this post is dedicated to my favorite halloweener, bdub.
today bdub, dressed as disgruntled vietnam vet (as he is every day), had forgotten his stick bag at his rehearsal space...for those of you who are unfamiliar, let me dumb it down a shade: le dub's stickbag is the container in which he carries his sticks, mallets, brushes and various accoutrements that are needed for playing drums. his rehearsal space is about a fifteen minute walk from our apartment, just passed our old place.
le dub was in a hurry and running late for a rehearsal. to save time, he hopped on his skateboard and whizzed by on the streets, feeling confident, breezy, and quick like a bunny! as bdub apporached our old building, he realized that he was under attack. eggs came at him from all sides, smashing to the ground like gunfire.
however, these wayward tweens were too slow for bdub!! while we both can understand that a 35 year old man on a skateboard would be a reasonable target for these bad seeds, this matters not. what DOES matter is that le dub was too fast for 'em!
the boy's still got it!
in my fantasy world, i believe that the kids in our old neck of the 'hood saw bdub coming....and that one of those (now) tweens was a kid we used to refer to as "young man". it seemed that whenever we got ourselves into awkward predicaments, this rather chubby boy used to saunter by on his bike and stare at us, slack jawed, only to inquire, "wha happen?"
...to which an annoyed bdub would reply "what are you talking about?"
...to which young man would reply with things like "you know...with....tha one?"
bdub would then say, "young man...." and follow this address with your typical, "this doesn't concern you" or "you ask a lot of questions" or "why do you ask?".
i would like to believe that young man saw le dub coming, clenched his egg tightly and tried in vain to pelt the dub. sucker.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
cuteness alert
"uncle" bdub recently did a recording session at this spot called frisbie in tribeca. they had the cutest kid's t-shirts and onesies, so of course he had to get a couple for our favorite niece and nephew.
and just look at what was in my inbox!
i think those two need to start a band or something. they already exude such 'tude.
beezie also emailed me this--from sadie's first birthday (and really, what good is birthday cake without a handful of goldfish crackers thrown in?)
ah, time... she flies...
in other news, this weekend was pretty relaxed once i got through my 12 and a half hour day at cstv on saturday (ouch). on sunday, bdub and i went to visit kurly, dyl, and wiles for some halloween festivities at fort greene park. we were a bit late for the activities, but were in the spirit regardless.
the assael's costumes: kurly as bearded lady, dylan as fortune teller (complete with giant 'stache and turban), and wiles as strong man.
i swear, had there been a baby costume contest, that kid would have won first prize. he was dressed in a striped sweater, red knit pants, boots, studded black cuffs, a studded black belt, and, to top it off, his hair was slicked over and he had a penciled-in curly black moustache. he also carried (or, played like a guitar, rather) a big dumbell which dylan made out of a black plastic handle of some sort and two big, black styrofoam balls on the ends with "100" stenciled on them. genius.
i will definitely post pics when i get 'em! i dressed as rosie the riveter (v. easy last minute costume, should you ever need one) and the biscuit went as himself, as he was not digging his dinosaur costume. it so messed with his balance, in fact, that he was falling flat on his face (which is flat enough). here's my last minute rosie:
bdub went as "disgruntled vietnam vet"...which, actually, isn't a costume at all but rather bdub's "uniform" as of late: brown hooded sweatshirt, olive drab army-ish coat, jeans, and brown chukka boots. to get into character, bdub was saying things like, "i gave it all for my country, man! when i came back, they called me a baby killer, man!".
good stuff.
and just look at what was in my inbox!
i think those two need to start a band or something. they already exude such 'tude.
beezie also emailed me this--from sadie's first birthday (and really, what good is birthday cake without a handful of goldfish crackers thrown in?)
ah, time... she flies...
in other news, this weekend was pretty relaxed once i got through my 12 and a half hour day at cstv on saturday (ouch). on sunday, bdub and i went to visit kurly, dyl, and wiles for some halloween festivities at fort greene park. we were a bit late for the activities, but were in the spirit regardless.
the assael's costumes: kurly as bearded lady, dylan as fortune teller (complete with giant 'stache and turban), and wiles as strong man.
i swear, had there been a baby costume contest, that kid would have won first prize. he was dressed in a striped sweater, red knit pants, boots, studded black cuffs, a studded black belt, and, to top it off, his hair was slicked over and he had a penciled-in curly black moustache. he also carried (or, played like a guitar, rather) a big dumbell which dylan made out of a black plastic handle of some sort and two big, black styrofoam balls on the ends with "100" stenciled on them. genius.
i will definitely post pics when i get 'em! i dressed as rosie the riveter (v. easy last minute costume, should you ever need one) and the biscuit went as himself, as he was not digging his dinosaur costume. it so messed with his balance, in fact, that he was falling flat on his face (which is flat enough). here's my last minute rosie:
bdub went as "disgruntled vietnam vet"...which, actually, isn't a costume at all but rather bdub's "uniform" as of late: brown hooded sweatshirt, olive drab army-ish coat, jeans, and brown chukka boots. to get into character, bdub was saying things like, "i gave it all for my country, man! when i came back, they called me a baby killer, man!".
good stuff.
Friday, October 26, 2007
so goodnight moonlight ladies....
i readied my ingredients and got set to chop some onions for lasagna. my ipod shuffled to "sweet baby james" by james taylor...a lullabye that immediately makes me think of my nephew (james "jasper" laster). which makes me think of my sister.
which makes me think of the fact that she lives on the opposite coast. and that i see her but maybe three times a year at best. which makes the lump in my throat grow.
because it makes me think of the decisions we all make...of how when i was a teenager i formulated a life plan that included the eventual purchase of a home with a guest house for my brother jay...because he would have to live with me so we could never be apart (duh). which makes me realize that we, too, are far away from each other (in a couple of ways).
kurly and dyl are going to portland next month to check things out...will they end up across the country? as they told me of their plans, i nodded and was truly excited for them, and i understand, and i know what it means to need to move. but the lump....she grows.
i know that this is what it means to grow up. and this is what happens as we become who we are to become and meet our spouses and figure out what and where we would like to be. sometimes it feels cruel and unfair (i can only imagine how this must sometimes strike our parents, like a sucker punch in the gut when they look around and realize that their babies are gone).
sometimes it feels like an impossibility to strengthen our ties to our families, both those that we were born into and those whom we have chosen. so please, forgive me if i haven't done the best job of this. i fear that i will become worse at it as life changes and grows. that my niece and nephew won't really know me beyond the kooky aunt who sends them weird things in the mail and kind of sounds and looks like their mom.
that eventually as we shape shift into moms and dads and other forms of grownups ourselves we will all morph into other people, letting those threads of home and youth slip from our fingers, take a backseat, turn into a name on the christmas card list. and that makes me sad beyond words.
which makes me think of the fact that she lives on the opposite coast. and that i see her but maybe three times a year at best. which makes the lump in my throat grow.
because it makes me think of the decisions we all make...of how when i was a teenager i formulated a life plan that included the eventual purchase of a home with a guest house for my brother jay...because he would have to live with me so we could never be apart (duh). which makes me realize that we, too, are far away from each other (in a couple of ways).
kurly and dyl are going to portland next month to check things out...will they end up across the country? as they told me of their plans, i nodded and was truly excited for them, and i understand, and i know what it means to need to move. but the lump....she grows.
i know that this is what it means to grow up. and this is what happens as we become who we are to become and meet our spouses and figure out what and where we would like to be. sometimes it feels cruel and unfair (i can only imagine how this must sometimes strike our parents, like a sucker punch in the gut when they look around and realize that their babies are gone).
sometimes it feels like an impossibility to strengthen our ties to our families, both those that we were born into and those whom we have chosen. so please, forgive me if i haven't done the best job of this. i fear that i will become worse at it as life changes and grows. that my niece and nephew won't really know me beyond the kooky aunt who sends them weird things in the mail and kind of sounds and looks like their mom.
that eventually as we shape shift into moms and dads and other forms of grownups ourselves we will all morph into other people, letting those threads of home and youth slip from our fingers, take a backseat, turn into a name on the christmas card list. and that makes me sad beyond words.
zen eatin'
i know that this is usually the topic of foodie blogs, such as that of my friend ehrrin's "now that's good eatin'!". but i must gush about my delicious dinner last night.
kurly and dyl procured a sitter from their baby sitting co-op (isn't that a rad idea? that kurly is an innovator) and we met for dinner and sake at zenkichi.
zenkichi is an intimate and beautiful ninja lair of a restaurant in our 'hood, marked only by a glowing orange light on the outside of a building with a wooden facade (a very strange, organic contrast to its industrial surroundings). as you walk in, you give your name and then are directed to a rock garden waiting area, complete with bamboo stalks in the center and smooth gray stones underfoot.
the roped-off dining room is up a set of stairs, and each booth is sectioned off with wooden slats and a rolled shade for total privacy...should you need anything, you buzz a little buzzer that is attached to your table! radness.
here's what we had (all tapas-style, for sharing):
miso soup for kurly and dyl
sake sampler for me, bdub and dyl
tuna carpaccio
miso roasted eggplant
shrimp tempura with camembert
scallop tempura with green tea salt
grilled rice ball
wild mushroom gratin
truffled egg custard
age tofu in broth
black miso cod
everything was fantastically fresh and delicious, like a little japanese tea party in my mouth! an explosion of flavors! a plethora of harmonious new tastes! as we descended the stairs, we were met with many gracious bows from our hosts, a welcome change from the too-familiar uber-hip restaurant staff brush-off one can encounter in our little hamlet (i'm not hatin', i'm just sayin'...). places like zenkichi definitely heighten my enjoyment of where we live.
as for tonight, the word on the street is that shoop is in town with his lady! hooray! hopefully we will get to hear the lovely sounds of rosie thomas (aka shoop's lady) and hang with our delight of a friend.
kurly and dyl procured a sitter from their baby sitting co-op (isn't that a rad idea? that kurly is an innovator) and we met for dinner and sake at zenkichi.
zenkichi is an intimate and beautiful ninja lair of a restaurant in our 'hood, marked only by a glowing orange light on the outside of a building with a wooden facade (a very strange, organic contrast to its industrial surroundings). as you walk in, you give your name and then are directed to a rock garden waiting area, complete with bamboo stalks in the center and smooth gray stones underfoot.
the roped-off dining room is up a set of stairs, and each booth is sectioned off with wooden slats and a rolled shade for total privacy...should you need anything, you buzz a little buzzer that is attached to your table! radness.
here's what we had (all tapas-style, for sharing):
miso soup for kurly and dyl
sake sampler for me, bdub and dyl
tuna carpaccio
miso roasted eggplant
shrimp tempura with camembert
scallop tempura with green tea salt
grilled rice ball
wild mushroom gratin
truffled egg custard
age tofu in broth
black miso cod
everything was fantastically fresh and delicious, like a little japanese tea party in my mouth! an explosion of flavors! a plethora of harmonious new tastes! as we descended the stairs, we were met with many gracious bows from our hosts, a welcome change from the too-familiar uber-hip restaurant staff brush-off one can encounter in our little hamlet (i'm not hatin', i'm just sayin'...). places like zenkichi definitely heighten my enjoyment of where we live.
as for tonight, the word on the street is that shoop is in town with his lady! hooray! hopefully we will get to hear the lovely sounds of rosie thomas (aka shoop's lady) and hang with our delight of a friend.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
the hair that beat me
it started out like any other job. i received the call sheet, which provided me the following answers to my questions of how many people are we talking here? what all will we need to do?
24 models.
4 makeup artists (to do makeup and hair).
two assistants.
one makeup artist doing just body makeup.
one photographer shooting for PR things, one shooting for web. plus some models will be in a green room.
i received a call from the booker for the job. i asked if i needed to bring anything special and was told no. i asked what this was for and he told me "PR photos...billboards and the website...things like that".
i arrived with minutes to spare...we were told to make them look pretty and fresh, and that we were to have just twenty minutes to get each person ready and to work FAST.
fine. we got to work. i completed looks on three models and was working on my fourth when all hell broke loose.
"they need to look just like they looked yesterday" (yesterday? what the hell were they doing yesterday?)
"they need to be really stylized, edgy, and modern" (the complete opposite of the 'pretty and fresh' we just spent the last hour perfecting....and i HATE the term 'edgy')
one of the artists asked:
"do you have photos to show us of what they did yesterday?"
"no! just ask the models what they had! we don't have forty five minutes to find you pictures!" snapped some fat ass queen with a little dog.
(of course, i consulted with the eighteen year old girl from wisconsin who was sitting in my chair about her look, and she replied to me, "i dunno....i guess my eyes looked kind of black....")
great.
once we convinced the producers that we needed photos, they downloaded some to a laptop--candid shots from the day before, some from far away, some of people just hanging out....not the best of scenarios from which to replicate a hairstyle or makeup look.
and those with the most extensive, tricked-out, and, dare i say?, complicated styles seemed to gravitate towards me (or maybe it just felt that way).
i decided to be up for the challenge. after all, i can do "photoshoot hair": a million pins in the back and tons of spray. it needed to look good enough that they could work it from the front to almost profile.
the first girl who had sat in my chair (whom i had just spent twenty minutes curling into a fresh, tousled 'do) required a very sleek twist up into a mohawk with the ends sprayed out onto her forehead. i did my best. i determined that it was not my best work, but passable.
another girl slunk over towards me and....what was this?? oh no.
it seemed that yesterday her hair was styled with rats, these spongy things that one can put into one's hair to create the illusion of...well...more hair:
it seemed that yesterday, the hairstylist had pinned these rats all along the nape of her neck, and rolled the ends of her hair over them. this created a modern bettie page-ish look. she also had rolled bangs like this:
needless to say, these types of styles are not exactly my forte (and that's putting it mildly). i did the best i could. i pinned some rollers i had thrown into my bag underneath and brushed her hair over top of them to create the rolled illusion...i figured (though i never like to rely on retouching photos), that they would retouch the hell out of these and they only had to stay in as long as it took her to shoot the photo.
i went onto the set. my heart stopped, as i realized that by "green room", they didn't mean the typical "green room" (as in, waiting area....like on david letterman, when they refer to their guests as "waiting in the green room"). they meant, instead, "green screen".....which is a very different concept. a green screen is the backdrop to a video shoot, wherein the subject will do their thing, and later a background will be superimposed in, like this:
i was in some serious trouble. my "photoshoot hair", with it's hundreds of pins in the back, was not going to cut it. this model needed to be prepared to twist and turn, to strut and twirl, in front of that green screen.
so i started again. i removed my temporary "rat rollers". i curled. i pinned under. i thought it looked great.
i was asked to change it. they wanted it to look "exactly like yesterday....more 'fashion'" (which is a not-so-nice way of saying, "this looks cheesy and not as hip as when the other person did it"). i went back to the rollers. another artist helped me, but it still looked like crap. of course, everyone gathered around and had to throw in their three cents:
"it's too short"
"it's not even on the sides"
"it was fuller on top yesterday"
"the bangs are lopsided"
finally, it was passed along to yet another artist, who made it look perfect in about five seconds.
live and learn.
and that evening, my first in over a week where i could relax and not set my alarm, i marched post-haste to huckleberry bar, where i downed three harvey wallbangers and was consoled by a good friend.
24 models.
4 makeup artists (to do makeup and hair).
two assistants.
one makeup artist doing just body makeup.
one photographer shooting for PR things, one shooting for web. plus some models will be in a green room.
i received a call from the booker for the job. i asked if i needed to bring anything special and was told no. i asked what this was for and he told me "PR photos...billboards and the website...things like that".
i arrived with minutes to spare...we were told to make them look pretty and fresh, and that we were to have just twenty minutes to get each person ready and to work FAST.
fine. we got to work. i completed looks on three models and was working on my fourth when all hell broke loose.
"they need to look just like they looked yesterday" (yesterday? what the hell were they doing yesterday?)
"they need to be really stylized, edgy, and modern" (the complete opposite of the 'pretty and fresh' we just spent the last hour perfecting....and i HATE the term 'edgy')
one of the artists asked:
"do you have photos to show us of what they did yesterday?"
"no! just ask the models what they had! we don't have forty five minutes to find you pictures!" snapped some fat ass queen with a little dog.
(of course, i consulted with the eighteen year old girl from wisconsin who was sitting in my chair about her look, and she replied to me, "i dunno....i guess my eyes looked kind of black....")
great.
once we convinced the producers that we needed photos, they downloaded some to a laptop--candid shots from the day before, some from far away, some of people just hanging out....not the best of scenarios from which to replicate a hairstyle or makeup look.
and those with the most extensive, tricked-out, and, dare i say?, complicated styles seemed to gravitate towards me (or maybe it just felt that way).
i decided to be up for the challenge. after all, i can do "photoshoot hair": a million pins in the back and tons of spray. it needed to look good enough that they could work it from the front to almost profile.
the first girl who had sat in my chair (whom i had just spent twenty minutes curling into a fresh, tousled 'do) required a very sleek twist up into a mohawk with the ends sprayed out onto her forehead. i did my best. i determined that it was not my best work, but passable.
another girl slunk over towards me and....what was this?? oh no.
it seemed that yesterday her hair was styled with rats, these spongy things that one can put into one's hair to create the illusion of...well...more hair:
it seemed that yesterday, the hairstylist had pinned these rats all along the nape of her neck, and rolled the ends of her hair over them. this created a modern bettie page-ish look. she also had rolled bangs like this:
needless to say, these types of styles are not exactly my forte (and that's putting it mildly). i did the best i could. i pinned some rollers i had thrown into my bag underneath and brushed her hair over top of them to create the rolled illusion...i figured (though i never like to rely on retouching photos), that they would retouch the hell out of these and they only had to stay in as long as it took her to shoot the photo.
i went onto the set. my heart stopped, as i realized that by "green room", they didn't mean the typical "green room" (as in, waiting area....like on david letterman, when they refer to their guests as "waiting in the green room"). they meant, instead, "green screen".....which is a very different concept. a green screen is the backdrop to a video shoot, wherein the subject will do their thing, and later a background will be superimposed in, like this:
i was in some serious trouble. my "photoshoot hair", with it's hundreds of pins in the back, was not going to cut it. this model needed to be prepared to twist and turn, to strut and twirl, in front of that green screen.
so i started again. i removed my temporary "rat rollers". i curled. i pinned under. i thought it looked great.
i was asked to change it. they wanted it to look "exactly like yesterday....more 'fashion'" (which is a not-so-nice way of saying, "this looks cheesy and not as hip as when the other person did it"). i went back to the rollers. another artist helped me, but it still looked like crap. of course, everyone gathered around and had to throw in their three cents:
"it's too short"
"it's not even on the sides"
"it was fuller on top yesterday"
"the bangs are lopsided"
finally, it was passed along to yet another artist, who made it look perfect in about five seconds.
live and learn.
and that evening, my first in over a week where i could relax and not set my alarm, i marched post-haste to huckleberry bar, where i downed three harvey wallbangers and was consoled by a good friend.
Monday, October 22, 2007
checkin' in
i just realized that i haven't posted an entry since the infamous lemon lady! now that's just sad.
of course, my absence here is due to an overwhelming amount of work. since the job with the mysterious lemon lady, i have done makeup for:
-ms. leah siegel's music video, using stop-animation done by these amazing peeps. here's a sample of the director's work (and how cool is it that he loves daniel as much as i do?):
-a long-ass day at CSTV, the home for college sports (and bane of my existence),
-a photoshoot for "the sweet divines" , a new quartet of lovely ladies who sing in the style of a late sixties girl group and fancy their hair and makeup done in the same manner. hello, hairspray and liquid liner!
-more music video shooting
-and tomorrow: a shoot for tommy hilfiger kids, and then on wednesday: makeup for the finalists of a new reality show involving supermodels (or atleast supermodel wannabe's)...
whew! i'm exhausted just typing about it all!
the biscuit (whose eye is completely healed, by the way) has resorted to keeping me up at nights and giving me the brush-off when i return from work. it's really quite exhausting; bdub isn't half as demanding! i've never been in a relationship like this before! the guilt is enormous, but he is managing without me and resorting to snuggling under bdub's armpit when necessary.
of course, my absence here is due to an overwhelming amount of work. since the job with the mysterious lemon lady, i have done makeup for:
-ms. leah siegel's music video, using stop-animation done by these amazing peeps. here's a sample of the director's work (and how cool is it that he loves daniel as much as i do?):
-a long-ass day at CSTV, the home for college sports (and bane of my existence),
-a photoshoot for "the sweet divines" , a new quartet of lovely ladies who sing in the style of a late sixties girl group and fancy their hair and makeup done in the same manner. hello, hairspray and liquid liner!
-more music video shooting
-and tomorrow: a shoot for tommy hilfiger kids, and then on wednesday: makeup for the finalists of a new reality show involving supermodels (or atleast supermodel wannabe's)...
whew! i'm exhausted just typing about it all!
the biscuit (whose eye is completely healed, by the way) has resorted to keeping me up at nights and giving me the brush-off when i return from work. it's really quite exhausting; bdub isn't half as demanding! i've never been in a relationship like this before! the guilt is enormous, but he is managing without me and resorting to snuggling under bdub's armpit when necessary.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
the lure of the mysterious lemon lady
it should have been an easy enough shot to get, really: the story is about "teasing". two two-year-olds. kiddie model one, in the back, was to play the role of the teaser ("stick out your tongue!" "put your hands on your hips!" "shake your finger!"). kiddie model two, in the front, was to play the role of the wounded child.
a problem arose when it became clear that kiddie models one and two adored each other. it was simply not in one's nature to be mean to two. two couldn't stop flirting and grinning at one. we tried to throw in a stuffed lion for them to play tug of war...but they just hugged the lion and each other.
enter the mysterious lemon lady. the photographer, alexandra, prefers lemon in her tea. naturally, her loyal assistant, todd, purchased the cutest little lemon for her this morning on the way to the studio. being the artiste that he is, todd scribbled a face on the tiny lemon and gave it some fringed masking tape hair. we chuckled for a minute at the lemon lady. as we reviewed the shots we had so far, we showed the lemon lady to kiddie one.
one loooooved the lemon lady. she loved to hold her and breathe in her lemony scent. the lemon lady was irresistable.
and then it dawned on me: i would introduce the lemon lady to two.
of course, one wasn't giving up the lemon lady so easily. she first looked at two with confusion. "et tu?"
two clung to the precious lemon lady for dear life. he had her, and he wasn't giving her up without a fight.
we had our shot. the wails, the faces streaming with tears and flushed skin of pink. the grabbing, the crying. good people that we are (or atleast, we would like to think, not completely heartless), we couldn't take it any more. it was too upsetting. we took them off of the set and tried to console them with tangerines and apples that we had sitting around. but what to do with the lemon lady?
of course, we took the only logical course of action and we hid her. we reattached her hair and wiped her smeared face. i sat on the couch with one and showed her that her tangerine smelled and TASTED terrific-- much better than that sour old lemon! she seemed pleased. we colored. we were friends again. she changed her clothes and toddled off with her mom.
as i rose from the couch, much to my dismay, i discovered that i had sat in something wet. karma had literally gotten me in the ass. two people who happened to walk by the studio laughed at me as i blowdried my butt.
all in a day's work, i suppose.
a problem arose when it became clear that kiddie models one and two adored each other. it was simply not in one's nature to be mean to two. two couldn't stop flirting and grinning at one. we tried to throw in a stuffed lion for them to play tug of war...but they just hugged the lion and each other.
enter the mysterious lemon lady. the photographer, alexandra, prefers lemon in her tea. naturally, her loyal assistant, todd, purchased the cutest little lemon for her this morning on the way to the studio. being the artiste that he is, todd scribbled a face on the tiny lemon and gave it some fringed masking tape hair. we chuckled for a minute at the lemon lady. as we reviewed the shots we had so far, we showed the lemon lady to kiddie one.
one loooooved the lemon lady. she loved to hold her and breathe in her lemony scent. the lemon lady was irresistable.
and then it dawned on me: i would introduce the lemon lady to two.
of course, one wasn't giving up the lemon lady so easily. she first looked at two with confusion. "et tu?"
two clung to the precious lemon lady for dear life. he had her, and he wasn't giving her up without a fight.
we had our shot. the wails, the faces streaming with tears and flushed skin of pink. the grabbing, the crying. good people that we are (or atleast, we would like to think, not completely heartless), we couldn't take it any more. it was too upsetting. we took them off of the set and tried to console them with tangerines and apples that we had sitting around. but what to do with the lemon lady?
of course, we took the only logical course of action and we hid her. we reattached her hair and wiped her smeared face. i sat on the couch with one and showed her that her tangerine smelled and TASTED terrific-- much better than that sour old lemon! she seemed pleased. we colored. we were friends again. she changed her clothes and toddled off with her mom.
as i rose from the couch, much to my dismay, i discovered that i had sat in something wet. karma had literally gotten me in the ass. two people who happened to walk by the studio laughed at me as i blowdried my butt.
all in a day's work, i suppose.
Monday, October 15, 2007
the biscuit's got the crazy eye!
poor little biscuit. since friday evening, his left eye has been red and cloudy. we took him to the vet today (we saw dr. eisner, and dr. zamata popped in to say hello...no dr. mann this time) and, as much as it pains me to say so, the biscuit was not very well-behaved. he wasn't having it with the eye stain, and thrashed and wailed like an alien banshee. he was rather out of control, and i don't think dr. eisner was amused (but you know what? bdub and i weren't very amused with her either, so there) .
as for the diagnosis, they really aren't sure why there is inflammation and redness. he doesn't have a scratched cornea, though, which is a relief. now we must administer two kinds of drops as well as some chinese herbal medicine to the biscuit three times a day. we check back on thursday with them, so i'll post an update then.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
my daily outrage...and maybe a little enlightenment?
this article made me cry:
"Is the 'Mom Job' Really Necessary?"
apologies if you need to register for the ny times online and are unable to read it...allow me to summarize:
we now live in an age where, after months (or maybe years?) of trying to conceive, of breastfeeding until our nipples are sore (i speak hypothetically- of course, i have never breastfed, though i did once have a dream that i was breastfeeding and it freaked me right out. but i digress....), of working one's ass off on little to no sleep to tend to another human being's every need and desire...we are now to feel like an "abnormality" for having--dare i say?- saggy boobs and paunchy stomachs. the horror!
no worries, though. lucky for us, the "mommy makeover" (a procedure combining a tummy tuck, breat lift/implants, and lipo) is now available for women whose bodies have been "ravaged" by motherhood.
from the article:
“Twenty years ago, a woman did not think she could do something about it and she covered up with discreet clothing,” Dr. Stoker said. “But now women don’t have to go on feeling self-conscious or resentful about their appearance.”
In 1970, “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” the seminal guide to women’s health, described the cosmetic changes that can happen during and after pregnancy simply as phenomena. But now narrowing beauty norms are recasting the transformations of motherhood as stigma.
here's another zinger from the article:
"There is more pressure on mothers today to look young and sexy than on previous generations, she added. “I don’t think it was an issue for my mother; your husband loved you no matter what,” said Ms. Birkland, who recently remarried.
wow. just....wow.
i must be a relic, for i guess that i'm an idiot for believing that love is unconditional, atLEAST in terms of "babyweight". i mean, if i'm a big floozie and a constant nag, then i can see where love may wither and die. but not because i have a "paunch" and "deflated boobs", the last item being what cookie magazine describes as "the ultimate indignity".
"the ULTIMATE INDIGNITY"?? can they be serious? funny, because when phrases such as "the ultimate indignity" are thrown around, i think of rwanda, abu ghraib, somalia. saggy boobs (a result of providing one of nature's greatest miracles...life-sustaining nourishment) don't really pop up on my radar.
i think what i find the most disheartening is the scope of thinking, from these women, from their doctors, from the gossip rags and cookie magazine. i have been struggling a bit (or maybe a bit more than a bit) lately with the idea of aging...of feeling (knowing) that one is becoming physically less attractive, what with the gray hairs, the extra fluff around one's middle, the lines. feeling that i should be above this. that i know better. that, atleast, i am confident now, fully-realized (as if).
and sometimes, all i really wish is that i could go back to being twelve years old, pre-boobs and boys, and rediscover all that lies ahead (and know how to work it out), and let that girl know that she should always carry that confidence and desire in her heart.
because, despite what we try in good faith to believe--that we get better with age, that what we may lose in our youthful appearance we gain in confidence and wisdom, that we release these petty insecurities--i sometimes wonder if what is within us sits like a stone, or festers, or eventually grows like a cancer. that these negative messages and feelings become more of who we are rather than less. that they fill us up until we can't help but believe them, even if just a little bit.
i wish i could close on a more hopeful note, that i could think of things like compassion and freedom from attachments and other more buddhist thoughts that have been in my noggin, fighting the good fight (the unrelenting battle) against the message of the mommy makeover. perhaps i can instead focus on a program i saw about the buddhist mandala, a meditation aid that results from the practice of creating a beautiful sand painting.
the true beauty of the mandala is that it is destroyed upon completion. the hours, days, (weeks?) of tiring work swept away with little brooms, sifted into a vase and released (with flower petals) into a body of water. to free ourselves from attachments, however beautiful (or ugly), being the course to our enlightenment.
Friday, October 12, 2007
bookmarks--a memoir
i was organizing my bookmarks, and some of them are pretty funny. for example: "Ridding Your Home of Fleas" (self-explanatory) and "Ecure me: T Flava", from when bdub had mysterious red and white spots up and down his back. others conjur up memories i'd rather not revisit for too long, like "Pilling Cats" or "The Animal Legal Defense Fund: Winning the Case Against Cruelty" or "LA Daily News- Tahoe Blaze, Homes Evacuated" (...the fire is unrelenting...you are forced to evacuate your home...it's the stereo or your son's darth vader mask that he just got for his fourth birthday. you go for the mask. you're his father...you lose everything else but none of it matters, really...).
still others, such as "Small Space Entertaining" bring me back specifically to a time and place: our tiny apartment, last thanksgiving, eight people for dinner. it's chilly and raining, so we can't eat out on the patio. i want us to sit down and have a nice dinner together. after much deliberation, we flip up our mattress against the wall and cover the whole shebang with a white sheet. we put out card tables and borrowed chairs, make gingerbread martinis and drink champagne and eat roast turkey and seitan with a red wine and mushroom sauce (for the veggies) and stuff ourselves with pie and bread pudding.
"njtransit.com/pdf/bus" is the schedule of buses from new york to atlantic city. while bdub was on tour last winter-into-spring, the biscuit and i boarded a bus to atlantic city where we met my friend katie. we spent the weekend at katie's family's beach house with her and her st. bernard, gus.
the biscuit got sprayed by a skunk that was making his home underneath the back porch...as long as i live, i will never forget his soaking wet, tomato juice-pink mug as we bathed him to rid him of the stink. he was such a trooper, and katie didn't even mention how much the smell permeated the house, the towels, everything. she made tuna noodle casserole and we chilled with our dogs and got caught up on each others' lives. it was a great weekend.
there are even bookmarks that give me hope for the future, such as "Good Questions: How Small An Apartment Can You Have a Baby In?". an awkward sentence, to be sure, but a good question indeed. i've read it again and again, and it gives me hope to hear of people's babies all over the world sleeping in dresser drawers and salad bowls. i like that. it makes the future (*ahem*, the very distant future--not the near future, thankyouverymuch, mom) seem not so impossible.
still others, such as "Small Space Entertaining" bring me back specifically to a time and place: our tiny apartment, last thanksgiving, eight people for dinner. it's chilly and raining, so we can't eat out on the patio. i want us to sit down and have a nice dinner together. after much deliberation, we flip up our mattress against the wall and cover the whole shebang with a white sheet. we put out card tables and borrowed chairs, make gingerbread martinis and drink champagne and eat roast turkey and seitan with a red wine and mushroom sauce (for the veggies) and stuff ourselves with pie and bread pudding.
"njtransit.com/pdf/bus" is the schedule of buses from new york to atlantic city. while bdub was on tour last winter-into-spring, the biscuit and i boarded a bus to atlantic city where we met my friend katie. we spent the weekend at katie's family's beach house with her and her st. bernard, gus.
the biscuit got sprayed by a skunk that was making his home underneath the back porch...as long as i live, i will never forget his soaking wet, tomato juice-pink mug as we bathed him to rid him of the stink. he was such a trooper, and katie didn't even mention how much the smell permeated the house, the towels, everything. she made tuna noodle casserole and we chilled with our dogs and got caught up on each others' lives. it was a great weekend.
there are even bookmarks that give me hope for the future, such as "Good Questions: How Small An Apartment Can You Have a Baby In?". an awkward sentence, to be sure, but a good question indeed. i've read it again and again, and it gives me hope to hear of people's babies all over the world sleeping in dresser drawers and salad bowls. i like that. it makes the future (*ahem*, the very distant future--not the near future, thankyouverymuch, mom) seem not so impossible.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
september love...
my friend janice -aka "girlbomb"- pretty much rules. though i haven't seen her in ages, i occasionally check in on her via her blog. i found this post, a brief retelling of her and her husband's "how they met" story, to be particularly good:
"His personal ad said: 'I will be a good boyfriend. I will rub your feet, and tell you you're pretty, and put up with your shit'.
And I thought: Bingo."
i challenge you to find one woman who can't get behind that. the best part of the story, of course, is that the reward of her fella's precise way of summizing in 25 words or less exactly what EVERY WOMAN WANTS was the jackpot he hit in janice.
and to my love, here is what i love about you and the wonderful things that you have done for me and for us throughout this september:
-of course, like mr. girlbomb, rubbing my feet, telling me i'm pretty, and putting up with my shit.
-helping with my passport shenanigans
-your support with the big agency switchover of '07
-wading through the high waters of our patio during the flash flood
-seattle tokens of love
-fantastic anniversary surprises
-all of the arrangements you made in order to make my trip to europe as easy as possible with what you had to work with
-appreciating my skillz as your drum tech!
-making our trip so fun, and helping me to feel comfortable.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
turn around v-e-e-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y....
...and do not be alarmed....but a horrible monster now walks among us:
europe with le dub: an epilogue
i feel compelled to add these extra tidbits of the peculiar and the odd, the strange and perhaps the kismet. these are a few examples of some things which we encountered on our trip....asides, really, that may not warrant an individual post (or may they?) but which i believe deserve a mention.
i must also add that all of my euro-posts have now been edited to include photos! sweet!
on to our encounters and oddities:
first off is "milky drink", because if you're anything like me, you just never know when you may have to dropper feed a kitten:
shoop's got "panach"!
bdub's dream woman:
oh, and what's that? at the rest stop? no big woop. just an EM EFFIN' GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!
i must also add that all of my euro-posts have now been edited to include photos! sweet!
on to our encounters and oddities:
first off is "milky drink", because if you're anything like me, you just never know when you may have to dropper feed a kitten:
shoop's got "panach"!
bdub's dream woman:
oh, and what's that? at the rest stop? no big woop. just an EM EFFIN' GOLDEN EAGLE!!!!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
back in baby's arms
the title of this post both refers to bdub and i as well as bdub and i AND le bisquit (and the woob). our little menagerie is all back in brooklyn, in one piece.
le dub and i headed to lil bro's on sunday to pick up the biscuit. once again, we maxed as well as relaxed: laundry, out for delicious food, fun romps in the grass and walks on the trail, free and easy laundry. i got a fantastically ridiculous t shirt at baugher's market with this guy on it:
i believe the locals refer to him as "apple man". i also got a bunch of mini indian corn for our front door and some pumpkins for carving. good times.
upon our arrival back at our pad, bdub discovered that woob had killed a mouse....sad for the little rodent, but finally i am relieved that the odd stench in our home has been identified and taken care of. so gross.
so i sit, chillin', eating leftovers and trying to nurse the bit of a cold i seem to have gotten. all is back to normal and i promise you europe photos soon!
le dub and i headed to lil bro's on sunday to pick up the biscuit. once again, we maxed as well as relaxed: laundry, out for delicious food, fun romps in the grass and walks on the trail, free and easy laundry. i got a fantastically ridiculous t shirt at baugher's market with this guy on it:
i believe the locals refer to him as "apple man". i also got a bunch of mini indian corn for our front door and some pumpkins for carving. good times.
upon our arrival back at our pad, bdub discovered that woob had killed a mouse....sad for the little rodent, but finally i am relieved that the odd stench in our home has been identified and taken care of. so gross.
so i sit, chillin', eating leftovers and trying to nurse the bit of a cold i seem to have gotten. all is back to normal and i promise you europe photos soon!
Friday, October 5, 2007
what are you when you're on the toilet?
paris was, of course, spectacular. le dub, shoop (the bass player for the tour, whom i adore) and i went out exploring. we didn't go the louvre or le tower eiffel, but we did see some pretty incredible sights. i stocked up on embroylisse (the best face moisturizer ever) and elnett, both products which are not available in the u.s.
the club, la maroquinerie, was amazing....the room where MBD played was in the downstairs part of the building, and lined with semi-circular rows that came out of the floor and were part of the structure (hard to explain, but real cool).
my friend dina was in paris for the fashion shows, and met us at the club. it was fun to see a familiar face! dina and i schemed and schemed about the possibility of staying longer in paris and taking the train to amsterdam together, but, alas, it was not to be. after all, i am tiny dancer, seamstress for the band, and i felt like my peeps ("peeps" meaning bdub) needed me.
we had a very fun drive to amsterdam, and arrived in the city relatively early. amsterdam RULES. definitely my favorite place of the trip, which surprised me. i seriously love it. i miss it. i want for it to be my home. i love the canals, the bikes, the coffee shops, the international flair.
in fact, i have compiled a list in my head of many of the things i love about europe:
-many of the lights are on timers. they turn on when you walk in, they turn off when you leave. i mean, duh.
-your choice: big flush or little flush. sometimes you don't need a big ole' flush (sometimes you do). again i say: conservation. think about it.
-they treat their animals right. both the animals they eat and their companion animals.
-free healthcare.
-the coffee. oooooh my lord, the coffee. the worst coffee i had was at a starbucks (what can i say? i needed me some free wireless).
-the bread.
-the "little" things. little spoons, little egg cups, little cubes of sugar
-children and their parents are very affectionate. i saw little boys reach up and give their mamas kisses on several occasions.
i hardly ever see that here with children over age four.
-clean. clean clean clean.
-the public transportation. easy, clean, and punctual.
-the civility.
the only thing i did not like, really, is the prevalence of smoking. that was hard on nowlzie.
i departed from amsterdam yesterday and i am back in my apartment, missing the dub and trying to sort out my jet lag. i don't think i have given proper credence to how much i loved nuno, the tour manager, and jeff (shoop), the bass player.
nuno, my little portuguese friend, took care of everything, and kept it real (like when perhaps there wasn't ample time for us to do the thing we were considering doing...like training it from paris to amsterdam). i appreciated his candor. plus, he's vegan, he loves pandas, he's into hardcore, he's "straight edge, dude", and his favorite bands are minor threat (of course) and cut the shit (with their song, "cut the bullshit"). nuno rules.
jeff shoop (the bass player) was, simply put, a kick in the pants. a spinner of many tales, he kept the van rides most amusing with his collection of stories. he suggested that, as thirty-something as it may sound, it would have been so much fun to have a "couples tour" with his girl, rosie, along for the ride(s). those words immediately made me feel like this is someone who likes me, and dammit, when you are out with people who are somewhat still strangers to you and driving for days in a sprinter through europe with them, there's nothing better to hear than that little bit of validation. plus, he convinced bdub to rock a 'stache.
shoop with 'stache:
bdub with 'stache:
i will miss my friend shoop, and hope to see him and rosie soon. feed that moustache, son.
the club, la maroquinerie, was amazing....the room where MBD played was in the downstairs part of the building, and lined with semi-circular rows that came out of the floor and were part of the structure (hard to explain, but real cool).
my friend dina was in paris for the fashion shows, and met us at the club. it was fun to see a familiar face! dina and i schemed and schemed about the possibility of staying longer in paris and taking the train to amsterdam together, but, alas, it was not to be. after all, i am tiny dancer, seamstress for the band, and i felt like my peeps ("peeps" meaning bdub) needed me.
we had a very fun drive to amsterdam, and arrived in the city relatively early. amsterdam RULES. definitely my favorite place of the trip, which surprised me. i seriously love it. i miss it. i want for it to be my home. i love the canals, the bikes, the coffee shops, the international flair.
in fact, i have compiled a list in my head of many of the things i love about europe:
-many of the lights are on timers. they turn on when you walk in, they turn off when you leave. i mean, duh.
-your choice: big flush or little flush. sometimes you don't need a big ole' flush (sometimes you do). again i say: conservation. think about it.
-they treat their animals right. both the animals they eat and their companion animals.
-free healthcare.
-the coffee. oooooh my lord, the coffee. the worst coffee i had was at a starbucks (what can i say? i needed me some free wireless).
-the bread.
-the "little" things. little spoons, little egg cups, little cubes of sugar
-children and their parents are very affectionate. i saw little boys reach up and give their mamas kisses on several occasions.
i hardly ever see that here with children over age four.
-clean. clean clean clean.
-the public transportation. easy, clean, and punctual.
-the civility.
the only thing i did not like, really, is the prevalence of smoking. that was hard on nowlzie.
i departed from amsterdam yesterday and i am back in my apartment, missing the dub and trying to sort out my jet lag. i don't think i have given proper credence to how much i loved nuno, the tour manager, and jeff (shoop), the bass player.
nuno, my little portuguese friend, took care of everything, and kept it real (like when perhaps there wasn't ample time for us to do the thing we were considering doing...like training it from paris to amsterdam). i appreciated his candor. plus, he's vegan, he loves pandas, he's into hardcore, he's "straight edge, dude", and his favorite bands are minor threat (of course) and cut the shit (with their song, "cut the bullshit"). nuno rules.
jeff shoop (the bass player) was, simply put, a kick in the pants. a spinner of many tales, he kept the van rides most amusing with his collection of stories. he suggested that, as thirty-something as it may sound, it would have been so much fun to have a "couples tour" with his girl, rosie, along for the ride(s). those words immediately made me feel like this is someone who likes me, and dammit, when you are out with people who are somewhat still strangers to you and driving for days in a sprinter through europe with them, there's nothing better to hear than that little bit of validation. plus, he convinced bdub to rock a 'stache.
shoop with 'stache:
bdub with 'stache:
i will miss my friend shoop, and hope to see him and rosie soon. feed that moustache, son.
"married a music man..."
from antwerp, we traversed the belgium and german countryside to hamburg for das reeperbahn festival. it was loads of fun....juliette lewis's band played it, as did the raveonettes (though i didn't get to hear 'em). i also really liked the shout out louds (from sweden) even though i may have been hatin' on them for sounding sooo much like the cure...but what's so wrong with that? and aren't they cute?
my brightest diamond had an amazing response.
plus, we got to stay in the most incredible hotel ever. the moevenpick hotel in hamburg is in a renovated water tower, but is quite politically controversial, as the watertower (now hotel) sits atop of a park which is a hang for leftists, artists, etc. apparenly, they have been protesting the hotel for over a year. there was high security around the grounds, which was weird.
leftist spy:
anyhoo, it was free and fun and luxurious. bdub and i even got free room service since they didn't give us our wakeup call and we missed the hotel's breffuss (which included champagne). to the leftists we say, "don't knock it til you try it!" i would also like to note that in hamburg i witnessed a man dining with his dog indoors at a restaurant, AND on the drive from belgium to germany there were bowls of dog biscuits and clean water at the rest stops. that rules.
on to berlin, which was sooooo cooool. we saw an itty bitty corner of what used to be the berlin wall, and were staying relatively closeby in east germany. photos to come. berlin reminded me the most of new york...it was the grittiest of all, and much less homogenous than hamburg. plus, we went out for a drink with some really nice friends of shara's and had white russians, which is always fun.
...and how kick ass was our hotel room in berlin?
from berlin, we drove to schorndorf, which was more of the german countryside. so pretty, and in the tiny town was a really cool club called manufaktur.
this venue had the most TLC for the bands that played there as well as for its patrons, who were young and old alike. it was lovely, plus it had a washer and dryer, a shower, and delicious food (the most pillowiest, fluffiest rolls that tasted like pretzels, tofu which i topped with a creamy mushroom sauce, homemade spaetzle/egg noodles, and dilled cucumbers).
the club regularly hosts movie nights as well as music workshops for kids. many amazing bands have played there and are on the roster for future shows: vic chestnutt, godspeed you! black emperor, daniel johnston, de la soul.. it reminded me a bit of the old underground railroad.
from there we drove...and drove....to paris.
my brightest diamond had an amazing response.
plus, we got to stay in the most incredible hotel ever. the moevenpick hotel in hamburg is in a renovated water tower, but is quite politically controversial, as the watertower (now hotel) sits atop of a park which is a hang for leftists, artists, etc. apparenly, they have been protesting the hotel for over a year. there was high security around the grounds, which was weird.
leftist spy:
anyhoo, it was free and fun and luxurious. bdub and i even got free room service since they didn't give us our wakeup call and we missed the hotel's breffuss (which included champagne). to the leftists we say, "don't knock it til you try it!" i would also like to note that in hamburg i witnessed a man dining with his dog indoors at a restaurant, AND on the drive from belgium to germany there were bowls of dog biscuits and clean water at the rest stops. that rules.
on to berlin, which was sooooo cooool. we saw an itty bitty corner of what used to be the berlin wall, and were staying relatively closeby in east germany. photos to come. berlin reminded me the most of new york...it was the grittiest of all, and much less homogenous than hamburg. plus, we went out for a drink with some really nice friends of shara's and had white russians, which is always fun.
...and how kick ass was our hotel room in berlin?
from berlin, we drove to schorndorf, which was more of the german countryside. so pretty, and in the tiny town was a really cool club called manufaktur.
this venue had the most TLC for the bands that played there as well as for its patrons, who were young and old alike. it was lovely, plus it had a washer and dryer, a shower, and delicious food (the most pillowiest, fluffiest rolls that tasted like pretzels, tofu which i topped with a creamy mushroom sauce, homemade spaetzle/egg noodles, and dilled cucumbers).
the club regularly hosts movie nights as well as music workshops for kids. many amazing bands have played there and are on the roster for future shows: vic chestnutt, godspeed you! black emperor, daniel johnston, de la soul.. it reminded me a bit of the old underground railroad.
from there we drove...and drove....to paris.
Monday, October 1, 2007
a letter from home!
this email was in my inbox tonight:
"Dearest Mother,
I love the Country Retreat. The company is delightful, food is good, and there is always something to chase (most recently the butterflies in the yard). I sleep well in bed with my people, and thoroughly enjoy cuddling and kissing them both. Have a lovely trip in Europe, I await your return, but don't come back too soon, because this place friggin rocks.
All my love,
The Biscuit."
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