Agoraphobia

Pain Scale

2012-02-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

So, darn it all! My aforementioned plantar fasciitis has gotten really bad. I went to the orthopedist today and got some bad news. My feet are basically going to need to be removed at the ankle. It's fine. I'll be double pegged, and I will henceforth speak in Pirate. We looked at xrays of my feet, and it was as if... a demented lunatic could not have created a more bizarre picture of what human feet could look like. My orthopedist actually shouted things out like, "Oh My God! This is terrible!" and "Look at that one!" Even my untrained eye could tell these were some seriously jacked up feet. In fact, just now, I googled "jacked up foot xray" and none of them look as bad as mine. On the internet, ye lads and lassies! On. The. Internet.

Which brings me to the pain scale. My doctor had one of these hanging in his office:

Whereby I am, obviously, a 10.

However, as everyone knows, that is an inadequate pain scale, and the most accurate one was created by the Brilliant Allie Brosh at Hyperbole and a Half:

(It's really best to read her descriptions.) In her (more accurate) scale, I am clearly an 11. I tried to explain my level of pain to loving husband after a routine day at work with as little walking as I could get away with. It was as if I walked 10 miles on my left foot and 20 miles on my right foot while carrying a 100 pound sack, and every half mile a Nazi in uniform beat the bottoms of my feet with a switch.

Coffee

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

What is the best method of coffee preparation?
A. Italian stovetop cafetiere
B. French Press
C. Pour over coffee

I've been drinking pour-over at work because I'd finally had it with the swill they serve in the cafe. It's quite good, but I'm not sure it's as good as my cafetiere. Although, coffee out of the cafetiere is served in the comfort of home and hearth, where everything tastes better, while the pour-over is "enjoyed" at my desk at work, where everything tastes like misery. We first had pour-over in Seattle (natch) at what I believe the locals call "Fake-bucks". It's a Starbucks in disguise that looks all fancy and stuff. When you order a coffee, they start the pour-over and you have to stand around for several minutes (apparently a three-minute pour is perfect), which is all very fine and good when you're on vacation in Seattle in the afternoon, but what if it's morning and you are standing in a line full of asshats ordering pour-over coffee? Sometimes at work I try to spend three minutes pouring out the water, but that's mostly impossible. Amazon actually sells a pot which will slowly pour your water which sells for $50! It's an effing watering can.

$50

Stay tuned for my thoughts on poached eggs.

Uhm, you guys?

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

Uhm, you guys? Did everyone watch my movie yesterday? I think it should get an Oscar nomination, but EVERY year, the academy IGNORES me. It's a hard life I lead. For example, we are deep in a Chicago winter, with approximately 14 months of winter yet to go. I have little to do but lay around on the couch complaining about my damn plantar fasciitis^* and watching videos on Youtube about the latest in fingernail decorative techniques (if you've been living under a rock, the answer is the Ombre Manicure).

^*It's when your bananas are fascists.

A Heart-Warming Holiday Movie for the Whole Family!

2012-01-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

I finally got my movie from Christmas-time in Indiana put together - we had such a good time, and, I think you'll agree, I have the most charming nephews you ever laid eyes on.

Oh, for context, nephew #1 is pretending to be Cobra Cat and "Thriller" Cat.

It's probably better in full-screen (my first HD camera on my new video camera - present from perfect husband, M!).

Movies

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some movies I've seen in the last month or so:

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Oh, Tom Cruise! Awesome movie - to me, it brought back the fun of the first Mission Impossible movie, which is one of my favorites. Idiotic plot that doesn't make any sense, but, who cares?

Young Adult
Depressing as hell, but cool concept. YA writer of the Gossip Girl variety, the mean girl in question is stuck in a high school mindset. Lot to think about - probably best as a rental.

Hugo 3D
Beautiful film - I liked the bits re: silent movies the best. A real film-lover's movie, no matter how old you are.

Underworld: Awakening
Rotten Tomato critical reviews: 27%; audience reviews: 80% positive. Oh, snap! I also went with popular appeal - except I wish the younger girl would have been a serious ass-kicker like Summer in Serenity. Has anyone ever noticed Kate Beckinsale sounds just like Julie Andrews? I wonder if she can sing?

Baby Momma
Why Tina Fey? Why! 80's-style comedy about "career woman" (we're just called women these days) who put her job before husband and family! Now look what happened, you stupid bitch! You don't have no baby!

Temple Grandin
Totally worth seeing, I'd recommend this movie to just about anyone. Makes you think about cows in a whole new way. Brilliant line: "You think we'd have cattle if people didn't eat 'em everyday? They'd just be funny-lookin' animals in zoos. But we raise them for us. That means we owe them some respect. Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be. I would'nt want to have my guts ripped out by a lion, I'd much rather die in a slaughterhouse if it was done right."

Crazy, Stupid Love
Like everyone else in America, I cannot get enough of Ryan Gosling! He is amazing (to look at) in this movie, and Steve Carrell is so funny. Stupid plot twist at end doesn't even ruin it.

Beginners
Beautiful film starring Ewan McGregor and absolutely perfect Christopher Plummer. Reminded me a lot of A Single Man, but mostly because of gorgeous LA architecture.

Whatcha cookin', good lookin'?

2012-01-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

My mom made us gals these adorable aprons for xmas - they're reversible and everything! Aren't they the cutest things you ever saw? I LOVE aprons, so I was pretty happy to have a special one made by my mom (and knowing that I have some twinsies around as well!)

My mom: the original crafter!

Dirty Harry

2012-01-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

We watched Dirty Harry a few nights ago - I'd never seen it before - it's quite good!

But, check this out...

I'm just sayin'...

Oh, this scene right here was awesome.

I've actually seen a ton of movies lately that I haven't had time to blog about. I'll try to do a quick and dirty recap soon (for my legions of fans!)

Pillow Spree

2012-01-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

I have been on a pillow spree lately! I recently learned that it's not too difficult to put a zipper in a pillow - in fact, I would say that it's actually easier to put a zipper in a pillow than NOT to, and it looks better as well - so... zippers in pillows, all the time, yo.

balls on the inside

I bought this vintage tablecloth at my local shop and have been putting it to good use for years. You may recognize it from the curtains in my kitchen. I've been wanting to make a pillow as well and finally it all came together when I was admiring my trim hoard.

It was quite easy to make - I just free-handed the trim around, then pinned it down and then sewed it down, then trimmed off the extra fabric, cut a coordinating fabric and sewed that on, right sides together, balls stuffed inside, and... voila! Bob's your uncle.

Then I made another pillow so that one wasn't lonely and because I was on a ROLL that could not be stopped after merely one stunningly fabulous, Grandma Chic pillow creation. This one I made out of some cute orange fabric I've had laying around with some adorable blue stripes on the reverse. Plus a little yellow rick rack from that aforementioned Hoard o' Trim.

The front

I only wish I had finished this when my sister and my nephew were in town because I think he would have liked those turquoise pom poms. He did something very funny with my lavender eye pillow which was to first try to throw it like a bean bag and then, after being admonished that it was not a "play toy" and meant for "meditative relaxation" (I remain, by the way, a favorite aunt, even after that conversation). Then he enjoyed running into our room, leaping and bouncing on the bed, and then throwing himself down and shouting, "Look at me, Auntie!" Whereupon he would grab my eye pillow, slam in it on his eyes and pretend (N.B.) to relax. For about 10 seconds.

The back... or the front?

So happy together!

Those are not even ALL the pillows I have made recently! Stay tuned for more... pillows! And more zippers. And, possibly more stories about my adorable nephews.

Fascinating New Years

2012-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of me and M at New Years - we had a little party at my parent's house. Before the party, the gals made fascinators - they were really fab, but I didn't get many pictures, as usual. Alas, in this picture, my fascinator kind of blends into the tree, although my fascinator was called Winter Wonderland, so, maybe that's good?

Skins (some spoilers)

2012-01-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Has anyone seen that British TV show, Skins? It. Is. So. Fantastic. Season 1 and 2 were my favorite - I really liked that cast. I love love love Tony (the actor is that kid who played that kid in that movie with Hugh Grant, knowwhaimsayin'?) and I really liked Maxxie, and I liked all the girls. And when Tony got hit by that bus, I was like, NO WAY!


first cast

Then, when season two started and there was a whole new cast, I was like, WHAAAAAAA? No! and I thought I would never like the new people. But, then, it turns out, I really love all those characters too. Especially Effy and Pandora and Cook and Freddie. And Thomas. And then when they all went camping and got high and Effy clocked whatshername over the head and left in her in the woods for dead, I was like, NO WAY! And then, when Effy and Cook go on the run I was like OH MAN WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT? and meanwhile, I really wished they would give us some clue about what had happened the previous cast, but, it's like, too bad, you're not going to find out. I got one of those weird, pervy, old-lady crushes on Freddie.


2nd cast

Then, at the end of Season 4... do you know what happened? Imma drop a big spoiler, so stop reading if you're going to watch this series, which you really should, but I REALLY want to talk with someone about this so I hope a loyal fan reads this. So (OK, here's the spoiler): Freddie gets killed? oh. my. gawd. How could that have happened? Then, Cook goes to the guy's house and it's like, OMG, GET OUT OF THERE, COOKIE! But, he stays and has what I would call like, one of the best moments in televised history? Personally, I think Cook defeated that guy. I mean, he's Cook, he's strong, a loose cannon, and he just found out his friend got murdered? Dang, man, but the end of that series came rough. Even M, who happened to watch that episode with me, wanted to watch "the first five minutes" of the next one, to find out what happened. "They're gone," I said, "We'll probably never find out."

kinda lame

Then, I was crushed for a while. And I didn't even think I could WATCH season 5. But, I reminded myself how I never thought I would enjoy the second group of people, but I totally loved them, so I would probably love the 3rd bunch too. But, it turns out I didn't enjoy that cast as much. I thought the whole bit with the Mean Girls was dumb, and I didn't like Alo or Rich or any of the girls except Franky. Also, it didn't have any of the sort of extreme teenager-craziness of the previous story-lines. No major drama that made me shout and feel weird and pervy. Did really love that song at the end of season 5, though...

pixel portraits

2012-01-05T04:33:00.000-08:00

I saw this article in Martha about how to make little cross stitch portraits - if only they'd published it in like, July, I could have made them for everyone I knew! As it was, I couldn't make nearly as many as I'd've liked to, because they're just BEYOND cute and I think everyone really liked them. Here are some...

D, C & D

M & R

G&G (with cats)

Millenry

2012-01-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

My friend M showed me some fabulous hats by an old friend of hers. They inspired me to "make" some of my own hats. Actually, this gal creates her own hats start to finish, but I bought some plain wool hats and embellished them myself. I made this one for my friend, J.


cute, right?

I was quite pleased with the results. A small tragedy is that I made one for my sister and forgot to take a picture. Also, my mom made a Winter Wonderland on a red wool cloche that's pretty incredible (also undocumented). What I really like about this designer is that she really goes for it, where I'm much more inclined to scale back. So, she kind of inspired me to go for it a little more than I might normally.

PS, here's how I learned to make those fabric flowers.

When all through the house...

2012-01-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we are return'ed from a long trip to Indiana where we just plumb exhausted ourselves with visiting and whatnot. It was a great trip but we are always happy to come back out our little cottage and our little darling, Kaya (in great shape, due to being with friends next door!)

I did some mad crafting in advance of Christmas, which I'll share with you over the next few days - the first was this little antique bed that needed a mattress and bedding. I was so pleased with the results I wanted to take a tiny nap in it myself!

Before

Adorable detail

After!

Reversible blanket

We demand ... a Shrubbery!

2011-12-13T20:23:00.000-08:00

So, recently I had a delicious drink that had a "shrub" in it. What is a shrub? you ask. Well, it's very simple. It's a couple cups of apple cider vinegar, which has some fruit in it, you do some stuff, and two days later, you put it in a drink with some booze and some sparkling water, or, just sparkling water, if you're some kind of prude or something (j/k) and then, Oh My.

I made a raspberry shrub and mixed it with some whiskey. It's very refreshing. If you like vinegar even a tiny bit, I think you're going to go completely bonkers over this.

Here's a treat

Some would even say it glows

2011-12-11T19:51:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics of our Pink Christmas Tree* - it's FAB-u-lous!

It's hard to capture the color just right - it is really quite... something... to behold.

KTM said I should get a Barbie ornament, which, I already happen to have! A Barbie Shoe Tree on my pink Barbie Tree? Yes, please!

My mom had a great tradition of getting me and my brother and sister an ornament each year and writing our name and the year on it, when we left home she gave us our ornaments. So I have a lot and some are (ahem) rather old. M & I continue the tradition - these are our ornaments for this year. I got him a cat because this year we were consumed with poor Kaya who was ill and thank goodness recovered, and he got me an Eiffel Tower because I love Paris. Awwww... We actually have so many ornaments we decided we'll just get one ornament for the family in the future. Those snowflakes you see are wooden die-cut ornaments from my friend MZ. They look perfect in pink.

My mom actually puts up THREE trees in her house which some may consider overboard, but... isn't that just about right? I'm thinking about putting our green one in our bedroom, but so far have been too lazy.

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie rosasind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein, auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie rosa sind deine Blätter!

*NOT part of the war on xmas...

Just paint it

2011-12-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

I've been so in love with this great furniture redesigns that folks are doing lately (there are some good examples on one of my pinterest boards). On this blog I'm addicted to, Better After? They have a lot of before-and-afters of this nasty furniture that somehow looks amazing after you just flat-out paint it a cool color. Although, sometimes Better After drives me nuts because some people have a tendency to paint shit white and it's really boring. And I get mad and say they should rename the blog justpaintitwhite.com.

Anyway, it makes every trip to the Salvation Army an exercise in creative thinking, and I wish I had a big truck and a giant garage and also one of those nifty spray gun things so you can spray paint ANYTHING. And, then, oh, man. The stuff I would paint.

So, I was on the lookout for a little dresser with nice lines and I found one fairly quickly. Bought this for $15 and painted it with left-over blue paint from our living room.

It looked pretty terrible before but I knew it would look really cute because it has some nice design and details. Originally I thought I would get new handles, but the more I looked at the old ones the more I liked them.

cute, right?

2011-12-04T15:59:00.001-08:00

I redecorated the bedroom this year - took me ages to find the duvet cover and drapes that I wanted, but now that it's finally done I think it looks pretty fab. Here it is before...


before

It wasn't so bad, but it was kind of boring. I was going for like Exotic Elegance, but it never quite landed. I think I needed to go way overboard to get that.

Here's After - I was going for French Chateau...

After!

I really love the duvet cover - it's from Pottery Barn and supposedly based on "A 250-year-old hand-blocked textile from Provence". I got the pile of pillows from Pier One, and that bedside table on the right I found at a Salvo for $15 - it looked really crappy but now I think it looks really adorable. The paint is "Revere Pewter" by Benjamin Moore. It's just a nice, cool grey.

I LOVE the drapes - they're gold and old fashioned, but, whatevs, that's how I roll, yo. They're pintucked and have a really nice shimmer and the valence has a gorgeous trim.

So, that is mostly it. I still need to have framed this little print we bought in Paris last year but, for the most part, I have my Dream Bedroom. Next up: Dream Bathroom. (:

piggies

2011-11-29T20:39:00.001-08:00

Going back to work after a 4 day weekend was kind of the pits. Sitting at my desk, I feel like the energy is being sucked out of my body by my eyes. And I haven't even blogged about all the fun stuff we did!

Thanksgiving day was great - we were with friends and had a really terrific vegetarian meal of all "sides". Then we essentially didn't eat for two days after, we were so full.

M & I saw The Muppet movie - that was really great. I thought it was really funny and totally in the spirit of the "old" movies, of which I was and am a big fan. Great songs that I kind of want to memorize and sing in the shower. Very funny song by Gonzo's chicken ladies clucking "F*ck you" (or is that Cl*ck You? GET IT?!?) Miss Piggy: funnier than ever. Jason Segal, good sir, I thank you.

I have been reading a lot, but mostly so I can concentrate on Eugenides The Marriage Plot, which I haven't had a moment to crack yet. This weekend....

We remodeled out bedroom and I'm going to post pictures VERY soon, but I ordered a new rug and I'm waiting for that to come in. OMG, it's so pretty.

In other slightly bizarre news, marijuana appears to have been decriminalized in our little hamlet. Not sure what that means - will it be like Amsterdam?

Spring Awakening

2011-11-27T20:25:00.001-08:00

Today I saw the first preview of Spring Awakening by the Griffin Theatre - if you're in Chicago, I encourage you buy your tickets now, I have a feeling it's going to be BIG! It's based on a German play from the 1890s, but recreated as a musical by that dude from Duncan Sheik (surely his name is not Duncan Sheik, right? Too lazy to look it up...) who did that song, Barely Breathing back in the 90s? Which I am not ashamed to admit that I love and have in heavy rotation on ye ol ipad.

Anywho, even though it was written in the 1890s, it's amazingly topical (sadly topical) and deals with teenage sexuality, sex education (or lack thereof) and some other heavy stuff which I won't mention for fear of spoilers. Check out the wikipedia article on the play if you want more background. One of the characters wants to know where babies come from and can't get her mom to tell her - another boy gets in serious trouble at school for writing out some details on reproductive systems for his friends. It made me sad and angry to think of all those ridiculous schools in the US which are trying to decrease sex ed and give out erroneous and dangerous information, over 100 years after this play was written. Gah.

I guess this is the play that Lea Michelle from Glee started her career with. I thought this Chicago cast was terrific (including my friend L.L.!) My only complaint might be that the stage seemed a bit small for this show, but, it was really intimate, which was nice.

image via

Breaking Dawn movie review

2011-11-19T17:39:00.001-08:00

I saw Breaking Dawn (part 1) with a couple of girl friends. "Ladies," I said before the movie, "We need to get drunk." I was expecting a big crowd but our opening-night theatre wasn't even full. We sat next to a woman with a gaggle of tweens. She was amused by neither her daughter and her friends, nor me and my half-drunk friends. Poor woman.

After previews for the new Mission Impossible movie, followed by that Snow White movie (the Charlize Theron, not the crappy-looking Julia Roberts one), and the Hunger Games we were pretty excited. I'm not kidding you, that Hunger Games trailer is THRILLING. Then, Breaking Dawn started, and, I have to hand it them, presumably without irony Jacob tears off his shirt in the first ten seconds. We all laughed. We laughed through most of the movie which is, yes, completely ridiculous. If you ask me, there are two reasons to watch this movie (spoilers coming): 1. Bella and Edward finally have sex (after getting married, natch) and 2. Bella gives birth to a vampire baby. I think they could have gone a LOT further with both, but, it was fun to watch on the big screen.

Me and my pals spent a lot of time talking about what an effed up person Stephanie Meyers is - in this book, her character fulfills this bizarre lady-child fantasy - to marry a guy who looks like he's 18 but is emotionally mature (sort of); to look 18 yourself for ETERNITY; to have a baby but pregnancy only lasts 1 month; instead of gaining weight, you loose it to the point of dangerous emaciation; and, after you have the baby (another spoiler) you don't even have to raise it because it rapidly grows to (you guessed it) an emotionally mature 18 years old in the space of a couple months.

Dan Kois wrote a hilarious review of Breaking Dawn in the Village Voice. Although, even though he just eviserates the movie, he also acknowledges that he actually TEARED UP during the wedding scene when one of the corniest exchanges of the entire movie takes place. Bella says, "Don't let me fall." and her dad says, "Never." Really?

Other ridiculous lines from the movie include, but are not limited to:

You'll kill her!

"You'll kill her!" shouted by Jacob re: honeymoon sex between vampire and human, wherein Edward might presumably loose control in mutual virginity-loosing with his soul mate and kill her for some reason. Instead he just completely destroys their marital bed and gives her a few bruises.

"It's destroying you from the inside!" Warns Edward to Bella re: rapidly growing fetus.

"If you kill her, you kill me!" Jacob again, after being "imprinted" on their baby. My friends, who haven't actually read any of the books but are just good sports, each turned to me in the theatre: "What's imprinting!!?!?!" But, it's too idiotic to explain.

See: Angel, season 1

Maybe this comes from watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer for all those years, but to me, the silliest thing about this franchise is how the vampires, particularly Edward, dress. There's a line in one of the books that goes something like, "There's nothing more beautiful than Edward in his khakis." (Again, I point to the bizarreness of Stephanie Meyers) and for some strange reason, each movie has been going with this whole Vampire-As-Lands-End-Model thing. In a honeymoon scene, he's even wearing Sperry Topsiders, for chrissake! Look, I mean, vampires wear leather and distressed designer denim. Everyone knows that.


Sperrys

But, back to that teary-eyed reviewer from the Village Voice... despite this clumsily told story, Meyers did manage to stumble upon some universal truths that many of us find appealing/touching, despite ourselves. After the movie, my friend said sometimes pregnancy does feel like that - that you're being overwhelmed by an alien being inside you. Would I like to be 18 forever, beautiful and thin, with perfect skin and hair, for eternity, with nothing to do but watch my stock portfolio increase over the centuries and hang out with my husband in his Sperry Topsiders? Sure I would.

Why would they bite there?

2011-11-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted about a vampire-bite necklace - and now look at this!

Actually, this seller is kind of creeping me out.

the hair isn't quite right

2011-11-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

His hair is a lot spiker than that... but... otherwise...

$22????

What?! Why?

O.M.G.

2011-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Will. You. Look. At. This?

AHHHH! HAHAHA!

via

Ouch

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

haha - this necklace is hilarious.

Why am I covered in feathers?

2011-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

This crafter made a couple of quilts inspired by Edward and Bella's honeymoon to "Esme Island" - an island owned by the Cullens where they can sparkle all they want to and knock their houses down while they're knocking boots *groan*

Actually, the feather quilt looks quite nicely made, so.... I hate to make fun...

One of these days, Alice...

2011-11-13T18:49:00.001-08:00

Jupiter & moons, nasa.gov

I got M a Galileoscope kit for his bday and we just went out in the garden and had a little look around the universe. We saw a nice view of the Moon, Jupiter, and a cluster of stars that I think was Alcyone.

Jupiter was really cool because we saw her moons too - we couldn't see them with our naked eyes, but there they were in the telescope! This gift, I must admit, is partly for me too because I always wanted to have a telescope myself.

BTW, if you have a smart fone, you MUST get Google Sky. It's the best app in the entire world.

I can't wait for the Earth to keep spinning so we can see more stuff. (:

w00t PaWn: Rage

2011-11-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

A few days ago M asked me why I hadn't reviewed his video game and I said, "Because you haven't been playing anything new." and he said he'd be playing this brand new game for several days, with something akin to outrage. And I was all... Looks like the same ol' crap to me, yo. But, apparently, it's this new game called Rage.

If you ask me, it's completely derivative of all the other video games he's been playing lately, it has some FPS* and some driving bits. I've asked M several times what the story's all about but he's never been able to tell me. Occasionally some people will talk - I think Danny Devito does one of the voices.

One day we were walking by a Red Box and I was like, Hey, your game is a movie, too. But I guess they have games in those Red Boxes.

this could be anything.

I don't really have that much to say about this game because it's total snores-ville, but M seems to like it. It has given me multiple opportunities to whip out some Dylan Thomas, so there's that.

Rating: Unbearable and indistinguishable.

*First-person shooter. OMG, so, it turns out, there's also a third-person shooter style, in which the "camera" view is just over the shoulder. M was playing Warhamer 40-something and it's in that style. I quite liked it because frankly I think it's very confusing when it's first person and your guy gets killed or whatever and you're like, WTF just happened? Nahmean?

You guys are gunna like this

2011-11-09T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm really exccited because I have another crrrrrap I mean crrrrrraftastic Twilight special coming up for the next Twilight movie! I'm planning on organizing the grrrrrrls to see this movie
and still trying to decide what my tshirt should say (any ideas?) The crrrrafts will
probably start the Friday or Monday. Stay posted!

Whaaaaaat???? I can't wait!

M's bday

2011-11-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

For M's birthday I rented a limousine and went out to one of his favorite tiki bars with some of our best pals. Here we are enjoying the ride...

The girls.

He's how old?

O. had a special shirt made that said "NOT 40".


He's the best!

Ayer

2011-10-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a great day down in Pilsen - we went with some friends to the National Museum of Mexican Art for the annual Dia de los Muertos exhibit, which I try to go to every year. Before, we met for tres leches cake and coffee at Kristoffer's Cafe, which was ridic delicious, then afterward we went to this awesome bar, Simone's, which is designed with old pinball machines? Gorgeous. THEN, we went to Mundial for dinner, which, I swear to you, is now my favorite restaurant in The City. Phenomenal service, an amazing menu - excellent selection of vegetarian foods for a certain vegetarian husband - we had an excellent time.

Standouts at the show were a beautiful large-scale photograph from Mexico in the '50s of a cemetary under candlelight - kind of like this vibe...

There was also an absolutely stunning painting by local artist cHema Skandal which we ALL loved. I wish I could find a copy of that painting online. Not to mention, buy a little somethin' for my living room! Also turns out our friend MZ knew one of the artists in the show. Pretty cool, no?

I was inspired to make an ofrenda myself, for my grandpa - here's a little pic...

It's got some of his favorite things: books, music, champagne, a little baseball picture, as well as some traditional elements like butterflies, a sugar skull, and pan de muerto.

Little racer

2011-10-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

Will you look at this little puppy? Found this terrific little costume and new nephew #2 would love it. He's such a sweet boy - he started to put it on right away and wore it all day. Right up until he uh, peed in it. Well, what else do you expect puppy dog tails and garden snails to do, amirite?

My DVR Queue

2011-10-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

As the fall season progresses, our DVR queue changes rapidly. I just deleted Revenge, which is kind of a fun idea but in actuality is kind of boring. I also have to wonder what Madeleine Stowe has to say to herself to get through the day.

Pan Am is getting a last chance review right now, but, as you can see, I'm bored enough to blog through it. Obviously it's trying to jump on the Mad Men bandwagon, but why didn't they borrow a few tips from Mad Men? Political, sexy, feminist, funny, insightful - how about trying any of those? Instead you can practically hear the director saying, OK, girls, in this scene, I want you all to run in skipping and giggling - remember, you're America's New Woman! Also, I prefer Christina Ricci with about 20 more pounds - she's too skinny.

We apparently removed Walking Dead from our queue last season due to unremembered satisfaction. I added it back after a fair amount of buzz over season two, but last night it all came flooding back. If I were in a zombie apocalypse, the first thing I'd do would be to get away from all those assholes.

Whitney I rather like, and I think the New Girl is around to stay as well.

I'm really enjoying this season's Project Runway, which probably deserves a post all of its own. Anyway, I hope that Anya wins, and Josh gives me the creeps, big time. As usual, I wish for nothing more than Tim Gunn to visit me and tell me everything I'm doing is perfect.

I think I'm going to give Pan Am the boot.

Trailers

2011-10-11T20:08:00.001-07:00

You know how like, sometimes? You find yourself crying a little at a trailer? And then you get mad because it's cheesy and manipulative? Anyway, watch this, and see if two delicate tears don't roll down your cheeks...

Aside from being about homeless whales (for chrissake), it features America's third most loveable woman, Drew Barrmore (following Amy Adams & Zooey Deschanel) and thrid most likeable guy, John Krasinski (after Joseph Gorden-Levitt and Conan O'Brien).

Anybody notice that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is being made into a movie? I should have known they would cast T. Hanks as the dad (insert Tom Hanks tirade). My friends and I were just complaining the other day about how the Safran Foer wrote two incredible books and then goes on to write nothing but annoying shit ever since then. Although, I admit I'm rather interested in Tree of Codes. It's Eugenides's Marriage Plot that I'm quite anxious to ready right now and am in an epic battle with myself about whether or not to buy the hardback.

The cutest thing

2011-10-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today I saw the most adorable thing in the entire planet: a tiny pug puppy that was so tiny it could fit in your hand! I saw it outside the post office and naturally, I threw myself to the ground and cooed while it nibbled my fingers and shoes and sweater and purse with its adorable little tiny baby teeth. I had to physically restrain myself from stuffing it in my pocket and running away.

I long to have a dog.

Miss Kaya is a one-cat per household kind of cat, so, our little family stays this way.


Such a friend!

I mean, look at her! Could you ask for anything more?

Wanna see something funny? We have a sort of reverse Romeo & Juliet thing going on with the neighbor's cat. It wants to be friends with Ms. Kaya, but she just gets real mad and growls and bites us when he says hello.


What light through yonder window breaks?

It's sad, really. But so funny.

The Worst

2011-09-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, our family is compromised. We're both sick as dogs. It doesn't look good for me because M's been sick with this (sore throat, cough) for over a week. Ugh. I just got it yesterday, like a truck.

The bad news is we're both quite unpleasant when we're ill so there's a lot of bickering going on. Also a lot of disagreeing about the best course of action to beat a cold. For me it's soup, juice, and a constant stream of passive tv watching. Preferably a marathon of some kind: Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones 1 & 2, Sex and the City - whatever. He sort of got into the spirit, but really WAY off with the suggestion, of Star Wars 1-6.

Oh, dear.

Four Eyes

2011-09-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

My friend G told me about this website, Zenni Optical, where you can buy prescription glasses for really cheap. I just asked my eye doctor for my prescription and I ordered 4 pairs for less than $100! Can you believe it? You can make any of the glasses sunglasses and choose the shade color and everything.

So, there they all are - the top pair are green with pink sides - they're my favorite. M really likes the black sunglasses because generally I like wearing absolutely HUGE sunglasses and these are just "normal" size. The third green pair are my least favorite because I think they're just a tiny bit small for my face. I don't really care because they were so cheap - I guess I'll try to find one of those places were you can donate them. And the last pair of sunglasses I really like - they're lavender with amber-tinted lenses.

I think it's really cool because, even though I really like the glasses I got at my regular eye doctor, they were kind of expense and designer-y, and sometimes I just want something to bum around in. Also, I lose sunglasses like crazy so it was great to get a couple of pairs I could lose without getting mad at myself.

Anywho, I thought I'd share because it's a pretty cool website. Also, I was really pleased with the prescriptions too - I compared them to the glasses I got through the eye doctor (and spent a small fortune on) and I think they're just the same.

The only problem is now I want to order like 75 more pairs of sunglasses.

Oh, btw, while I'm talking about My Favorite Things, this picture was taken with the Photobooth App on my android, it's almost as fun as a real photo booth.

Goodbye, Tomatos!

2011-09-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

So sad! Tomato season is pretty much over. We might get one or two more ripe ones off our vines, but the bountiful harvest, alas, is passed*.

M grew I think 8 different kinds of tomatoes this year: Lemon Boy, Cherokee Purple, Sweet Million, Betty's Orange, Speckled German, Brandywine, Black Prince, Green Zebra. Many a night we enjoyed tri- or even quatra-colored bruscetta. My faves were probably Green Zebra and the Black Prince, and Betty's orange. M's was the Cherokee Purples, followed by the Brandywine. The Speckled Germans, we agree, were all-around excellent.

I'm quite fond of Betty's Orange because it has a nice provenance. It's an heirloom tomato who's seeds were passed on to us from M's Granny from her neighbor, Betty. And it's orange.

I've become an incredible tomato snob and I basically won't even EAT a tomato unless it came out of my own backyard. Which means that I really don't eat tomatoes about 10 months out the year. However, this summer I did discover a few recipes for baked/roasted tomatoes that I can probably use with inferior, store-bought, tomatoes and not be too unhappy.

Until next summer, I must remind you of two of my favorite things to do with green tomatoes - Green tomato bread, which is amazing**, and my green tomato Italian Farmhouse Pickles, of which I just made many many jars. If you are very lucky, I will give you one and you can experience for yourself the feeling of pure adrenaline that results. It's kind of like getting slapped in the face. Maybe I'll give them to my enemies as well, just so I can see the look on their rotten mugs.

*Note: this word caused me and M much consternation. Is passed? Is past? I hope I got it right, but I'm too lazy to look in the Chicago Manual of Style.

** Except she puts 1 cup of Spenda in which I think is DISGUSTING! Why would you ever ruin perfectly good food you grew in Your Own Yard but dumping a bunch of POISON in it, I ask you? Anyway, just leave out the Splenda, 1c sugar is plenty.

13 Years

2011-09-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

13 Years Ago Today

w00t Pawn: Deus Ex

2011-09-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

M's playing this new video game called Deus Ex that he really likes. To tell the truth, it's pretty hard to follow and I haven't even been able to get M to tell me what the point is. As far as I can tell, there's this guy, who's kind of like Robo-cop? And he semi-against-his-will got some cyber implants or something? And he's partly machine, I guess. And, anywho, he has to go around and solve mysteries.

It's mostly one of those sneaking games, and questioning games, where your character walks around and then they meet someone (usually a prostitute, isn't that odd?) and then your guy has the option of having a conversation and you choose what "style" of conversation you're going to have. The options are usually like, "flirty", "aggressive", "uptight", and "sexually aggressive". Speaking of, I heard there were some video games out there with good writing, but M sure ain't playin' 'em. Also, the character is required to "hack" a lot, which means that you take your guy into a room or something, and walk around and "pick up clues" and then you see a safe, and it's like, "Hack that safe" and then you say, Oh, I think the clue's in my memory or something, and then it's like, oh, the safe combo is 8945 or whatever and then you're like, ta da! I hacked it! But, I mean, seriously. I think you should have to remember 8945 or whatever. With your own brain.

Personally, I think these "movie-style" video games are kind of boring. It's LIKE it's a choose-your-own adventure, but when it comes down to it, it seems like there is only one outcome, and regardless of what you might do, the game is going to make you play it their way until you manage to activate all the little scenes leading up to it's one, inevitable ending. I think it would be interesting if there really were multiple ending possibilities, like, in one, your cyber-guy might work with one of these prostitutes to enact social change, or, I don't know, ends up volunteering at a dog shelter or something.

It's Just a Little Unbareable.

redecorating

2011-09-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

I want to do a little redecorating and I found out you can get like, door wallpaper? Only, they all kind of suck. Except, I found this really cool one of a Haussman-era French door that's a photo-decal.
Then I spent forever trying to find out where I could buy it and it turns out it costs 341... EUROS! Gah.

Then I found this one. OMG, isn't that HILARIOUS? Can you IMAGINE??????

Outside of buying brand-new doors, does anyone know a way to make super-crappy doors look kind of nice?

weekend recap

2011-09-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

M & I are sitting around with the Sunday Night Blues trying to remind ourselves that we did have fun this weekend, even though right now we're just tired and grouchy...

Friday night I started feeling kinda sick and then woke up Sat. morning feeling pretty terrible. After ransacking our pharmaceuticals I managed to pull myself out the fog. We attended a birthday party for a young 1 year old friend. I've never seen so many little people at a party. How embarrassing that we didn't have one! C'est la vie...

We saw The Guard on Sat. night. It was a great movie. Had the actor that played Mad Eye Moody (for realsies he has two eyes) and the great Don Cheadle.

So, everyone obsessed with Kate Middleton, right? I just spent two weeks looking for shoes just like hers - I hope they fit well. *drool* Those are gorgeous shoes. Also I've been listening to a lot of Ellie Goulding, but not just because she sang at her reception. Her CD is really good.

Our vacation

2011-09-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video of our vacation!

It was like this...

2011-08-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a mini-video of my sister's trip...

A Perfect Visit

2011-08-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

We had our first solo visit from my sister since my beloved nephew was born (over 4 years ago!) It was a terrific long weekend!

On Friday we had lunch at Blackbird, a visit to the Art Institute, a concert at Millennium Park...
dinner at Acre and a quick trip to the Dairy Star...
On Sat. we went to the farmer's market, the spa, and saw The Help that night (I liked it better than the book!)

And on Sunday we had a lovely brunch at M. Henrietta with my friend M., a walk along Lake Michigan, which was so blustery they had to shut the beaches! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing day in the backyard with grilled veggies and cocktails. A sleepy and tearful goodbye at 3am this morning was the end of a really wonderful visit with one of my favorite people in the world who happens to also be my sister.

little bike

2011-08-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Birthday Month Comes to an End

2011-07-31T16:58:00.001-07:00

As all good things must end, so does my Birthday Month. I really couldn't ask for a better one so I have no complaints. The Surprise Concert, a couple of great weekends out of town, trips to the beach, my sailing class... everything's been really fun.

Last night we had a great time with a friend's art book release, the purchase of a new sink for our planned bathroom redesign, a visit to my new favorite restaurant, Bite (I had the Lamb Salisbury Steak, M had a Philly Cheese Fake) and finished it off with a visit to Chicago's most amazing ice-ery, Miko's. The ice-ista at Miko's gave us as fine a consultation as you would get in any five-star restaurant as he leaned out his window in Logan's Square and advised us on the best flavors (Hot Tip: Peach is coming next week!)

In other news, I happened to find myself in a batting cage a few days ago and I was unexpectedly KILLING. Since I was doing so well, I decided to leave the "slow" pitch and progress to a faster ball. The Guy warned me that it was "much" faster, but I was not worried. I actually went from completely confident to crapping my pants terrified in about .2 seconds, which is how fast that ball came flying at me! When I stopped screaming I fought my way out as fast as I could. And that's why I don't play sports, people.

Here's a great picture of M and G inspecting limes for cocktail-worthiness. We took 90 limes to the lake house. That's how we do it.

Birthday weekend

2011-07-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to our friend's lakeside "cottage" along with the whole crew - it was the most fun I could possibly have had on my birthday weekend! Now I have a (un)healthy tan, am well-swum, and pleasantly full of delicious food. We saw a couple of amazing storms and went night swimming! It's heavenly out there!

Camping weekend

2011-07-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went camping up in Wisconsin - actually, not far at all from us - at Lake Geneva. Beautiful lake up there and a lovely little camp ground. It was fun sleeping outside and having a big fire at night. Here's a pic of M and a typical book he takes on vacation.

and here's our campsite - it was under a marvelous tree - we really liked that tree:

When we came home again we couldn't wait to pet Kaya and also to go see Harry Potter! I'll post my thoughts on the movie soon.

dark and hot

2011-07-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been an utter shit storm of a past few days because we had this wee giant storm which lasted about 15 minutes and tore up a bunch of trees and left us without power for just over 24 hours (along with 868,000 other people). Power was off at work and at home and one was obliged to spend a lot of time at both places sitting around in the sweltering darkness.

Our power finally came on around noon today, but only after we had thrown away all the food in the fridge. ComED owes us a variety of fine cheeses, I'll tell you that.

Here's a crazy ass video of the storm.

It's very sad about the trees, especially on the campus where I work. It's really weird because the wind just knocked them right out of the ground. Some of those trees were my friends. I knew them from nut and acorn.

The Secret Event!

2011-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I know you're all dying to know what the Secret Event was (assuming anyone still reads my blog?)! It was very exciting. We drove down to Uptown, to the Aragon Theatre, and I couldn't tell from the marque even what it was - in fact, I didn't find out until we were inside and I had been (gently) frisked - The Flaming Lips concert! What a fun surprise! I don't go to a lot of concerts and don't know if this is normal, but they had all kinds of balloons that got bounced around, and the lead singer got in a giant bubble and road all over the tops of the crowd and they shot out a bunch of confetti and there were lasers... it was pretty cool.

Otherwise, we spent most of the weekend in our backyard, which is nothing short of a suburban wonderland:

(I got new shoes.)

birthday month update

2011-07-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ooo boy, you would not believe how excited I am because M has written "Secret Event" on the calendar for tomorrow and all I know is it's part of my birthday month celebrations. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

So far it's been a lovely birthday month and looks to get even better and better. The garden is in full bloom and really gorgeous. This weekend we will undoubtably spend as much time as we can lingering there with the odd cocktail, the hammock and our precious little angel, Kaya!

These are tiger lilies and my new favorite: Rose Champion - pretty, rite? Also some crazy curly grass.

2011-06-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Lamebook is my favorite...

poaching

2011-06-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

We tried this delicious recipe for poached egg and asparagus from a terrific local food blog (and friend of a friend) Lottie and Doof.

It was pretty fancy because we used our own chive flowers (alas, we didn't use that many and now chive-flower-season is over - I need to find a LOT more recipes for them). I love using something from our garden, even if it's a tiny little bit of mint or parsley.

I haven't quite nailed poaching eggs yet - I have a tendency to over-cook them - but, I think I'll perfect the method shortly.

Oh, speaking of food, there's a very funny controversy which just got stirred up by the Reader's Best of Chicago. One category was "Best Restaurant for Kids" and someone wrote in "To be locked in a cold, dark, soundproof room." (ha!) and a bunch of humorless people wrote some comments. Gaper's Block sums it up and also refers to the great Andersonville Taste of Heaven Controversy of Aught Five in which a bunch of humorless people got all upset when a bakery down the road from our old apartment suggested that children should be well-behaved on the premises. Hilarious stuff.

Parental visit

2011-06-27T18:29:00.001-07:00

My mom and dad came up for the weekend and we had a really great visit. We ran around town and had a couple of great meals and also worked and hung out in the garden quite a bit. I also convinced them to go kayaking in Lake Michigan!
Oh, look - behind us you can see someone riding one of those newfangled paddle boards or whatever they're called.

22nd!

2011-06-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

OMG, so, it's exactly one month to my birthday (!!!!!!!!) but only about a week until my Birthday Month (which is kinda more important). And so, without further ado, I give you my birthday wishlist, which will be, I imagine, greatly appreciated by certain husbands and certain parents. People "claim" that I am hard to shop for, but I maintain that I am extremely EASY to shop for. IE, I love jewelry like crazy. And make-up. Done.

ahem:

digital egg timer
Japanese cotton fabric
Kitchenaid 6 Quart Stand Mixer in Empire Red

Duh. Easy!

item!

2011-06-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

We had a big storm tonight. We thought we might have to go in the basement. But, it wasn't that bad, in the end. (For us, anyway.)

Today at work I won a major award.

Did you see these disgusting cigarette warning labels? I hate to get all libertarian, but, come on, those are stupid.

I really liked the Murakami Google thing today:

This is hilarious. But they left out a LOT.

After

2011-06-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to finish my chair this weekend, which I so cruelly teased you all with a week ago.

I'm not quite sure where I found this chair but I'm pretty sure I found it in the alley, which has provided more than a few treasures since we moved here.It was hideous, but I saw the potential to look like...
Isn't that great? I really love it. I looooove that fabric. It looks tres Jonathan Adler, although it only cost about $12 instead of like, a thousand. I think the chair is fairly old based on the fact that the original upholstery was attached with tacks rather than staples. There was a date stamped on the fabric but no year - but! Look at that date!

Do you know what that is? My birthday! This chair and I were meant to be together! And! What a lovely reminder that my birthday month is coming up!

w00t Pwn: Portal 2

2011-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

This time I bring you w00t pwn with first hand knowledge! M & I played Portal 2... together! For a little while. Did you know when you're playing a video game, what feels like 10 minutes is actually 2 hours? It's very disturbing.

Anyhow, Portal 2 is pretty fun. You can play it with a partner, who is your wife, and you and she are like, two robots? And you're in this kind of facility? And, you walk around and try to solve puzzles and stuff. And your husband gazes at you lovingly, as if you are doing something marvelous and not staring slack-jawed at the television trying to remember what button to push.

I quite enjoyed Portal 2, and trying to solve puzzles and whatnot even though it takes a little while to figure out and time slips through your fingers like sands through the hourglass. It's got a voice-over which is truly, truly funny. We smiled at each other and remarked about how it was actually funny, and not completely lame, like most things that try to be funny actually are.

At first I just made my robot follow M's robot around, dutiably adorable, or desperately initiating high-fives (you can do that), or accidentally falling into toxic sludge and getting regenerated while he figured out how to solve the puzzle.

Sample conversation:
Me: What do we do in this one?
Me: Maybe it's that thing.
Me: Look at that thing.
Me: Hey, wait for me.
Me: Oops! I fell in the sludge again.
Me: Where are you?
Me: Ha! That was funny.
Me: It's really funny, right?
Husband: Yeah.
Me: It's weird how it's actually funny.
Me: Right?
Husband: Yeah.
Me: Do you know what to do?
Me: Oops. Hold on. Sludge.
Me: Ok, here I am.
Husband: Oooooo! *I* know what to do!

He concentrates pretty hard. Eventually I figured out how to solve puzzles too. It was satisfying.

He likes the single-player too. I had to quit for a while because I really did get quite disturbed about the alarmingly rapid passage of time. Nevertheless, I rate it Downright Bearable.

Just Before

2011-06-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had a lovely, delicious dinner at Bite Cafe in The City. I must encourage you to go there - it was absolutely wonderful (and surprisingly inexpensive - byob!) I had a roast chicken... I'm not kidding you... best chicken I ever ate in my LIFE. I can't wait to go back.

I started a project to recover a couple of chairs I pulled out of the alley, both of which ended up being more complicated than I'd anticipated. Each of them had like 4,000 tacks in them, and I plier-ed so much I kinda hurt my hand (and it's still hurting!) Anyway, I just have a "before" to tantalize you with...

but I can assure you the "after" is going to be totes gorg. Here's a hint: Jonathan Adler!

Food, Glorious Food!

2011-06-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, did you all know the The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a new food pyramid, only it's not a pyramid? It's a plate, that's like, Hey Dummy, eat this why don't you?

I find it hard to believe we should really drink that much milk. Can you IMAGINE, drinking a WHOLE glass of MILK? Gag.

I am endlessly amused by food propaganda. There was a great show on NPR this morning about "Uncle Sam's" role in what and how we eat. You should give it a listen.

They posted a couple of terrific images on their site. I love this one:

which is just like, "Eat whatever the hell you want!" (Get a load of the "butter and margarine" category!)

The beloved food pyramids of our youth created the carb monsters that we all are today:

(Mmmm...May I have some more pasta, please?)

This one I love, which is less a food pyramid and more of a "Why don't you get some exercise, you fat lazy slob?"

Natalie Dee always gets right to the heart of the matter:

And this one is my favorite!

Midnight in Paris

2011-05-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

We saw Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris on Friday and I'm pleased to report it was really fun and a great movie. Sure, it doesn't have the gravitas of some of his more brilliant older work, but it doesn't have the suckitas of much of his recent work.

It's about this movie-writer and his fiance (Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams) who go to Paris and, after midnight, alone, he is transported to his favorite period in time and space: Paris in the 1920s (neatly supporting my theory that our culture is obsessed with Quantum Physics). In his midnight adventures, he finds himself hobnobbing with the likes of the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. If you are not vaguely familiar with the expatriots of Paris 1920s you might be bored out of your mind, not to mentioned annoyed by pretentious a-holes like myself who are like, "Ha! Ha! Ha! Adrien Brody's performance as Salvador Dali was simply divine!" I happen to think half the fun of Woody Allen movies is sitting around with like-minded literary folk who "get" all the Strindberg references.

Shots of Paris are, naturally, absolutely gorgeous. I thought it was fun watching Rachel McAdams play a kind of rotten character for once instead of "America's Sweetheart". Carla Bruni (Sarkozy) is an art guide and unbelievably beautiful. I always like Owen Wilson, I think he's such a charming actor.

I'm only mildly miffed by the poster for the movie which features Starry Night as a backdrop to the Siene, which, as everyone knows, van Gogh painted it while in Arles.

W00t PWN: KillZone 3

2011-05-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

KillZone 3 reminds me a lot of Call of Duty, or possibly KillZone 2, anyway, I swear I've seen this snowy, industrial landscape before. Maybe it's that dopey scene from Inception, I dunno. Snowy, industrial landscapes are so XMen 3, amirite?

This is exactly the kind of game I don't like because M's guy just shoots the whole time and there are constantly guns going off, and then he'll get shot, and his guy will moan and stuff, and it's very noisy. It makes one regret one's excellent sound system.

I guess approximately half of these people are M's guy's co-workers, but I don't know HOW he can tell who's who, I honestly don't. It's really violent and gives me a headache. *frowny face*

When people die, they go like this: AAAAAARRRRRG! OOOOOGH! AAAARRRRGGGHhhh! Ah! Ah! OoooOOoOOOOOO! Ah, uh... uh.

It's funny, but also sad. Kind of like this.image via

It is Completely Unbearable.

My friends are really smart

2011-05-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows my friends are like, really smart and stuff, and two of them are honest-to-god rocket scientists.

I. has been working on a J-2X rocket for NASA - he worked on the nozzle. Pretty cool, huh? I. says, "Our J-2X engine was part of the recently canceled Constellation return-to-the-moon program. So, for now, our engine is its own separate NASA R&D program until the higher-ups at NASA decide what's next."
image via

Well, I think it's great, aside from the whole fate-lying-in-the-balance-thing. It's a terrible shame that NASA's budget has been cut so drastically, which is rather small compared to, say, those three wars we're currently waging.

Anyway, that's a really nice nozzle, if it is what I think it is.

Kiki Smith

2011-05-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I saw the artist Kiki Smith speak at the Block Museum. It was pretty exciting experience for me because I got to the museum early to meet a friend, and it turns out Kiki Smith was there early to see the show too (for the first time.) So, for a while it was just me and her walking around the MFA exhibit and then my friend got there, and we all went up and looked at Smith's exhibit (with our ears perked up to hear what the artist and print folks were saying). Then there was a "conversation" which was quite good - Smith is a bit unusual because she's not your typical academic artist and she doesn't pretend to have the answers to everything and she's not afraid to say she's never thought about certain things or that she doesn't understand things (like color).

I think she's a brilliant printmaker and from my days in the Prints and Drawings room at the AIC I remember how people used to just go out of their minds when her prints came out. I was not nuts about her photographs, which this show is ostensibly about, although there were a fair number of sculptures and a handful of prints.

I did like the more narrative of the photos - there was one series where she is dressed as a witch with apples - she called the woman a "dumb witch" who eats her own poisoned apples and ends up dead on the forest floor. But, the apple/woman image, despite the humor of the "dumb witch", really does recall a lot of apple/woman mythology, like Eve, Sleeping Beauty, etc.

My favorite piece from the show was an Etching, aquatint, and drypoint with watercolor additions called "Pool of Tears 2 (after Lewis Carroll)". This image doesn't really do it justice... I love etchings.

This piece wasn't in the show but I think it's absolutely incredible... it's called "Born".

How much would you bid?

2011-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

I forgot to go on and on about the Royal Wedding, but I did watch it and I did love it, especially Kate's dress AND her sister's dress

and ALL THOSE HATS! Of course, this hat...

was the most outrageous, and, according to the internets, it will be available on ebay soon. What would you bid? I think it looks, as my dad might say, like, "Stupidity-ness", but, I think I might like it in navy...

Festen

2011-05-11T05:04:00.000-07:00

I encourage y'all in the Chicago area to check out a new play, Festen, at Steep Theatre. Aside from my friend M is in it, it is really fantastic, and I predict it's going to be a sell-out. It's about a family dinner party and there's a little mystery about one of the characters. I hate to say too much about it because it's interesting to watch the drama unfold slowly. Although I will warn you to say there's a deep dark secret that everyone's ignoring (HINT: imagine the deepest, darkest family secret you can think of).

I thought the way the family choose to ignore this secret was very true - I think many families are very good about pretending certain events never happened, and audiences will surely relate to that. There are a couple of scenes where you almost want to leap out of your chair and run onstage and there was more than one mini-explosion in the audience the night we went. I'd imagine that will happen frequently because of the intensity of the story.

One of my favorite scene's took place in a bedroom, but three sets of actors treated the space as if it was their own room. That was really impressive. There were a few other technical details which I thought were really great - a bit of hyper-realistic slo-mo, incredibly subtle sound. Steep Theatre is a great little theatre (near the Berwyn red line), and, for this particular show, the audience sits on two sides around a quite small stage. I thought that gave the stage a sort of sports-field quality, like a mini-game of football, which really hightened the intensity for me - it was as if the characters were in a Colosseum and had to fight to the death in there.

I was happy to see another review that compared Festen to The Big Meal, which I also felt as well, but couldn't quite put my finger on, aside from how you cannot merely watch the show, it's impossible not to become emotionally invested in the story.

Weekend

2011-05-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I saw my good friend A and her family - always a nice time (however short, or involving ticks!) OMG, I turned into a real city girl and got a little nuts over some ticks that hijacked a ride on my pants.

Look at that baby! Isn't she a darling?

I wished my mother a Happy Mother's Day, and a couple people wished me a happy Mother's Day for good measure. "Right back atcha," I said.

Rejoice: Brunch

2011-04-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely brunch with a few friends today. We hashed out a menu and then rewrote the whole thing after I discovered a recipe for asparagus pie (with chevre and goat cheese - *drool*) in Bust magazine and M remember that we hadn't included that all-too-important-item: deviled eggs!

Cucumber and Raspberry Vodka Sparklers
Coffee

Deviled Eggs
Salmon Mousse

Asparagus Pie
Fried Potatoes
Berry Fruit Salad
Buttermilk Chive Biscuits (with bacon)

Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Assorted Ice Creams

Oh, my dear, it was lovely (if I do say so myself.) Yet another reason I love Bust magazine. Sometimes I forget what I'm reading, and I'll be like, OMG, this magazine is so great, it's all about women! And then I'm like, Oh, duh, it's Bust. What is WRONG with you, you STUPID IDIOT!?! (joke.)

In other food news, we popped into Publican yesterday and had the best french fries (oh, pardon moi: frites) I've ever had, ever? I intend to go back, soon, preferably with a meat-eater, or, with someone who hates french fries, so I can eat them all by myself. Aside from all that fun, the weekend passed, as it usually does, in the blink of a lamb's tail. Happy Spring!

w00t pWn: Dead Space 2

2011-04-17T18:34:00.002-07:00

M is playing some demos on the PS3 tonight. It's a bit nerve-wracking because he may choose any one of these horrendous games to play for months and months. And one day I'll probably give anything just for him to play Assassin's Creed again.

One of these games is Dead Space 2, which begins with a really grusome movie-type intro about, I don't know, a space ship and a crash and some zombie-type people. There are always some love interests, but, guess what? They're always dead. Wah Wah. (OH! BTW, did I forget to mention that Veronica Mars AKA Kristen Bell did one of the voices of the love interest/soon to be deceased character on Assassin's Creed? Anyway, she did.)
Ewwww, this game is SO GROSS! So, this guy? In an Edward Scissorhands outfit? He runs around this burntout spaceship or something that's full of zombie-like people who have big long insect arms? And then he shoots their skin off and then kicks their arms and their heads off. And it's very loud and it's like, "BANG! BOOM! CRASH! SPLATTER! BOOM! EEEEMMMMM! IT'S TOO LOUD, KAYA DOESN'T LIKES IT! BANG! WILL YOU TURN IT DOWN A LITTLE, PLEASE??????" Also there's a bunch of crazy beeps and electronic noises of like, machines whirling and ice cold breezes blowing down deserted shafts and nonsense like that.

Do you know what I think would make a really good video game? A game with no shooting, and just like, really quiet sounds of maybe a brook babbling, or like, the Indigo Girls singing, you know, really softly. And if there are any zombies, they don't make any crazy-ass noises like rabid dogs on crack all puking and growling and snarling, they just almost completely silently lurch around and drool, and then, maybe you just quickly and succinctly and without any loud or upsetting noises swipe their heads off, and that's it.

w00t pWn: Assassin's Creed Continues

2011-04-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

In case you're wondering why we haven't moved on to a new video game, it's because M can NOT stop playing Assassin's Creed! And, it's been terrible, let me tell you. AND, not only that, but, one day, he DID finish it, and the end was really confusing and lame, but then, what does he do? But he keeps PLAYING it! Now he's playing "multiplayer" and now it's like, he's in Venice, and he and a bunch of other people sneak around and knife folks in the back. It has something to do with Templars and Borgia and some shit.

Demiti Martin has a really funny joke about sneaking.

Important Things with Demetri Martin
Ability - Running a Marathon
www.comedycentral.com

M said he has to hand it to the game because they really made sneaking fun. Whatchudo is sneak all over Venice and other people are sneaking too, and maybe you're trying to assassinate the same person or maybe they're trying to assassinate you. Anywho, you gotta sneak real fast behind them and stab them in the back or cut their throat or twist their neck or shove them off a building (seriously!) and when they or you die, it's in grusome detail with slowmo and a splash of blood and and final grunt. I guess I have to hand it to the game too M is so wrapped up in it he can barely answer my questions, and, for once, this game is finally about assassinating people. But, if you ask me, if this many people got assassinated, there'd basically be no one alive in Venice. Here's a snippet of conversation in our house this morning:
K: Hey, why do those guys glow when you come up behind them?
[Pause]
K: Hey, what's that dust ball?
K: I think it's magic.
K: I think that guy just threw some magic dust. Is that what happened?
[Pause]
K: Oh, you're in St. Marco Square!
K: Can you go in the church?
K: Try to go in the church.
M: I'm busy.
K: Woah! What just happened? Do you have magic dust?
M: I shot that guy.
K: You have a GUN?
[Pause]
K: So, you got a new outfit?
K: Hey, that guy's wearing the same outfit as you.
M: Damn it!
K: Oh, that guy just stabbed you in the BUTT!
M: Nah, he just pulled me off the building.
K: Suck.

Riveting!

2011-04-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Are you watching the Live Hawk Cam??????

Watch live streaming video from nytnestcam at livestream.com

It is Spring! (What's in my garden?)

2011-04-05T05:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, evidence of spring in the garden. Observe these lovely crocuses (croci?):

and my budding hyacinth:

Ünd the Siberian Squill:

Does anyone know what this is? I can't remember what I planted here...

Coconut

2011-04-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

When we were in Hawaii a few years ago, driving along a mountain road we saw a woman selling roasted coconut. We do not like coconut, but we do like side-of-the-road-food, so we bought some, and it was incredible. We've never had anything like it since.

Husband is trying to recreate delicious treat and bought two coconuts and drained them (hammer a hole with an awl into opposite sides, like so...)

"There are two schools of thought," he tells me, "One is, you wrap it in a towel and you go outside and bang it like hell on the sidewalk. The other is, you wrap it in in a towel and go outside and hit it with a hammer." Observe.

That was disgusting. Then he did it again. Success.

Then you chop up the coconut and roast with sugar for... 10 hrs! It's still in the oven.

I'm just sayin'

2011-03-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

So, check it out, I made this in like, 2005 (maybe 'aught four).

(It says, "Look, nothing was going to keep Bethany from surfing, ok?")

And NOW...

Oh! My! God! Look what happens about 1 minute and 10 seconds in!

It's YOUR MOVE, Helen Hunt!

40 days of rain

2011-03-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things we did in LA was visit the Skirball Center where they have a Noah's Ark exhibit. They built a really beautiful interactive ark that you can wander through and play with a bunch of animals and climb on stuff and break stuff and scoop up fake poop and stuff. A lot of the animals are made from recycled materials, like, check it out, this sheep is made of a bike seat and handles, a mop and funnels. It's a really fun place, but probably best to go if you have a kid in tow, otherwise you might look pervy.

We also wandered around the Venice canals one day - that was really fun and I highly recommend it. You can peek in people's tiny yards and admire the architecture of this really unique area. And, if you're me, go home and try to figure out how much it would cost to live there (don't ask.).

Here's me and C on a sunny (but cold!) day!

Sucker Punch

2011-03-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

When we were in LA, little M kept pointing at billboards and asking what Sucker Punch was all about. We told him it was about a "surprise punch" that was "for aunties and uncles only." I was quite interested in seeing this movie despite its horrendous reviews, because I like the actress in it. She's that young woman who was in Lemony Snicket? I love that movie. There's also a few other actresses that you may remember from child-roles, trying to prove they're All Grown Up now, a la Lindsay Lohan in (the hilarious) I Know Who Killed Me.

Anywho. Sucker Punch is by that director who made 300, so it's really stylized like that and frankly would probably have made a better video game. But, it's ostensibly about grrrls kicking ass, and it's kind of goth and steam-punk, with a Blythe-doll aesthetic, so that's kind of cool. The story is a dumb "dream within a dream" Inception-y kind-of-thing where this girl is put in a Dickensian mental institution, and to escape that reality, she imagines she's in a Dickensian bordello, and to escape that reality, she imagines she's fighting lunatic things like zombie nazis and orcs and the robots from iRobot. In all of these realities, the girls have some ridick faux eyelashes and buckets of Urban Decay make-up. For once I'd like to see a movie in the Girls Kicking Ass genre that wasn't executed as if by a 12 year old boy. I can guarantee you there'd be less fetishistic outfits (but maybe keep the faux eyelashes, amirite, ladies? Whatwhat?!)

Vacay

2011-03-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a little vacation to LA for some warm weather and a nice visit with sister and beloved nephew. We didn't end up getting any nice weather, but but we did have a lovely visit with C and Little M. You wouldn't believe how many things went wrong, but nicer moments included dinners with old friends, a visit to Venice beach and wandering around the canals, seeing James Franco's installation at the Gagosian Gallery and getting mildly obsessed with River Phoenix. Also I got some super-cute Tarina Tarantino earrings. Here's a little video. 4 mins.

Things that have gone wrong on our vacation so far...

2011-03-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

1. I destroyed my new G2 fone when water leaked all over it in my bag.
2. We left the lights on in my sister's car and had to call The Guy to jump it.
3. M & I were sitting in a bench and the back broke and we fell on the ground.
4. And everyone looked at us and it was embarrassing.
5. We went to war with Libya.
6. LA is having crazy downpours and there's flooding. No sun.

But, aside from that, we've been having a lovely time visiting with sister and beloved nephew. Pictures later.

W00T PWN: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

2011-03-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

Husband has been playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (PS3) for a loooong time now with no apparently intention to stop any time soon. In fact, when I said I was ready to write my review, he said, "I haven't even started the multi-player yet!" Pity.

As far as I can tell, in Assassin's Creed you plays this dude in a cape and hood who sneaks around and climbs up the side of buildings, like Spiderman or Jason Bourne. He goes on dopey "missions" in Rome in the 15th century (I looked it up on Wikipedia). The graphics are pretty nifty and I like looking at the city and the buildings. Thank GOD or I would have gone completely bonkers! M is somewhat obliging when I'm like, "Wait, go back and look at that fountain" or whatever. Also some of the characters mutter or shout in Italian like, "Andiamo" or "Scuzi" or "basta" and that's pretty cool. There's actually a TON of Italian in it. Also a lot of the locations are actual places. I wonder how much of the map of Rome is truly accurate? The dopey bits are that there's some kind of weird back and forth in time and like, the main character is actually like this contemporary dude in a laboratory or something? I don't really get it. And the missions are like, Go over there and knife that guy or Help that hooker find out who roofied her. And then later they're like, Drive Leonardo da Vinci's tank around.

You can buy a run-down doctor's shop and fix it up and then when you get stabbed you can go get "health". Or you can buy a tailor shop and have them make you a new cape and hood. You can also buy other stuff like art in a little shop on a side street and choose from any number of Raphael paintings like The Resurrection of the Christ or St. Michael and the Dragon. Ha. Well. I mean. Come on. That's very unlikely.
Also one day he bought the effing COLOSSEUM.

A video game just wouldn't be a video game without a gang of prostitutes. (M corrects me that they are "courtesans") They are actually the assassin's sister and mother! (M corrects me that they aren't actually courtesans, they just run the brothel.) All the courtesans have funny hairdos that make them look like they have kitten ears.

I think it would be a lot more fun if there were no killing and instead you just walked around Rome looking at stuff and visiting your friends' houses and talking in Italian. And maybe if the character had a wife and they went out for coffee and gelato and went to nice concerts at night and stuff.

I would rate this game pretty darn unbearable, at this point. It's never ending. Basta!

Oscar recap... well, not really

2011-03-01T18:44:00.001-08:00

So, did you watch the Oscars? I live-tweeted them, although I think only approximately 2 (possibly less) people read them. I thought the Oscars were terribly dull, and I was a bit disappointed with the couture as well. Which reminds me - I took this Oscar Dress Quiz and was at once both incredibly proud and embarrassed by my excellent results. Why don't you take it?

Why I hate Glee (but keep watching it anyway)

2011-02-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

I've been annoyed with Glee ever since the end of season 1 when Quinn got pregnanter and pregnanter and Will's wife was pretend pregnant and the writers were clearly like, Ooooooo crap, what are we gonna do now? Then, in one shitty season finale, Quin has the baby, Will gets a divorce and everyone brushes the dust off their hands and pretends the whole thing never happened. That's lazy. That's Alias season three lazy. You've gotta think four seasons ahead, Whedon-style.

1. What is this show, a Teenage Morality Tale or an Over-the-Top Ironic Comedy? Pick one, Gleeks. In one episode you've got the elements of a "very special drama" (this week: Underage drinking) coupled with Crazy Sue Sylvester Antics. I mean really crazy - she pushes a guy down the stairs? Really? And Will gets drunk and dials her and she plays the vm over the school speakers? It just doesn't make sense, they should choose, and they should choose the Over-the-Top thing. But it's just ridiculous, for example, to do a show about bullying with Sue as the unexpected protector and a couple shows later having the same character knocking down students and shoving them into lockers in the hallway and trying to launch the cheerleaders out of a cannon.

2. They're only about half-way to being pro-gay. I applaud Glee including non-normative characters like Artie in his wheelchair, the overweight Mercedes and Lauren, and a racially diverse cast, and I love Kurt, he's probably my favorite character. For the most part, I think the Kurt-story line is great, especially with his dad, but I think they really foul up other non-normative relationships like Santana and Britney and Puck and Lauren and particularly the character of Coach Beist. I wish they would spread the love when it comes to being open-minded.

3. Shut up and sing. I guess I'm going to keep watching because I like the musical numbers a lot.

After writing all this down, I find I care less and less about Glee. I think I'm going to take it off my queue. Probably next week. We'll see.

OMG, has anyone seen that show Perfect Couples? SO. HILARIOUS. I'mnotkiddingyou.

Milwaukee

2011-02-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

We went for a last-minute trip to Milwaukee this weekend just for funsies. I have to tell you, one of the lamest things about living in/near Chicago is that the coolest place for miles and miles around is, well, Chicago. So, if you want to go away for the weekend, you go to Wisconsin. And you like it.

Anyway, Milwaukee is kind of fun, if you like eating cheese and drinking, which I do. We like staying at the Pfister Hotel, a lovely old place with a really nice little pool on the top floor. Great views of the city, in this case, under blizzardy-conditions.

We also discovered this fantastic bookstore called Downtown Books. It's one of those bookstores were every inch is covered in books, and it has all kinds of nooks and crannies and you get lost wandering around. Very fun bookstore - almost like a Powell's (Portland) experience. Also, there were cats. I bought like 7 books and M filled in some of the holes in his comic book collection.

Today before we returned home, we went to this AMAZING deli called Benji's. I found it on this website called Road Food by Jan and Michael Stern who (used to) write for Gourmet and guest talk on the Splendid Table radio show. They LOVE Milwaukee.
I ordered chicken soup. Just! Look! At! That!

and potato pancakes. Mmmm...

The Big Meal

2011-02-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw The Big Meal at the American Theatre Co. with my play-buddies. It was absolutely amazing and I encourage anyone in the Chicago area to check it out.

A simple stage with a table or two and a number of chairs compose the stage, and actors sit in plain view behind this area waiting to come on, with small baskets of props by their sides. Time moves quickly in this play, and one of the things I loved about it is that the audience must be actively involved in watching it. The play tells the story of a couple and their extended family, told with only 8 main characters (and two waiters) at various stages in their lives. There are two kids, two people in their 20s, two in their late-30s, and two older folks. As the characters age, the actors switch roles, so each person may end up playing 3-4 roles in this multi-generational family. As people die, as they do, the audience and the actors have only moments to process their deaths, in a rather interesting bit of staging. Despite the complex characterization and quickly-moving storyline, the actors are so talented that each transition is seamless and smooth (I thought this was just incredible especially considering we were there for only the second preview!)

I have a feeling most people will walk away with their own impression of what the play's "about", but for me it was definitely an exploration of the definition of family - of what impact having children has, and how, even in a large family, the odds that you end up alone are pretty darn high. While it ended on kind of a down-note, I thought it was, above all: true - and that's what exceptional theatre is all about.

The Big Meal
American Theater Co.
1909 West Byron Street, Chicago
February 3-March 6

We're not going anywhere

2011-02-02T12:05:00.001-08:00

If you don't have anything nice to say....

2011-02-02T09:40:00.001-08:00

I just have to share this house tour from Apartment Therapy. I looove this house. Lately I've been kind of stuck on Apartment Therapy even though the people that comment on it are total asshats. They're such douchebags I almost took it off my feed. Even on this truly magnificent house tour, people are all "I do not like it. It's very cluttered and busy with too many patterns and objects." and "Way too much. It verges on Horder status. I couldn't live like this. The dusting alone would take up all of my time." OMG. Srsly? STFU.

Turns out the dude from Crash Test Dummies lives there. I used to/still looooove that band. Anyone else?

view house tour

tick tock

2011-01-30T15:27:00.001-08:00

Oh, my, the weekend goes by so fast it gives me agita just thinking about it. I had/am having a simi-stressful weekend with some fun stuff thrown in. Yesterday we saw a cool print show at the Block Museum - they were having printing demonstrations and a sale, with a DJ and everything - it was more crowded than I've ever seen that place, so they might have been happy, even if everyone was vaguely miserable because of the long lines. M & I both liked this artist named Tom Huck. This piece is a woodblock print called Chili Dogs, Chicks and Monster Trucks. via His work really reminds me of Lisa Hanawalt, who also has a horror vacui. How they manage to cram all those things together and still maintain a clear narrative is really amazing. I really want to buy one of her pieces... I recently spied one of her illustrations accompanying a New York Times article! Can I get in before her market explodes?

We both got smart phones and I installed this cool "Retro Camera" app that makes all my pics turn out gorge. Look at this... Could you just die?

Tonight we have special plans to go out for what I hope will be a lovely dinner, and then, tomorrow, back to the old grind.

Oh, my review was posted in Newcity Lit - check it out!

Check, PLEASE!

2011-01-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to watching Doubt today - I thought it was fabulous. Oh, Meryl Streep! Anyway, I was confused because I had heard there was like a total did-he-or-didn't-he thing, but for me it was totes HE DID! Did anyone else have a different impression?

Oh, great. My fave restaurant in town was on Check, Please! It's already hard enough to get a table at that place. The good news is they didn't give it a very favorable review.

Speaking of restaurants, me & husband went on a "date" (lately I've noticed that my friends with kids now call their evenings out "dates" where sans kids these events were just, you know, evenings out. Anywho, I merely mention it because I find it amusing) to one of (his) favorite Italian restaurants in The City, and, much to our horror, we discovered that unanticipated opera singing was occurring in the dining room. Experiencing a fair amount of chagrin, we are escorted to a table, but then offered a better table which was right next to wear this dude was belting out some opera. So, I whisper to the waiter, we'll take that one if the singing will be over soon. And he says, Yes, yes, he'll be finished in just a moment. So, the dude finishes, we all clap, and then M & I go slip in behind the table. No sooner do we sit down than another opera singer (and then another, and another) take his place and belt out some Puccini. I mean like, 12 inches away from us. Here. I'll draw a picture for you. It was pretty much like this.

Marwencol

2011-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Last night M & I saw this terrific documentary called Marwencol about this man who was attacked in a vicious fight and suffered brain damage and memory loss. As part of his own rehabilitation, he creates scenes with dolls and photographs them. He created a 1/16th scale town he called "Marwencol" and peopled it with the alter egos of himself and people he knows.
Eventually it's revealed that he was the victim of a hate crime, and it becomes clear that he suffers from massive anxiety and fear. What's interesting is the story that's not told - the hate crime, the failure of his therapy and recovery, his ex-wife and the extent of his brain damage.

His art and life are virtually inseparable, where he refers to his doll alter-ego as himself, and seems to have an obsessive love for the Barbie characters that interact with his doll-figure. What he would be considered in art terms is an "Untrained artist", or the less popular "Naïve artist", which generally means, as you might imagine, that he's not a trained artist (before his attack, he drew cartoon-y, R. Crumb-y type images, but afterward his hand shook too badly to draw) and that his work is little influenced by current or past artists. The uniqueness of his work stems mainly, as the editor or art magazine Esopus states, from its complete lack of irony, which is generally overwhelming in most work of this nature (including my own!) His earnestness and naïvité extends to his relationships with women, with whom he clearly has some issues. To wit, he creates "staged cat-fights" with the Barbie-doll characters in his bar in his town, going to great lengths to clarify that they are "staged."

What's a bit disturbing is how violent some of the images are, especially as concerns his own attack. In his little town, Nazis attack his character and torture him, similar to his own injuries, and then he exacts horrifying revenge on them. He drags a small tank full of heavily-armed characters with him just about everywhere he goes, and it becomes clear that it's because he's relying on them for protection. Ultimately, his doll character drags along a small-scale doll of his own to deal with his attack by the Nazis.

It's unlikely that this movie is going to be in wide release, but watch out for it in festivals near you. You can also see a fair amount of his photographs on marwencol.com, which also has some clips from the movie.

W00t PWN: Tron Legacy

2011-01-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Despite poor reviews, husband wanted to play the new Tron video game (PS3) because he's... a huge nerd. He said he doesn't really like it (although he keeps playing it???) and that it's mostly just "running and jumping" like "Prince of Persia only in a Tron universe."

It looks a lot like the movie and it's got some dumb bits with er, Kevin Flynn (aka "The Dude-erino") which looks about as realistic as the "young" Flynn in the movie. That was extremely creepy, in an unfortunate uncanny valley kind of way. The voice in the video game is not Jeff Bridges, and I doubt the audience will be fooled regardless of the frequent repetition of the word "man". I happen to think: If you can't get Jeff Bridges, just forget it (man).

Did you ever hear that rumor about how Jeff Bridges' junk was so big that Disney said he had to strap it down lest he offend? This remains unsubstantiated, mainly because Google searches for "Jeff Bridges Giant ___" are overwhelming. (Here you may imagine me spending a good 10 minutes contemplating whether I'm comfortable with my both my parents and current or potential future employers reading various words for male genitalia on my blog. I finally decide to be conservative on the issue.)

Anywho, as far as I can tell, you run around in your neon jumpsuit and occasionally slash at people with your special frisbee. There's some dreamy ambient music, which is fine, but I'm surprised there's not more of the cool Daft Punk score from the movie. It also seems like there'd be more riding of "light cycles" and "recognizers", although M says it's possible there's more of that later in the game.

I find the game Somewhat Tolerable, mostly because it's fairly quiet and inoffensive.

Precious things

2011-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a visit to see my friend A and her new baby, P. Baby is lovely and I had a nice time snuggling with her and a few days of non-stop chatting and laughing with A in our natural habitat: the couch.

Have a look:
My own little one is posing quite nicely for her own photo sessions lately - isn't this great? It really seems to capture the essence of Kaya (Mainly, boredom and disdain.)

W00t PWN: Left 4 Dead 2

2011-01-11T01:24:00.000-08:00

Husband is playing Left 4 Dead 2, "Swamp Fever" a game about 4 people fighting zombies in a hillbilly town. It is quite unpleasant because, aside from the constant rabid-dog snarling of the zombies, the entire game is punctuated by the sound of shot guns and characters shouting "reloading" for no apparent reason.

One plays "co-op" with three other people (which means, you play with 3 other real people and the computer plays the zombies. Some of the zombies explode acid and some seem to be inspired by that Edgar Allan Poe story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue?

When it comes to zombie lore, most people will agree that the zombie's head must be removed, which makes sense because like, the former human is dead, right? The vessel, as it were, is rotting flesh, presumably unreliant on a highly functioning central nervous system, which accounts for the grunting and the lurching walk, amirite? To merely shot them... so what? They're already dead. But, anyway, in Left 4 Dead 2, you just have to shot them a couple of times.

Have you ever noticed how in most zombie stories, blue collar folks are amongst the few remaining humans who must fight the zombies? Never, you know, former art history students. I suppose the blue collar folks are more likely to have guns or, better yet, sickles. I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about what I would do in case of a zombie attack. Option one is to board up my entire house windows and doors and cower inside with husband and cat. Option two is to steal a boat and wait it out in the middle of Lake Michigan (with husband and cat). Or else, I suppose, row up to Canada (surely impervious to zombie attack?). As far as I can tell, those aren't options in Left 4 Dead 2.

M rates this game "pretty fun" and then he shrugged, non-committally. I rate it Quite Unbearable.

W00t PWN: Kinect Adventures

2011-01-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Because I love my husband so very much and because I'm such a fine wife, I got M an Xbox and Kinect for Christmas (xmas=xbox, see?) He was thrilled, and I quite like it too. When you're playing the Kinect, it's like you're Tom Cruise in Minority Report because you don't have to hold a controller or anything, you just move around and it knows what you're doing (something to do with infared friggin' laser beams?)

Kinect comes with a disk called Kinect Adventures! which has like 4 or 5 little games you can play with a friend. The best one is probably River Rush, where you're standing in an innertube raft floating down some rapids and you have to move right and left and jump around. It's very easy but it's fun and not bad exercise. Another game is called 20,000 Leaks, in which you're standing in a small aquarium for some reason and fish are breaking it, and you have to "fix" the leaks by putting your hands or feet over them. It's sounds dumb, but it's fun.

The best part of Kinect Adventures! is that it takes a picture while you're doing this stuff and it's basically the funniest thing you'll ever see. Then you log on to their website and you can download the pics or send them to Facebook. I only wish they were higher quality images because I love them so much I want to make next years Christmas card out of one.

I would rate this game Good Times - it's great because you don't have to practice - you can just start playing - and you can play with a wide age group of people, and no one really wins or loses, which is nice. It's even fun(ny) if you're just sitting there on the couch watching other people play too.

Huck Finn

2011-01-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

I wrote about the Huck Finn controversy over on my other blog: check it out!

Grannies

2011-01-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pics from our trip -

M's Gran, happy as a clam with a kitchen job:
These are my grannies. (Grandma J is wearing a sweater that would have been quite a contender in our contest last year!)

And here's a picture that just cracks me all - all the dudes thinking real hard over a game M got for xmas:

sledding

2011-01-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

Oh, I meant to post this video with my last post - it's really short but cute!

Nephews

2011-01-05T05:08:00.000-08:00

A few days after xmas, my sister and brother came to town with their little monsters and the fun really began. Exchanging presents was complete madness, with all of us lavishing attention on little people we love but don't get to see that often. M and I went slightly overboard and bought nephew #2 a four foot tractor complete with a scooping shovel, and he gratified us by going completely out of his mind, just like we figured he would. While C tried to calm the chaos down by shouting at my dad (aka, Santa), Slower! Slower! and then, in one hilarious outburst, PAUSE! Do you have to poo-poo? M had a different technique, "Don't stop,", he said, "Until everybody's cryin'."

We also went sledding on my parent's gentle slope. That was a good time.

Nephew #2 has the energy of about 3 kid's worth, but just look at that face...

Christmas Recap

2011-01-04T04:53:00.000-08:00

M & I went to Indiana on Christmas Eve, where we went to a candle-light service at my parents church, then to my grandma's house, which is an old tradition. Grandma has a tiny little house, which doesn't stop her from inviting over everyone she knows. She rather ingeniously puts boards over her sink and stove piled with food and encourages us to eat heavily.

My cousin C's kid really appreciated our present - he's a sweet kid.

On Christmas Day, M's Mom and Gran came over, as well as my Grandma and Uncle D. We all had a lovely dinner with my mom and dad.

I just like this picture. Do you know my mom put up THREE Christmas trees?

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve we went out to dinner with friends and my sister and brother-in-law in Indianapolis, then we went to this hotel party and also spent the night there. The hotel party was a bit silly but still fun. They played all this bizarre 80s hair band music like Pour Some Sugar on Me and Welcome to the Jungle all night, while we were all in the mood for dancing to ... something good. Then this crazy girl tried to get in a fight with us like two minutes before midnight and it was rather alarming. Oh, Indiana!

L asked everyone to tell their favorite moments of 2010 - Cousin C's husband B has been recovering from cancer this year and broke our hearts when he said "any day I wasn't in the hospital". 2011 can only be better for them. (I love you guys!)

M & I had a good year. We both agreed our trip to France was the highlight of the year. (I love you, babe!)
It was great spending a lot of time with my sister over the holiday. My goal was to spend every minute glued to her side and we pretty much did. (I love you, Miss C-illa)
Truthfully, every minute I spend with this guy is my fave - it doesn't matter if we're in France or our back yard. <3

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

Me and the girls

2010-12-23T05:41:00.000-08:00