In Every Dream Home a Heartache

SCORE. From this AM’s post-vinyasa thrift-shop visit. Now...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:43:00 -0500

SCORE.
From this AM’s post-vinyasa thrift-shop visit. Now I just need to learn DIY framing.

Happy Guy Fawkes Night.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:12:51 -0500

Halloween 1994 In the old Elizabeth St. apartment, on the way to...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:56:50 -0400

Halloween 1994
In the old Elizabeth St. apartment, on the way to Dead Celebrity-themed party. I was the late Anissa Jones, aka the original Buffy.
I’m actually wearing my hair like this right now, post-vinyasa.

Sea Creature, Sex Creature, Woman in Love! Because the 25-year...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:55:08 -0400

Sea Creature, Sex Creature, Woman in Love!
Because the 25-year hs reunion is this weekend, and because it’s always Retro Thursday here.
I cannot believe I still dig this song. Just hearing it right now transports me back to Sunday night dance parties at St. Andrew’s, so long ago that the downtown parking lots were unattended all weekend long. I found this vid today, it’s hilarious, I know.

Chance seemed to enjoy a very long lakefront Indian summer walk...

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:22:58 -0400

Chance seemed to enjoy a very long lakefront Indian summer walk today.

Subtitled "The enduring rot in American politics"

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:53:00 -0400

Subtitled "The enduring rot in American politics":

Here we go! A dark, dank Monday morning, plus daylight was gone at 7:47 pm last night. Also: the Deere debacle on Mad Men!
This was nice and vicious, too, in yesterday’s NYT.

The $624 Cup of Coffee

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:25:19 -0400

The $624 Cup of Coffee

Kenyan Kitteh I’m trying to get a huge amount of reading...

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:21:23 -0400

Kenyan Kitteh
I’m trying to get a huge amount of reading done before the weather gives up. I’m mostly through Frances Osborne’s The Bolter, the salacious bio of her oft-divorced great-grandmother Lady Idina Sackville, who kept a serval cat as a pet. Next up is the post-Katrina NOLA crime tale Shake the Devil Off.
Then, when the weather turns, I’m gonna gut the kitchen.

Photo

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:06:46 -0400

“Pop Musik,” M, 1979. It’s Retro...

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:30:00 -0400

“Pop Musik,” M, 1979.
It’s Retro Thursday.
Writing about Ernest Ranglin, the jazz guitarist credited with coming up with the riff that is ska, led me to “Rivers of Babylon,” the 1972 Melodians’ version, which Ranglin played on/arranged, which led me to YouTube to find Boney M, who covered it in 1978 in a discofied version. This prompted me to hunt down the black-German (really!) disco act’s 1979 hit “Rasputin,” which I think I saw them perform on Soul Train, which led me to another mind-blowing track from this era.
Some days it’s hard to be productive. LalalalalalalaLA.

Chance loves the new doorless door! The screen is in transit....

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:02:00 -0400

Chance loves the new doorless door!
The screen is in transit. The window glass is going in today, after I did a little more painting. This was a complete stroke of luck: I planned to get a new back door, but as usual was completely appalled by the prices Lowe’s wanted for their cheap plastic-y crap. Plus they were more expensive than the in-stock, because it was special order, because it was a 30-inch, because I live in a house built in 1924 so it’s all a big hassle for big-box corporate retailers of consumer junk to carry this size. I was planning a trip to Architectural Salvage Warehouse Detroit to scope out what they had, but a week later I was walking the dog down the alley and found a white storm door, full view, just the kind I wanted. I went home and got my tape measure (every single guy I told this story to asked me, “But did you measure it?”) and it was 30 inches. I popped it in the car, spray-painted it black, and yesterday my genius contractor got it to fit inside the existing frame and dealt with Andersen’s 1-800 line directly for the screen order, which saves me the always-dispiriting visit to Home Depot. Total cost: screen, labor, + shipping: $160.
I’m gonna paint that threshhold thingy. Black black black.

“Was John Cazale the Greatest Actor of His...

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:23:00 -0400

“Was John Cazale the Greatest Actor of His Generation?”
New York, July 24, 2009.
No matter how many times I’ve seen The Godfather II, I still cry at this scene.
Poor Fredo! Poor John Cazale. There’s a new doc on his life/career.

“Watching Whales Watching Us”New York Times...

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:31:00 -0400

“Watching Whales Watching Us”
New York Times Magazine, July 12, 2009.
Best thing I’ve read all week; click image to link. And that includes the snitty Vanity Fair article about the Madoff boys and the New Yorker profile on Nora Roberts.

(Photo credit: National Geographic, of course!)

Apologies for complete lack of interesting content of late....

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:43:43 -0400

Apologies for complete lack of interesting content of late.
I’ve been checking this blog every morning to get myself fired up for that whole work/$/renovation algorithm. The upstairs is on the agenda—all gray/blue/purple/pink.
I also love this one. In sum, they almost make up for a Domino-less world.

CityFest 2009. In the Executive Transport Vehicle on the way to...

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:35:10 -0400

CityFest 2009. In the Executive Transport Vehicle on the way to see Todd Rundgren.

A robot was among the guests at Gwen’s birthday party last...

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:56:18 -0400

A robot was among the guests at Gwen’s birthday party last night.

The Yard Is DONE. Look, Elysse, that peony bush is thriving!...

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:08:12 -0400

The Yard Is DONE.
Look, Elysse, that peony bush is thriving! Thanks for getting me started & I wish you were still nearby.

Happy Birthday to Me! I have to say that the past year was...

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:44:47 -0400

Happy Birthday to Me!
I have to say that the past year was unusually…eventful. In a good way. I feel like I achieved some important goals that I hadn’t exactly set for myself at all. Double-surprise there!
My birthday actually arrived a bit early this year, I’ve been saying. So I’m still thrillin’ on all of that.

This post has absolutely nothing to do with GM. Click through...

Sat, 30 May 2009 13:29:00 -0400

This post has absolutely nothing to do with GM. Click through for saga of crazy surfing family (not pictured). Seven people living in a Chevy, wtf?!
AnswerGirl has deduced that the band two of the sons were in in the early 1990s was The Flys, and the hit was the ultrasexy “Got You (Where I Want You)”. And yeah, that’s Mrs. Tom Cruise in the video.

My Desk, 14 May 2009. Most of the time when others ask what I do...

Thu, 14 May 2009 14:49:00 -0400

My Desk, 14 May 2009.
Most of the time when others ask what I do for a living and I reply “freelance writer,” they immediately assume journalism. I thank god every day I never pursued that line of work; sometimes I think I have like zero ambition, but the truth is I love what I do and it doesn’t really feel like a job.
If I was a journo, of course, I’d want to be writing for the New Yorker. Here’s a riveting tale, in Twitter form, of why that gig could kind of suck. Loved all of his work before this.
(BTW that Aesop face stuff on the right—from Australia, hard to find here, it’s the sh*t! I bought a stash of it at a garage sale two years ago for $10 and was appalled when I found out what it retails for.)