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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
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12:23 pm - February 2008 seems soooo long ago
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Ugh. I just bought my ferry ticket for Long Island this weekend. It's like someone shot a harpoon at my wallet. But it will be so nice seeing Sherrill and everybody at her shower!
Here's what I was up to last February! Featured commentors: Julie Berenzweig, Rich Burns, Dave Chin, Alyce Clark, Shannon Daly, Jean Dendy, Jameel Haque, Katharine Hoyt, Mariko Kanto, Liz Laneri, Steph Luzzi, Greg Marano, Zach Minton, Kristopher Moreau, Brad Reed, Susan Rubin, Jen Toth, Darin Wolpert
( click me )
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| Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
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2:04 pm - The haps last January
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I am going to see Avenue Q tonight! Rachel is taking me for my birthday . . . which means that my birthday season is going to last an unprecedented two and a half months this year. Awesome.
Here's what I was up to in Jan. 09: Guest commentors: Hugh Beckett, Rich Burns, Dave Chin, Ima Klin, Liz Laneri, Jen Siegel, Jen Toth, Janet Wertman
( clicky )
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| Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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3:17 pm - I remembah last Decembah
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Whitefire can mock me all he wants, but archieving things is important to me and my future biographer will be so grateful.
Here is the month of December 2008 with guest commentators: Hugh Beckett, Rich Burns, Dave Chin, Bill Doscher, Mary Ferrara, Rebecca Glucklich, Geoff Gruetzmacher, Ima Klim, Liz Laneri, Matt Marrone and Jen Toth.
( clicky )
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| Friday, November 6th, 2009
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2:35 pm - A Year in Wall Posts
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At some point it came to my attention that Facebook really isn't searchable in any useful way - there's no way to archieve anything. So I started copying everything on my wall so I'd have it all in once place. The great thing about Live Journal is that it's totally archieval. So to celebrate my one year anniversary of my relationship with FB, I'm going to do a twelve-part series of wall posts under the cut. This is more of a present to myself than to my readers, but maybe some people will get a kick out of it.
And so I bring you November 2008!
Featured commentors: Liz Bean, Rich Burns, Dave Chin, Mary Ferrara, Rebecca Glucklich, Matt McKee, Jen Siegel, Adlai Wertman
( clicky )
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| Friday, October 23rd, 2009
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1:20 pm - PMC folklore
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I learned something new today! So our sports teams are known as the Pine Manor Gators - which has always seemed strange to me, as we are thousands of miles from the closest aligator living outside of captivity. Also, what? I can't think of any sports an alligator would be good at. Except eating and unpredictable fits of aggression. Maybe swimming, but we have no pool. Anyway.
Today I learned that back when we were a finishing school for rich white girls (long before we became The Most Diverse College in the US, 95% funded by government aid and outside scholarships), that Pine Manor girls Looooooved wearing Izod shirts. So much so that local boys would say, "I'm gonna get me a gator girl!" when they came a'calling to PMC. Somehow the "gator girl" name stuck. Now I'm just wondering why we didn't try to get sponsorship money from Izod.
In other news, I done done it. I got my hair chopped off so I can impersonate whitefire in the Halloween wedding of uksubs. But they cut way too much off. I'm kind of bummed. I mean, it's a cute haircut, and I told her to please please not give me a demure Republican haircut, and she definitely listened to me there, but I showed her three pix in magazines of the length I was going for, and it's way shorter than that. At one point as she was cutting away, she asked if she could razor it up so it didn't look mullety. That's right, Hugh, you have a mullet. And I don't. Oh well, I actually donated 8 inches!
Of course, now I'm back at work and nobody has commented on the fact that I have 8 inches less hair, which means it must look really bad. Ugh.
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| Thursday, October 8th, 2009
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11:52 am - Zing!
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marriedtothesea.com
My car has been making stooopid noises lately - a hearty "cluklunkah" in the back when I start it up. Also, on two occasions I turned the key and only the electrical system turned on - which leads Rob to believe it's a clutch issue. Grrreeeeat. Oh yeah, and I got a damn $40 street cleaning ticket this morning - my third in the past few months. I am hopping mad and just about ready to get me a Vespa and say screw car ownership.
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| Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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4:33 pm - I have a confession to make:
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Allandale, Boston's last working farm is less than three miles from my home and work, is more or less on my way home, and until last Friday I had never set foot in it. What the Hell is wrong with me?
I cook all the time. I pay way too much buying organic produce at Harvest because I believe it's good for me. I have even fantasized about planting my own garden despite the fact that I can't even keep a potted plant alive, because I love the idea of shortening the distance between field and table. And yet, I never wandered into a farmer's market until a week ago. Why? I blame my obsessive compulsive order.
See, I don't browse. I don't walk into a place and say Those are the prettiest eggplants ever! I'll take 20. I like to cook and I know how to make things come out the way I like them, but more importantly, I like to have a plan, and with the exception of eggs, pasta sauce, popcorn and salad, I exclusively follow recipes. It soothes me.
Since I can't do what normal people do and just, y'know, follow my vegetable bliss, I did what crazy people do: 1) I mapped out all the farmer's markets in the area by day so I'm not planning my life around the closest one. 2) I found an awesome list of what's available at one of these markets and more importantly *when* so I can actually plan according to the seasons. 3) I made a big ol' list - one item a day that I'm planning on cooking with. Half these items come from my stuff-that's-available list, and half come from my foods-I-should-be-eating-more-of list, which I have adapted from my Healthy Food Directory, which is a book Susan gave me years ago that I really couldn't live without. 4) Every day a new recipe! And if I miss a day, I have to cook two things, or else all this lovely produce will go to waste.
The most important part of this plan is that I not go bankrupt, so for the first time ever, I am actually making a plan for every morsel of food that I bring into the house. The crabmeat and cheddar dip Rob's mom brought over has been cooked into my eggs every morning this week (yum!). Next to the eggs, a salad I make every day with whatever vegetable odds & ends I have lying around. For lunch today I had leftover bok choy & tofu stir fry, with a side of borsht. Tonight I'm making vegetable soup and some hot chocolate with almond oil.
So these are the things that make me feel like I'm acting my age: I'm cooking like a grown-up, my roommate got us a cat named Milo who follows me everywhere, and thanks to Rob I actually know where my iron is because he *uses* an iron. It's mind blowing, really. Luckily I am tempering this with karaoke - twice this week! - and my busy social calendar. And there are the things that make me feel responsible but young and vital at the same time; teaching dance and having my weekly supper club. Hooray for balance!
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| Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
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3:02 pm - Ooh, here's a fun game
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| Monday, October 5th, 2009
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3:11 pm - People of the Internets!!
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I need your help! This Halloween I will be a grooms(wo)man in a costume wedding. Help me come up with a costume!!
I am not very clever when it comes to costumes. Well, I take that back. I am pretty great at coming up with costumes for theme parties; it's just that when I can be *anything* I am overwhelmed by options and I go through a total system shutdown.
Here are the parameters that make this particular event extra tricky: 1) I don't know what other people are going as. The groom keeps joking around that he will go as a penguin, but I don't know if he's serious. 2) The bride and her party are going as fairly generic things - witch, fairy, etc. - though I don't really know specifics. 3) I do know that the bride has asked her maids not to show more cleavage than she does. The bride has very sweetly said that I am one of the groom's people, so her rules do not apply, but c'mon, there's no way I'm going to try to outsexify the bride, that would just be obnoxious. 4) Ideally I would like to come up with something witty, but again, I don't want to upstage the couple of the hour. 5) I think I might be walking down the aisle with Chairman Mao. But I can't think of anything awesome that would go with that - though someone suggested Richard Nixon, which is not a bad idea. 6) Though I am a groomsperson, I would like to point out that I do not crossdress well. Though I guess one of those stick-on moustaches might be kind of hilarious if I was otherwise dressed as a girl.
I haven't gotten suggestions other than Nixon. Or maybe a roller derby chick, though I am pretty uncoordinated on skates. Since I am technically replacing Whitefire in the wedding party, I thought it would be kind of funny to impersonate Whitefire, though I'm afraid that would require getting a haircut and growing in some sideburns.
I would love to wear last year's costume, which was My Best Halloween Costume Ever, but it definitely breaks all the rules; I went to an '80's Halloween party and I dressed up as Pamela Anderson. I borrowed my friend's size EE bra, stuffed it with four pairs of pantyhose, and went out wearing only dance tights, tennis shoes, and a red leotard that looked just like a bathing suit. I had on a blond wig and a safety whistle, and for my walk down Mass Ave I wore a puffy orange vest that looked a little like a life jacket. It was SO TOTALLY AWESOME. The best part was that I went to a party where I only knew one person and loads of people thought that I actually was a blond with ginormous boobs. I wound up making out with Hunter S. Thompson to disasterous results (Interestingly, on Halloween 2002 I also made out with Hunter S. Thompson. Apparently if you are a chain-smoking gonzo-style reporter, I don't really put up much of a fight).
Needless to say, Pam Anderson is not wedding-friendly. I also went to a dead celebrity party last year, wore the same wig and boobs, slapped on a fake mole and went as Anna Nicole Smith. Again, not a woman you would want to associate with the taking of life-long vows.
Two years ago I was a belly dancer (partial nudity disqualification), and I went to another party as Flashdance - I wore a giant off-the-shoulder sweatshirt over some dance tights and a leo, taped up my feet and wore a welding mask. It was awesome, but NOBODY GOT IT. People of all ages were asking me: Why are you wearing riot gear? Are you a dancing robot? Suzanne Somers?
My ace in the hole is my authentic flapper costume, but somehow I lost my antique fur stole - either I misplaced it in a breakup or it was stolen by a closeted member of PETA. And it's a lovely dress, but I would definitely have to chop my hair off. Maybe it is time for a bob.
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| Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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3:55 pm - I miss you, LJ!
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Ok. Here it is. I miss the hell out of livejournal. I've never been great about posting regularly, but I reeeeeally miss settling in for a nice read. Partly the problem is that facebook is sucking away all of my idle internet time. The rest of the problem is that facebook is sucking away everyone else's idle internet time.
Don't get me wrong, facebook is the new cell phone, you can't really be human without it, blah blah blah. But there's no doubt that it is the netflix to the video store that is livejournal and that makes me sad. For most people (and thankfully not everybody, there are still some great people posting really interesting stuff on here!) facebook satisfies that little Notice me! urge that gets us writing in the first place. And it's great for keeping tabs on people. But it will never replace LJ in my heart.
Facebook is like running into a friend when you're trying to catch a train - Hi, love your sweater, bye. You're glad you've seen them, nice to know their general geographic location, and that they're among the living, etc., but it's not the same as sharing a couple cups of coffee and a long talk.
My big dumb excuse for the recent three-month lapse is that I was going to do a big ol' post with pictures . . . which means going home for lunch and uploading pix off my camera and writing an entry and also trying to eat something and it turns out that I will Never Have That Kind of Time. So no more excuses! It's text you're gonna get.
So a lot has happened since we last spoke! And eventually I will tell you all about it. Right now I have to go to a sculpture dedication. Ho hum.
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| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
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4:02 pm - Achewood Pt. 18
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Geez-o-man it has been a long time since I posted! The main reason for this is that for two out of the past three months I've been working shorter weeks, because for some damn reason they decided we are no longer allowed to roll over vacation time at work. It's been really nice hardly being here, but it sucks that I couldn't bankroll it into a long vacation.
Anyway, there is a lot to catch up on - too much for one entry. Suffice it to say since we last spoke, I have taught a slew of dance classes, made easily a dozen fondues, thrown 3 parties and a dozen dinner parties, seen 5 plays and one Aquarium, been in one cabaret, gone to a wedding shower and two baby showers, planned someone's Italian honeymoon, taken 3 trips to New York/New Jersey, one trip to the Cape, and one trip to DC, reconnected with one long-lost friend, hung out at a breakdance club, checked out the new Milky Way, and won at pub trivia! Oh yeah, and at some point I remembered that I own a digital camera, so I will be able to show you documentation.
But for now, gentle readers, I leave you with the latest installment of Achewood, another thing I dearly miss when I have fewer hours to screw around on the internet.
( Clicky )
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| Friday, March 27th, 2009
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3:30 pm - Achewood Pt. 17
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Before I head down to Wappingers Falls, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Hoboken, South Orange and back, let me tell ya about my week!
Matty came up last weekend for a therapeutic get-the-hell-out of Hoboken weekend. He showed up Friday and I made a big dinner, and immediately put him to work making oatmeal cookies. I wound up making three batches over the next four days and they were summarily devoured. America's Test Kitchen Cookbook does it again!
After dinner we had some quality drinking time at Boston Beer Works
- those are real live blueberries! -
and then went and saw I Love You, Man, which cracked me up. I am really impressed with Paul Rudd.
Saturday we went walking at Lexington and Concord, where I hid from the Redcoats
and we watched some Minute Men march off to war:
That night I threw an Economic Stimulus Party! This is totally going in my party-throwing book. Which means I should really get cracking on that before the economic upswing. I took polaroids of everybody making Employee of the Year faces, and then attached each one to a sheet of paper with the heading WILL _______ FOR FOOD and had people fill out their special "skills." Everybody made this little project their own, with stellar results! And now I have an art installation taking up a whole wall of my house.
I also collected $5 from everybody for a 50/50 raffle - so that helped cover my costs, and it also meant that lucky winner Maaaak got to go home with $40. And then Rebecca had the genius idea of holding a Montessori raffle where everybody wins something. Matt won a beer. Cousin Lauren won a free ticket to the Seven Deadly Sins Cabaret I'm going to be in. Rachel won a free Nia class. Kristopher had to dance for us, Elissa had to spell her name through modern dance, Shannon and Rob had to write and perform a four-line play, Jack and Rishi had to leg wrestle, Rich had to kiss Rob G, and Rebecca had to do her best impression of Christopher Walken performing Hamlet - you get the idea. It was a smashing success.
On Sunday Matt and Rachel and I had brunch at Centre Street, then he set up my new computer - I bought his old Mac; never thought I would make the switch, but his tutorial made me feel like I know my way around the new computer better than my old one. Score! On my way bringing him to the train, we were able to join the Milky Way funeral parade.
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Afterwards, Sunday afternoon and evening hit me like a load of bricks, but everything's been ironed out since then and I'm feeling pretty great. And it's almost the weekend! My present to you is this month's installment of Achewood under the cut.
( Clicky )
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| Friday, March 20th, 2009
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3:55 pm - Spectacular spectacular
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It's been a banner week in Liztown! My parents came up to visit last weekend and I showed them a great time. Even though when they arrived I had slept for a grand total of 2 hours. Tactically speaking, I picked a really poor night to relive my college days - but I had a blast, so no regrets.
My mom took me birthday shopping - which officially marks the close of my Birthday Quarter. Ritual observations of my birthday last longer than Advent and Lent combined. I have a feeling the Pope would frown on this.
Around 3pm, we met my dad at my house and walked all the way to the South End. This should surprise no one, as the day they came up to see Whorehouse, we walked a minimum of 18 (eighteen) miles around Boston. Rob joined us as Seiyo for some lovely sushi. Then I took my parents out for ice cream, and the three of us walked (naturally) to the BCA to see The Quiet Infinite - an original play. The playwright, Brian Tuttle (I think that's his name) was there to address the audience. I loved it! I actually want to read it now, because there are so many great lines. It's the story of a couple living in NYC whose relationship is on the rocks. In the course of the weekend they are innundated by houseguests: her drama queen friend who just moved back from LA; his slovenly friend who seemed to be channelling Jack Black (these two were hilarious; the actors did an awesome job); her ex-boyfriend who is in town while taking a break from bumming around the world; and finally his ex-fiancee, who he calls in to make his current girlfriend jealous. The dialogue is great, the plot good and twisty, and while the heart of the play is pretty dark and dense, there is a great balance of levity throughout. The action takes place over the course of a few evenings and then one flash forward, and on the second night, they're playing running charades, so it literally becomes a three-ring circus of people; one team acting out charades, one team running in and out from another room, and one couple furtively conferencing off to the side. I'm in awe of someone who can write like this.
On Sunday, after our traditional brunch at Centre Street, we drove out to Lexington & Concord, and ultimately to Decordova, which was a big hit. Among other things they have a video installation that is particularly entrancing, and a mid-career exhibition of Tabitha Vevers, who blew me away. A lot of her work is really dark - one series she completed during the height of the AIDS crisis in Provincetown, where she paints beautiful mer-people, beached, with their tails devoured down to bone. Disturbing and unforgettable. I also loved this series she did where she would ask people to describe their dreams of flying in detail and then illustrate them.
Monday's supper club was great! There were 8 of us. Angus & Michelle brought Luna who was an angel. She is always adorable, but it was a mere month ago that she was over and running all over the place, and throwing a huge temper tantrum when it was time to leave. This time she kept wanting to look at books or count my coasters or play with toys and was totally chill. She and Hugh played with her baby karaoke mike and cracked everybody up. Also, I got to watch Hugh feed her flan which was maybe my favorite part of the whole night. So frikkin' cute.
And if last week was my favorite kind of cupcake, last night was a pile of icing big enough to face plant into. TWELVE PEOPLE came to my class!! This is double my previous record number of students. Mind blowing. Three people brought friends with them which thrills me to no end, because I would love for this thing to go viral; I can only do so much on my own. Rob came for the first time, EVEN THOUGH he saw one of my Nia videos at home, where Carlos Rosas is wearing a big red unitard and he is thrusting his package at the camera and talking about dancing with scarves made of crystal/grass and/or water, "If you can imagine it, you can do it." So that was a huge leap of faith he took. And on top of that he surprised me by bringing two friends! It was Christmas in March, all right. There were so many people, and so many of them were new, that I actually had moments of stage fright. But I made it through, and had a great class. I love watching people warm up to the idea of freedancing, and my goodness! people actually clapped after a few of the songs. I think I finally feel like a legit dance instructor.
Afterwards Rob and I went dancing with his two roommates and his friend, Dana, at '80's night at the Common Ground. As soon as I can buy myself an espresso pot for Friday mornings, I think I am going to make this a tradition. It was such a fun night! I've always liked the Common Ground for its lack of pretention and the fact that people really do come out to dance. I'm a big fan of '90's night, but it's been ages because it's hard for me to get there before the line wraps around the block. The music at '80's night is great, and enough people dress up for you to be pleasantly entertained by their ingenuity, but not so many that you feel like a big loser for showing up in street clothes.
One of the first things Rob ever said to me that made him catch my eye was that he totally knew places to go dancing on a weeknight. This was actually the first time we got a chance to go, but the boy delivered! They were all fun to dance with. Greg has some pretty awesome liquid moves. Rodolfo's signature move makes him look like he is trying to crash a Greek wedding. And Rob and I crack each other up, which is awesome. Really, if you can't laugh at yourself on the dance floor, you may as well go home.
At one point we were all taking a drink break, and Rob was like, oh go ahead, go dance some more. So I said, ok, I'm going to go dance with that guy, as I pointed to the biggest show-off in the place. The guy, apparently a regular there, is hard to miss, as he's close to 7 feet tall, positions himself right under this glowing shaft of light, and is not afraid to take up a lot of room. He also has pretty tight moves and a lot of signature flourishes. I marched right up and started freestyling with him. It was fun, and also exhausting trying to keep up. We got to talking - he's a professional ballroom dance teacher and I think he said he majored in modern dance at college. He was reeeeally complimentary and asked me where I learned to dance like that. I kind of shrugged and said, oh, y'know, around. I'm always a little nervous and in awe around people who have actual dance training. I'm kind of a sponge for dance moves, but I have no formal training. Well, ok, I had no formal training before I moved here, now I suppose I've picked up stuff at classes here and there, but I've never studied. And my Nia training counts and it doesn't. Nia is more of a philosophy than a set of moves. So when he told me I have to come back because he wants to dance with someone who actually challenges him, it was kind of a rush. I tried to explain to Rob - there's really isn't a lot of "professional recognition" in my "field." As there is no Nobel Prize in dance to be won, I am more than satisfied with the compliments of random dance instructor guy. Also, he might be able to teach me some contact improv, which is tied on my wishlist with learning to break dance, but is a much more realistic goal.
This week wins!! I don't know if I can top it, really, but I will sure try.
Over and out.
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| Friday, March 13th, 2009
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4:32 pm - Matter over mind
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I taught Nia last night . . . and made negative $25. Sigh. It was bound to happen eventually, I guess, but it just feels like such a kick in the teeth. I spent a ton of hours learning the choreo, which for some reason was particularly difficult this week (I alternate weeks where I make up my own routines and weeks when I use the routines that come with my Nia cert). It felt like I was like trying to learn German . . . and then teach it a week later. Nothing was sticking in my head. In the end I put together a routine I was really happy with though - and Thursday rolled around and I only had one student, who prepaid a couple weeks ago. I've always at least broken even, so I was really unprepared for this. Ugh.
I feel pretty defeated today, but I have to say that last night at the end of class I was feeling elated. For one thing, I had a pretty good idea going in that it was going to be dead night, as I knew a bunch of my regulars were on vacation, or sick, or had told me days ago that they had conflicts; t's a much worse feeling going into Thursday morning thinking you've got half a dozen people coming and then having them cancel one by one all day long. For another thing, my one student was Rachel M, and we totally had fun. When she showed up and I said, looks like it might be a private class tonight, she was all clapping her hands and saying, YAY! So that made me happy - it would have sucked if she had been self-consious being the only one and then less likely to come in the future. Thirdly, DAMN! was that a kickass routine. When it all came together, it was really fun to do. The point being, Nia actually works, mannnnn. It makes you feel awesome, even when your money is going down the drain.
On a related note, I've been running again, and it really does make the stress melt away. I'm hitting the gym in the next 12 minutes to get my weekend started right.
Ooooh! And here's an important question: I want to get a really cheeky onesie for my friend's baby shower, but I am very picky. I don't want something that could be described as "darling." Also, they won't know the sex, so I can't get something too pretty, or too butch. What I want is something funny - but when I went on cafepress I was sorely disappointed. Everything was either about crapping, - OBvious! - making fun of relatives - LAME! - talking about how awesome the parents are - LAMER! - or saying things like, "I'm what happened in Vegas," or "Daddy just wanted a blow job." CRASS. Not cool. I feel like over the years I have seen so many awesome ones at places like Pluto (RIP) and now that I need one I can't find any. Oh also, I am totally broke (see above) which sadly rules out the majority of South End shops. Anyone have suggestions?
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| Friday, March 6th, 2009
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3:37 pm - Mr. President! You shouldn't have.
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Thanks to Obama's economic stimulus package, there were 20 extra dollars in my paycheck this week. I feel like I just went to the movies with the president and he got me a huge tub of popcorn and a soda JUST FOR ME. That is rad!
Apparently not everyone wants Obama to be their boyfriend, though. I was in a Starbucks in Brookline this morning - believe me, not my first choice, but I am on a quest to find a halfway decent breakfast sandwich in Brookline on mornings I wake up there, and have thus far been thwarted - and I overheard a bunch of old white dudes bitching and moaning about Obama. I tried to pick out an actual *complaint* but it was stuff like, "And now he's got this STIMULUS PACKAGE." Eyes roll. "Yeah, tell me about it. Stimulus package." "Well, he sure stole that election." Not a lot of intelligent political discourse there.
What a week it's been! Friday was so money. Rob came over for dinner - through blind luck I made salmon that just melted in your mouth, with some pesto pasta and endive salad on the side. We finished in just enough time to meet up with everybody to go see Tragedy! the all-metal tribute band to the Beegees. Rob, I think, was skeptical at first. I could almost hear him thinking, "I'm not that crazy about the Beegees. I am also not that crazy about metal." However, the two *combined* are sheer brilliance. Whitefire had played me enough of their songs for me to be really excited about this show - the Beegees are actually pretty amazing song writers, once you slap all the cheesiness out of them with a big metal stick. The effect is hilarious and totally rockin' at the same time. What I was not expecting was the amount of pageantry involved. The three "brothers" take the stage wearing all white with sequinned accents. The larger, long-haired brother looks a little reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne and has his shirt totally unbuttoned. The leaner brother has a thick black beard and hair in his eyes that looks completely sexy in a 1970's sort of way. Also, the two of them look like they stuck their faces down the barrell of a glitter cannon. The baby brother is on guitar and is kind of the silent partner, but he's also a tremendous showman. He chewed gum the entire time and bopped around wearing his pink "Time to fuck" t-shirt, climbed all over the drums, ran through the audience, hoppped over the back bar and banged on their gong. They had two back-up dancing ladies who were totally not fucking around. And they all managed to mostly obscure the large hairy shirtless drummer in the back. After their first song Brother #2 says, There is no need to applaud! We know you are DECIMATED!! They also referred to themselves repeatedly as The Greatest All-Metal Tribute Band to the Beegees in the Northeast Corridor! Their show is full of witty banter, ridiculous metal fables about virgins impregnated by demons, and kick-ass rock&roll. If you ever get the chance, GO SEE THEM.
After the show, Rob and I scooted on over to the Charles, and I really have to thank DJ Jimmy. We waltzed in there at 1am, I said hi to my friends, Jimmy spotted me and said, Liz! I know what you're singing and you're up next. Five minutes later he had me up there singing Lovefool. That is absolutely the closest I will ever come to being Ron Burgundy and taking the stage to play a little jazz flute.
The rest of last weekend was really chill. Had loads of time to putter around the house on Saturday, then got myself a pedicure in the South End - it's been a week and my toes still look so good I could cry. Headed over to Rob G's party which was really fun. Did a little dancing, did a lot of talking, watched some of my friends get uncharacteristically and hilariously drunk - one of whom was Whitefire, who then crashed on my couch. Midmorning we headed over to Myrtle for a brunch feast with Rachel and Rebecca - holy crap! We had quite a spread: Blueberry pancakes, omelettes with avocado, perfect home fries, sliced grapefruit, mexican coffee, pastries from Canto 6. Then Rachel saved my life by taking two hours to wrestle with itunes and burn me the disc for this week's class [My burner is DEAD. Fantastic.] The snow started falling and Whitefire and I rented Step Brothers - I cannot believe it took me this long to see it! I watched it two and a half times already.
The best thing about last weekend was having a Surprise! 3-Day weekend. Oh, snow days, how I love thee. Rob came over just in time to be snowed in which was lovely. Monday was such an awesome lazy day. Punctuated by supper club! Thanks to all of my die-hard members who braved the snow.
I am choosing to reminisce about the good times, rather than dwelling on the end of an era: The Last Karaoke Night Ever at the Milky Way, with special guests: The Nickel and Dime Band. God, what an amazing night. So many ghosts of karaoke past were in attendance. I really can't believe its actually over. It's just heartbreaking, really. I am buoyed only by the hopes that the new place will give karaoke a fair shake again, that The Nickel and Dime boys will finally get some other gigs together like they keep talking about, and maybe, just maybe, some insane lunatic will take over the lease in the old space, and maybe then we will have, gasp! TWO venues in Jamaica Plain. I don't think anything could quite compare, but I am daring the business powers that be to prove me wrong.
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| Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
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3:01 pm - Achewood Pt. 16
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I am a little sad, because I am finally up to a point where I'm reading Achewoods that came out when I started reading Achewood. [If you think about it, it makes sense.]
Anyway, the next installment is under the cut. But first I will sum up the past two weeks or so by saying it has been a period of epic highs and lows. I had one of the lowest number of students for my class - and then I had one of the highest. I gained two pounds. Then I lost two pounds. I've been to many parties, most of which were lovely, some of which spiraled unexpectedly into ridiculous drama. There have been moments where I've walked the fine line of diplomacy. And there have been nights of great victory; Ben came to town! I made us dinner, we finally got a chance to catch up, and then I took him around Boston and brought together a whole lot of familiar faces from the cast of Hair. I got to babysit Luna Merry! For all of ten minutes. But still, she climbed into my lap and demanded that I read books to her and my little heart just melted. I won the fan favorite award at the Iron Chef Jamaica Plain competition! The common ingredient was squash, so I made a squash and jalapeno risotto with fontina topped with a lake of pesto.
I had a blind date that made me want to run screaming for the exit. And then I had blind date that was, just, awesome. Things can change dramatically overnight, I've always said so.
Enough about that. ( Let the Achewood begin! )
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| Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
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4:38 pm - Top 10 Movies in 2008
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At this time of year, when everybody is running around trying to see all the Academy Award nominees, I like to make a list of movies I actually enjoyed seeing in the 2008 calendar year. To hell with official release dates and Academy prejudices!
I saw 31 movies in the theater this year. Here are my top 10 faves:
1) Juno
2) Vicky Christina Barcelona
3) Burn After Reading
4) Slumdog Millionaire
5) Tropic Thunder
6) The Dark Knight
7) Rachel Getting Married
8) Happy-Go-Lucky
9) Wall-E
10) Iron Man
( Why stop there? )
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| Friday, February 6th, 2009
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12:39 pm - Achewood Pt. 15
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It's been awhile since I've posted any Achewood. There are some gems under the cut.
But first I would like to announce that I had a whopping six people at my Nia class last night! Yay! It's not a ton of people, but it is so encouraging, and as the class grows I will be less likely spend Thursday afternoon in a blind panic as people keep calling to cancel.
Also, I am incredibly grateful for _any_ extra money I can get these days, as they just implemented phase two of our paycut and it is, well, I don't even want to think about it. I haven't seen a number that low in quite some time. Thanks, unbridled militaristic capitalism! Please, Obamsies, get us out of this mess.
In other news, I am heading out of town for a brief tour of my hometown, Jersey, and Brooklyn this weekend. If I haven't talked to you and you'll be around, hit me up!
( Here's some more Achewood for ya! )
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| Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
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4:12 pm - 25 things about me
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I spent awhile on this meme and people on facebook seem to like it so I'm reposting it here. If you're my facebook friend this is old news, but if not, enjoy! Oh, and post your own 25 random facts about yourself if you like.
1. My mom's family is 100% Italian and we are all happily a little obsessed with that; the other day my mom sent me the translation of my great great grandmother's notorized dowry from 1894.
2. My dad's family has been here for 16 generations - we fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War, I am somehow related to Daniel Boone, and my great grandfather was an egg inspector.
3. I spent my first birthday in the hospital because I was diagnosed with leukemia while we were on vacation. When we got back, my regular doctor said I was 100% ok. The second diagnosis happened on my patron saint's day, so my mother is convinced it was a miracle.
4. Most people know me as Liz, but if you are my parents, a younger relative, or if you met me at karaoke, or if you live in the vicinity of Philadelphia, you know me as Eby. That's because when I was all speaking in the third person back in '81, Elizabeth was too hard, so I named myself Eby and it stuck.
5. Apparently, also in 1981, I threw a complete temper tantrum one day and my mother, being my mother, said, "Elizabeth, why are you crying?" And I sat up and said, "Well, when you say no, it makes me sad. So I cry, to make you feel sad, too."
6. Despite all of that remarkable self-knowledge, I was a real brat as a kid. There are home videos that I would love to suppress. Also, my baby sister drove me crazy, and I used to swing her around by the diaper and call her "You bad bad baby!" And then once I was chasing her around the house with a ladle and she ran into a table and had to get stitches. I was a jerk. To be fair, my grandfather accidentally threw an axe into his brother's head when they were trying to knock something out of a tree, but a ladle is to the 1980's what an axe is to the 1930's, given the evolution of child protection laws.
7. I stealthily sucked my thumb until I was eight years old when I forced myself to go cold turkey. In the early years, I had a very involved system of thumb sucking involving numbers, hand positions, and my blanky. So I have been OCD since before I was literate.
8. I learned to read when I was 3 because my mom is a Montessori teacher and labeled everything in the house. I remember spelling "Wappingers Falls" (my hometown) correctly for my parents when I was about 3, and there was much rejoicing.
9. In kindergarten since I was the only kid who knew how to read, I had to be the narrator of our Thanksgiving play and the ringmistress of our graduation circus. I desperately wanted to be an Indian and a Unicorn, respectively, and it gave me a terrible case of preschool angst.
10. Despite the fact that I'm, y'know, BRILLIANT, I actually have a surprisingly low IQ. I don't know the actual number, but my third grade teacher didn't like me and told my mom that the kid in the class who was doing the worst actually had a higher IQ than mine, and the other kids were going to outstrip me any day. I graduated valedictorian of 8th grade as a big Fuck You to her.
11. I tend to tense and loosen my muscles in patterns. This is imperceptable to people around me, and sometimes I forget that I'm doing it, but I do it. Weird, huh? I may be a freak, but I am also very strong. The first time I can remember doing it was when I was three during a thunder storm to calm myself down. The first time I could remember being 100% tic free while I was wide awake was when I was on percaset. I don't tic when I'm lying in bed, but I also fall asleep within 15 seconds of laying down, so I kind of wonder if this is my body's way of staying awake.
12. I have a serious aversion to terrycloth. I am also terrified of mice - this is a *rational* fear, as my first winter in Boston they ate every single pair of my underwear. I hope I don't have to draw you a picture, here. My worst fear would be being chased by an army of mice through a tunnel lined in terrycloth. Someone call the makers of Saw.
13. I started reading poetry in 1992 to impress a boy. Little did I know that would eventually lead to a five year stint in the Dodge Poetry Program where I was eventually promoted to Poetry-in-the-Schools Coordinator. In all my time working there, there were only two poets who I felt like a blithering fangirl idiot around: Sharon Olds and Tony Hoagland.
14. I developed my current handwriting to intimidate a boy. I was ghostwriting a break-up letter to my friend's boyfriend, and I thought my stupid baby handwriting sucked, so I sharpened it up, and since then it's hardly changed at all. Years later I read a graphoanalysis book which posits that you can actually modify your personality this way, and in retrospect I actually believe that was true for me.
15. For awhile I was writing a ghostwriting blog - and I actually have resolved to write my first new entry in 10 months by the end of this week! Ok, now that I've said it I really have to do it. www.livejournal.com/users/love_hatemail.
16. I have biked across Iowa four times. I don't plan to do the whole ride again because I value the ability to sit too much.
17. I have been to five proms in my life. I am close friends with nearly all of my significant exes. And in one year in my early twenties I dated a guy who was twice the age of another guy I dated.
18. At times in my life I have aspired to be a ballerina, a whale trainer, the owner of a daycare center, a river rafting guide, a magazine publisher, a poet and a yoga instructor. At the moment I hope to one day open a dance studio and finish my memoir.
19. I've done some art modeling, mainly for art students and recently for the Footlight Club brochure. All very tasteful, although my best friend from high school has some illegal pictures lying around of 16 year old me.
20. The things that I'm best known for right now are things I've only been doing for the past few years. Karaoke 2004, Nia 2006, Acting 2007. Outside of a high school walk-on role, the first play I was ever in was Sleeping Beauty or Coma in June 2007. Since then I've done eight plays in a row.
21. I don't read the paper. I used to get my news from Comedy Central, but we don't have cable anymore so I don't even do that. I get my news from blogs and from splashy Newsweek cover stories.
22. The first time I sang with a live band was in Mexico when I got pulled onstage by the lead singer. That was six years ago, and I'm still penpals with the guy. The last time I was in Mexico he gave us the grand tour.
23. I have lived in London, and traveled quite a few times to Europe. My family keeps an apartment in Northern Italy that my great-grandfather was born in. I have been as far north as Nova Scotia with my parents; as far south as the Yucatan, once with my sister and once with Phil; as far east as Prague to visit Matty; and as far west as CA/OR/WA, where I've been a bunch of times, most recently this winter to San Francisco to see my cousins and friends.
24. I have thrown a party once a month for almost my entire adult life. Also, since I graduated college, I have kept a list of people I'm friends with that I update frequently. It's invaluable in building my empire! At last count, there are 89 people in Jamaica Plain alone who I would consider my friends (as in, we may not be besties, but I know who you are and I'm at least happy to see you). I also take polaroids at every party, and my polaroids have become one of my most prized collections.
25. I am about to go home for supper club, which is a weekly potluck dinner institution that I absolutely love. There will be 10 people sitting around the table a couple of hours from now, and thinking of the menu is making me so hungry I can hardly see straight: chicken scallopini, baked ziti, kahlua mousse, parsnip and celery root puree, shrimp scampi, baked sweet potatoes and beets with goat cheese, a peanutty Thai dish, and copious amounts of wine. Afterwards, we will be moving the party to the Milky Way, where I've been a regular every karaoke Tuesday since Feb. 2006.
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| Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
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12:49 pm - Making things meme
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The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
my choice. for you. this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- what I create will be just for you.
- it'll be done this year. no guarantees when, it will be a total surprise!
- you have no clue what it's going to be. it may be poetry. I may draw or paint something (though I hope not, for your sake). I may make you a compilation cd, I may carve a monument out of granite, who know's? not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
- Why don't you go ahead and tell me when your birthday is. I am a big fan of birthdays. And deadlines.
the catch? oh, the catch is that you have to repost this, and repost right away. we can all make stuff and make someone's day a little bit brighter!
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