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!"