I Bought a Ticket to the World

Falling in love with the Internet again...

2012-01-29T16:23:00.002-05:00

Did everyone else know about Pinterest except for me?! How else was I supposed to find photos of incredibly tiny polar bears? Is this even real? Also, look at this retouched photo of Joan Crawford:

I feel like writing a letter to daddy, I'm so excited! (That's a WHTBJ reference, btw, so you know, I don't literally want to write a letter to my father about this. But STILL.) Marlena Dietrich kissing Edith Piaf:

A lemon bear:

I said: A LEMON. BEAR.

"I am too grown for this."

2012-01-28T17:30:00.002-05:00

This is the kind of thing I'm doing in DC.

My completely dorky obsession

2012-01-18T19:16:00.001-05:00

Color by COLOURlovers
The Colour Schemer app is so much fun! I'm totally obsessed with making color palettes, posting them, and "loving" people's palettes. It helps me unwind, okay?! (Painting by Schiele, btw.)

Night after full moon...

2012-01-10T20:08:00.001-05:00

Back On (or British, American, British)

2012-01-09T18:41:00.001-05:00

Yay, Season 2 of "Downton Abbey" premiered last night on PBS! I think they're playing it all week. Let's hear it for juicy period drama! (By the way, I hope all of you are following the casting of the Les Miz movie musical -- how do we feel about Taylor Swift as Eponine? Anyone else a little "Meh?") And in numismatic news:

A 1793 penny from the first year that America started minting coins sold for a million dollars this weekend! Everyone check your change NOW. (The Hubs is super excited because he collects coins.) And finally we have the only thing that could have made "Downton Abbey" better:

No, it's not a Gosling. It's a Cumberbatch, who is also in the Sherlock Holmes series with Martin Freeman (of Tim Canterbury "Office" fame) and who was in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which I saw this weekend. The movie was fun and suspenseful, even up until the last 30 seconds when I was like, "Huh?" But still, I liked Cumberbatch's three piece suits.

Happy Friday!

2012-01-06T18:00:00.001-05:00

Is it 60 degrees where you are?

Can we consider the pajama jean?

2012-01-05T07:11:00.001-05:00

They come in skinny and flare.

Portrait, room, portrait

2012-01-01T17:41:00.002-05:00

Computer spring cleaning! I have several of these random photos on my desktop which I presumably save to use as inspiration for whenever I finally become that stylish and aloof Dutch librarian whose love for Alain Delon films has led to unhealthy relationships with men and salty licorice. Are those chinchilla throw pillows?

But then, I also save photos like this:

I love it when I do spring cleaning, and nothing gets thrown out.

Happy 2012! (Did anyone else poop out at 2 AM?)

2012-01-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone has a great year! Hopefully, I'll be more productive blogging-wise in 2012, though things are already worrisome given that I started yawning at 10 last night. That's sad, right? I can't decide if I started off 2012 right: woke up to eat Thai food, took a three hour nap, about to eat a brownie. Is that decadent or gross? Don't answer that.

I'll just read a book instead...

2011-12-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

Mm, Toasty

2011-12-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a happy holiday! I just loved this photo, "Vova and Nose," by Olya Ivanova, which I found at the Verve Photo website:
“This picture was shot in Gorelovka, a village in Siberia 800 km from Novosibirsk. It was for a story about hermits living in a village that historically was a place to escape and hide. Many years ago Christian old believers came here to avoid church reform. Then ‘kulaks’ (wealthy peasants) chose this place to escape from Stalin’s repressions. Now many ‘new world antagonists’ settle here to live without passports, personal tax numbers, church and government. Vova is not a hermit, he is just a local, who works as a stove-man in winter and as a saw mill worker in summertime. Each day we visited and started with beer and finished with vodka, the usual life here. We listened to his old gramophone or rode on his Soviet bike across the fields to drink from a natural source of water. It was pure happiness. Vova was sitting behind the stove, it was the end of September and quite cold. His cat Nose all of a sudden jumped on his shoulder and stared at me."

Hi...hi.

2011-12-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

(Watch on mute.)

YES.

2011-12-11T21:40:00.001-05:00

The twins are all growed up.

RIP, Pusuke

2011-12-06T22:36:00.001-05:00

I know, I know, enough with the obits, but today the world's oldest dog passed away. Pusuke was 26. And, of course, Japanese!

The Apple Sauce

2011-12-05T20:19:00.001-05:00

I have to re-post this (thank you, Mr. Finer Things). There's a website called Damn You Auto Correct. I'm sorry, but I've been laughing all night about the Motts apple sauce. It's not that funny. But I can't stop laughing. There are so many...

PS. This is a way better post than what I had planned which was an even-the-Hubs-couldn't-approve-of-this: NFL Oakland Raiders Womens Mystic Memory III Thong. I have a question about every single word here, except for thong.

Failed NaNoWriMo attempt leads to reliving of yesterday's parties

2011-12-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

So. Did you know November was National Novel Writing Month? Oh, yes. And while it wasn't a complete failure on my part (at least I started something?), I did manage to confuse myself while writing a murder mystery. That is: I still don't know how to solve my own mystery, so it's unfinished. Because I confused myself. With my own story.

But, while I was doing "research" -- rifling through old art history notes in order to sound convincing that the victim was a diligent art history major (and so, a total bitch who totally deserved it) -- I found some things.

This clipping is from around the year 2000: Post-grad, pre-Hubs, getting bullied by trannies in Baltimore. I had met Future Hubs, but he still sometimes called me "dude" and participated in that horrible 20-something man-child rite of passage: Mustache November. I was unemployed. Living in the HoHo after having gotten a degree in...I'd rather not say. (Doing SO much better now, btw, having found a job which, when you tell people what you do, they physically back away because they don't want to get stuck talking to you. It's a worse reaction than when I told people I worked in IT. In a vault. With mail. In a basement.)

Anyhow. Here's a little nugget for you: If you're cutting out your horoscope and saving it to confirm that you're feeling down, you might be 23. I believe the last line spoke to me: "The scene reminds me of you, my dear: blooming, as you are, in the midst of an environment that outwardly seems inhospitable." A former MFA grad in poetry must have written this.

There's more:

It says: "christmas 2000 honey bear, dried daisies, turkey dinner, can of corn, phone calls, smoking out in the cold, and Hope the whippit dog"

Was someone feeling a little sorry for herself? WTF happened Christmas 2000?! I typed this on someone's typewriter and saved it. Is someone missing their dog Hope? Geez.

I must have finally started understanding New Yorker cartoons, because I cut this one out and saved it:

My favorite find, though, as I was searching for novel-y substance, is this flier (and others) I made for Cecily's parties:

This one has Catherine Deneuve, and it says "hey guy, it's the witching hour" in that e.e. cummings, choppy, meaningful way. Fun! It was a Halloween party. (Get it? Witch-ing hour? Eh?)

But wait! My most favorite party was the "I Nida Bloody Mary Party." Ces hosted it for my 23rd birthday, and Maggie (where are you, Maggie?!) brought jugs of bloody mary mix from some tavern in Annapolis:

Aw...Again with the broken meaningful lines.

But then...things get a little complicated:

How am I not a gay man? I conceived this flier for Future Hubs' and his roommates' New Year's party. By this point, I think Ces had already fled to New York. And my "work" is starting to feel a bit forced. It says, "Ma'am, what's my motivation here?" And then she says, "Well, It's Midnight At the Oasis, baby."

I can tell you exactly how many of these fliers were distributed by Future Hubs: Zero. And truly, I was confused as to why he never passed them out.

Miami: Where Things Fall Apart

2011-12-01T18:25:00.001-05:00

Hi. Remember me? I didn't post at all in November. Before we get to Miami, here are a couple reasons I've been neglecting you all:

1. A Paul bakery moved in DOWNSTAIRS. Seriously, it's just to the right of the entrance to our apartment. So you can find me there everyday. Shoveling pastries down my pie hole. Btw, did you hear that macarons are the new cupcakes?

2. Visited Ces in Cambridge. That's us in front of Lake Waban. That's right: I returned to Wellesley, which wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be (except when I saw the line for THE bus in front of Harvard Yard). The Hubs thought it looked like Hogwarts, which made me think I would've been happier if I had worn a cape all those years. There's no explaining teenage girls. I even returned to my first year dorm:

Doesn't it look like a nice place to sip tea and bitch about your date last night? Thank you, Hubs and Ces, for indulging me!

3. This is Walden Pond, which I never visited while I was in college. I kind of didn't leave campus unless it was to go with Carlo to Rod Dee in Brookline, the dessert buffet at the Four Seasons, or Chau Chow's in Chinatown (couldn't make it back to CC's this time, Carlo -- wouldn't have been right without you). Anyhow, this pond water is really clear as you can see. There was also a man dressed as Thoreau who answered questions while sitting in a replica of Thoreau's famous cabin. He was constantly name-dropping his friend Emerson. Ces decided to challenge Thoreau with questions about his time at Harvard. He hated her.

4. This is Dr. Nick! Cecily's fiance. And a dancer and a maker of fantastic eggs. We love him.

5. My mom and dad visited us in DC! Aren't they cute? And here's a picture of them when they had just started dating back in Bangkok in the 60s. :)

6. Miami. It started off pretty nice. Arroz con pollo. Yum yum.

And the art-deco architecture was neat, even though you can't really tell from the abandoned Stardust apartment complex below. I just took that picture because Frank Bidart wrote a collection of poetry with the same title.

And then there's the rainbow, taken from behind the Versace mansion, next to the gelateria where JWOWW and Snookie worked during the filming of "Jersey Shore: Miami Beach." You can be sure I told everyone about that.

Nothing wrong with the rooftop pool. Also, delicious bagels in Miami. But then the partying got so loud on the street (why is everyone yelling in Miami??) and in our hallway (don't they know I'm trying to read?!) that we couldn't sleep. I looked like this upon my return to DC:

The Hubs caught some kind of stomach virus, and I caught the flu and was forced to stay home and watch episodes of "Shameless" on Netflix for a week. What the...?

The frozen marinated meats are here.

2011-10-10T22:48:00.000-04:00

I know the recent posts (last twenty?) have sounded like the obit section, but it's slow going with blog material since I'm not traveling that much, but then I don't think I'll ever travel as much as when we lived in Bulgaria. That was a cool time, wasn't it? Now, it's all Angry Birds and Dance Moms. But worry not! We'll be going to Boston and Miami soon. Ah, falling in love with America again...Until then, it's pumpkin cupcakes (cupcakes are so 2006, says Ces, but that's sort of DC, isn't it? Always about five years behind) with Brian! And pumpkin curry:

...with Justin at Thai Crossing. And frozen marinated meats:

...with the Hubs at HMart! Sorry, that picture is blurry, but trust us, this is where the frozen marinated meats are. And this week we're going to see...wait for it...LES MIS! At the Kennedy Center with the Admiral and Ellen (of Rockband Night in Sofia fame) because I'm apparently the only person left on earth who hasn't seen it. Even the Hubs has seen it. But I know ALL THE WORDS.

RIP, Al Davis

2011-10-08T12:32:00.000-04:00

The best part of this -- other than Al's diamond encrusted ID bracelet -- is Ice Cube's look of adoration at the end.

RIP, Steve Jobs

2011-10-08T12:26:00.002-04:00

I've also been watching the talks between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Sweet Pizza!

2011-10-04T23:03:00.001-04:00

From Carl in Bangkok...

Sundays with Amy

2011-10-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

Be sure to watch to the end -- she covers Lauryn Hill.

Can't you hear that boom ba doom doom bass?

2011-09-29T18:18:00.000-04:00

I love Nicki. I really do.

App happy at the DC National Book Fair Festival (Julianne Moore wrote a book?)

2011-09-24T17:31:00.001-04:00

The ~~DC book fair~~ National Book Festival (I guess it's a bigger deal than a county fair) was pretty crowded, which was exciting (people getting excited about books is exciting!) for about ten minutes. I saw David McCullough holding a fan's baby at one of the tents. Amy Chua was crouched somewhere like a tiger. We passed a tent where Mary Gordon was talking about the female body and sexuality. Yaay, poets. And, if you look closely in the above photo, there were funnel cakes. Except I didn't get one. Things really have changed. We decided to escape to the American History Museum.

It seems like all the photo apps make things blurry and greenish.

We went to the cafeteria where they displayed some fun lunchboxes:

A space hug for a space cadet...and if you've got the gun at the bear's throat, it might be too late.

Mister Kotter!

My favorite:

*Edit: I should mention that we also saw the Star Spangled Banner Flag from when the British bombed Baltimore in 1814. It's not just lunch boxes at the National Museum of American History.

Wet, Bulletproof Saturday

2011-09-24T12:43:00.001-04:00

It's rainy in DC. Forecast says it's going to rain for the next week. Boooooo.

Skim: I'm going there.

2011-09-19T22:09:00.001-04:00

I just finished reading the graphic novel Skim which is awesome for these reasons: Angsty Canadian Catholic school girls. And then it occurred to me: I have 16 (that's SIX - TEEN) diaries that are just waiting to be e-published, like Van Gogh's letters to his bro. One can see where I began to hone the dramatic lyrical style I've become known for. For instance, on Monday, June 24, 1991, I penned:

Dear Diary,

Today was both "distraughting" and "reviving." This morning I learned that most of my oil paints were stolen from my locker at the Atlanta College of Art. I'm too ashamed to tell my dad I was irresponsible and didn't get a lock on it. I'm still confused on what I should do. Anyhow, I went to my dad's office for the rest of the day. You know - something degrading is happening to my taste in music; I've pulled out all my old Debby Gibson and Tiffany tapes and started to listen to them. And get this -- I'm enjoying them, too. Yes. Perhaps it's just another phase -- Please say it is. I got my new Seventeen magazine today and it had something on one of the actors from Dead Poets Society named Josh Charles - (unfortunately not Ethan Hawke) - and I got momentarily excited. We went to Kroger and got (rented) a movie that I've only been waiting a month to see! White Fang - (with Ethan Hawke, of course) is an awesome movie.

I believe "distraughting" (my own quotes) refers to the theft of my oil paints at the Atlanta College of Art (I made sure to spell that out), which can be understandably distraughting for a 14-year-old girl. What disturbs me most is that "reviving" can refer to either Debby Gibson tapes, Dead Poets Society, or White Fang (with Ethan Hawke, of course). Or a cocktail of ALL of them. It's like a teenage speedball.

White Fang. An awesome movie.

It's all. Very. Degrading.

Coach Taylor wins Emmy!

2011-09-19T21:34:00.001-04:00

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! (I wish Tammy Taylor won, too.)

Wedding in Shenandoah!

2011-09-18T14:57:00.001-04:00

Yay, love! And the blessed union of law enforcement. Victoria and Jared's wedding in Shenandoah was filled with such love and beautiful scenery, and the best barbecue and sweet corn I've ever had!

Victoria!

Mountains. Almost...Bulgarian in landscape, no?

Maybe I was obsessed with cows.

But the Hubs was obsessed with the deadly corn maze:

Seriously, inside it's a maze, made of corn.

Sun going down over West Virginia...Congratulations Victoria and Jared!

This is an experiment.

2011-09-17T21:20:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to post through my phone. Can you see the cows?

I call this: Cows and Sky.

A post while watching "Project Runway"...right into "Dance Moms"...then some "Russian Dolls"

2011-09-15T23:17:00.000-04:00

A world worth fighting for, folks.

(More tiny people, big food found here!)

I bet you thought my head exploded from all those statistics! Unfortunately. No. It's been difficult finding the energy to type on my laptop while sitting on the couch watching Netflix and playing Angry Birds to bring you updates on the Hubs and his fantasy football and to tell you that I almost got an iPhone 4 except I didn't because the Apple store guy told me I should just wait for the 5 but now I'm up at night thinking, Who do I think I am anyways? An early adopter?! (Wait, I just heard Michael Kors say, "He looks like a gay Jesus.")

Who doesn't want to dive into tea?

The last few weeks of summer have been lovely -- we saw friends (and the beach and dolphins!) in Virginia Beach, we got our olive trees to grow, and some of our friends are back in town from abroad. So now it's colder outside (50s already?), and I'm back to watching "Dance Moms," the craziest moms by far on tv (crazier than all the real housewives and pageant moms). There was a moment of hope, though, when one of the moms brought in drag queen Shangela to inspire the little girls with the "death drop." Aaand the Hubs is cutting me off before "Russian Dolls."

In statistics training this week.

2011-08-30T18:48:00.006-04:00

Do you think it's possible we get better at statistics with age? Please?
Average lifespan of animals chart from Information is Beautiful.

I might talk to animals now.

2011-08-28T09:52:00.005-04:00

I don't know if it's because I watched that last Harry Potter movie or if I'm simply "in the zone" but I have to report that I've been having these awesome dreams about animals. Yes. I've checked back in after a month of nothing to say (not that there's nothing to say, but did you really want photos of ramen socks and September Vogue issues? And what more can you say about earthquakes and hurricanes anyway?) to report that I *might* be able to talk to animals now. But only in my dreams. The other night I had a really vivid dream about bulldog puppies. I was playing with them and rolling around with them. For the entire dream I remember holding their squishy bodies. It was SO awesome. The Hubs was jealous because that's his favorite dog. My favorite dog:Killer! THEN, just last night, I dreamed that I was sitting in front of a tree that was covered in blue butterflies, and I held out my hand and a purple owl landed in my palm and hung out there for a while. A PURPLE OWL. What?!

I'm trying to think about what could be causing these awesome animal dreams, other than it's a sign that I might have a new power. I can't think of anything out of the ordinary that could be causing them. I haven't been eating before bed, and the only thing I was reading was the Hunger Games and all they do in that book is kill the animals. I have been meditating and that is sometimes known to do weird things to your sleeping patterns. Wow. Maybe it's a sign to finally get one of those familiar animals. Can anyone recommend a good shaman doctor?

Bad, Sally Draper. (Fell off the Mad Men wagon.)

2011-08-07T22:09:00.008-04:00

Draper is engaged to his secretary?! (I like to have Sarah Vaughan playing in the background when I think about Mad Men, btw.) Will someone please take my mind off this plot twist by buying me a Joan Holloway doll? At $75, she's much cheaper than the Karl Lagerfeld bear. I think you'll find she's worth it:
I guess I'll be playing with my Betty Draper and Peggy Olson paper dolls until March 2012, when the 5th season comes out:

I'm sorry, but MARCH 2012?!

Also, the new episodes of Downton Abbey don't come out until 2012. What is it with people taking their time making quality shows?!

Yamas, Niyamas and Olive Branches

2011-08-05T18:02:00.010-04:00

When you study yoga, you learn there are 5 moral restraints: 1) nonviolence, 2) truthfulness, 3) non-stealing, 4) moderation, 5) non-hoarding. [End deep part.] Guess which restraint I have the most problems with!
Correct: Truthfulness. KIDDING. In the words of my dermatologist, there are a couple problem areas: moderation, non-hoarding (just ask the Hubs what he thinks about my method of eating ice cream), and sometimes nonviolence. It became clear that moderation was my biggest problem when I couldn't even remember that it was one of the 5 moral restraints when asked to recite them at the yoga teacher training. I still have problems remembering it actually. So, I'm going to work on that. Mostly. Unless we're talking about dim sum. Or if I'm in Italy. Or in Spain. And bakeries in France. Maybe I'll just cut down on the buffets. Great, we gotta plan!

Then there are 5 moral observances: 1) purity, 2) contentment, 3) discipline, 4) self-study, 5) devotion to a higher power. Guess which one I keep forgetting!

I always forget contentment. Oh, dear. That is bad. (I've also been known to forget purity but really, what does purity mean these days anyway?) Who knew contentment was so hard to remember? A symptom of always trying to remember moderation, I believe.

Anyhow, here's me trying to be content: Check out my olive "trees!"
Seriously, isn't that cute? I bought two olive "trees" (I ordered online what I thought would be 3-to-4 foot trees, and so was a little surprised when I opened the box and saw a couple sticks with two leaves each) in the hopes of recreating the olive groves of Sienna. On my deck. They finally started sprouting more leaves and branches! How long do you think before they look like this?

Maybe in two hundred/two hundred fifty years?

Have to catch up on Mad Men Season 4 now. To my friend Jenn in Tokyo: "Bad, Sally Draper!"

Yogis in VB, VA (not an STD, btw)!

2011-07-29T18:24:00.007-04:00

I went to Virginia Beach twice over the last 3 months to complete a yoga teacher training, which yes! I passed! I met some really wonderful people, who were very supportive and silly throughout the whole process. I have to say here is one of my favorite people:
This is Kristen. Besides housing me and being my friend, she was also a wonderful hostess. That is to say she made crab dip and sangria (we were picking crabs and juicing nectarines the entire night before). How do I know the sangria was tasty without eventually forcing someone to hold my hair back? I found out that eating the fruit in the sangria was enough to get me buzzed (not really, but maybe a little). My hands were in everyone's glasses picking out fruit. Yummy, huh?

It's Ratthana! One hilarious lady.

Leigh. From west Ghent. Virginia. It's apparently a hipster town. (She forgot to wear her TOMS.)

Zoe-the-Greek and Ava-I'm-gonna-guess-Italian.

Ava, are you going to eat the fruit in your cup?

Yay, our awesome yoga instructors! Chris, Sarah, and John Yax.

John and Elizabeth (also a yoga instructor).

Vogue-ing Yogis: Zoe, Leigh, Andrea.

Zoe and Leigh take their yoga vows over bites of pita.

Sarah. Gives awesome mid-yoga-class massages.

Leigh...I...ate...too much...sangria fruit...can't...
p.s. I love you guys!

I'm back!

2011-07-25T17:02:00.003-04:00

Just got back from Virginia Beach, where I completed my yoga teacher training (uh, still didn't quite see the beach). Hopefully, I'll be able to use this certification more often than that A+ computer thingy. I just spent ten days with some pretty awesome people. I'll post photos of the after-party, which included my friend Kristen's sangria, an overpowering rendition of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" (Chynna's mom jeans haunt me), and a conversation with one of my yoga teachers where I tried to convince him that honey badgers could take on wolverines.

Fireworks, national monument, and side of building

2011-07-09T11:17:00.003-04:00

Happy Independence Day (about 5 days late)! Fireworks from our apartment.

More shenanigans in Baltimore

2011-07-09T09:18:00.012-04:00

The scene outside the Engineer's Club in Baltimore: Dan, Flo and Michael get ready for the newlyweds to make their exit.

But wait, something or someone else calls...

There was a waitress who all night was flirting with Flo, calling him the "White Collar" guy. She wanted to give the guys more drinks through the open window. Her managers had to tell her to come back in to help clean up.
The waitress-who-loved-Flo, describing things in detail to Alicia and Jim.

Hubs met Flo. They talked about all sorts of things, like, soccer?

But this is where the real fun was had. Michael had an app which matched your image to the celebrity you most resemble. Flo was lucky.
I was not. It was between a mannish looking woman from "The Bold and the Beautiful" and...Renee Zellweger.
The Hubs looks like Munro Lochlyn (from TV hits such as "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?" and some episodes of "21 Jump Street") and his idol, Kathleen Turner.
This kid. I haven't seen Yoshi since, Tokyo 2006?! Has it been that long? Well. He hasn't changed. He still tried to get me to do the worm.

Awww, profiles.

Yoshi, wtf, seriously every picture? Michael, smizing. Hubs, hubbing along.

Minnesota Jim presided over the ceremonies and married Jim and Alicia (Jilicia?) in the lovely setting. That's Zazove's hair on the right. I sort of miss Baltimore now.

Is the baby supposed to fold this way?

2011-07-09T08:58:00.004-04:00

Back in Baltimore, the Hubs was trying to convince his old roomie Chris that they needed to get the band back together. Chris, the creative genius behind the ditties "Meat Spag" and "Time for Decaf," expressed reservations about going back to a life of instability and facial hair, but soon grew nostalgic for "all that free time."

Snack Bar (the band) was comprised of three guitarists, a drummer, and not a ton of practice. I guess I don't have to say that I was the Yoko Ono in this story. That's okay though, because they were crap. Chris plays a much more constructive role now:

Keeping his daughter Sammie from beating me up. I think she's drummer material.

This is Jessie! Chris and Jen's oldest daughter and I believe future front-woman in an all girl band, showing me the eggs that their chickens just laid. Did you know hens don't need a rooster in order to lay eggs? They just lay eggs. Nuts.

So I says to Madame Butterfly, you look a little piqued

2011-07-09T08:40:00.006-04:00

There was a trip to Annapolis in June. We went to this cute bookstore that had Madame Butterfly dolls and chap books of poems with titles like "In the Fear of Love," which only reminded me of my own unpublished works, "Didn't We Have It All" and "I'm Bored Let's Have an Eating Contest."

Pretty, yes?The Hubs flipped through a book of terrifying photos displaying the habits of koala fathers in the wild.

And back in DC, New York Ave, Wendy's: WE OPEN LATE

I call this one "My two dads."

2011-06-29T22:17:00.003-04:00

At some point in May we went hiking in Prince William park in Virginia with Larry and Joslyn. And Sidney!

See Sidney see.

Sorry for all the blurry parts - I was playing around with the "miniature" option on my camera. Pretty blossoms, huh? From what you can actually see of them.

Good place for elf spotting.

A man and his dog.

Found Angry Birds, forgot I had a blog.

2011-06-26T19:48:00.003-04:00

Now I understand why touch pad devices were invented. Has there been a game more fun than Angry Birds since Super 3 came out? Our friend Carl was visiting and he brought his Angry Bird Machine (an "i" "Pad"), and even though I begged the Hubs to let us buy Carl's iPad off of him, it was a no-go given my penchant for on "sale" coats and sunglasses. BUT I was able to convince everyone around me to download Angry Birds on their iPhones and iPads so I can play on their machines while they awkwardly tap their fingers and wipe the condensation off their water glasses. Nice.

Um, so I've neglected the blog for a teensy while but here's what's been going on (other than Angry Birds Rio):

1) What does it mean that I'm imagining events that never happened? Is that crazy? Or just fun?

2) Germans. There are a lot of them in my life. And I live in America.

3) The baumkuchen-dog machine that Jenn blogged about. Only the Japanese could improve a German creation -- and a German said so, so you know.

4) I'm actually going through pictures over the past month to remember if I saw people (as opposed to angry birds) this month, and yes, yes I have. There was a wedding! There were reunions with friends in Baltimore! Photos to come. I know, it's gripping.

5) Been catching up on Mad Men and 30 Rock. Discovered the BBC Sherlock Holmes (with Tim Canterbury from The Office) on Netflix streaming. Made time for the odd French rom-com with Charlotte Gainsbourg. She's made a lot of them.

And that's it! I'll post some proof of my having actually left the house. At some point.

Most Sickly loves Nerdiest State

2011-06-07T07:10:00.004-04:00

Check out this cool map of the States and their worst attributes (and something about pleated jeans)! Got it from Strange Maps, which also features a map of the "United States of Awesome."

Old Times: Finally, a Pinter play we can sort of understand. We think.

2011-06-02T22:20:00.004-04:00

We went to see a Pinter play tonight and felt proud of ourselves that we didn't feel the way we felt (mostly confused and scared) after that time we saw the Birthday Party. This time we felt mildly confused but at least satisfied by the ending. Old Times is playing at the Lansburgh and features pauses, long pauses and lines like, "I knew you. I knew you well."

My brief affair with Tumblr...

2011-05-29T12:38:00.008-04:00

I experimented on Tumblr for about a week, posting photos of not just pretty but very seriously pretty things. Like photos of Daphne Guinness and her hats (photo from Italian Vogue, Spring 2010):
...peonies (from the parsley thief, an awesome cooking and growing fresh stuff blog) because it is known that all women who love clothes must also love peonies:

...stacks:

...Sally Mann photos (requisite back of a girl's head):

And random photos of girls with owls, paired with random quotes like: "I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone." (Um, that would be Byron, silly.)
But I gave up on this side project, because...it was sort of a drag being so serious. And then, I spent too much time reading sites like comically vintage, which posts comic panels out of context:

Caption: Some girls just crave that hipster boyfriend.

And then there were the many, many, many animal blogs that will keep you from living your life because you are too busy dreaming of ways to dress up baby owls and have them make friends with the baby coyotes sniffing wild flowers and high-fiving the otters enjoying oysters. So here I am again. Summer in DC promises to be a sticky one...

This is what I hear they're doing at the beach.

2011-05-23T20:48:00.003-04:00

Back from the beach! Without actually having seen it. Maybe next time? Hello to all my new lovely buddies in Virginia Beach!

Wee!

2011-05-13T15:42:00.005-04:00

I'm was at the Subway at the Busch Gardens exit (I wrote the following on Friday but Blogger was having some issues): So far on my road trip down to Virginia Beach, the radio stations feature contests for the cutest pet in the South, a lot of Black Crowes and Georgia Satellites, and the biggest Jimmy Buffet tailgate party featuring favorites like...cornhole. And one rest stop had a Chick-fil-A, Original House of Pancakes, Waffle House, and Denny's. (And I saw signs for Atlanta!) (Photo from here.)

Always the better option.

2011-05-11T21:55:00.001-04:00

This is a card I bought for a friend's birthday (he or she might or might not be gay), but I'm just going to use it as general guidelines from now on.

French Navy French Navy French Navy

2011-05-09T07:14:00.002-04:00

This is for you and your three girls, Chris and Jen. Two words: Girl band. Think about it.

Friend?

2011-05-06T22:59:00.003-04:00

Happy weekend, everybody!
(Can I entice anyone else to share their 90s mix?)
Picture from thefrogumbleog.

Oh and I keep listening to Stevie.

I just keep clicking it over and over.

Another Ultimate 90s Mix! (From Jobert: "What can I say - I was a moody teen?")

2011-05-05T21:52:00.004-04:00

Madonna - Drowned World/Substitute for Love

M People - Moving On Up
Positive K - I Got a Man
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Walk On the Ocean
Blur - Beetlebum
Portishead - Wandering Star
Annie Lennox - Love Song for a Vampire
Happy Mondays - Step On
Jane's Addiction - Jane Says
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
Pulp - Disco 2000
Counting Crows - Anna Begins
Massive Attack - Protection
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing outside a Broken Phone Booth
Fatboy Slim - First Down
Oasis - Champagne Supernova
Elastica - Connection
Beck - Satan Gave Me a Taco
10,000 Maniacs - Eden
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
Bjork - Hyperballad
Jamiroquai - Use the Force
Jill Sobule - Houdini's Box
Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise (sic)
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Peter Gabriel - Secret World

Decidedly cooler mix than mine. I'm kicking myself for forgetting Oasis and Portishead. You know I thought long and hard about Positive K, though. ;P Thanks, JB!

Owls: The Judging Bird

2011-05-02T21:44:00.007-04:00

Sorry. I know. This is ~~getting ridiculous~~ already so ridiculous, but...no...no, I got no excuse. (Photo from the "More Ticks, More Misery" debate from NYT. Yeah, I said, I KNOW.)

It's almost like you don't care about the 90s or mom jeans.

2011-05-01T20:34:00.007-04:00

BUT for those of you who do care, here's my friend Shorty Fire's 90s mix, with cover art that only covers one of the seven things she requested: Bridget Fonda's boots, while not cowboy boots, are indeed ankle length. Also, it's possible she and Matt Dillon are clutching a bubble necklace, and there is a Mustang 5.0 parked nearby. There might also be a blue velvet scrunchy hidden somewhere in Dillon's hair. (I googled "khaki skirt blue scrunchy ankle length cowboy boots mustang 5 bubble necklace." Do you know how many grunge photo spreads I scrolled through?!)

Side A
1) Jump Around - House of Pain

2) Right Here Right Now - Jesus Jones

3) Evenflow - Pearl Jam

4) Wannabe - Spice Girls

5) Bad Fish - Sublime

6) California Love - Tupac

7) So Watcha Want - Beastie Boys

8) You Oughta Now - Alannis Morrisette

9) No Diggity - Blackstreet

10) Regulate - Warren G

11) Shoop - Salt N Peppa

12) Shadowboxer - Fiona Apple

13) Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

Side B

1) Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

2) Good Vibrations - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

3) Cannonball - Breeders

4) Today - Smashing Pumpkins

5) Sympathy for the Devil - Guns N Roses

6) Girls and Boys -Blur

7) Insane in the Membrane - Cyprus Hill

8) Every Morning - Sugar Ray

9) Crash - Dave Matthews Band

10) Gin and Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg

11) I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred

12) Ain't Nothin but a G Thing - Dr. Dre

13) Buddy Holly - Weezer

I can't believe I forgot Weezer in my mix.

Do you think they'll play this in the post-royal-wedding montage?

2011-04-28T21:03:00.003-04:00

Again with the mom jeans.

2011-04-27T20:51:00.007-04:00

Every single person in this picture has camel toe. And how awkward is that Ian Ziering hug? It's like they got the photographer from prom to shoot the cast photo. I found this while trying to find the requested cover art for my friend's 90s mix. It's taking me forever since this is what she requires:

the bottom half of a girl leaning against a Mustang 5.0, she's wearing a khaki skort, those ankle length cowboy boots with thick pushed down socks, you can see one hand dangling into the picture, it's got a navy blue velvet scrunchie around the wrist and in her hand she's holding a bubble necklace.

She changed it from:

a mashup of all your most cliched tatoos - a tribal art thing, with a yin and yang, a sun, a dolphin, and a pixie

So she came up with TWO ideas for cover art AND a mix tape, AND she just had a baby, y'all. What's your excuse? Ahem. Of course, I had to take a break from my research when I saw the above photo. And this more "formal" one where the frame was apparently too small to fit Andrea Zuckerman: This must have been the best costuming gig EVER. GAP. Limited. Macy's juniors. Where's my Tweeds catalog? Anyhow, please compare with 90210 now:Are there even any people in this photo? One of them may be black. Another may be Asian. Or they could just be random shadows cast by the pile of sticks that have been dumped on the mattress in front of the pool. When we turn thirty (something), do we just get nostalgic for a time when we were all...heavier?

I swear stuff happened in April.

2011-04-24T20:22:00.012-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, but it's not like stuff hasn't been going on. There's this:

Let love rule.

The Hubs and I are flipping between the "William and Kate" Lifetime movie and "America's Best Dance Crews" on MTV. He brings up the (only interesting to us) question of who would play us in the Lifetime movie of how we met, but really the question is who would play the many post-grad writers and engineers milling about and especially sitting on the couch watching Britney's Vegas concert on TV on the 4th of July. Other than that, this is what we've been up to:

1) I can't stop watching this video, which I think I got from Bannigan from the Wandering Marionettes (congrats on the engagement!):

It's more addictive than that hamster Kia commercial. I'm going to form my own dance crew with stuffed animals.

2) Yoga.

3. The Hubs and I got into an in-depth discussion about hobbit feet. It sounded something like this:

Me: My feet are starting to look like hobbit feet because I'm doing all this yoga. (Because that makes a lot of sense.)

Hubs: No they're not. If they were like hobbit feet they would be covered in hair.

Proof?

Oh.

4. I keep reading excerpts from Smithsonian magazine and screaming. Example: "Hagfish, which evolved hundreds of millions of years ago, are known for burrowing into the bodies of dead or dying fish and eating their way out." *screams*

Then I have to google images.

*more screams*

5. Wow, there's been such an overwhelming response to my 90s mix tape challenge (that is, two people, and I'm counting myself and the other person isn't even the Hubs). Geez, it's like you never heard of a scrunchy. Anyways, I've been working on my ultimate 90s mix tape and it's taken me some time, because um, it was harder than I thought it would be. Even though I already submitted my cover art (the ladies of "Twin Peaks"), I also decided to have Side A and B cover art.

Gaze upon SIDE A. Title: "That 90s Hair."

Head On - Pixies (I know this is cheating. They didn't write this song, and it's possible they recorded it before the 90s BUT this was on Trompe le Monde, and the beginning of the end of the Pixies. And it's still a pretty awesome intro.)
Never Said - Liz Phair (I had a hard time choosing between this and Polyester Bride, but how can you have later Liz without early Liz?)
Feed the Tree - Belly (Tanya Donelly!)
Stay - Lisa Loeb (Because the 90s did get annoying.)
Come to My Window - Melissa Etheridge
Rain King - Counting Crows (Be thankful I didn't include the Wallflowers)
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette (Would you rather Jewel?)
Joey - Concrete Blonde (Don't fight me on this.)
Today - Smashing Pumpkins (I chose the Pumpkins over R.E.M. Is that wrong? Stipe v. Corgan: Who is the most hollowed-out man?)
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Just a Girl - No Doubt
Honey - Moby (Had to include techno.)
November Rain - Guns 'N Roses (Best supermodel vid: November Rain or George Michael's Too Funky? Sorry, that's a stupid question)

SIDE B, with Angela burning it up.

Title: "Where Does Hootie Fit in All This?" (I'll admit it. I sort of think this is a more fun side.)

Hypnotize - Notorious B.I.G.
Ghetto Superstar - Mya and O.D.B.
Are You That Somebody - Aaliyah and Timbaland
Twisted - Keith Sweat (Because 90s Brit R&B also made you want to blow your brains out, too. Not all reserved for Lilith Fair.)
Always Be My Baby - Mariah Carey
Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill (We miss you.)
Creep - TLC (We miss you.)
Real Love - Mary J. Blige (When she still rolled hard.)
Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
Jump Around - House of Pain
Rosa Parks - Outkast
Ready or Not - Fugees
Sabotage - Beastie Boys (Had to use later Beastie, since I used early Liz.)

The thing about the nineties, which I didn't realize when I tackled this really important mix tape project, is that it's, like, TEN YEARS of music. I know I'm missing something big. Like Pearl Jam. And I can't believe I didn't include Madonna. Or Shania?! Cher! Damn, I should've included Believe. Oh well, let me know what I'm missing. (P.S. I'll be posting the OTHER submission as soon as I find the cover art.)

Thank goodness March Madness is over!

2011-04-05T20:55:00.003-04:00

Jezebel has a printable version of the cat vs. dog brackets here. I think the Calico vs Garfield match to be a very intriguing one (the clear winner being Garfield, OF COURSE). If you follow the link, you'll also find that the last two standing are the Tuxedo Cat and Corgi. So far the Corgi is ahead.

On Twin Peaks, friends, and Animals in Midlife Crises

2011-03-30T22:11:00.005-04:00

I can see why people thought mom jeans could be hot. This past weekend Dan came over and rifled through my 90s mix-tapes, while Jobert read a Vogue and played the "Unblock Me" app. And, fine, I forced them to watch Grizzly Man. It could only have been more awesome if they had let me paint their nails. The combination of low-impact-but-maximum-satisfaction activities and today's post by Strange Maps about Twin Peaks (and that the Hubs is broadcasting the Counting Crows and PJ Harvey on his iPod) has me asking: What is on the ultimate 90s mix-tape and what do you put on the cover? And what do you call the mix? My cover submission is above, but collages are welcome. 13 songs on each side, 26 songs total. I shall be thinking...

I also checked JDW's blog, and it turns out that he has combined three things that I love: animals, humor, and emotional baggage. Check out his comic strip here!

One last thing, for Twin Peaks fans:

Where brunettes rule!

Dancey Francey Mondays

2011-03-28T21:00:00.002-04:00

Congrats! (and this is my 1000th post, btw)

2011-03-26T11:50:00.003-04:00

I'd like to congratulate my friend, Cecily, who is now a PhD! Woot woot! I dare you to ask her about Emily Dickinson. Do it! Also, this is my thousandth post. Which is embarrassing because it means I've found so much (or little, depending on how you look at it) to talk about with complete strangers. Let's all put on our sexy librarian glasses and celebrate with a good book, shall we?

RIP, Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-23T22:43:00.002-04:00

No one served up lines like Liz.

Some happy moments!

2011-03-22T21:44:00.003-04:00

This is for the birth of Miss Sadie Jane in London (my greatest wish was to get Mischa Barton to say "Hey Sadie" on tape, but she never responded to my sexts). Also, congrats to Honey and Milcho on passing the US citizenship test and making us a smarter country, one Venezuelan and Macedonian at a time. Also, to my friend Jenn and her family who made it out of Tokyo and back to LA, we're thinking of you.

RIP, Nate Dogg. (For Z in Bruxelles, I hope you do get your daughter to whistle the intro.)

2011-03-22T07:24:00.002-04:00

Z, you were right. It belongs in the pantheon of jams.

RIP, Knut

2011-03-19T18:14:00.001-04:00

Now he'll get to play with his trainer forever in heaven. RIGHT, EVERYONE?!

Asians in the Library Song

2011-03-19T17:29:00.003-04:00

♥ Japan

2011-03-17T21:42:00.006-04:00

A rescuer reunites a Japanese man with his dog:

Germany (and other countries) sent rescue dogs:

The cats and elderly inhabitants of "Cat Island" (Tashirojima) survived the tsunami and earthquakes:

A woman at an evacuation center shares some rice with her dog:

A woman gave birth to a baby at an evacuation center!

Uh.

2011-03-01T18:10:00.007-05:00

photo from Another Magazine

I was going to post in depth (yeah, right) about Caravaggio's police record (full article here) which includes an incident with artichokes:

4 May 1598: Arrested at 2- 3am near Piazza Navona, for carrying a sword without a permit

19 November 1600: Sued for beating a man with a stick and tearing his cape with a sword at 3am on Via della Scrofa

2 October 1601: A man accuses Caravaggio and friends of insulting him and attacking him with a sword near the Piazza Campo Marzio

24 April 1604: Waiter complains of assault after serving artichokes at an inn on the Via Maddalena

19 October 1604: Arrested for throwing stones at policemen near Via dei Greci and Via del Babuino

28 May 1605: Arrested for carrying a sword and dagger without a permit on Via del Corso

29 July 1605: Vatican notary accuses Caravaggio of striking him from behind with a weapon

28 May 1606: Caravaggio kills a man during a pitched battle in the Campo Marzio area

The BBC article includes a translation of a statement:

Statement to police by Pietro Antonio de Fosaccia, waiter, 26 April 1604:

"About 17 o'clock [lunchtime] the accused, together with two other people, was eating in the Moor's restaurant at La Maddalena, where I work as a waiter. I brought them eight cooked artichokes, four cooked in butter and four fried in oil. The accused asked me which were cooked in butter and which fried in oil, and I told him to smell them, which would easily enable him to tell the difference.

He got angry and without saying anything more, grabbed an earthenware dish and hit me on the cheek at the level of my moustache, injuring me slightly... and then he got up and grabbed his friend's sword which was lying on the table, intending perhaps to strike me with it, but I got up and came here to the police station to make a formal complaint..."

You really should've told him which ones were cooked in oil and which ones were cooked in butter.

BUT THEN I SAW THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE:

Baby Gaga breast milk ice cream seized for safety tests

And now I have to stop and think about that.

Dirty Gaga Roadies

2011-02-27T21:48:00.008-05:00

I saw Kermit and Robin sitting on a trunk down below the stage:

I got one of the roadies to get a close up shot, but in case it's too dark for you to see, Kermit is dressed as a cop with his jock strap around his knees and his penis hanging out. He's sharing a bottle of Jameson with his nephew Robin who's holding a bra. These are the Gaga roadies.

Scissor Sisters opened by saying, "We're the Scissor Sisters, and if you haven't heard of us, it's probably because you're not gay or British." They rocked.

Then she came on the stage:

Lady Gaga randomly called someone in the audience, and after inviting them backstage, said, "I have to go, I have a call on the other line. Hello? Oh, hey, Beyonce." Right into Telephone.

You know the dance.

Close-up of disco-stick. (She had already taken off the giant nun habit.)

There was some blood during He Ate My Heart.

AWESOMENESS. (The hat and train moved independently.)

The Hubs loved the keyboard guitar.

Back drop.

She sang and danced for about two hours.

And wore even more awesome things.

And then there was the exploding bra and underwear. With the Fame Monster!

Okay, I'm done reveling.

I found this while watching the Oscars.

2011-02-27T21:35:00.002-05:00

I like it better than the taun taun sleeping bag.

It's a really weird Oscars so far.

Future Oscar Predictions

2011-02-26T23:31:00.007-05:00

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Judy Greer. Glasses on, hair up.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Vin Diesel. I'm actually convinced of this one. He seemed sensitive in Boiler Room, and you REALLY felt his absence in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

BEST ACTRESS

Lookie, I'm with crazy. Rebecca de Mornay. Two words: Breast. Pump.

BEST ACTOR

This guy who is in all these movies, but I don't know his name. Vampire AND werewolf?!

BEST PICTURE

EVER.

Oscars. Crushed it.

ma ma ma ma

2011-02-25T00:05:00.003-05:00

Yes. It's the disco stick.

I'm going to bed a happy little monster, but first I wanted to share with you something the Hubs said after the concert, "I'd like to see a performance where Kylie plays a good fairy and Gaga plays the bad fairy." Do you see why this marriage has lasted?

See you tomorrow night?

2011-02-23T22:27:00.008-05:00

You know you want to hear it:

Spring weather in February, making me fall in love with DC. (Or is it that I work above a McDonald's?)

2011-02-17T21:04:00.007-05:00

Hello, Moon! Are you guys having 60 degree weather? To ALL cherry blossoms, literal and figurative: DO NOT BLOSSOM EARLY. You'll just die in three days as opposed to eight.

I walked around the Mall after work last night, and it was so pretty.

I call this "Cross walk and Obelisk."

At the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, some steel and cables.

A couple of bronzes.

The Burghers of Calais, forever surrendering in the garden.

Fun, fun, fun.

Today was even warmer. Kristin and I ate our lunch out on the Mall, where I photographed trees and their shadows. And then I went home, looked at the (very many boring tree-shadow-sky) photos and said, "Um, I guess I was really feeling those trees and their shadows?"

Dogs on the Mall!

Upstanding citizen, caught completely unawares. Go DC!

Awkward cookies for V-day!

2011-02-17T07:03:00.002-05:00

Had to repost these cookies that Jenn (The Queen of AWK) made for Valentines Day. Where's "I was going to call you" or "I have a lot going on right now?"

My officemate(s), ladies and gentlemen.

2011-02-15T21:54:00.004-05:00

When I lived in Japan, I would often look across the office to my friend Jenn who would be staring back, holding up a picture of Paris Hilton biting her finger. I believe it was this one:

(Jenn also spent a lot of time personalizing plastic folders with quotes from R. Kelly and Bertrand Russell.) When I told my officemate Tia about this, she said, "Oh, I want to be inauguration Aretha!" She disappeared for a couple minutes, muttering about how she needed "the one with the hat." So now I look over and see this.

The Hubs saw this photo and said, "For a second there I thought that was Tia, and she just had a really tiny head." Yah. Btw, I made one of Whitney Houston eating (circa living with Bobby), and people just don't respond the same way.

Please let jury duty be like this.

2011-02-13T12:40:00.003-05:00

I've only lived in DC for seven months, and I already got called to do jury duty. I'm kind of nervous about try-outs. What are the chances that the trial will involve crimes against fashion? In DC?! So many possibilities.

For Jen, Chris and their Yael (born in the second half of the Super Bowl)

2011-02-09T19:13:00.002-05:00

BABIES EVERYWHERE! This one is for Yael. :)

In customer service training this week...

2011-02-09T18:20:00.002-05:00

Get well soon, Admiral!

2011-02-07T21:26:00.008-05:00

My friend Admiral in Sofia has broken his arm. I only hope it's not his Rockband arm. For this, I send him this nugget of nuggets: Robert Pattinson claims the only emotional connection he's ever had is with his Westie. Feel the love:

Westie Pup: Meester, don't ever say I don't think of you.

We are so delicious. I dare you to google "westie cupcakes." DO IT.

This would only be better if it was a Call of Cthulhu costume, am I right? (You've got to get this for Xander Pants, btw.) Feel better soon!

Forced signings at the Tackle Box

2011-02-06T14:51:00.004-05:00

A bunch of my friends were in town this week for the AWP conference (Association of Writing Programs, though I wish it was Association of Writing Kids which would've made the acronym AWK, which is what my friend Jenn used to scribble all over students' papers to the point where she just started uttering AWK at every awkward moment, and if there's going to be a concentration of awkward moments, they're going to percolate at a writers' conference, don't you think?). I KNOW. Can you believe I wasn't invited? Here's Dan, doing his best dark and stormy. You can buy his book here.
John. Signing his book for me, which is a pretty intense experience since I like to stand over the person and photograph them and say, "Make that shit funny, okay?" Such a good sport. With a crazy lefty grip, now that I'm seeing it up close. Check out his book!
So it would seem that if you are a writer, and you have visited me in DC, then I have taken you to the Tackle Box for fish tacos. I met Shanthi there, and had I known, then I would've bought her book and thrown it at her to sign, too!
Anyways, it was lovely to see old friends, and meet some new ones, and I hope you guys come back to DC again soon!

Things that might trump otters?

2011-02-03T22:59:00.005-05:00

The Japanese salary-man-cat?

A tea, chess and aperitif bonanza? (That one's for the Hubs.)

Cheese lava?

(All but the salary-man-cat photo are by Irving Penn.)

Coming up: Can Georgetown handle a reunion with a bunch of writers from Baltimore?

Otter trumps cookie? Just barely.

2011-01-24T21:46:00.004-05:00

Hiya! I love it when you guys send me links! Thank you, Ellen-in-Sofia for sending me this cute guy from the daily otter blog. Note to Tim and Melissa: Why adopt rats when you could adopt these guys?! I bet people would come out of the woodwork to babysit for these doods.

Alex-in-London sent me this from the have cake will travel blog, and let me tell you, this photo could only be topped if the otter above was able to dip the cookie in milk while sucking on the chocolate bar. Will someone make this happen, please?!

Finally, we have a little admission. The Hubs and I love "Mr. Watermelon Man:"

The Hubs almost threw out the album due to the drunk 60s soccer mom's very visible panty line on the cover. (I know. I totally wanted to keep it for that very reason.) But thankfully, we listened to it first, and oh my god, you guys need to come over and boogie with us!

When I was a geisha he was a samurai, somehow I understood him when he spoke Thai

2011-01-23T09:51:00.004-05:00

I consider this a panacea to all the "Chinese Tiger mom" drama going on right now.

That's Bulgarian I hear!

2011-01-20T22:06:00.002-05:00

I just about flipped when I heard a woman speaking on her cellphone in Bulgarian on the 31 bus this evening. Yes, I eavesdropped. It's not everyday you actually get to use your Bulgarian in DC. And if that wasn't crazy enough, when I got off at my stop, I heard two women speaking Thai. Next thing you know, someone is going to walk by speaking French (hopefully at the kindergarten level). Photo is from this cool website about the silent film era.

Allow me to plug what my sister-in-law made!

2011-01-20T21:47:00.005-05:00

A giant neck warmer! And get this: She knitted it in an afternoon. I haven't finished one scarf in over eight years. And to the side:

Oh, you can be positive that there are twenty + more photos of me posing in the mirror giving my best faraway-who-me?-myspace-face, but I think you get the picture. Isn't it lovely when someone you know marries someone who makes awesome things for you? I'm taking orders now.

What technical difficulties?

2011-01-19T21:24:00.006-05:00

That last image of the Cookie Monster cupcake did my computer in. My hard drive crashed this weekend, which would have been more traumatic had I not backed up my files like a good girl. When I went to the Apple store to get it repaired, I actually got pats on the back from the staff and the following comments, "You are the best quick drop ever!" and "Two gold stars for backing up!" Nerd love is AWESOME.

Where were we? Nowhere and everywhere all at once. A couple things have been brought to my attention. My friend Eli (of Russia fame) sent me to the Born This Way website which is wonderful in so many ways. You should listen to this while scrolling through the photos:

Also, a couple people asked me about this Chinese Tiger Mom article which I believe is a way of asking me if I was abused as a child. Does it count if I wasn't allowed to go see The Phantom of the Opera on a school night? I mean I really like musicals. The Hubs, who actually does all the reading in our household, then told me about this interesting rebuttal from Oliver Wang. I couldn't finish it though because I was reading a fashion blog and got really excited about this:

Can I give a Marisa Cooper-esque "hey" to Mr. Godrey Gao, first Asian spokesmodel for LouisV? Finally. Objectifying both Asian women and men. High cheekbones and an unrivaled desire for the perfect man purse.

Stop prank calling me, cupcake lovers.

2011-01-10T20:40:00.003-05:00

Well, there's only one, really. Not to name names (MICHAEL), but I know it's you who's calling me at work telling me to take down my previous cupcake posting. And I know this because you told me it was you after I asked if it was you. So there. Do you like this Cookie Monster cupcake? It might be 80% frosting. I got it from here.

~~We're all expecting snow in DC tonight...~~ Aaand we got nothin'.

On the bus ride to work. (And no, I'm not a senator.)

2011-01-06T20:58:00.004-05:00

But they really should bring back togas. This was taken through a grimy bus window on my way to training this morning. Allow me to manage your expectations for this blog, because they must be low if you're tuning in to this slow death.

1st: I probably won't be going to Italy this year. Think: Northern Virginia.

2nd: I guess I could start blogging about food again, but how do you feel about cupcakes, because that's all people seem to eat here.

3rd: Artsy photos. Taken by accident. Photo-bombed by the random monument.

4th: Current dilemma: Do I join twitter just to follow food trucks?

5th: Do you think $900 is too much to spend on a Sonia Rykiel coat if it's on sale from $2200? After going to retirement seminars, my logic looks like: Well, if I wear the coat into retirement, then it'll be like paying only $31 a year for 29 years. And the cost would be even less since I could basically just wear the coat every day like a muumuu after retirement. Who's with me?!

The highlight of my Black Swan experience.

2011-01-04T17:02:00.002-05:00

I like crazy Winona. I really do. Second only to Winona's appearance, my favorite part about the movie was listening to the Hubs comments:

"Who knew there was so much crotch-grabbing in ballet?"

"Woah. That's like rule one of masturbation: Do a quick scan of the room to make sure no one else is there."

"That's the 70s Show girl?!"

Happy 2011! As soon as I figure out my new camera...

2011-01-02T21:30:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year! Quick, which president is this?

Answer: Bush. I thought it was Clinton. The two members of the Axis of Evil on the fridge behind him don't seem to know for sure either. But he kind of looks like Clinton, doesn't he?

I got a new camera for Christmas! I don't know how it works! As you will soon see play out at our friends' New Year's party... Now, I can't remember if everyone wanted code names for the following photos, but we'll start off nice and slow. With some cheese:

Taken with the fish-eye lens option! Big cheese.

Terrifying. And not even 2011 at this point.

Wherein we tried to recreate an indie film still.

So by accident I found the "vintage" option on my digital camera, and when taken with a flash, it is THE best setting for creating album covers for Vampire Weekend.

Tim: "Ewoks suck."

Hubs: "You look like a pretty he-she."

Presenting the 2011 New Year's baby!

Not too crazy yet.

Mistress of ceremonies.

We tried pouring gin down her party horn.

Come on these would be great album covers!

I'm now available to take your album cover photo.

Where the boys are...

2010-12-29T21:59:00.005-05:00

The Hubs sorted through some of his childhood things while back in Cleveland and decided to display his most impressive items. Yes, that's a papier mache Lorenzo de Medici. 50 points if you can spot both minotaurs.

Tiger soap.

Koala candle. Did I mention the Hubs collected koala bears?

Okay, now me time! I got my dad's old Pioneer record player to work. This involved, after getting rid of tons (literally) of furniture and other crap, buying a stereo amplifier and speakers and crowding our living room so that we could play some records. But I did it, and now we're listening to some deep cuts from the Magic Lanterns. Close-up of actual record player:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the first record I played was Connie Francis. Who's sorry now?!

I love it.

Just chillin' in the Cleve.

2010-12-23T15:57:00.002-05:00

Hubs and I drove up and over from DC last night, and DAMN, ya'll, it's cold up here! Sheesh. Are you wondering why Paul Newman is on my blog and eating 50 eggs? Because he's from CLEVEland. Yes, I reallyam that simple. We're going through a bunch of the Hubs' childhood stuff, which I'm hoping will result in juicy blogging material such as that found in his Chess Life magazines.

Tiger sighting

2010-12-20T22:25:00.003-05:00

Pulling out the Thriller album, the Hubs coughed, "Well, what do we have here?"

Oh, it went on: "Well, that's a little known piece of trivia. What's on Michael Jackson's knee inside the jacket cover of Thriller? Tiger cub. Huh. Little known fact." He has stowed it away with his collection of tiger posters.

A Very Merry Sissi Christmas!

2010-12-20T21:01:00.007-05:00

While the Hubs slowly recovered from a horrible bout with food poisoning (thanks a lot, United), I celebrated the build-up to Christmas with Ms. Romy Schneider, otherwise known as the Empress Sissi (Empress Elisabeth of Austria, famed for her figure and hair-so-pretty-she-wore-it-as-a-shawl). This education-on-the-ultimate-Christmas-experience-of-all-German-girls-ages-7-to-42 involved watching all three Sissi films while building a gingerbread house or should I say haus and drinking glühwein with my German friend Kristin who is unyielding in her love for Sissi, Romy and glühwein. And who can blame her?And what better way to enjoy some glühwein than in a Bulgarian mug and on top of a skinny model? We decided to build the gingerbread haus also on top of models so they could use some extra frosting for warmth this Christmas season.

Our craft.

But who's that?!

Oh, Romy.

What is it with skinny girls and tons of hair? Is that really fair, Lord?

Erecting walls:

Kristin says that articles have been written about Romy's hair in the Sissi movies.

Oh, but how can Nene be angry with you when the emperor to whom she was to be engaged instead decided in a public setting that he'd rather marry you, her fifteen year old little sister?

These guys aren't angry with you, Sissi!

This house is puking candy from its doors. My kind of house.

Just in time for Sissi to get down with the Hungarians!

Ja whol, das ist gut!

I can't remember if this is before or after she whips a gypsy man in the face.

Verdict: Romy is beautiful, I care nothing for Franz Josef, and Nene's humiliation really stayed with me. Lots of googling followed, which led to my finding out that Romy was engaged to none other than Alan Delon (of Rocco and His Brothers fame), who cheated CHEATED! on her with Nico. (Jobert? Dan? Did you know this?!)

And if this world runs out of lovers...

2010-12-07T21:22:00.007-05:00

We're going through my dad's record collection, and the Hubs holds up this one and says, "Uh, I think this is yours." I actually remember buying this on vinyl. That's Kim Catrall as the mannequin on album cover, and then Grace Slick as the mannequin in the video. Just making sure you could tell the difference. And then there are dad's hits:

You know how this one goes. The Swedes and Eurovision made this. How could it be a bad thing?

THE MAN:

Take a listen:

I'll allow it.

THE OTHER MAN:

Eh, sounds like Benny Hill music.

Some Cher in a royal purple sleeve cover. Way to go, Dad!

Nostalgic overload with Lulu:

And Petula:

And a B-side with Ike and Tina:

The Hubs and I were surprised to find that being funkier than a mosquito's tweeter is a bad thing.

In panda news: I'll take one of these.

2010-12-07T06:39:00.003-05:00

I'm in training this week, and let's just say Daniel Day Lewis is not one of the presenters doing a powerpoint on retirement plans. But look at this: Scientists dressed as pandas reintroducing panda cubs into the wild! And to think I got this genuine bit of news from a gossip site.

1992: THE Video.

2010-12-03T07:01:00.006-05:00

Mix tapes mornings so far have been a 90s bonanza. The next mix tape is again from Sarah Hughes (Girl, were you in front of the tape deck pushing both record and play for most of our teens?), and while most of the songs on the tape are grunge-era (lots of Temple of the Dog, Pearl Jam and the Replacements), Sarah included this glowing nuggget of guitar solos (like, 3?) and Axl's feral cat cries. It's a nice break from grunge's malaise. Did anyone else find grunge exhausting? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like my grunge and it was important and all that and thank god it only lasted what two years, but those guys didn't incorporate a lot of my favorite part of the 90s: SUPERMODELS. Stephanie Seymour. The rock orchestra. That wedding dress. Slash at your wedding.

A boy's mix tape

2010-12-01T07:10:00.002-05:00

The next mix tape is from Jordan McKnight in 1992, for my 14th birthday, and he crammed in a lot of what the Hubs calls Southern rock, which means the above song wasn't a hit in the rest of the US? Now I find that hard to believe. And I'm pretty sure this was a hit:

Working in a shoe store and being sexually harassed was my fantasy for many years because of this video. And a lot of it is because the protagonist had the same glasses I did.

hangthedjhangthedjhangthe deeeeeeejaaaaaaaaay!

2010-11-30T06:58:00.002-05:00

B-side of the same mix tape mentioned below (circa 1992), though this song is circa 1987. A question: If you record an entire album of a single artist on one side of a tape, and an album of another single artist on the other side, does this sufficiently qualify as a "mix" tape?

I smell a study.

2010-11-29T21:17:00.006-05:00

So if you had to wear one sweatshirt all around Paris, which would you go with: Wolf or Cat?Please forgive the tear in the above photo -- my enthusiasm for appropriating this image resulted in a three-way tear.

Also: What do you like most about the below item?

PS. Yes, you can fit your diamond stud earrings inside the flip-top of the miniature.