Life's a Beach

So we are visiting friends and family in Sydney and trying to spend at least one hour a day at the beach. The Australian sun is too fierce to have whole days at the beach, as we did in my childhood. You would burn to a crisp, factor 30 notwithstanding. We try for an hour or two from 10 - noon or even better from 3 onwards, where you can end up eating fish and chips, as you sit all sandy on the steps, and feel the good life around you.

We usually go to Maroubra beach (pictured) - closer, with great waves, but rougher and windy; or Bondi - further, much more glam but very expensive parking and half an hour away. I love the waves, and jumping through them fills me with a child like glee. It's wonderful to jump the waves in my childhood beach with my son. I always say that Sydney is a great city to grow up in, because even though it's as urban as any other metropolis of five million souls, the beach keeps it from getting too detatched from nature. In the city of Sydney, you are still aware that nature is bigger than you, with awesome thunder storms and the every day majesty of the surf.

Good bye Umbrella...

To continue our quest to see as much performance art pieces as possible, we went and saw the last act of James Thierree's show at BAM.

It was everything you'd want it to be - lyrical, amazing, visual, intense, with the most fantastic acrobatics, climbing up and down those huge industrial swathe of ropes. I loved it.

We've been really lucky and seen some dazzling shows lately. It had a totally different feel from Fuerzabruta - sadder and sweeter. Feurzabruta - I've told everyone I've met to go see that show, and I still can't pronounce it! - is more experiential and rave like, AU REVOIR PARAPLUIE, is more emotional and lyrical but both were fantastic in the truest sense of the word, weaving new fantasy, with amazing images. DH sees these shows and says how lucky we are to live in New York...

It's also great to see shows with another sensibility. These were not performed by American's and you can tell, there is something different about the energy or the intent. And it's great to see different perspectives.

We went and saw a very american movie last night - no country for old men, make by the Cohen Brothers, and I also thought it had a European sensibility to it, because it was about aging, and losing hope, and there was no neat happy ending, and it lacked that insistent optimism and sentimentality that I often find in American films. It was a terrific piece, wonderfully acted and directed, and sad, also...

A Fan moment

I didn't mention that we had also gone to see Chita Rivera at Feinstein's, on the Upper East Side. Now the ues is not a place I often or even occasionally go to. And when ever I do go there, I scurry back home pronto, as it's too... too something for me - too refined? too rich? too old? too formal? Something.

We go to this tiny cabaret venue, it seats about 120? maybe a few more. Not many though, and sit and eat our horrifically overpriced but really quite delicious beef and wait for the main event. We are the youngest couple by far in the room, and all the women there, of a certain age, have a certain look - vaguely stretched out faces, perfect noses, teased hair. They all look like sisters (or clones) thin and bony and bejewelled.

And then Rosie O'Donnell walks in and waits impatiently for the maitre d' and I think how much rougher she looks in real life, and how shiny her hair is. Then Chita comes on from the back of the room and puts her hand on my shoulder as she walks in. I wasn't in new york in the 70's and 80's so I don't have a history with her, but I love seeing someone who has real charisma at work and she was so charming. She can still belt it out and made charming allusions to her age (when I played in West Side story in 1964 when I was an egg) and a pleasant evening was had by all. It was clear that she loved performing and was so happy to be there, that we were happy to be there with her.

Afterwards I did the female thing and rushed to the loo and while I was safely locked inside my cubicle Rosie and another woman walked in, the woman trying to sell her something - involvement in her latest documentary, something like that, and they turn to talk about Barbara Walters and Rosie says something like 'she's really not a very nice woman at all' and I thought, it could have been Barbara in this cubicle, how would they know..

Anyways, I go out, and cross the foyer to go back to Feinstein's (we're in a fancy upper East side hotel, and as I walk, who should walk in front of me, I could have touched him we were so close, but Bill Clinton.

I was so surprised and delighted and astonished. I rushed back to the room to tell DH - I just saw Bill Clinton! I was gushing. As I told it to a friend later, he said, Chita was expected and Rosie didn't mean much to you, but Bill, he gave you a real fan experience. And I have to say he was right. I felt like a real fan. Seeing him, so unexpectedly, made the night for me.

Dreams Made Flesh

On the w/e we went and saw Fuerzabruta from the same folks who brought De La Guarda - this dream like dance visuals, it's hard to explain. You stand the entire time, and the event goes on around you. Actually, it felt like going to a rave, with that music and lights and then there were people swooping from the ceiling (on wire) and doing amazing things with water. It was both dream like and edgy. I said to DH we really have to go to Argentina for a rave one day, because what they are bringing to us is just amazing.

Giving me goose bumps

So we went to see Annie Lennox at the United Palace Theatre way up in the stix - around 165th St in Washington Heights. It was in this funky, huge converted Church (maybe it's still a Church, but that night it was a concert venue.)

I just love Annie. It's personal, I feel if we met we would be friends. And seeing her perform - this is the 5th time I've seen her live, is just wonderful. She always gives me chills, she's so good. Her voice is effortless, just soars up, so strong and clear. And the melodies and lyrics, so haunting. It was a great night.

We also had that small new york moment, when, as I was watching the seats in front of me - I don't know if you play this game, but I often watch people and try to figure out the connections between them. So two women, roughly the same age (mid 30's) came in and sat in the 3 sets before us, and chatted. And then this quite dashing man, 10 years or so older, came and sat between them, and I was trying to figure out who was whom, with the more vibrant girl nodding so attentively to him and the quieter girl fluttering her hands, not quite touching his shoulder. And when the man and the quieter woman went to get more drinks, the more vibrant woman turned to us and said directly 'so you're probably wondering how we fit together' and I laughed, startled, and said, actualy we were. It turns out she's the dashing guy's sister and she's trying to help him with his new girlfriend (who she doesn't know) but frankly, she was more charming and if that the level of women he's used to, the new girlfriend won't cut it. But it was so sweet to actually have one of my connections verifed.

A great night out all round.

the saga continues

It's veteran's day, combined with the shift in daylight savings after Halloween, and suddenly it's dark dark at 5pm. I've got a beef and wine stew scenting up the house. We're cooking stews because, you guessed it, the house is till a total mess. Everything, books, papers, wine glasses, is covered in a fine white dust. I clean and the next day it's as if the dust pixies came out at night and dirtied everything up again.

Sorry to moan, but really, that's the only thing going on in my life right now. Someone emailed me the other day and I said 'I can't do another thing, my plate is absolutely full!' with that weird pitch mother's can get in their voices before the shrieking starts. Luckily, they can't hear my tone in the email, but they didn't answer back either...

I feel that after December 1st and my last big event for the school, I can start to calm down (though December 7th is another smaller event) Okay, after december 7th, I'm officially calm. Except that we leave for Sydney on December 17th - always lovely but not necessarily calming. So by Jan 14 (after the 4th grade ELA exams) I will officially be calm. There, I've set myself a deadline, and I'm sticking to it.

Did go to dancedancepartyparty again, for the first time in a long time, and enjoyed it. Still regret that they no longer let my son come with me, because he loved it and he's coming with me meant a) no whose going to stay with him worries and b) we both did exercise that we enjoyed. Still, I will try to make it next week because I do love dancing, and I miss it.

Next posting, the bathroom will done and the moaning will be over! I'll have photos to prove it :)

When Head is Stupid, Whole Body is Sick

Isn't that a great saying? My contractor (Jiri, call me George) said it to me today, after he mistakenly took my son's keys, in addition to the set I had given him, causing some concern... I have those stupid keys which only the Managing Agent can have cut for me, and as she and I are currently at war, if I lost those keys, I wouldn't be getting any others any time soon.

The bathroom is dominating our lives, and certainly dominating our flat as the rubble and weird boxes grow and the space shrinks. We are down to the sofa and the coffee table, all other space is taken by these huge boxes.

Shall I tell you my restocking saga? Suffice to say that you better read the small print carefully. Some websites charge a 25% restocking fee - it's going to cost us over $200 to return the stuff we ordered that was too big. The pitfalls of the Internet! Well, at least we have all the right equipment now (or its getting here) and I feel that in 2 weeks time, we'll have this jewel of a room and space in our home once more.

Other than that, I'm still enjoying Life, but not watching any of the other new fall programs - they didn't seem to grab me. I am loving one new show which didn't get any media attention - my sister told me of the Israeli version first, but they have a sort of American Idol for psychics - America's Psychic Challenge (the first being how to spell the word psychic, as I misspelled it 3 times in a row!) The premise is in each episode, four contestants who claim to have psychic abilities compete in a series of tests designed to illustrate their clairvoyance, such as finding a man hidden in the trunk of one of 50 cars, correctly pairing up five brides and five grooms and precisely identifying a series of specific details in a police investigation of a violent murder scene. At the end of each episode, the two weakest contenders are eliminated, while the top two return to face two new challengers in the next episode. (don't even know who I'm quoting here, but they summarized it nicely)

DH keeps going - but they got it wrong, and I say, look at how much they got right. There was one where they took the psychics to the room where Janis Joplin killed herself, and the psychic goes... I'm getting the name Anne or Annie with the letter J. I thought that was amazing, and he's scoffing from the sofa. Some of the contestants are way off base, but some are freakishly accurate. As you can no doubt tell, I'm enjoying it a lot!

So it's television and renvoations - except for last night, which was the Candy explosion that is Halloween. I have to say that Tribeca does a very nice halloween, such cute costumes, and kids going shop to shop and collecting candy. Some apartments really get into it, and have wonderfully spooky lobbies, some shops can barely give out Tootsie rolls, but the restaurants are getting more into it, giving out far too fabulous cookies that the munchkins reject but their parents gratefully accept. Disrespectacles did it's traditional thing of handing the parents a glass of wine - very cizilized indeed.

We ended up having a bowl of pasta at Max's, a newish restaurant on Duane St which serves really nice pasta - and more importantly to our son, he got an amazing amount of booty, and loved walking around in his purple alien costume.

windswept and interesting

You know how you want to breeze in, be all windswept and interesting (a phrase that my husband made up when he was away on a ski trip) and have a fascinating life.

Well, today that ain't going to happen. I was looking at my previous blogs and thought 'but they say it all'. It's been bathroom frustrations (7 days of mess for 1.5 days of work, and the plumber's insurance still hasn't come through! So he can't work here. Blaugh!!) Then beading joys (new necklace and two pairs of earrings, or really 1.5 pairs as I haven't finished the second pair. But I will, and they are sparkly. I love sparkly earrings. Necklaces can be subtle, but earrings have to glisten and gleam, otherwise they just get lost in my hair) and work. Nothing new to report. Not reading a fabulous book (am reading, I'm always reading, but it's an average wizard book ala Harry Dresden and not going anywhere very fast.) Listened to the new Gloria Estefan - which I'm enjoying, I used to have to know what the lyrics meant, but that necessity left me and now I can listen to Latin music happily. Went for a walk, fall finally arriving in nyc, and froze my fingers as I strode down Battery City Park.

That's about it. More interesting life next week! (though I am aware of the Chinese curse - may you live in interesting times) so maybe I'll amend that, to more interest post next week. Surely that's safe enough.

Jewel of a Bathroom

We are renovating our laundry, getting rid of the large sink (who does handwashing anyway - not me!) and putting in a shower, turning the apartment into a true 2 bed, 2 bath resellable slut - once seen, everyone wants her...

So we chose such pretty coloured tiles and it's going to be gorgeous, but in the mean time, they are drilling, loudly, pulling up the floor tiles. Mess, weird gunky stuff and tile dust I can tolerate, but the drilling is driving me crazy.

Beads, glorious beads

Have I told you my new obsession about beads? If I haven't, things have progressed. I now have made for myself about 10 necklaces, 5 bracelets, 5 pairs of earrings and about 12 rings. I know, I really need to get more earrings. One day I'll even manage to photograph some of them and upload them so you can see what I'm up to.

I love it. I said to my sister its like a perfect storm connection of all my other obsessions. I've always liked make up, the colours, the glitter, the combinations. And I love sweets/candy, the small burst of flavors, the colors, the combinations. Well beads surpass all that. So I'm not buying 22 shades of reddish brown lipstick in order to find the one true perfect one. I'm buying 22 purple beads in all sizes, shapes and colours, and mixing and matching them to find a combination that delights me, both in shape, and colour and texture. It just makes me happy.

This week, for the first time, I'm going to a bead fair, which is very exciting. I've been to the shops on 6th Avenue - there's a whole string of them from about 36th to 38th. But they are so expensive. I've become an ebay hawk, looking at all the beads, buying far more intelligently after a few early errors (you can't believe how small 3 mm is until you're handling it. But bigger is not always better, I've actually had more difficulty incorporating beads that were too large, because then they dominate and unbalance the pattern.) I've started buying A grade semi precious beads rather than D grade. And I've discovered the high cost of cheap findings. In beads, the beads can be cheap but the wire has to be the best available. Ditto the tools you use. No point buying the cheap ones, you'll just be back for the German made ones a week later.

But with beads, as in life, the right tools make all the difference. I can now use crimp beads properly, my bracelets no longer self destruct (sadly I gave my sister my first one and it broke on the plane as she left) I'm now designing pieces with people in mind, and gathering tons of garnets to make my mother her perfect black and red necklace (her colour choice)

It's interesting, people are polite about my necklaces (Oh, you made that, it's so pretty!) but really admire the rings. (they offer the comments spontaneously and when they hear I made it, instead of it's so pretty they're amazed. It looks so professional!) I went to one wire wrapping class and now have these gorgeous, interesting and yes, even quirky, rings which I feel happy wearing.

Photos to follow, I promise.

Fall TV

I know, there is much to discuss, where to begin.

I never did tell you the amazing night at the theatre I had where Patti Lupone sang her heart out in Gypsy. I saw the piece with Bernadette Petters, a softer, sweeter version, but Patti just filled the stage. When she was on you didn't need to look anywhere else. It's funny, you could think it was a dated piece, but that fear that you are forcing your dreams upon your children, that you are sacrificing your dreams for them, that doesn't leave so easily. And that famous, frightening line "I was born too early and started too late..." not so much for women now, but surely still applies to plenty of our mothers... And so the piece, set in vaudeville in the depression era, still resonates and speaks to us today. She was wonderful, she actually gave me goose bumps. It was a magic night in the theatre, the ones you dream about and so rarely get.

So that was the last thing I really wanted to blog about.

The thing I want to blog about now, quite urgently, is the fall TV schedule. Because if you don't all get behind Life, my great fear is that they will cancel the best new show on TV. It's such a ridiculous title, so easy to over look, so hard to google. In the end I googled Life - zen cop eating fruit to find it (and isn't that an intriguing line) It's about a cop in LA who was falsely accused of murder and put away for 12 years and then exonerated and given a huge pay out. He returns to the police force, much to their dismay, and lives out his new quirky life, trying to deal with the rage by being purely in the moment. He is also an oddly perceptive cop, and solves his POW with his own particular insights. Interesting, funny, about crime and punishment and even something about life and what's important (I am not attached to this car, he mutters as he drives his new, beautiful sleek ride)

I like some of the other shows - Pushing Daisies is so visual, it's a treat. But didn't love Dirty Sexy Money as much as I would have liked and had to stop watching Big Shots because the men just drove me crazy. Not really into Reaper or Chuck, but quite enjoying Aliens in America. I haven't watched Private Practice at all and have stopped watching Grey's Anatomy (I'm just not interested in the characters anymore) I hear good things about the new series of House and may return to it.

But the show that has captured my imagination is Life and I want it to continue... so please, Tivo, DVR or even watch it live (!) but watch Life. It's worth it.

Want to know more about fall tv? This is my favorite website - TWOP. Not sure about their new glammed up site, but liked the old one pretty well. Very passionate chat boards. Of course, my great concern is that they are not covering Life. I do so worry it will slip through the cracks...

There ends the rant. More normal quirky things will follow...

I'm back...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I had 3 seperate people tell me they had come to my blog but where was I...

Summer ran away from me and then school began and that ran away from me too, and then there was so much to say I didn't know where to start and kept putting it off until it all felt too much.

So I'm starting here and now, with this pathetic excuse and will start blogging tomorrow, just like a normal day.

Back on line,

see you soon,

amf

Dance Dance Party Party

DanceDancePartyParty (who can resist that name!) We've been going semi regularly. I love it. In case you've forgotten, here's what it entails - women get together in a darkened room to dance in gym clothes for an hour, just let loose and let the music move you, with no drugs or alcohol, no men, no other agenda, just moving for the love it.

Last week I created the dance list for the first time, an hour of get up and jump music with one cool down song at the end - here's my playlist:

DDPP playlist

Pump It, Black Eyed Peas
Sexy Back, Justin Timerlake
Vertigo, U2
Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5
Beautiful Life, Ace of Base,
Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Kylie Minogue
Love is a Stranger, Eurythmics
Don’t Phunk with my Heart, Black Eyed Peas
Naughty Girl, Beyonce,
Conga Habanera, Angelique Kidjo
Mambo No.5 Lou Bega
Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous, Ru Paul
Don’t Call Me Baby, Madison Avenue
Respect, Aretha Franklin
Knock ‘Em Out, Lily Allen
Girlfriend, Avril Lavigne
Like a Star, Corinne Bailey Rae

There's nothing I don't love about this place!

It was lots of fun, and I'm already on creating my next playlist ...

On Line Shopping

You know when you’ve been doing something for ever (cartwheels, perhaps) and someone else says they wouldn’t know where to start and you look at them, puzzled and concerned…

Well, I’ve been on-line shopping since before my son was born, so that’s over 10 years now. I did it before paypal existed. And one of my friends confided in me that she’s scared of on-line shopping, in case… in case… she couldn’t articulate her fears but there were there and they were real. So I decided to write about my shopping experiences, and tell you about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

The Good:

These companies are the standard bearers, the shopping experience to which every other on line company should strive:

Amazon.com – yes that amazon. It’s a wonderful company, I own no shares in it, but actually feel customer loyalty to it. They have a clear cart, you understand where everything is, it’s a very easy site to navigate and the more you use it the better it reflects your needs. They have free shipping (for orders over $25.) My only complaint is if you ever want to call them and speak to a human, it takes a bit to find a phone number, but emailing complaints or queries is very easy and they always answer quickly. If you ever have problems with a product or delivery, they always err on your side.

Zappos.com - I recent bought a pair of shoes from them, and they are the guys who introduced me to the free return option. So impulse buying becomes even easier! The shoes didn’t fit right and they didn’t have the size bigger, so I had to do a straight return. I gave them back to the UPS guy who visits my building and the next day I got an email from them, saying they had received my return and refunded me. Gold standard service, I will buy from them again.

Freshdirect –this is for New Yorkers only, but it’s a wonderful grocery shopping site. It’s range is oddly limited, but it’s recipe option (they give you a recipe and then you can order all or some of the ingredients listed below, they email you the recipe on delivery) is just terrific. I have made errors that were entirely my fault – (I ordered decaffeinated instead of caffeinated coffee, big mistake!) and they corrected it immediately, no questions asked. They have great customer service.

The Bad:

Ebay is iffy. My main problem is with their feedback system - if you have a 100% record and you complain about bad service, the guys you complain about will give you a negative feedback and spoil your rating. So I think it actually stops a lot of people justifiably complaining and gives people artificially high ratings. I notice that some people start getting a lot of neutral responses, which doesn’t affect ratings. I take those neutrals to mean that this person is unreliable and avoid business with them if possible. I’ve been both a buyer and a seller, and have had a few very unsatisfactory buying experiences which were not resolved to my satisfaction at all. But my selling experiences have all been terrific (and I am counting my blessings there, because if the person doesn’t pay, you’re stuck in limbo waiting for them.)

The Drug store. They bombarded me with emails saying I had been such a good customer, I would get a discount, or I had spent so much I got 10% of my previous purchase back as shopping dollars – but I had to spend them within a month. If I’ve just spent $90 with you, I may not need to spend more within 4 weeks, and you sending me daily emails saying I’m going to loose my $9 advantage is not helpful, I feel badgered. Also, if you really appreciate me so much, why that time constraint? If I was a good customer, reward me properly, not with all these silly rules and limitations. Give me free shipping for next purchase, no matter when it is, give me something I want, not something that suits you. I didn’t get the next order and won’t be buying back from them in a hurry. And that’s a service problem, not a product problem; the products they sent me were fine.

The Ugly

Actually, even the ugly is not too bad. I’ve never been ripped off, ordered and paid and not received something. But I’m cautious in the sites I choose, they have to have a certain look or have a RL existence too.

iKitchen – I ordered and paid, and waited, and waited. And finally called after 6 weeks. They told me that my product was on back order, but had never emailed me this information. They told me it was in stock now, and I should get it in 2 weeks. I waited, and waited. After 3 weeks I got an email saying they didn’t have it and they refunded me. Not ugly in that I was ripped off buy annoying and I had to do the chasing. Bad customer service, I won’t go there again.

Overstock.com – they have a $5 restock cost, as well as return shipping fees. It’s just not worth it. There are much better customer service sites out there.

Ikea. I hate Ikea with a hatred that is passionate and personal. I love their stock, it’s their customer service that lets them down so badly. I preface this by saying in live in Manhattan, and the nearest Ikea is in Paramus, so it’s not like it’s a 10 minute jaunt to return or pick something up. The problem was theirs – they sent me this enormous wardrobe without the screws, so I had a million pieces with no way of putting it together. So I called, and waited, and waited. I put it on speaker. I was on hold for 30 minutes. Really. They said they would mail me the screws. Well, they didn’t. So a few days later I rang again. Another 30 minute wait. Please send me the screws. The sweet customer service girl in North Carolina promised me that the store in New Jersey would send me them asap. By the third call the girl said that there was a note in my file that I had been upset in my last phone conversation, but she couldn’t get the New Jersey office to do anything other than forward my request. It took a month for the screws to arrive, in the meantime the space was overwhelmed with Ikea pieces (we had opened every box to search for the screws) and mess. Ironically, if I had ordered the entire thing on line, and not gone in to NJ, the service would have been better. Ikea gets zero for follow through on its customer service.

So like the girl with the curl, the good is very, very good and the bad is so not worth it.

Almost forgot to mention ebates! If you link to them before you shop, you will get all sorts of discounts and points and cash rebates. Worth doing! (though I often forget)

Re the Swimming thing

We went to Sandy Hook on the weekend. It's a very sweet beach, unspoilt, no rides or 600 vendors around. Busy but not so crowded you can't find space for your blankets or bump into people in the water (which I have done at Coney Island. I have Coney Island, it's way too crowded for me.) We caught a ferry there from Manhattan which was actually part of the pleasure of it, (unlike catching a crowded subway or waiting at 34th St for a train) It was swift (about 40 minutes) but very expensive ($32 per adult, not much less for a kid) So I have manged to find some water, but it takes $100 to get there... still, I'm glad we went, there's something about being in the ocean, bobbing in the waves, that soothes and refreshes me. I do miss the sea.

take a quiz, answer life's questions

You know how sometimes you get stuck in the weird world of the Internet and find yourself taking all sorts of quizzes (come on, work with me now, I'm not the only one who does this!) So I did the Color Quiz, whose results were somewhat dubious except for the desired objective: Seeks success, stimulation, and a life full of experience. Wants to develop freely and to shake off the shackles of self-doubt, to win, and to live intensely. Likes contacts with others and is enthusiastic by nature. Receptive to anything new, modern, or intriguing; has many interests and wants to expand her fields of activity. Optimistic about the future.
Or it wasn't that the results were wrong, but that the language was a bit odd, so it all didn't quite fit right. Still, I feel that I do want to live intensely (well not intensely but I want my life to matter, really matter to me. And yet I want to be able to let go and breath through it at the same time. I have intense contradictions)

I've had long email and chats with friends abroad today, and the world is okay, but could do with more love. Like every day, I guess...

Friday the 13th

This is the second Friday the 13th we've had this year. I know because the last one was the day I was flying back from Sydney to New York. I told my mother that my hope was that the flight would be emptier as the superstitious would stay home, but it turns out the sceptics were out in force, because the plane was full!

This Friday we flew no where, but stayed in the city. I was in a room that was so air conditioned that I was shivering, (What an waste of power!) listening to the very first performance of a show my husband is working on. I've never sat in on a reading so early in the piece that was interesting, and makes me want to see how it grows and where it goes. Although needing refinement, the bones were really good, and I was moved.

And then I had that oddly unsettling experience of going to an unfamiliar Wholefoods. I know the products they sell, but they were all in the wrong order, in the wrong place, so I could find nothing I wanted. I still manged to spend $58 on one meagre bag. I did buy one of their cloth bags which is designed to be reused. It has excellent long handles so you can carry the bag on your shoulder if you want and cost $1. They also said they'll give a 10 cent discount every time you bring it in. That's very generous and will encourage people to bring it back. I'll definitely be using it again.

Works of Art

I've managed to avoid presenting youtube clips. It's just too easy in a way. Also, while many are quirky, it's such an invitation to waste hours of your life, I can't wholly condone it. But this, this is amazing. A guy recreates the Mona Lisa using Microsoft paint.

See, the potential for art is everywhere!

In our home, we are currently on a beading kick. When I first bought the bead sets, we threaded them and if you made a mistake you had to start again. Clearly not a sport for champions. But then, (and this shows you what a rank amateur I am) I discovered bead boards. Highly sophisticated - basically it's a board with grooves, where you lay your patterns out before threading them. And now, we going gang busters, churning out bracelets with ease. And I'm designing bead rings! I have large fingers and find it really hard to find jewellery that will fit, especially as my current obsession is to have rings for my thumb and pointing finger. But now I can measure them out for myself, and that makes me very happy. So we are hunting beads down and have just put in an order to make this. I'll tell you how it goes...

July already! Let's go swimming!

Sorry I haven't written in so long, I feel bad that it's July already.

I had my sister over to visit, and that was wonderful. I had the end of the school year and that was crazy. I hate having 3 separate events to go to in one day. I know that some people aren't happy unless they have to leave this party early to go and be windswept and interesting somewhere else, but I am not one of those folk. I like going to one place and knowing I have time and space to settle in and enjoy myself - or go home and watch tv. But I don't want to go to a drinks, then a pot luck, then a show. It frazzles me. So end of June is a frazzling time, where we go to recitals and funny, sweet but really bad end of school shows, and pot lucks, and parties, all the while doing our usual life stuff. So the quirk factor fell.

But now it's July, after July 4th, and life can return to normal. I am on the quest for the perfect outdoor pool in New York city. Or it can be indoor, but be accessible. Basically I want to sun bake (don't talk to me about cancer, I grew up in the 70's, I know that a tan makes you look better, you can't talk me out of it) and then take a plunge, swim a bit, and go back to sun baking. I want a resort pool, that's not too crowded but is kid friendly and is in Manhattan. So far, not much luck.

But I did look at all the outdoor pools on Google maps. What amazing site that is! If you haven't been, go look up more or less any busy street in New York and click on the 'at street level' option and you will see a 360 degree shot of the the street. I saw my street. And I saw all the roof top, outdoor pools. Frankly, they all look a bit grim, but I'm going to go out to all of them, because the quest is on, I want to swim, but don't want to spend an hour in the subway to get there (or home again) I want to swim local. (of course I also want to eat chocolate with no consequences. Neither may happen but I keep holding on to the dream.)

An Avid Readers Bill of Rights

I read all the time. Every time I leave the house I have a book on me, so delayed trains, waits in doctors offices, waits in any lines - none of this bothers me, because I have my book.

But I also have learnt that there are some books I don't want to read, even though everyone else is reading them (Da Vinci Code being one that springs to mind.) I had an interesting insight the other day when discussing theatre vs film, and how in film, the director can control where you look by where s/he points the camera, but in theatre you can look anywhere you like, and it makes for a different experience. I used to think books, like film, had more control, because you had to read what was there, but then I realized that people skim, they read the end first, they miss bits, they read out of order. The do all sorts of weird and mysterious things and the author can't control for it at all, so books are more like plays when it comes to the audiences focus, the audience can do pretty much as it wants.

And then I came across this - Danial Pennac's bill of readers rights which spoke to me:

1. The right to not read

2. The right to skip pages

3. The right to not finish

4. The right to reread

5. The right to read anything

6. The right to escapism

7. The right to read anywhere

8. The right to browse

9. The right to read out loud

10. The right to not defend your tastes

I'm with him!

plastic culture

What do I consider the opposite of good people doing quirky things?
Celebutants.
I never really got Paris Hilton, I mean she didn't do it for me, what ever glamour she was spreading I couldn't see it. So I always felt out of the loop with her - when the press reported on her, I just turned the page. No rage there, if people want to know, let them. And we all have the cause celebre's we like - I used to follow stories on Diana, Princess of Wales. I loved to see pictures of her, and frankly, in the beginning, she was just a debutant who married well, so really, what's the difference.
But this getting out of jail free card. Because she cried. Because she had to be alone with her thoughts for 2 whole days before she broke. Because she can't read? What's with that?!
I was never part of her posse but now I actively despise her. And I want my revenge - just like in the wonderful film Dangerous Liaisons with Glenn Close, I want the same ending, where her fellow elite punished her by hissing as she came to the Opera and forcing her to leave. I want her to be rejected and ignored. Because I feel that people who put themselves so far up above the masses, that laws don't apply to her, that drink driving, which kills people, doesn't apply to her, that putting her lights doesn't apply to her - and why don't any of these women have drivers? What is their problem. I want the world at large to become bored with them and their problems and give them no more attention. Only then will I be satisfied. Let's ignore the bitches, because nothing else is going to stop them!

Other Blogs

So, MUG - Manhattan User's Guide - which sends me emails every day, and has a pretty good hit rate in terms of me reading them- sent me one with this blog. Without even reading it I know I'll love it because it's called I hate duane reade. And the sad truth is, I'm just disappointed that I didn't label a topic with that charming title myself. Because I am one of the converted. I had no intention of joining the cult, had no history of animosity, only came to these shores 5 years ago, but DR has done it's utmost and now I too belong - I hate Duane Reade with a passion that is personal. I don't know what they do to their staff but they are the most miserable, surly, unhelpful people you are likely to meet. That company really needs to do something fast. I will even go to my extortionate local pharmacy rather than go to DR. Not that DR is any cheaper...

Another blog that was funny and interesting was ranting about grammer and clarity, which is one of the quirky, almost old fashioned one might say, things that I care about. I mean I swear like a sailor, or probably worse than a sailor - there is no word I will not use, no phrase that has not passed my lips. But I like sentences that flow, words that follow each other in the appropriate order and I love puns. So I'll visit this is not a sentence again.

Tinkering with knives

I was going to blog about Legally Blonde, the musical, which we went and saw last week. In fact last week we had an unusually adult social life, where we went out 3 times without my son. Usually we go out once max, and most times we take him with us. So it was a treat to go out and talk to adults without having to take younger ears/tastes/needs into account.

But I digress.

I was going to talk about Legally Blonde, but I'll report on that later. Instead this article in the NY times prompted me to recall a conversation I've had quite a few times recently.

In the suburbs, or when I grew up.. .(god, the phrases you promised you'd never say) there were/are yards, and garages, and general outdoor messy space, space where a child can tinker. But in apartments, in new york city, there's no real space to make mess. The apartments are too small and too valuable (not on the floor, carpet, sofa!) to allow much freedom in mess making, and so any truly messy projects are not encouraged.

The only place that mess is still expected to occur and cleaning up is relatively easy, is in the kitchen. Not only that, but you have the added benefit of being permitted to play with knives and fire (in the loosest sense of the word) - truly adult experiences.

So it's no surprise to me that my son loves to cook. He's allowed to pour, to add, to sift. He can chop, hold knives longer than his hands, he can stand by the pan (on a small stool) and saute. He can put things in the oven and watch them rise. Cooking is the one mess making, tinkering, experimental, experiential place that is still available to him in the hot house environment of a NY apartment. And not only that, but it's something we do every night (or most nights).

He didn't like to read very much, but cook books, with their glossy photos and interesting words, drew him. So I encouraged him to read, then we would buy the ingredients and the next day, voila, a new taste sensation. Some were more successful than others, but we would discuss why certain recipes appealed and others did not. I even gave in and made Beef Wellington one night (we saw Gordon Ramsay do it on TV. Never do what a TV chef does, they make it look effortless! ) which was a lot of work for a Friday night dinner, but it shows that family meals can be special and can be worth effort (of course, there are are more nights when I just chop bacon and add it to the tomato sauce and penne.)

So that's my ramble for today - the kitchen as the last resort of mess and tinkering, where play leads to a cooked meal. And the added benefit - my son will definitely be able to cook when he grows up.

Flavor of the week

The Flavor of the week is Pistachios.

I'm one of those people who love pistachio icecream, it's an exquisite, tantalizing taste. I eat the nuts themselves, but I don't find much use for them in cooking elsewhere... but then...

I'm trying to eat better and we went to an upmarket french restaurant and there was nothing that appealed so I ordered a salad. And it was one of the best, most flavorful salads I've had in a long time (though when I described it to a friend she said it would more accurately be described as fruit and meat, but they called it a salad and so do I)

It was a combination of watermelon, proscuitto, goats cheese, a bit of lettuce and a smattering of pistachios, but what made it fabulous was the pistachio flavored salad dressing. It was both subtle and blended everything together perfectly. I just couldn't figure out how they infused the dressing with the pistachio flavor. I'm off to google salad dressings, to see if I can make it at home.

Edited to add - I found pistachio oil which I had never heard of and assumed to be very hard to find - well I found it in the first place I looked - Fairways. So I'm off to experiment with salad dressing

Spring Awakening

So last week my husband organized tickets for Duncan Sheik's small concert at this converted Church on the Upper West Side. Duncan Sheik wrote Spring Awakening, a musical that my husband really loved, but I didn't. He loved exactly what didn't work about it for me - which was that it was set in the repressive 1890's in Germany, but the kids would break into rock songs to reveal their inner most thoughts. And I kept thinking, kids who could express themselves like that, wouldn't be as afraid or timid or trapped as they were when they weren't singing. It's incongruity didn't work for me, whereas it was exactly that exploding into song but being so timid to parents and authority figures that worked for him. Well, he loved the music, which I liked but didn't love either.

So I wasn't that excited about the Duncan Sheik concert. But it was actually quite lovely. He sang a few songs from Spring Awakening but mostly sang other stuff, which I didn't know. And he sang some love songs which were so sweet without being mawkish, moving and simple, that I really warmed to him and his style. He was also quite overwhelmed by the response of the audience (about 800 or so? I can never guesstimate crowds properly) and interacted really sweetly with the audience, in what felt to be a genuine manner. So I warmed to him and to his music. We were about the average age of the audience (late 30's, early 40's) There were a few people in their 20's but it wasn't a young audience by any means.

I'll end it with the lyrics from one of the songs he sang, and you'll see what I mean:

Days Go By

I know it's not fashionable
To be this hopeful,
Or laugh away.

I didn't think it was possible
To be this grateful,
Any way.
And I know it's not sensible
To be this passionate,
Everyday.

Days go by.
I catch myself smile
More than you'd ever expect.
It's been a long while
Since it's been okay
To feel this way.

In the volumes of history,
Have you ever seen anything
So pure?
In the wildest mythology,
Were the gods and goddesses ever
So in love?
In your own experience,
Have you ever known tenderness
Like this?

Days go by.
I catch myself smile
More than you'd ever expect.
It's been a long while
Since it's been okay
To feel this way.

These are the most precious of all my days.

Now doesn't that bring a smile to your face? He had quite a few songs like that. Those ones, I liked....

I read this article in the new york times about Leonard Limoy and his photography. I hope I can get this image uploaded. I loved his site! There was something playful and beautiful and just visual, about these women you never usually see (without lots of coverings).

I remember a few years ago when we went to Barcelona (what a fabulous city it is!) and there was a decent enough beach there and I went with my son but the thing that caught my eye was that there were these groups of grandmothers there, the Spanish grandmotherly type you usually expect to see in black tops and skirts, just sitting at the waters edge, chatting happily and completely comfortable and topless. And I loved them for it. One of the younger men sneered when I told him about it, saying well he wouldn't want to see them. And I looked at him and said, they weren't doing it for you, they were doing it for themselves. That year I bought my first bikini, well ever, I think. And I wore it, thinking of them, and wearing it for myself, and loving the tan it gave me.

I will definitely buy the Nimoy book on the Full Body Project when it comes out!

Eyes are Burning

Hard to be quirky when your eyes are burning... (sounds like a riff from a midnight oil song - though interestingly itunes doesn't seem to have Beds are Burning available)

It's been a full week since the fire and the apartment still reeks of smoke and my eyes are still burning/watering (though you think the two would cancel each other out) So haven't done many quirky things.

Still working on Taste of Tribeca. It's going to be excellent!

Didn't go out at all because of the eyes thing. Did babysit for a friend and realised it's been a long time since I've been near a baby. I forgot about the whole burping thing. Still he was a very sweet boy perfectly behaved. Did watch lots of TV. I love good television. For me, right now, the best television is up there with film, literature, any other work of art. I was enamoured with the Shakespearen breadth of The Wire. And am finding it hard to stick with the slow, sad ending of the Sopranos. Last week's episode just send chills down my spine. O Christopher, there is no hope for you now...

Re other kinds of TV shows (which can't even fit into the same paragraph as the above) - I'm totally over Grey's Anatomy which is just annoying to me now. Ditto Desperate Housewives (which I haven't watched in ages) and Lost (which lost me in the second series.) I'm hanging in there with Veronica Mars, just. And I'm bored with the 600,000 crime proceedurals out there. I feel the need for a new twist or something to engage me once more.

We did go and see Nixon/Frost last week. Not being American I don't have the same relationship with Nixon that the rest of the audience did. Not being British, I didn't have any relationship with Frost either. But as a portrait of 2 men on the edge of desperation, it was worth seeing. There were many parallels that I could see to Bush - a president holding himself above the law or modifying the law to serve his own purposes. Paranoia and grandiosity. And on the Frost side -when your only success is in breaking someone else, what does that do to you... Ultimately I was glad I went but dissatisfied. It seemed that the damaged life that followed was not sufficient punishment for the damage done to democracy.

And watching this just as I am following what Bush has done to the laws concerning the replacing of US attorneys. Whereas before he could suggest but the state government would have to approve his suggestions, now his suggestions have to go in, unopposed or even explored, for the life of his Presidency. A small flourish of the Patriot Act. And why is that remotely patriotic? He is destroying the checks and balances of democracy and like Nixon, can't see that that is wrong. So I watched the play entangled with my feelings about the present and walked out unsettled. Which is a sign that the theatrical experience worked.

Hopefully will go out more soon!

All Fired Up

We had too much excitiment this weekend. The building next to us had a fire. It started with us smelling smoke, then hearing sirens, then looking down at the street to see everyone there (incl the firemen) looking up at us. So we grabbed our passports and greencards (always have your papers in order!) and put on our shoes, and even remembered to take our computer back ups, and left the building.

The fire had started on the 4th floor next door. We live on the 4th floor. So we had the nerve wracking vision of flames licking awfully close to our windows. It was the worst fire that I had ever seen personally. I kept thinking, we're here, it's just stuff in there, the important things are safe. When we were in crisis I was calm, but afterwards I started to tremble.

The firemen seemed to take forever before the hose got running (apparently they originally started to take the hose to the back of the building, which is where the fire started, but had access pb's, so then had to go to the front of the building which is where all the onlookers were standing) Eventually they broke the windows and plumes of grey smoke rose up into the air, and red flames licked out, turning the brickwork black. Finally the water began to have an impact, and billowing clouds of steam and soot started to rise. The air on the street grew thick and hazy.

Luckily some neighbors invited us into their apartment, so we could stand inside an watch it all. My son was very upset. Eventually we booked a near by hotel room and took him to it, so he could crash. They let us get back into the apartment at around 1.30 am but by then the apartment was far too smoky and awful to sleep in.

The next day we spent cleaning and counting our blessings. The fire didn't jump, the sprinklers didn't go off, there was no real damage that couldn't be washed away (exept for the doors which the firemen broke, but they had only good intentions, so we don't hold it against them!) Note to self, if you are ever in a fire again, don't lock your front door!

On Sunday I did 7 loads of washing, but still the stench of smoke permeates our apartment. My eyes got very swollen and red and weepy. The boys are fine, neither of them reacting at badly as I am.

Today the house is cleaner, though you can still clearly smell the smoke. The builders arrived at the building next door, which was thankfully vacant. Hopefully by the end of this week, things will be back to normal.

Sometime in early May (hey, at least I know what day it is!)
I lose track of the dates. Luckily the computer reveals all.

Saw a cute website today from an author- Miranda July- promoting her book - No one belongs Here more than You. It makes me want to read her book. Certainly she fits the quirky format and rates a mention!

What did I do today? Not much. The pollen and dust from upstairs are really bothering me. (they're renovating. Removing all the floor boards, which is good because the new floors should be far more insulated and thus quieter but I am suffering in the short term, working from home I'm affected by the noise but even more so by the dust. My eyes are burning. I look like I've been crying.)

But I did do some work on the Taste of Tribeca. This is a wonderful NYC event, which many attendees don't even realize is a fundraiser for 2 public schools. Instead they just think they are eating delicious foods from some of the fanciest restaurants in New York, listening to music and generally having a great time. Come and play - it's worth the time, the food is genuinely terrific (as an 'old timer' - Megu gives fabulous tastes and Bubby's give the largest portions) and the money does go to a great cause, so it's win/win.

The other quirky thing I wanted to mention is Librarything. I get so many books from the library, I lose track of what I have read and what I haven't. So when I found this website, I loved it. You list all the books you've read. You rate them. You collate them. Then you see what people who have read similar books are reading now, and perhaps pick up some good suggestions. You can talk about books in the discussion boards. You can find people who share your passions. There are a disproportionate amount of sci-fi readers there, but that's good for me, as I read lots of it. But type in your book, see how popular it is (ie how many other people have listed it too) see what they thought of it, see what books they recommend, see what books they think are the opposite. If you want, you can spend hours there.

Saw a good episode of Jon Stewart last night, where he interviewed Christopher Hitchens about his new book - God is Not Great.
Sadly the New York Public Library, that most excellent of resources, doesn't have it right now.

I love nypl. My local library - well I wouldn't get a book out of it if they were giving them away free. It's tiny, disorganized, with borderline hostile staff. (with one notable exception, a very charming and helpful young woman whom I'm always happy to see, but other than her... well grim is not the word!)

However, being part of the far larger new york public library system means that my miserable little branch can access over a million books. Most sci-fi, an amazing amount of romances (though very little to no erotica. I think they judge the books by their covers. If they are too raunchy, they won't buy them. But the more discrete ones are available.) and usually a very wide range of non-fiction. All it takes is a little patience and you can get almost any book you want. (and remarkably, for a much longer wait, you could get pretty much any DVD as well. But you will wait a couple of months, so you have to factor that in.)

So I was sad that God is not Great is not available. I will put it in my amazon basket (can I say that I am a true amazon believer. As someone who reads mostly genre fiction, I get so irritated with book stores. They have the latest release, which may be number 4 of the series, but not the first book which started it all. Or they have the entire Robert Jordan series (all zillion of them) and no Ursula le Guin. I find it increasingly hard to get the books I want and if they're going to order it in, why, then I'll just go straight to Amazon and order it for myself. Which is what I do. But I digress...) I will put God is not Great in my amazon basket and see if it pops up in nypl in a few weeks, as sometimes can happen or then just bite the bullet and buy it.

I'm currently reading Crystal Soldier, courtesy of nypl, and enjoying it, but not in that insanely passionate way I feel about the earlier series (set far in the future, if that's confusing enough for you) I love the Liaden series which is space opera at it's best.

Edited to add that God is not Great has been found at NYPL. There are 45 copies and 234 reserve holds. I put my hold on yesterday (May 22nd) I'll report back when it arrives. All good things come to those who wait :)

How we came into being

I was sitting with Friends telling them of the interesting quirky things I was doing. And they told me of the interesting quirky things they were doing. And we decided that a blog listing/linking all our quirky interests as we hang about New York City, would be a good thing. So here we are...

I'll give you the 3 examples that started this conversation off:

1. Dance Dance Party Party is a weekly event that takes place in a dance school near Astor Place. Women only, you basically arrive in your gym gear at 4pm and dance, jump, even skip should the mood take you, in a darkened room lit by one of those daggy disco balls. A fabulous time is had by all. I love to dance, and hate that you can only start at midnight! Starting at 4pm (sans liquor) did seem a bit early to me, and it took me about 15 mins to get into it, but by the time Jump (for your love) came on, I was jumping with the best of them. We were all singing out loud to Gloria (I was surprised at how 80's the music was. Apparently the DJ's - any participant who wants to - makes the Ipod list - and the music varies wildly.)
I was properly exhausted after 1 1/2 hours of full on dancing but my feet didn't ache - because I had been wearing the right shoes!! Will definitely go again.

2. Didn't make it but loved the idea of going to a loft in Tribeca to listen to jazz! Someone kindly forwarded me their email and I'll definitely make it to the next one.

3. Upright Citizen's Brigade for affordable, very funny improv

And that's how we started.

Doing anything interesting and quirky? Tell us, we'll add it to the list. Someone wants to know about this stuff, and how much easier if it is all one page!