I decided I didn't want to have straight lines and angles. I don't generally enjoy my sewing to be too 'perfect,' which may be why I've balked from the quilt marie's grandmother assigned. sewing homework=ridiculous.

this is one of a few things I've sewn and not immediately given away. which reminds me, christmas is coming...

bed

2007-10-12T15:33:00.000-04:00

::Athens:: From Bed Series, 2003 by Jessica Levey

"... When we journey alone together through the wild country
of the soul, and I envy your greater courage, which looks solid
as mahogany, or your agile heart, softly flaming like pearl,
remind me of the child too small to peer over snowbanks,
who sailed mythic seas, and hand-crafted worlds..."

From "How the Poet Got Her Stripes," by Diane Ackerman

lines

2007-10-12T12:24:00.000-04:00

::woodworkers:: by alyson fox

skulking through the shiny squirrel, an easy place to get lost by-the-by, I found this great piece by alyson fox. Fox does my favorite kind of art — simple lines, great color, novel concept AND it's fun. Check out her materials list: ink, colored pencil, water color and found materials/objects. Which comes to my next point, these are all things I can find in my house as well. so alyson fox = inspiration and not a blow to my artistic drive (read: can't start this project because i don't have a gocco machine).

::dinosaur:: by alyson fox.

Here's an excerpt from her interview on the aforementioned shiny squirrel:
"The drawings are an on going series of a fictional family with half true stories. I like the work to feel like something is about to go wrong. I get inspiration from lot of things: thrift stores, old photographs, textiles, my mood, and conversations."

2007-10-10T14:51:00.000-04:00

"Trust thyself only, and another shall not betray thee"

—Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

details

2007-10-03T16:16:00.000-04:00

fashion fashion fashion... in hindsight, i think i read more about people who take their fashion seriously (sometimes pushing it to comical heights). You know the type who grab found objects and create random, but 'cool,' combos.

This site makes me feel guilty every morning... not jewish grandma guilt from ages past, but the nagging little voice before i get dressed that says, would that be featured on bitsandbobbins? noooo, missy. and usually i move on.

elyse sewell, in her random blogging states, is part of the aggressive fashion machine... but adds her evergreen comments to a world that is hilarious and strange. (plus cultural commentary on hong kong. makes me want to visit even more).

this site is just begging to be rifled through for hours... people who work here are way way way too cool.

a hankering

2007-10-02T18:30:00.000-04:00

i'm sure you know how it is... the afternoon has rolled around, and it's not even close to dinner, and it's still too close to lunch to even really be worrying about dinner... and yet. i think a peanut butter and apple sandwich is in order. the snack of champions. too bad i don't have any of these ingredients handy today, but the picture looks good.

last night, marie's grandmother flew diligently across several states to visit and she brought me a nice little pile of fabric! new-to-me fabric presents are such a treat... it's like getting a brand spanking new journal with blank pages waiting for some creative bug to bite (regardless of if it ever does! i have hundreds of just-started journals to prove it, beginning in preschool).

hopefully, i'll get around to using it soon (and showing my projects... dang camera/scanner debacle).

sailing, sailing

2007-10-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

photo by marie
the oceans won't be the same... now that marie and I are sailing certified! it's a strange feeling, thinking that a month ago, I had no idea what 'tacking' or 'jibeing,' was other than possible dance moves... or that there was such a thing as 'luffing' or a 'boom vang' (frankly, sailing terms are weird, and i think many rational people would agree...).

lunch...

2007-09-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

What a great weekend and beginning to the week... and I usually do not. like. mondays. Friday, our friend morgan came in town, and we of course headed to the north end for italian. Saturday and Sunday, marie and i took our very first sailing lessons. each day was distinctly different. Saturday = hot, muggy, with a very careful almost timid instructor. Sunday = cold, rainy, with an instructor who wasn't afraid to let marie heel the boat until water came in. exciting! Also in the list of firsts, we had our first soccer game sunday (with morgan as our cheering section) and we won... and last night i went to orchestra rehearsal in cambridge. (Later I picked the two wanderers up from their red sox game... they hiked around beantown yesterday until their feet fell off).

There's something about the weather getting cooler that equals cooking... I've been on a cooking kick partly because of that and also because marie's back home (contrary to whatever my sister might say, I like sharing).
since morgan is in town, we made these crazy delicious tomato tart things that went down nice and easy with morgan's homemade guacamole.
a few days ago for lunch, I made this pita pizza (Ingredients: pesto sauce, one sliced tomato, parma. cheese/mozarella. Heat it in the toaster oven/microwave until the cheese melts. eat.). deeelicious.

calm

2007-09-02T16:19:00.000-04:00

yesterday, marie and i took the train to Providence; an hour of marie shooting out the window, the dog nestled at our feet. The south station terminal looks a bit like we entered into europe (the shot above is not marie's she'll be happy to say...). maybe it's remembering european explorations — relaxed days, exhilaration with each new discovery. marie said she feels like we're supposed to go from our walks — to the ICA or in the North End — back to a hotel room, instead of our apartment.
I still have to remind myself to relax, though. my friend nat brings out the calmness. In providence, we walked around thayer street, eating pizza, taking photos at the trolley stop, and dodging students moving into brown. last night, we ate a decadent dinner next to the canal toasting nat to be "a finder, not always a seeker."
today, lazy day seeping in, we grabbed breakfast at Loui's, walked through the RISD museum where a giant Buddha occupied a whole room by himself. We talked about remembering the kindness of strangers when other strangers are not...

the divine gas

2007-08-31T10:41:00.000-04:00

chiho aoshima, the divine gas

Last night, m. and I took a journey to the financial district in Boston, and then over to the ICA for free Thursday nights. The museum sits on the inner harbor, with views of Eastie, and the Tobin. It was our first trip down there together, and the buildings/water/art all served as inspiration (that word again!). The Philip-Lorca diCorcia exhibit was a mix and match of his previous showings and the Louise Bourgeois show spanned six decades of her work, but m. was not interested in this room's contents.

The first thing you see when you walk into the museum, is Chiho Aoshima's giant mural, The Divine Gas... the lines are so clean and the colors vivid, that at first you wonder, "is that really a mural of a giant tooting?" love a sense of humor in art.

polas

2007-08-29T17:06:00.000-04:00

it's days like this, hot humidness, that i have to remind myself to appreciate it, because it's not going to last... green images on 3191... and this pola in france, in march, which always cools me off {and make me wish i was there, no matter how cold!}.

in contrast... i'll need to reference this when I'm freezing my tush off in november

flying to the next thing...

2007-08-28T13:40:00.000-04:00

just sent a postcard copy of this to lauren... hope she likes it. I've been hankering for little drawings... most postcard size, and can't stop filling pages with black and whites. but this is the first one, so it reserves a special place.

soars through the air with the greatest of ease

2007-08-28T12:46:00.000-04:00

Argentinean photographer Esteban Pastorino Díaz took this photo. He photographs landscapes using a kite with a camera mounted beneath it. It looks like a doll's house, with tiny clay people and plastic trees...

"The capacity to register time is, indeed, the most important aspect I wish to emphasize. This aspect becomes evident when temporality is distorted and I create a fiction of the extension of the photographic instant, and it is the extreme expansion of such instant that evidences this capacity."

This and about 11 other aerial photographers will be shown at TO FLY: Contemporary Aerial Photography from Sept. 7- Oct. 28, 2007 at the Boston University Art Gallery.

photo by Marilyn Bridges

afternoon

2007-08-27T15:59:00.000-04:00

ever get a feeling of starting in the middle?

made it to the woods this weekend...

Through lots of coaxing from the locals, we found a nice little baby hike for the hot day. When we made it to the top of our hill, the lake was hazy below us, and storms clouds were rolling in. The humidity was so oppressive, that it felt wonderful having buckets of water pouring down as we ran down the trail to the car.

povertyjetsetkim

did I forget to mention...

Acadia, Mount Desert Island, Maine

some such thing

crazy busy = no time to blog = silly

halloween costume #1

moment of zen... oh wait...

communist dracula pageant

sigh. if only this were out now...

changing appearances

the globs. cd releasing. in all their glory

flip flop break dance

unraveling

wiggle room

delicious samosas, horrid photo

quote of the day, y'all

travel imminent...

read this. since no one else is covering it

oh snap, lindsay.

rockport, ma. sept 13

reflections

ode to the t

p.s.

Peanut Butter... and Jelly

Bar Harbor, Maine. July 21 to 23

Vermont. July 12 to 18

final frontier

museum of science

a spoonful of sugar

frankie say reeelaaaxxx

check one off the list

gardening

watercolors

a night down christopher street. nyc.

pork and nail polish. together. forever.

Orleans, Massachusetts, Cape Cod

Sunday Sailing

high on chocolate

at work, rest, or play

from the art

only a few more days

the globs

p.s.

long weekend

ouch!

comics that make you go hmm...

shirley you jest

Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa

down in the valley where the green grass grows

jump

montreal

back in the day

shout out

some such subtlety

knick knack paddy WHACK

see through

livers of life

snow globe

square

re: kristin's writers strike post-tv addiction

strrrretch

dog walking dog

busy bee

happy holidays

hand made holiday

*snow daze*

pregnancy pregnancy jiggety jig!

by any other name?

laisse tombe les filles

record(ed)

advertising+art

one more reason...

bronx=up, battery=down

i made myself go...

bambino

sometimes you just can't help yourself...

may i take your order?

blurring the lines

the weekend cannot come fast enough

pillow

snow daze