I think it's absolutely fitting and representative of this year that I showed up for the last day of work in 2008, still drunk as #!*#...and just now beginning to feel the evil fingers of Herr Hangover poking at what's left of my brain.
Anyway, my roommate and I have been "playing" the best and worst of 2008 game so here are mine:
Best:
April - South Carolina. The entire trip...including the 13 hour car journey down from NYC. Highlight was barbecuing on the back porch (bacon-wrapped shrimp, oh yes), and then settling down on the wicker chair with a sweating glass of g&t and my book...the humidity a dense but not uncomfortable presence...frogs croaking...deer rustling through the brush...the palmetto fronds waving lusciously in the dusk.....heaven.
Worst:
July - Flying back from California, with a stop in Cincinnati...only to have a tornado touch down (yes, an actual tornado) mere minutes after I landed. Everyone in the airport was ushered to the tornado tunnels (!!?) for an hour. Was crying...couldn't help it...but was comforted by a very nice and very cute guy who happened to be from olympia, where I was born. Naturally, he was engaged. After emerging from the tunnels, found out all flights to NY were canceled until late the next day. I had to work the next day. The airlines offered me a flight to Boston. Hell, I like Boston, so I took it. Got in around 4am, crashed at my friend's place, then took a train to NY early the next morning. The next day, showed up at work.....and was laid off.
What are your bests and worsts?
Happy 2009!! Hope you all have someone to smooch at the witching hour ; )
AAAAAHAHHAHAH I really don't even need new dishes but I simply have to get these. Asian yellow!! Target marketing, what the hell were you thinking??
Check out these awesome comments from the Target site:
"please include this as a package deal with rice and cat. or an extra bonus gift of msg!!!!!"
"the subtle patterns on the dinnerware are beautiful. reminds me of my days in saigon with its lush rice fields. just before my neighbors and i were treated to that 20th century revolutionary product of napalm in all its glory. i can smell the burnt flesh mingling with rice fields aflame. makes me hungry"
This is a non-fiction account of WWII seen through the eyes of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, Polish zookeepers. During Germany's invasion of Poland, this remarkable couple managed to hide hundreds of Jews from the Nazis in the empty cages and facilities of their zoo. Their complex subsequently became known as "The House under a Crazy Star" due to the ever-shifting panoply of humans and animals.
I thought this book was fiction when I first picked it up. Keep in mind, I rarely, if ever,...moreThis is a non-fiction account of WWII seen through the eyes of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, Polish zookeepers. During Germany's invasion of Poland, this remarkable couple managed to hide hundreds of Jews from the Nazis in the empty cages and facilities of their zoo. Their complex subsequently became known as "The House under a Crazy Star" due to the ever-shifting panoply of humans and animals.
I thought this book was fiction when I first picked it up. Keep in mind, I rarely, if ever, read non-fiction. Don't ask why...I'm weird about it. When I discovered this book was non-fiction, I was about to throw it down in disgust. But I kept on reading and I'm very glad I did. This was a truly lovely story. I know, WWII, Nazis, concentration camps...how can all that be lovely? Diane Ackerman was able to instill a sense of beauty and calm in her descriptions of war-life, drawing on humorous anecdotes about the myriad zoo animals and tying their animal behavior so neatly to human experience. She was able to basically embody Antonina, bringing her to life as the foreman of the zoo, shepherding both humans and animals alike to safety. She and her husband Jan were truly remarkable people. Embodying a fierce spirit and a good will toward people in need. Yes, they shuddered at the danger they were bringing unto themselves and their children but not for a second did they consider abandoning those that needed them most. Wonderful.
This has got to be my new favorite site. Below is a recent post:
I emailed my mom some pictures from my first snowboarding trip and told her about how my butt was sore from falling down so much the first day. Her reply:
Sooo…cute but i wonder about those poles are they got sore from all those hit from your butt….haa…haa
I actually threw my head back, I was laughing so hard. Oh asian mothers, we love you for your inability to communicate and your incessant worries about whether your asian friend's kids are smarter than we are.
I've been to an absurd amount of shows in the last month. And the best part of it is (though not surprising) they all pretty much knocked my socks off. I don't actually wear socks that often but if I did, they'd be lying in smithereens around my ankles.
I saw them at this great venue, 92YTribeca. It's part cafe, part art gallery, part music venue and part club. ETE is purely instrumental...two guys...one guy on electric guitar (with about a grillion pedals) and the other on drums. Great, smooth sound...more uptempo than Explosions in the Sky but not as funky as Ratatat. Thanks in part to the loop pedal, these two dudes provide remarkably rich melodies with danceable beats. Personal favs: My Only Swerving, I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They Are Cool
So this guy (Chris Parker) is actually a good friend of my chum, Manda the Panda, who's in the Eskalators. I saw him and his band play at the Glasslands Gallery in BK. The venue is cool...funky decor, cute bartender and I enjoyed slapping the free peanuts out of my roommate's hands. (seriously people, don't eat bar nuts, that's just foul.) Anyway, back to Arliss Parker. Manda played me some of his stuff and I was hooked. Like El Ten Eleven, it's purely instrumental. Smooth, dreamy and downtempo, Parker utilizes the guitar, synth, glockenspiel (nice!) Big, big fan and I hope he goes far. Personal favs: Taken to Antrim, Oh My
This was my first Guggenheim experience and my first First Friday experience. Definitely a good time but probably not something I'd repeat anytime soon. I mean a) it's pricy and b) the crowd was a little....weird. They were all dressed to the nines and about 10-15 years older than us. And while people were dancing, it was really only a small contingent by the dj booth. I was expecting everyone to get down, PS1-style. (maybe they should have turned off the lights..?) The music in the beginning was great, but then toward the end of the night, they started playing top 40 bs. WHY?? Dj ayres even admitted to it in this blog post but didn't give a reason why. But anyway, besides that, the Gugg is a fantastic place to have a dance party...maybe we went on a sorta off-night.
So this was an impulse decision on my part. These two Swedes played at the Mercury Lounge last week and I am so glad I went. To be honest, the stuff on their albums is kinda...boring. As my buddy Eugene so tastefully put it, they're just plain, acoustic, "vagina-music." Fine. But their stage presence is what really blew me away. They roped in the audience with their wit, charm and broken English. Erik Mattiason (Melpo Mene) didn't even have a backing band...the poor guy used his ipod but he charmed us all with his shy-guy act, the string of xmas lights he wrapped around the mike, and his lovely acoustic rendition of MGMT's "Kids." Emil Svanängen (Loney, Dear) is heartbreakingly guileless. He loves to play his music and he loves for his audience to sing along, to clap, to smile. A couple times I was actually moved to tears.
Tonight, School of Seven Bells is playing Mercury Lounge and I'm debating attending that. Their album, Alpinism, is hands-down awesome. (Personal favs: Conjurr, Half Asleep) Check out the promo video from their label, Ghostly International.
1. Successfully wash my hair 2. Put my headphones on 3. Turn. At all. 4. Flag a cab 5. Laugh 6. Acknowledge the cute guy to my left 7. Lie down without making pained, strangled sounds 8. Acknowledge the cute guy to my right 9. Feed my cats (definitely no good repercussions from this one) 10. Dance like a fool
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