South Beach

We went on a little mini-break to South Beach last week. I was in desperate need of a vacation. It was super-relaxing and really fun. We stayed at the very posh Shore Club. We splurged on an ocean-view room with a balcony and had to make tough decisions every day like, Do we sit next to one of the pools or by the ocean today? And, What type of fruity cocktail shall I ask for the next time the waiter comes around? Aside from laying around and drinking cocktails, we took lovely walks along the boardwalk at night and checked out the art deco hotels on Ocean Boulevard. And I bought some really cute sandals, which, now that we're back in Chicago, I realize I won't be able to wear for some time.Ready for the beach
Lounging
Miami Style
2gether 4Evah!
View from our balcony

I am an effing ROCK STAR!

I've been meaning to do this for some time but finally found the right materials - namely some tape and M's old music stand, furled. Now I can play the guitar AND sing. At. The. Same. Time. It is awesomely awesome and I'm in Rock Band Heaven.

Will someone please send me one of those harmonica things you put around your neck? I need one.

The garden

The garden is blooming and things are looking gorgeous. Pa and I are hoping it's going to be a good growin' season for tomaters.* Here are some lovely things:Aren't these Bleeding Hearts amazing? They look like jewels.
Kaya in the sun
A slightly obscene tulip.
*We planted radish seeds a few days ago and they're already starting to come up - apparently they only take 21 days to come to fruition or whatever. I'm excited about an early harvest!

Another installment

Ah - I found an interior that's less dorm room. Another (I'm sure you'll agree) fascinating look at our lives.

A re-enactment

Found this really cool "animation" software via Non-Working Monkey a hilarious blog I read.

Like that? There'll be more. Much more.

stuff I like

Last weekend M and I saw How to Train Your Dragon. Neither of us knew very much about it, but the 'Tomato rating was so high we thought we'd better go see what all the fuss was about. We saw it in 3D, natch, and, it was really terrific. The 3D was super-exciting (like riding a dragon!), the animation was really gorgeous, and the story was fun and smart. I couldn't help but compare to Avatar, which was also about flying mythical creatures and had great 3D but the lamest story of all time. I thought the animation in 'Dragon was MUCH better than Avatar and (I don't think I'll ruin either story for you by saying that) UNLIKE Avatar, 'Dragon had a really positive message to make about persons with disabilities.

I read this great interview recently on Feministing by an artist named Sunaura Taylor who talks about persons with body impairments that really made me think for about 2 straight weeks, which I appreciate. I encourage you to read it.

I've watched this commercial about six thousand times since it first came out because I just LOVE the way it was created and the vibe is SO fun. There's a free download of the song on Amazon - go get it!

Happy Easter!

What a lovely easter - we had friends over for brunch and then hung out in the garden enjoying the sunshine. Now it's pouring rain with thunder and lightning! Eek!

I made a crrrrraft for some young chickadees that came today. They're chicks dressed like rabbits, see?

movies!

This weekend we saw The Runaways. I honestly don't know that much about them, but I read this book recently, Lonely Werewolf Girl? And the werewolf girl was really into them. It was a pretty good movie, but it was a tiny bit sad because it could have been much more. It didn't have much more drama then your average Behind the Music on VH1. I found the Runaway's manager creepy in a Silence-of-the-Lambs-kind-of-way, although a friend of mine said he thought he was the best part of the show. Kristen Stewart makes mullet look good. Alia Shawkat (from Arrested Development and Whip It) was sadly under-used.

Also saw Alice in Wonderland on opening weekend, like The Runaways, I thought it could have been so much more. While it was perfectly pleasant to watch, it didn't really make a lasting impression or give me anything to think about, or bring anything new to the oft-told story.

Also got around to watching Push, I mean Precious, on blu-ray. It was very good, although not as good as the book, which I encourage you to start reading today. Gabourey Sidibe was as fabulous as everyone said she was. I love that girl!

Husband arranged a Short Circuit viewing party, which was amusing, but, even poor husband admitted that the movie was a bit longer than anyone could dream possible.

everything's coming up rose campions

Check it out: here are our plants coming up less than 2 weeks after we started the seeds. It's VERY exciting. M & I enjoy mothering them and admiring their progress everyday. Think will start playing classical music for them...Those are tomatoes on the left, rose campion in the middle, and basil on the bottom.

Poked around in the yard and the rhubarb is coming up, as well as a couple of tulips. Some of our herbs are returning and the lamb's ear is re-invigorating itself. Oh, the garden is going to be so pretty!

skiing!

Yesterday we went skiing up in Wisconsin! We used to go to Lake Tahoe for skiing weekends when we lived in California and it was so fun. Wisconsin is no Tahoe, but it was ok. Actually, the "mountains" of Wisconsin are more in line with my skill-set than like, real mountains. M wanted to learn how to snowboard and unfort. had a sort of awful day because he fell down a lot, which is only natural when you're learning to snowboard. But, I didn't fall down at all! And in fact I was very good! I have a couple of tricks to skiing which are:
1. get kinda drunk and
2. follow some moving target (like a little kid).
3. Do not fixate or even look at a non-moving target (like a tree)
Here's M following rule 1.

Peary, Peary, Quite Contrary

M and I started some seeds tonight - we planted some flowers from his grandmother's garden, which hopefully will come out nicely, and a bunch of tomatoes and some herbs. Makes me very positive about spring even though there's still snow on the ground. It's amazing how small they are. I've got an hibiscus pod and seedlings in my hand, and M's got tomatoes there...

Also, because I can't stop, here's a very sad pear.

more amigurumi

I'm still having fun making amigurumi - may have hooked A on it as well as guided her through an ice cream cone which was SUPER cute. I'm especially proud of this little turtle... These little eyes are making all the difference!

satiated

This weekend I had a visit from my good friend A - I took off Friday and we had a full sched of chatting, museum-ing, eating great food, drinking a ton of wine and plotting her move to the Chicago area. After a three-day weekend smashed full of good times (including an awesome book club on Friday night) it's with a heavy heart that I think about going back to work tomorrow. -__-

It's also with a heavy heart (literally) that I think about not eating gourmet food for a few days! My goodness, we did some indulgent eating! Friday afternoon we had brunch at Tweet, Sat. afternoon, lunch at Terzo Piano (the new rest. in the Modern Wing of the Art Inst. It was très chic - check out the dining room below) - handmade tagliatelle and lamb ragu - Sat. evening, dinner at Ante Prima. I was adventurous and ordered Amish chicken liver and gizzard risotto. It was decadent. M ordered a lemon panna cotta that made me realize, for perhaps the first time, that dessert doesn't have to have chocolate in it. Lunch this afternoon at de Cero on the way to the airport. Passion Fruit Margarita, up? Yes, please! Goat cheese tamales? Why not.

An Education

Saw An Education with my mom this weekend - we both really enjoyed it. It's based on a memoir by Lynn Barber as her experience as a school girl in England who had a relationship with an older man. The screenplay is written by Nick Hornby, which surprised me at first because I was all, Hornby can't write about a girl. But, he does, and very well!

The main character, Jenny, is 16 and from a working-class neighborhood of London. She's being sent to a private school by her parents, who hope that she'll go to Oxford one day. She's extremely bright and precocious. She manages to end her sentences with n'est pas and be charming, rather than completely obnoxious. Although her parents want the best for her, her life is mostly about studying and it's only when she meets the dashing David that she begins to go to concerts, auctions (where she bids on a painting at David's encouragement) and eventually go to Paris for the weekend. I don't believe I'll ruin it for you by saying that what Jenny begins to question is why she's working so hard on her education, when a degree from Oxford for a young woman in the early 1960s will only either land her either a teaching job or a marriage. I thought the story was really subtle and smart, witty and very thoughtful. Loved the supporting characters, played by Dominic Cooper (hello) and Rosamund Pike.

Carey Mulligan is absolutely etherial as Jenny, and Alfred Molina is terrific as her dad. Peter Sarsgaard used to creep me out, but he's very suave lately. I thought he had a Ewan McGregor/Colin Firth quality in this movie. Costumes were gorgeous, without being costume-y. Awesome soundtrack - introduced me to Juliette Gréco, my what I've been missing!

amigurimi

Lately I've been amusing myself by making amigurumi, which means "tiny cute thing made of yard" in Japanese. Think I'm joking? So far I've made a Humpty Dumpty, a robot, a carrot, a rabbit and an apple. Cute, huh? If you want to give it a try, here are some patterns. I didn't use a pattern for these, I just got started, and then the creature emerged from the yarn.

Trust Women

This year's Blog for Choice day theme is Trust Women. Look, I get furious, fast, that safe and accessible reproductive health care is not available to Americans, so, when someone asks me, "What does Trust Women mean to you?" my answer is What kind of effing a-hole doesn't believe women should be trusted to make their own GD choices about her own body?

I suppose rage and fury aren't exactly the most useful techniques for battling ignorance and prejudice, but that's how I feel. The alternative to safe and accessible reproductive health is not no abortion, it's unsafe abortions.

Honor women, honor her choices.

Blog for Choice Day (coming soon)

Blog for Choice Day is Jan. 22 - will you be writing?

In honor of Dr. George Tiller, who often wore a button that simply read, "Trust Women," this year's Blog for Choice question is:

What does Trust Women mean to you?

Skinny

So, over on my book blog, Bookish, I wrote this review for a YA book called Skinny, and it's probably the most popular thing I've ever written. It's almost two years old, but it still gets comments. If you would like to read something very amusing, I encourage you to go there, and read said comments, who appear to mostly by young woman who have a book report due tomorrow.

I mostly avoid giving away endings on my book blog because I assume that someone might read my review and perhaps be inspired to read it themselves and I don't want to spoil it. Writing my book blog has drastically increased my memory for the books I read, but not necessarily the endings (which I specifically don't write about). So, actually, I can't even remember how it ends, but if I did, I certainly wouldn't tell them! What does they think teh internet iz? Gawd.

Is it over?

Today we took down the tree and put away the Christmas decorations. Sad. Now we just have to slog through the rest of winter and hopefully squeeze in a trip to a warm-weather location during the intolerable month of February.

Thought I would share a few fun things from our decorations - a gingerbread house and a happy little sugarman. I love the Necco wafers as shingles!

And here's our method of displaying xmas cards - hang two decorative ribbons in the hallway and attach cards with wooden clothes pins. I couldn't bare to take them down yet - I love looking at the cards from everybody we love (and loves us!)

Movies

Over Christmas break we saw several movies in LA - Sherlock Holmes, which was very amusing and fun to watch. So what if the plot's kind of dumb, Jude Law and Robert D. Jr. are in it! It's directed by Guy Ritchie, but, you can still understand it. Mostly. I also saw Young Victoria with and old friend and my sister. It's very pretty to watch and has a somewhat boring plot (highlights include a dull bit on the so-called "Bedchamber Crisis" which is the sort of thing Victorians get in a knot over) but it was quite romantic and had gorgeous costumes and a lot of kissing, the kind with both hands on a persons face and is uh, very nice. Victoria's husband is super-hot, in an Orlando Bloom kind of way.

Sure, those movies suffered from perhaps too much focus on style and less on story-line, but after watching Daybreakers this weekend they rise considerably in my winter-movie estimation (is it Oscar season yet?) Now, you know I love a zombie apocalypse movie, but this one, I can tell you, is NOT worth watching (baring a booze- and shenanigan-filled evening, the result of a dare, mayhaps.) In it, the world is populated mostly by vampires, who live somewhat civilized lives as businesspeople and truck drivers and gardeners and whatnot, only they drink human blood, and almost all the humans are extinct because ... you know. So, the vampires are going to die too. Except for this one vampire? Ethan Hawke? Who's a pathologist? He's looking for a cure. Willem Dafoe's in it too and he has this accent that was surely based on Foghorn Leghorn.

What's really funny is, I'm pretty sure they were going for some kind of Mad Men thing with the costumes and the attitude, but everyone just comes off looking like a maître d'. The ending was so moronic everyone laughed and pointed. But, not as loud as we did during this preview. It actually has a taglines that reads, "Terrifying! Will do for skiing what Jaws did for swimming!"

Holiday Recap Pt. 3

On the last few nights of our trip, thanks to the arrival of our parents, we were able to do something heretofore impossible since the arrival of the beloved nephew: go out at night. So, we stuck those two suckers with baby-sitting duty and hit Tiki-Ti (the tiniest tiki bar I've ever been to with amazing drinks).

And then hopped over to the Dresden. You may remember the Dresden from Swingers - this couple, Marty and Elaine, have been playing there for something like 20 years. Their rendition of Norah Jones's Don't Know Why remains stuck in my head (no matter how hard I try to get it out!) The restaurant is totally Mad Men, and I said next time we should hit the thrift store first, get all Joaned-out, and go for dinner.

On New Years Eve we had the opportunity to watch L play while we noshed on a great food whilst drinking bubbling libations. What a fine evening! New Years Day was rounded out with a nice brunch and two (!) celebrity sightings (that guy from Blink 182 and Gary Sinese.)

Holiday Recap Pt. 2

When we left Lake Arrowhead and went back to the city, we went to the Griffith Park Light Festival, which, perhaps pales in comparison to my hometown's annual light show at the city park (organized by my uncle), but is nevertheless an extremely amusing adventure.
We also satisfied a long-held desire to hang out on the Standard rooftop and lounge around.

Holiday Recap Pt. 1

Just got back from a marvelous trip to LA to visit my sister, brother-in-law and Nephew. We had a marvelous time despite poor M being sick (he's a good sport, that one) that I cried big, embarrassing tears almost all the way home. We rented a cabin for Christmas in Lake Arrowhead which is just a few hrs drive from my sister's place - very beautiful and we found a cozy little spot...

Christmas in California

M & I are in California visiting C&L&M - we rented a cabin in the mountains around Lake Arrowhead and have been having a grand time the last few days. There's a bit of snow on the ground here, a great deck, gorgeous view of the lake. Cabin very cozy and has fireplace and out-of-tune piano to amuse us all. Yesterday morning we opened presents and was really fun to watch Little M unwrap and flip his lid. Otherwise we (I?) have been drinking a lot of wine, making lovely meals (xmas dinner: ham, cornbread stuffing, corn pudding and mashed potatoes followed by strawberry triffle [auth. British dessert] - sure, everything was white, but, it was delicious!) I'll post some pics later. Missed folks back home but numerous phone calls assured all are well. We're back to LA this afternoon and some sunshine and warm weather!

Avatar

Last night we saw Avatar in X-3D (whatever that is). I was one of about 5 women in the theatre and probably also only one of about 5 who didn't cream my pants watching it. Look, I don't like James Cameron, he's a giant fuckwit and a major d-bag and this movie absolutely stinks of him. Exhibit A:

PLAYBOY: How much did you get into calibrating your movie heroine's hotness?
CAMERON: Right from the beginning I said, "She's got to have tits"...

Sure, Avatar has just about the coolest visual effects you've ever seen, but would it have killed them to put a decent story behind it? It goes like this, some US corporation has gone to a foreign planet to harvest their... get this... unobtainium and, metaphorically, what is clearly being acted out is the destruction of Native American populations by the settlers. The "noble savage" naturally has a closer relationship to the earth and their culture and knowledge is far reaching and more sophisticated than the settlers can even imagine. That's a story that's been told over and over again (by decedents of the settlers, mind you) and Cameron certainly doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table and I have to wonder what his point is. And, knowing that he's a giant douchebag, I naturally assume his point has something to do with assuaging his massive white privilege. I'm not the first and certainly won't be the last to bring this up. Here's an article that spells it out rather eloquently:

These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations. The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.

Also the lead actor's an Australian guy playing an American and he loses his accent all the time. And the eyes are gross. I've heard some people say it's a kid's movie, but it's definitely not. It's very violent. I wouldn't necessarily recommend not seeing it, but watch it with your brain turned on and ask a lot of questions.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

A bit of snow and some sudden cold (but not actually *that* cold) in Chicago and suddenly we're all in the holiday spirit! We're busy doing our part to revive the economy by shopping and traveling. Last weekend we went to Indiana to visit our families. For the first time ever, I had a cuddle with my nephew that was mutually satisfying. If he could talk, I think he would have said, "Take me away with you, Auntie K!" haha. All I could do was buy him the most expensive toy in the store and hope that someone tells him it's from his aunt and uncle.

Last night we went to M's office party - it was in a huge antique shop called Salvage One and we had a nice time, if not successfully mingling, then walking around the store and plotting the purchase of a Herman Miller vintage chair (if it could talk, I think it would have said...) I don't know if this is a wide-spread phenomenon - I also saw it at a party in Vegas - but... mashed potatoes in a martini glass? I am both captivated and repulsed. Speaking of, there were a couple of photo booths at the party and we took these Twilight-inspired pictures.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

This weekend we saw the latest Wes Anderson movie - Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on a book by Roald Dahl. The film is shot in stop motion with little animal dolls. I think Anderson, like me, must have been fascinated by the stop motion films of our youth - I used to LOVE that stuff.

The story goes: Mr. Fox is an adventure-seeker and despite promising Mrs. Fox he would stop stealing chickens, he goes back for "one last job". Local farmers try to kill him and Mr. Fox and his friends and family have to go underground to escape. The plot is simple - what's fun is the characterization and the attention to detail you'll find in any Anderson film.

I'm sure it will be called twee and quirky, as if those are terrible things - my only complaint that it was a little too old-fashioned - I found the lighting/coloration really overly-orange/brown and, dare I say? Ugly? I thought it was a weird choice. It felt like, in the search for throw-back imitation, someone got stuck on the wrong end of the color wheel.

George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Jason Schwartzman were fabulous as the Fox family - there is some very funny dialogue and great language. All the characters use this phrase "What the cuss?" which M & I have been repeating ad nauseam ever since.

My favorite thing about the movie is that even though the characters wear suits and have little houses with furniture, they frequently "revert" to their wild-animal nature - they growl at each other and tear into their food like, well, foxes would. Ultimately what saves the Foxes and their friends is capitalizing on their strengths as wild animals. I couldn't help but think of that other not-quite-for-children-kid's-movie: Where the Wild Things Are. Must be something in the current cultural milieu that wants to see/embrace children acting "wild".
If you're interested in the creation of the movie, there are a couple of good articles worth reading:
Wild, Wild Wes from the Nov. 2, 2009 New Yorker
and an interview in the AV Club.

OMG! New Moon!

Uhm, OMG. So, Sunday night? I went to see New Moon with my friends? And, it was totally awesome. I mean, the movie was so stupid it was ridiculous, but we had like, the best. Time. Evah.

I didn't write about New Moon on my book blog because, well, I could barely read that shit. In New Moon, Bella, dopy teenager, gets dumped by her vampire boyfriend CLEARLY because he thinks he's protecting her (from all the associated ills of dating a vampire) but she doesn't know it, and I believe that even we, the audience, are not meant to understand this very clear and outrageously obvious plot device. Bella spends a lot of time literally clutching her gut and moaning about the hollowness inside her. Then, for various reasons, Edward goes to Italy and tries to get his ass killed by the Volturi, who are like, "vampire royalty." And have British accents. For some reason. Meanwhile, Bella's bff is a werewolf, and he's like, totally in love with her.

Sounds like a really lame plot for a movie, right? It is! But, somehow, it's just about the funniest thing you'll ever see, and we all had a terrific time laughing our asses off at the slo-mo, shirtless, ridiculousness of it all.

You know, even though the Twilight series is just about the worst piece of trite, moronic literature to come out in a very long time, and I think that it is, yes, very dangerous to young women and if I were a dictator (one day!), I would have the books burned in the street - they've spurred some pretty hilarious and awesome writing and creativity. Here are some of my favorites:

Girls Just Wanna Have Fangs, by Sady Doyle

Thirty-Four Ways New Moon the Movie Is Better Than New Moon the Book

Frankly, I can't wait until the NEXT movie, the book-version of which I read approx. every 50th page. In it, even though Bella wants nothing more than to become a vampire so she can spend the rest of eternity with her vampire boyfriend, she's pretty skeeved out by the idea of marrying him. That's like, a little too much commitment.

super-weekend

Oh, my! What a weekend we had! I took the day off on Friday (I believe the appropriate term is "mental health day" and a much-needed one at that). Had coffee with a friend, did some sewing and relaxing, and then that night saw Margaret Atwood read from her new novel, The Year of the Flood. It was amazing. Then I stood in line and she signed my Handmaid's Tale while I effused. Dream come true.

Sat. we cleaned out our garage, did a little yard work (it was amazing weather this weekend in Chicago area - 70ish), then we went over to a friends house for pizza and Project Runway and a bizarre not-quite-horror movie called The Haunting of Molly [Something-or-Other].

Today we went on a bike ride in the Forest Preserve up to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Oy! My aching toches. I think we rode about 15 miles. The gardens were lovely today, but everyone and their mother and their screaming child had the same idea, make it less of an idyllic stroll through the gardens and more of crawl through a roving mob of humanity. Oh, the teaming masses. How I detest them.

I'm sewing farm animals for some 2 year old twins that we're going to visit in NY next week - will post when I finish - think will be really cute. Here are a few pics from the gardens:

Happy Trick or Treat

Had a really nice Halloween yesterday - we got a LOT of trick-or-treaters - I was afraid we were going to run out of candy and had to start rationing. One of the kids said "Happy trick or treat" to me, and made me laugh for the rest of the day.

We had a Halloween party with the theme "Your Childhood Nightmare" and our friends had some great costumes - have a look:

M almost went as Santa as well. And then our friend G. came in dressed as a creepy uncle and I said, "OMG! I almost went as an uncle too!"