thank god for the lovely red dolls/decorating with books

My roommates and I recently hosted a 1950s-60s theme party inspired in part by our household addiction to Mad Men but mostly by a sweaty slipster 50s, 60s and 70s dance party we attended in Nashville at a sweet little hipster dive bar. Everything from the hairdos to the hors-d'oeuvres were meticulously researched to be era-appropriate. One partygoer who described himself as "a friend of a friend of a friend. You probably don't know me" informed me that he had been giving tours of someone's bedroom as an example of a "typical girl's bedroom. You know, the one with the copy of Valley of the Dolls." I was so distraught at the possibility that my room could possibly be typical and distracted by his spectacular pair of 1950s spectacles a la Harry Crane that I failed to consider how weird and creepy it was that a stranger was giving tours of my bedroom.

for bridge and rlday, who are the only people who read my blog even after it has remained dormant for, like, three months

I was sitting at my laptop in a sweatshirt and jeans IN JULY at 8:00am on a Wednesday procrastinating and hating this godforsaken corner of america that now apparently has 2 seasons: freezing fucking cold and disgusting sortof cold, WHEN I decided to google interior design porn. Who doesn't like creative porn on hump day? Anyway, there's this really amazing food porn site so, I figured maybe someone had done this with interior design. I was afraid (see: hoping) I would end up with like 57 bazillion porn results but instead since the googles is good at synonyms, a link to obscene interiors popped up. I thought it was pretty hilarious and then when I got to the end of the pictures Dave Eggers told me it was hilarious, so I knew that it definitely was hilarious and that I am brilliant and an aesthete. The guy who wrote it also has a blog which has thus far left me crying with laughter. Thank you, Justin Jorgensen for giving me the gift of laughter in the wake of the loss of Michael Jackson, if just for a few fleeting moments.

art makes legalese a little...easier

Aspirational rights and legal systems are complicated and often dry. We Are All Born Free takes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, admittedly a fairly comprehensible document but not all that exciting if you aren't a lawyer or activist, and makes a colorful and engaging set of rights accessible even to children. Maira Kalman, an author, illustrator and designer is currently publishing monthly columns in the New York Times Op-Extra section online about American democracy. Her quirky, matter-of-fact observations about the history and current state of the American legal system add a dimension of humanity to the supreme and beauty to the mundane.

This children's book is appropriate for human rights advocates of all ages.

Each human right enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is illustrated by a different artist. The proceeds from the sale of the book go to Amnesty International.

Maira Kalman is the author and illustrator of "And the Pursuit of Happiness"
about American democracy published in the New York Times.

After a visit to the Supreme Court, and the office of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maira Kalman thinks about law, decision-making and women breaking barriers.

water water everywhere but not a drop to drink

Currently

reading: Choke by Chuck Palaniuk... between Choke and Fight Club I can't help but wonder how many sex-narcotics-alcoholics-etc anonymous meetings he has attended for "research" purposes.

thrilled about: free potable water and the end of that don't drink the water davematthews song looping in my brain! good riddance copepods and rotifers.
we can finally do this again:

celebrating: the 20th Anniversary of Sheff v. O'Neill

paranoid about: Swine Flu...ew, or should I say, oink

Everything is blooming most recklessly

elizabeth park, hartford, ct
march 15th or so

the roses are still a few months from blooming

but the greenhouse is in full effect

pineapple plant

bird of paradise flower

two lips

because I am a 16 year old girl...

Ed Westwick
English actor best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl. He is also the lead singer of the English indie rock band The Filthy Youth.

woody allen and wanderlust

I recently watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Actually, I watched it twice in one weekend. I have never been one to watch just any movie repeatedly and certainly never in such quick succession. Typically, I am easily bored upon the second viewing, however a few films are able to capture my attention time again. It met and exceeded my hopes for the film, proving to be the artsy, passionate and wine soaked romp in Barcelona that the trailers promised and reminding me of the the wit and quirk Woody Allen's omnipresent voice (which in this case comes in the form of Christopher Evan Welch* narrating) brings to his films. Allen never allows romance or idealism to bloom eternal or unblemished. I will say that the narration is a bit jarring at first but I came to the conclusion that the juxtaposition between the practical and omniscient voice of the narrator and the fantastical and naively impulsive characters created a compelling tension.
Penelope Cruz's performance alone could warrant a repeat viewing of the film. Without having seen the films that her fellow contenders for best supporting actress acted in, it is unfair of me to say that she surely deserved the Oscar but I can say that her wild eyed, hot and hot tempered, intensely emotional portrayal of Maria Elena is one of the most arresting performances I have ever watched and one of my favorite film characters.
The film was full of Spanish guitar and giant canvases dotted, daubed and splashed with ochre, searing white and fiery red. The artwork featured in the film is that of Agusti Puig, a Catalan artist hailing from a small industrial town called Sabadell who has exhibited at galleries all over Spain, in London, New York City, Washington, D.C., France, Portugal, Japan and at esteemed international art fairs.

One of the most subtly sensuous and melancholy moments in the film takes place during a performance of Spanish guitar by Emilio de Benito.



To reign in the tempest of wanderlust and bohemian living that the film stirred up in me I have been listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela and taking paint to canvas despite not having the least idea what I am doing. Someone please make law school end so that I can flit about for a little while.

*Incidentally, Welch plays the role of the pastor in Synecdoche, NY, a film I absolutely must see again more so because I need to decide whether or not I loved it or was utterly bewildered by it. At least some of the bewilderment can be attributed to the fact that I dozed off somewhere in the middle of the film, which has far more to do with my own mild case of narcolepsy than the quality of the film.

weekend dance party inspiration

sweaty slipster dance party death match



pure sexy saucy class (no doubt i will now attempt to break this out at my darkest (see: drunkest) hour)

Limbaugh-Palin 2012

she's baaaaaaack....

Some Republican Glory Holester whose name I cannot recall announced the CPAC Straw Poll results on CSPAN yesterday amidst a dull roar of America loving and Obama hatin'. He made an allusion to MLK Jr's I have a dream speech by comparing the release of the straw poll results to the feeling of being "Free at last, free at last." WOW...really? An organization that had George "Macaca" Allen speak at its 2008 conference is co-opting a negro spiritual as quoted by MLK Jr. WOW. Then he said that 10,000 % of CPAC voters hate Obama.
Blah...here's some results:

“Thinking ahead to the 2012 Presidential election, who would you vote for as the next Republican nominee for President?”

Mitt Romney in 1st with 20% of the vote despite allegations of donning magical underwear and believing that if he believes hard enough he could become god.

Sarah Palin in 4th with an un-freaking-believable 13% of the vote despite allegations of stealing designer suits, shooting wolves from the sky and being mentally challenged. Oh yeah, and she was completely disowned by her party and God immediately following the announcement of the election results. I guess the elephant does forget.

"Who is your favorite conservative media personality on either tv or radio?"

Rush Limbaugh, everyone's favorite fatfeck pill-poppin' uncle, came in 1st with 26% of the vote followed by my personal heroes Bill "I pretended I won a Peabody" O'Reilly in 4th and Sarah "gurshdarnitwinkumsmcgee" Palin. I thought Bill O'Reilly was neither conservative nor liberal instead operating in a purgatory known as the "No Spin Zone" where only the facts matter.

meh. bored. presidentbarackhusseinobama. so there.

who needs shiny and new?

i remain fascinated with all things deemed useless, antiquated and outmoded. for christmas i proclaimed my want, nay need, for a globe and a typewriter. b asked if i was planning a trip to the 1800s. despite their mocking, my roommates came through for me and m got me a miniature black and white globe for xmas. tres chic. i still lust for a typewriter and after discovering this in the bowels of the library, a card catalog.

also, does anyone remember the 1900s house? that show was brilliant. i watched it religiously on PBS in high school. soon my life will contain one small tidbit of similarity to theirs as i will be the lucky recipient of three gourmet cheeses a month brought directly to my doorstep. all i need now is milk delivery in glass bottles and one of those porcelain wash basins with a pitcher in my bedroom. ermmm...as i typed the previous sentence i remembered that i received two glass milk bottles from ikea as one of my birthday gifts this year. i guess everyone is well aware of my obsession with all things antiquated* and is keen to enable this obsession.

*i am quite certain there must be a word for "obsession with antiquated things". i must figure out what it is.

inside in the city

once upon a time, long ago, bjd (not so much "before jesus died" as "before juris doctor", but chuh whatevs) i went out on thursday nights. tonight i had every intention of attending third thursday at raw so that i could sip on martinis and nat shermans and teeter around in stilettos and catch my first glimpse of taiga ermansons's fragile cross stitch on kleenex pieces. the last time i was at raw i planned to peek at them but there were several breakdancers breakdancing around in the room and i didn't feel like it was necessary to interrupt them. fortunately, i was able to check out hirokazu fukawa's A Thought at the Edge of the Continent: Manchuria to Siberia 1942 - 1947. this particular piece is "a sculptural installation using 60 fluorescent bulbs to simulate a Siberian blizzard." i wound my way through it for a bit until i became nervous that i would trip and ruin everything. it reminded me of tesla coils and the electrified lightbulb field in the prestige.

anyway, i didn't get to go tonight but hopefully i will make it to the artist talk on March 5th. in the meantime, i am listening to the pierces and writing and researching...blah

blores and whogs

so, it has been, like, forever since i have posted a blog to this particular blog. i fault my adult add and the fact that i am a total blog whore (blore? whog?). i join every blog that i am invited to and immediately dive in with earnest blogging away about some subject that has piqued my interest or tickled my fancy until, inevitably, i lose interest and my participation wanes. alas, my self-absorption has reared its pretty little head again and i have been dying to blog about my own personal interests and occasionally intriguing life experiences.

i recently celebrated a birfday and my roommates threw me a whimsical unbirthday party in wonderland.my parents, who are taking care to keep me cultured, took me out to barca and to raw to see the oscar nominated foreign film shorts. we ordered from the tapas calientes! menu at barca. i have to admit, the food sounds better than it tasted. i have been to some amazing tapas restaurants so perhaps i am being unfair but this place got fantastic reviews and frankly, i was not altogether that impressed. i hate to be a traitor but i think barcelona's fare is actually better. that being said, the crabcakes were pretty yum and my dad said the bacalao tasted just like his portuguese grandmother's homemade version. the giant pitcher of cava sangria was also a hit. i suppose i'll just have to go back and order the rest of the menu to see if it was a fluke.

Esalada de Bacalao////9 Bacalao, Chickpeas, Red Onions, Roasted Corn, Olive Oil & Sherry Vinegar Vieras con Jamon Serrano////9 Seared Sea Scallops Wrapped with Spanish Ham over Garlic Bean Sauce Chorizo Asado con Gambas al Ajillo////9 Grilled Spanish Chorizo, and Garlic Shrimp Bollos de Cangrejo////9 Crabcakes with Spicy Remoulade Setas del Monte Asadas con Mantequilla al Ajo////9 Wild Mushrooms Sauteéd with Garlic and Butter served with Crusty Bread The shorts were great, riveting, heartbreaking, beautiful, the whole bit. My parents chose to see the foreign film shorts because they have subtitles but one of the films was from Ireland and therefore in English and sans subtitles. Whoops...I guess we didn't think that one through. Fortunately, it was only 12 minutes long. I loved them all but of course had special affection for the frenchie one, Manon on the Asphalt.

LIVE ACTION
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line) - dir. Reto Caffi (Germany/Switzerland)
New Boy - dir. Steph Green (Ireland)
Toyland - dir. Jochen Freydank (Germany)
The Pig - dirs. Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh (Denmark)
Manon on the Asphalt - dirs. Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont (France)