Clinton Hill Chill

Hmmm

2011-05-30T19:37:00.001-04:00

So I've gone and moved out of Clinton Hill.

Guess that means this blog is officially dead. RIP.

Oh. Hi.

2011-03-13T19:24:00.000-04:00

Work's completely taken over so I haven't been updating.

Update: Love my job, I'm now single, moving out in June.

A lot happens in 2 months!

Carry on.

2010: The year in review

2011-01-01T01:21:00.001-05:00

It's 1am on New Year's Day. I spent the morning working from home, then Alex and I headed to Lincoln Plaza to watch Tron in IMAX 3D. Dinner at Beer Table, then home to watch the ball drop. And here's 2010:

I celebrated my best friend's engagement at The Breslin

I started the new year off right with some homemade niu rou mian (complete with handcut noodles)

Snow day!

The Good The Bad & Casiokids at Littlefield

Eros came to visit

and Pies n Thighs repopened

I met Thu Tran and watched Cirque du Soleil's Ovo

I WENT TO KENYA

A fun opening night at Brooklynite

A rooftop BBQ at Mike's

GSH at Summerstage

4th of July on Long Island

Went to Vancouver to see Mom & Giles

Nana turned 30, we celebrated accordingly

Andy & Katie came in August...

DEEZ NUTZ

Blondie at Nokia Theater

We ran for boobies in Central Park

Rynie & Mae got married

I met one of my heroes

Went to Toronto for We Day, got to spend time with Andy & Katie

Dre got married & I explored San Francisco solo

In November I met Jen's husband and reconnected with Rob.

The NYC Marathon

In December I got a new job!

3rd Annual Gift Exchange

Beat that, 2011!

Ayo!

2010-12-10T08:16:00.002-05:00

I've been slacking on this blog but have a good excuse. Here's why, explained efficiently in bulletpoints:

I quit my old job, which involved a 2-day offsite meeting and training my replacement.
I started my new job with only a weekend as a break.
My new job keeps me very busy and I leave work at least an hour later than I used to.
I've been knitting a lot but they're presents so I can't post pictures of anything.

Here's why I like it better than my old job:

No useless meetings.
When you want something to get done, it gets done.
I'm using my brain again!
Working late doesn't really feel like working late.
There's a water carbonator for making your own club soda.
The kitchen is always stocked with cereal and oatmeal.
The location is close to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods & Shake Shack.
Everyone is smart & resourceful - which means I will not have to deal with any stupid employees who won't read any of the materials provided to them for their own information.

And here's what's going on:

I played a D&D type board game with my boss & coworkers last night that lasted til 10. Well, I lasted til 10 but I'm sure it went later.
Then I met Cinco at Heathers to hear Tropical Jeremy & Veronica Vasicka spin. And to pick up Cinco's copy of The Walking Dead Compendium 1. It weighs about 5 lbs.
That was a very inefficient bulletpoint.
Menu planning for our holiday party - harder than you think.
Mociun-Baggu-Alyson Fox-Shabd-Repetto-more studio sale with Ying & Angel last week, Bonbon Oiseau sale this week.

I didn't have time to put this into a ppt presentation but if you really want me to I will.

Holladaze

2010-11-28T11:38:00.001-05:00

For my holiday party this year I'm asking everyone to come in ugly/holiday sweaters as well as make their presents for our gift exchange. In trolling Etsy for some inspiration I came across these gems:

Acrylic-angora icicle sweater from Sweet Moonlight Shop

Reindeer turtleneck sweater from Snap Vintage

Moose sweater! Awesome! From Bee Humble.

Vintage LL Bean polar bear sweater from Conservation Clothing

80s boatneck sweater from Dirty Beatniks

My favorite color vintage zip sweater from Mother Midnight

Neon 80s vintage ski sweatshirt from flockflockflock

Awesome penguin sweater from Conservation Clothing (finding a lot from them but they're too much money)

1970s fair isle tunic sweater from Adrian Company Vintage

Vintage German/Alpine apres ski top from Vogue Vintage

Another ski-inspired sweater. From Second Wind Vintage.

Vintage men's ski sweater from Mother Vintage, chicken head not included

Sparkly mock turtleneck tunic from Snap it Up Vintage

80s ski sweater by Dale of Norway from Kasi Found This

Sparkly sweater dress/tunic from Conservation Clothing

Ralph Lauren German Shepherd sweater from KMalinka

Le Tigre 80s reindeer sweater from Conservation Clothing

Sequined sweater from Conservation Clothing

Sparkly beaded sweater from Runway Vintage

Til April...

2010-11-22T00:18:00.001-05:00

The last outdoor flea of 2010. The indoor one at One Hanson can't compare.
I ate brisket, elotes, had a sinful bittersweet chocolate shake & modeled eyewear at every single booth with Angel & Ying.

Announcing...

2010-11-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

The 2010 Bonbon Oiseau Studio Sale! Wine, snacks and local vendors. This will be the 3rd one I'm going to and I can guarantee you will find something delightful to take home for yourself or a loved one.

Saturday, December 11th

1pm-5pm

116 Noble Street
Brooklyn, NY

An open house with spirits, beautiful gifts, friends & bloggers, designers & artists
a first look at the Bonbon Oiseau Holiday & Spring Collection
+ our favorite but still to be announced talents.

wooden toys and cutting boards, hand-mixed essential and body oils and scents, candles in antique jars, a new season of luxurious handknits, handbags from across the ocean,
incredible artworks & letterpress treats,
hand-tied flowers,
and a first chance for winning a basket of amazing goods
with a simple raffle for the food bank for NYC,
and sweet gift-bags filled with goodies from all of us for the first 25.

Say yes.

*same day as the Greenpoint/Franklin Street Holiday Stroll

The last great Caturday in the sun

2010-11-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

Pickled cauliflower from Brooklyn Cured, brisket sandwich from HNH BBQ

Fall in CH

Diplo at Heineken's Inspire party

Aliens

Dres from Black Sheep

Zero Filmfest Opening Night at Nutroaster Studios

An empty lot in Bushwick

The crowd at Nutroaster

Sherlock's Daughter

Asobi Seksu

Stuff that's happened since

2010-11-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

Had dinner with the newlyweds

BK Flea

Bhon SP2011 launch at Littlefield

The 2010 NYC Marathon in Clinton Hill

The NY Art book fair at PS1

Weenies

2010-11-01T21:20:00.001-04:00

Dogtown & Z-Boys, A Nightmare on Elm St on Angel's rooftop

Las Fresas on the bus, esse!

Bang, who shot ya?

My beautiful oxalis

Plushies

Stuff on the street in Clinton Hill

A chill, relaxing Halloween this year, and I still got to dress up. Next year I'll hopefully have my act together for what I really wanted to be.

Wishlisting

2010-10-31T22:12:00.002-04:00

It's officially post-Halloween so I'm thinking it appropriate to post some things from my wishlist. Just coz:

Colorful oxfords by Osborn Design of BK. I first saw them at BK Flea a couple of years ago and now they are blowing up all over the place. I love these shoes.

Gray brogues by Madewell 1937

This adorable little pouchette by J. Crew. I like it in this dark green but black would be good as well.

The Mochimochiland knitting book - I might not be able to wait til the holidays and will probably gift this to myself.

I. Ronni Kappos necklace, available at Twist online and Plastica. I especially love her necklaces with the simple drop pendants like this one.

Le Creuset two-in-one pan from Sur La Table. The smaller pan can be used as a lid for the bigger one, or a small saute pan!

I'd also like a few things for the apartment, like a multi-person raclette grill. I've always wanted one! Since I was 6. The best part is, the newer versions have griddles on top that allow you to use it for more than one purpose. Also, frames. I have tons of art that need to go up, like my Geoff McFetridge Fangframe prints and other art I've purchased over the years. It's inexcusable that they're still in storage.

That's not so bad, right?

BUE

2010-10-27T23:28:00.000-04:00

By Goede on Flickr

The dilemma

2010-10-27T22:57:00.000-04:00

Buenos Aires for New Year's/Robyn's 30th...

or...

Exploring the Berkshires this fall?

Red Hook Sunday

2010-10-25T07:25:00.000-04:00

The Sweetest Thing

2010-10-21T00:21:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I was in San Francisco & Sonoma for Dre's wedding.

I flew out by myself and stayed with Robyn, and since she had to work, I explored solo. Oysters & beer for breakfast, California Academy of Sciences, SF MOMA & surrounding galleries. It's the first time I've done that and it was pretty fun. I sat in front of the giant fish tanks for as long as I wanted and got to skip exhibits that didn't interest me. Got to see some friends (though not everyone) and ate and ate and ate. OOF.

The wedding was really fun too - my cousin looked amazing and we danced all night to a live band. Robyn & I took the ferry from the Ferry Terminal to Larkspur where her old roommate picked us up to take us to the wedding. You seen that movie The Sweetest Thing? We changed on the ferry and wore blue and pink. All we needed was an 80s dressing room montage.

On Sunday, the next day, we caught a ride back to the city with some new friends and on the way we went wine tasting. It was drizzly and cold so we got some Mitchell's ice cream (what is it about rain that makes you crave this!?) then ordered sushi for delivery and watched movies on Netflix streaming.

Then I hopped back on the plane to come back to NYC. Great to be back but not at work!

Caturday on bikes

2010-10-10T10:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a really beautiful fall day. So we got on our bikes...

Dumb asses at the Flea. Literally.

The Chrysler Building from the outside...

...and the inside

The Park Ave Armory Carnival...

It's getting better for me to bike in Manhattan now but it is getting more and more hectic. More dumb bikers, more dumb pedestrians and more crazy drivers. Can't tell you how many people I yelled at yesterday. Cabs pull in and out of the bike lanes to pick up and drop off passengers, people step right out into the street to hail cabs. And then you have dumb ass kids and delivery guys biking the wrong way down one way streets. I yelled at all of them. Dummies!

National Lampoon's Toronto Vacation

2010-10-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

In Toronto I met up with Team Kenya and...

met Miss Teen Niagara...

listened to inspirational speeches...

was amazed and inspired by 20,000 kids...

celebrated Jack's birthday...

rode up the CN Tower...

rode the Maid of the Mist...

ate a lot of delicious food...

biked to brunch...

with Andrew and Katie...

met a pretty kitty with golden eyes...
Goodbye Toronto, I'll be back soon.

I can't wait for winter....

2010-09-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

...so I can get back to those lazy Sundays:

Met Alex at Prospect Park and we biked about 10 miles out of our way to a nonexistent yard sale. We eventually found West Midwood and scored: When Things of the Spirit Come First by Simone de Beauvoir, Burmese Days by George Orwell, a Park Slope Day Camp tshirt (all for $1 total) and four beer glasses in great condition from different breweries ($6) from an old Irish bartender. It's a really pretty neighborhood with some great friendly people.

After picnicking in the park we headed up to the big Atlantic Ave street fair. These girls had a big crowd going on the street.

The Transit Museum was having a fair as well, with old buses parked outside and free admission to the museum. We missed Museum Day on Saturday so this made up for it.

Then Knit & Wine to end the day. Some good wine, some inspiration and a lot of girl talk. But not really girly talk. Gnome sayin?

Flea day Saturday

2010-09-25T23:35:00.002-04:00

Trying plaid shirts on at Koichi's booth - really great stuff, overlooked on most visits

Awesome record digging at Eral Battistea's booth. Seriously - the best selection overall of all the Flea record vendors. That Stryper record doesn't do him justice.

We scored all this stuff! I forgot to include my little drawstring bag with gerbil screenprint from Foxy & Winston. She has a lot of great prints on totes, baby clothing and stationary.

Action & action

2010-09-16T22:22:00.004-04:00

I ran a mile and a half this morning and it was EASY. I actually picked up speed as I was finishing up. It's less than I've been doing - I really need some sort of pedometer or something because I would like to ramp up to at least 2 miles per run and eventually work my way up to 5 miles. Thus far I've been timing myself by the number of songs that go by on my iPod. Speaking of, here is my September running mix. I posted August a bit late so now I'm trying to catch up:

1. Lilac Wine - Nina Simone
2. With Arms Outstretched - Rilo Kiley
3. Redondo Beach - Patti Smith
4. The Fairest of the Seasons - Nico
5. The World's Not Bad - Smoosh
6. Bulletproof - La Roux
7. Cherry Bomb - The Runaways
8. One Evening (VV Mix) - Feist
9. Strawberries - Asobi Seksu
10. Your Silent Face - Velocity Girl
11. You'll Find A Way Player - Santigold
12. Jenny Come On - Dressy Bessy
My girls. Download it here.

I also went to orientation today. I signed up for a volunteer opportunity through GALLOP NYC where I'll be working with horses and disabled riders. I forgot how much it smells! It doesn't smell bad to me at all but the mixture of hay, horse and bedding (it's a nice way to say horse shit) is quite pungent for the first time smeller. The cat was quite perplexed when I returned home tonight.

I'm a little worried about working with disabled kids as it can be unpredictable but there's no way to get over something without jumping right in. I'm just excited that I'll get to work with horses again. Doing good feels good :)

Runnin

2010-09-14T07:17:00.007-04:00

I ran my first race this past Sunday and it was a lot easier than I thought. Angel, Alex & I did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Central Park.

The weather was great for a run, overcast and a little bit cool. We started late and had to dodge all the walkers but we finished in under 40 minutes, which was not too bad considering I'd never run this long before without stopping.

I'd only been running about 1.5 miles in the mornings, 2-3 times a week. It's really not that hard and now in the mornings I'm going a little longer.

Here's what I've been listening to lately. I'm going to try to make one of these a month so I don't get too bored with the music, so look out for those. Here are the songs that are on it:

En Vill Hest - Casiokids
Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol
Kim & Jessie - M83
Walking on the Milky Way - OMD
Help I'm Alive - Metric
Arc - Pearl Jam
Rally - Phoenix
Little Bit - Lykke Li
All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
You can download it here.
It's not typical workout music - it's a little slower. I can't take all the untz-untz-untz that gyms normally play because that makes me even more tired. These are songs that I really like and that are a little slower, to help me keep pace.

After the race (I can't even call it a race but I hate the term "fun run") we headed to the Sunburnt Calf for their all you can drink brunch. $18 gets you brunch plus bottomless brunch drinks!

That's an Aussie burger, topped with all the usual suspects plus a beet slice, pineapple and a fried egg. I had to use a fork and knife to eat it.

Running has definitely helped to make me feel and live healthier. Sure I eat like shit once in a while but I generally try to make an effort to eat a lot of vegetables and grains during the week. Typically, I eat oatmeal or granola+yogurt in the mornings with orange juice or tea. For lunch I usually do couscous or quinoa with roasted vegetables, and then for dinner something not too heavy. Alex has been taking care of it the past few nights, and we've done couscous and sausage stuffed peppers, lamb with cucumber yogurt salad and rice/lentils as well as roasted tomato and eggplant soup.

It's all a domino effect - you just have to get motivated to start, and it'll keep going on its own. It used to be really hard for me to get up in the mornings to run, but it feels really good to sweat and get your heart rate up.

I'm even planning on taking my gear with me when I travel - it's a great way to get to know a city.

Day 11: The long road home

2010-09-08T22:43:00.006-04:00

On our last 6am safari

Acacia trees dot the the landscape

Ben & Kristi pose with elephants in the background. I think this was from an earlier day but I don't have many good photos of them. This is from Robyn's camera.

Back at the landing strip, waiting for our plane

Sitting at the propeller of a Twin Otter

A group photo from Bryan's camera

Team Tusker together for the last time back at Karen Blixen

Robyn sweet talked our way in to the country club that Bryan and I were denied entry to on our first day

Farewell dinner minus Paul & Rudi at Carnivore
I've put off this last entry for a long time. It's been four months since the trip, but I can still find ways to go back there, through pictures, video and conversation.
Our last day, Car 1 (or 2, never determined) dragged our butts out of bed at 5am to take one last 6am safari. We never did get to see a cheetah. After having breakfast we brought our bags out front to catch a ride back to the airstrip, where a plane would take us back to Nairobi. I say "plane" loosely because it was really a twin propeller plane that acted like a safari bus - it stopped a couple of times at different airstrips to let passengers on and off, just like a bus. "More chances to crash," said Jim. THANKS.
We were met back in civilization by Finn's smiling face and he Max drove us back to the Karen Blixen Cottages where we all first met. We arrived late and were rushing to make lunch so that we could have time to go into town to do some last minute souvenir shopping. The KBC cab was too expensive so we decided to walk on the main road to catch a cab. We made it to the country club where we asked the guards for help. A car arrived 10 minutes later driven by a nice man named Alex who had noooo idea where we wanted to go, even after getting Finn on the phone to try to explain it to him. No worries - cute, blonde Robyn sweet talked the guards into letting us into the club for a few hours to hit some balls down the driving range. Golfing in Kenya! Who would've thought. It felt so wrong but it was just too fun. We had some cocktails by the driving range amongst some British expats, bad teeth and all. And then we made it back to the cottages just in time to leave for dinner.
We drove into Nairobi to have dinner at The Carnivore, which is a well-known (albeit touristy) restaurant. In the past, more exotic meats like zebra and hartbeest were served, but this time we got ostrich meatballs and roasted alligator along with the pork, lamb, beef and chicken. The meat is roasted in a big pit and served on long, sword-like skewers. The server sets the tip of the skewer (it's about 3 feet long, mind you) on your plate and cuts the meat off with a knife. I'm not shy, I ate everything.
Then we split into two groups to ride to the airport. Team Tusker rode together and on the way, we got into a fender bender when Max turned too fast into a stopped car. BLAM! I wasn't looking and all of a sudden my face was smashed up against the chair in front of me. No one was hurt, but we were all a bit shaken, especially Max, who felt terrible that we would be late for our flights. Plus, we were in a foreign country and thoughts of all the horror stories we'd heard about foreign police were freaking us out. The other van turned around to pick us up and we left Max to fend for himself.
We got to the airport and had to say our hasty goodbyes, not having time to really absorb or discuss anything. Jim and I were on the same flights back and we were the first to get dropped off. It was a bit like leaving home - almost tearful and a little scary. I didn't realize I'd miss everyone so much after spending pretty much 24-hours a day with everyone!
I was stressed getting in to the airport as there was a long line due to a security check at the door. Then checking in took forever, and I was too freaked out and flustered from all the events that day to want to do any last minute gift shopping.
The ride home was long but Emirates Air has really awesome inflight entertainment, even for coach. Jim and I picked The Informant to watch, pressing "Play" at the same time. But we both fell asleep about halfway through and dozed pretty much the whole way home. Dubai Int'l Airport is gigantic and modern with all the shopping you could ever want. Landing back in New York at JFK was a little unreal. I felt like I was just tossed back into the fray, stepping onto the A train with loud obnoxious teenagers and someone's too-loud headphones blaring hiphop. I could barely explain myself to Alex when I got home.
It definitely took me a while to get back into "normal" life. I didn't know how to answer anyone's questions about the trip. "How was your trip?" How to answer that in enough time, before their eyes started to glaze over? After a while I just stopped trying.
I don't think I've had a major life change, per se. But there is definitely a mental shift. I still love food and shopping and Brooklyn. But I feel like, and hope, that I am less self-centered and a little more thoughtful. Being there with a big group, you really learn to function as a whole rather than as an individual. We really grew close to one another like a big, semi-dysfunctional extended family.
At least once a day I flip back through our photos just to see all the smiling faces of the kids in the community where we built the school. I can still feel their small hands in mine and hear their voices yelling and laughing. It's definitely an experience I'd recommend to anyone and everyone. After we pooled all of our photos there was even more media to round out the experience. I watched Ben's videos in 42 inches on our flatscreen, which consisted of about 2 hours of bumpy roads (he is a car enthusiast) and Wilson doing the "Cutta" song our last night in Oloosiyoi. Instant pick-me-up.
In three weeks we reunite in Toronto for We Day. We have been talking about it for two months. I CANNOT WAIT.

Here is a trailer of the documentary Paul is making about our trip. He's been showing me bits and pieces of it as he finishes them, so I'm pretty lucky to be in same office as he is. Never fails to bring a tear to my eye:

The Story of Oloosiyoi Trailer from UM Worldwide on Vimeo.

Labored Day

2010-09-07T11:09:00.001-04:00

Prosciutto San Danielle & figs at Eataly

Checking out the desserts at Eataly

Malcom Shabazz Market in Harlem

Williamsburg Bridge

My purchases from Malcolm Shabazz Market

West Indian Day Parade, Brooklyn

Weekend DIY

Calourette

2010-09-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

I love these pieces from Calourette:

It says "Sauvageonne" which means wilding or girl child that has lived in the wild.

Champignons (mushrooms)

Lapin (rabbit)

Grand donut choco multi (big chocolate donut)

WHY DOES IT ALWAYS END IN BEER?

2010-08-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

Seanpatrick is in town - he met us at the Flea where we stuffed our faces with Mile End's bagels + the works, Mama Mancini's meatballs, Milk Truck's grilled cheese sammys. Then Alex and I biked out to Canarsie with Cinco where we hopped on the bike path along the water. I got a flat so we ended up walking trough Sheepshead Bay to catch the Q train home, making a pit stop at Der Schwarze Kollner for some brats and beer. I did everything I wanted to do today.

Splitting time

2010-08-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

For the past year or so I've been doing my quick blogging over at Tumblr. Please update your feeds! I will still be posting longer writings here but you can hop over to Hips & Hearts to say hi too!

I've got several going:
In Which I Spy on Your Grocery Cart/Basket
Airplane Food
and my newest, A Shrinking Closet

They're all pretty self-explanatory. A Shrinking Closet is where I'm listing clothes and shoes to sell. I'm trying to declutter so if you see anything, send me a shout! Below is a sneak peak:

Eye in the sky

2010-08-20T09:53:00.001-04:00

I forgot how I found Steph Goralnick's photos but I'm glad I did. From these aerial photos taken on flights (why don't mine ever turn out like this??) to her photos from vacations in Asia, everything is wonderful, dreamy, colorful.

Day 10: Pampered

2010-08-11T20:05:00.000-04:00

These photos pretty much speak for themselves. We were awoken once again at 5am with tea and biscuits at our tent. After a quick breakfast we loaded up into Keefer's car and took off on another safari adventure. This time we stopped at a small gift shop in the Mara, where I looked but did not purchase. The shopkeeper followed me out to the car, asking why I hadn't bought anything and telling me he'd give me a good price. I was holding out for the outdoor marketplace back in Nairobi, where I hoped to buy the bulk of my souvenirs and presents.

After getting back at around 9, Robyn and I decided to change into bathing suits and head to the pool. I'd purchased a one-piece specifically for this trip since I'd be with work colleagues. You can laugh - but at the time I did not want to be hanging out with our President and head of global finance in a teeny bikini! We ordered strawberry daiquiris (my first time ever to have poolside service) but what came instead was something much better - frozen pineapple ginger cocktails! I got a manicure with Maggie the resident beautician, scrubbing away the last remnants of Oloosiyoi mud.

Slowly, everyone started emerging from their naps/late morning lounging and we had lunch before our next safari. We still had not seen a cheetah and were ready to kidnap the baby we'd seen with one of the other guests to use as bait. Only half joking! But we did get caught in a rainstorm and to shift into off-road gear to get out of it. After much revving and maneuvering (and almost jumping up and crashing into a tree) we were free. Another safari car behind us got stuck, and Keefer got out to help. We came back to the Safari Club tired, a little wet, and some of us (Jim) carsick.

Needless to say we spent a warm night by the fireplace with Smokey the Cat drinking Tusker Malts and Bloody Marys.

The Neverending Summer (non-surf version)

2010-08-09T07:15:00.000-04:00

Friday - dinner at The General Greene

Clinton Hill in sunset

Saturday - BK Flea

Knitted potholders

Sunday - brunch in Williamsburg and biking Greenpoint

Awesome piece by Oekis (?)

Bikes at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park (they gave an ugly industrial waterfront park such a nice name - it was better when we were sneaking out there at night)

Ninja Sex Party at a comedy show at Legion

A Rollerskating Jam

2010-08-02T08:57:00.001-04:00

Saturday was a really full, beautiful day. We started pretty early, heading to the Flea at 11am to eat some delicious TX BBQ from HNH. The brisket did not disappoint - they gave us a few pieces from each end, lean and moist. The creamed corn was a little sweet but went well with the cheddar-jalapeno Elgin sausage, and the potato salad was delicious and mustard-y. LinYee was manning the booth, I've known her marginally for years and she always remembers everyone. She's a doll.

We hung out at home for a bit (I finished a knitting project that I will post later) and then rode down to Four & Twenty Blackbirds for pie with Cinco. This time I had peach-blueberry and he and Alex had salted-caramel-apple.

There is only about a month left to use the Key to the City so we hit a couple of BK locations. The first was Cabinet Magazine in Gowanus. There is a box in the alley...

...And when you look up, there is a little black box rigged to make bubbles when the door is opened. We tried to check out Proteus but it was closed so we headed to our next spot. I had brought a baggie of little green army men to leave in all the spots but some of them specifically said to not leave anything.

The next spot was in DUMBO at Gleason's Gym. I'd never been to a boxing gym before but it looked just like the movies. We unlocked the locker and played with some of the things in there - jumpropes, boxing gloves. I left little green army man in there.

We continued to explore, heading down to BK Bridge Park where there were crew races, a wedding photoshoot, tons of kids and a young student sketching the bridge.

Also Dewey's Candy for expensive ass penny candy. Seriously, we got a little bag of gummies and the shit was almost $7! I can get an entire tub of sour watermelon gummies for $5 from Staples. THANKS.

After beer and snacks at Pedro's we headed up to Williamsburg to The Levee, then hit The Cove for a free comedy show. Sad to say, the funniest part of the night was when the last comedian, who was being heckled by some fat douchebags in the audience, asked them why they had done it. Really??

This coming weekend, not sure which stops we will hit but this is a great way to explore the city for people who normally are a) too lazy b) too scared c) not motivated to leave Manhattan. It's a borough, kids. Not THE city.

Day 9: Drive to Fairmont Safari Club

2010-07-20T19:00:00.001-04:00

You haven't heard the last of the trip yet! I've been slacking but also I'm trying to drag this out. We are trying to plan a reunion for next month, so I'm hoping to finish these updates by then.

Our last day in Oloosiyoi, we said a sad goodbye to our Free the Children family, who had been so awesome and hospitable our entire stay. Flo, Wilson, Finn, Rudi, "Maji Moto," Andrew, Maxwell, William and everyone else - we had made some new friends and we weren't ready to leave them yet.

We took a group photo and in order to get Paul in, we had to use the Land Rover as a tripod. It did the job.

En route to the Fairmont - if this looks bad, you should have seen the river we tried to cross. Three days earlier it was low enough for us to cross on the raised cement driveway, but heavy rains had almost flooded the river and we were unsure that we'd be safe going across.
So as a test we sent the luggage car ahead, and when it stayed on course we let out a big cheer and climbed back into our cars to get across.

Upon a sweaty and dirty arrival at the Fairmont, we were greeted with cold towels and mango juice.

And then an hour later, we were on our first safari!

The weather changed pretty quickly - here is a rainstorm off in the distance.

A pair of Thompson Ghazelles preparing to headbutt

A hyena comes towards us menacingly

Ashley in the other car. It was never decided which one was Car 1 and which one was Car 2 but we kept to the same group and driver for our stay there. Our driver's name was Keefer.
A rare sight! This lion was so hungry he risked being killed by a heard of buffalo. His two brothers were off in the distance - not too far but not too close either. The drivers were so excited to see this as they'd never encountered such a sight before. The lion was actually in another tree earlier, and when he thought he was safe enough to run, the buffalo chased him into this one. Here you can see him eyeing the calf at the bottom right.

Fun in sun

2010-07-05T22:35:00.002-04:00

Awesome long weekend. I started it off right by leaving work early on Friday for lunch with Team Kenya, then headed to Long Beach with some of the TX crew. Saturday was spent lazing on the roof with sangria and Paul Pope, then on Sunday Angel and Mitch scooped us up and we headed out to Levy's house on Long Island...

The house has been lived in by students for a very long time and is only a 5 minute walk to the beach. Levy's roommate Brooke is studying marine biology (jealous!) and has tanks full of turtles and crabs in the house, as well as a vegetable garden. She also built a tree swing underneath a platform on which you can sit/nap.

There's a little raised hut right there where we can sit in the shade.

We stayed on the beach to watch the sunset, the sun a giant red ball sinking lower and lower into the ocean.

Watermelon, sangria, beer and friends on the beach.

We watched fireworks on the beach.

The next day it took a while for everyone to feel human again. Before leaving we headed down to the beach one more time, shot Levy's air rifle (targets pictured above) and played in the sprinkler.
Getting wasted for America!

Future so bright

2010-06-20T23:11:00.001-04:00

Beautiful Saturday at the Flea.
Robyn was in town for some meetings and stayed with me over the weekend so on Saturday we went to the Flea to eat and shop. It's always nice going with first timers because I never really get to browse through everything anymore.

We found a vendor who had a $1 LP table and did a little digging. Robyn scored a Diana Ross/Supremes album for $1 and I got a live Beach Boys album, The Jets and a double LP compilation of sold gold tracks all for $7.

Later that night we stopped at Bar Olivino to sample some wines and cheese, bought some bottles we liked, then headed up to a friend's place nearby for some TX Hold 'em. My playing was erratic at best but I'm learning!

On Sunday after bootcamp we celebrated Father's Day by grilling on Mike and Seth's roof. Seth has this great little propane grill that folds up into a portable little box, so we grilled sausages and chicken kebabs. Michael had made fresh lemonade which we drank with vodka, as well as some refreshing gazpacho.

We spread some bedsheets out and ate, drank, napped. With so little outdoor space, a good rooftop is a valuable commodity.

The best part about rooftop BBQs: the sunset. The tall building to the right is the old Williamsburgh Savings Bank, which is now used for private events.

Day 8: Last day in Oloosiyoi

2010-06-19T10:14:00.003-04:00

Our last day in Oloosiyoi, Sammy was granted a stay of execution.
Let me back up.
First, Sammy was gifted to us by the community as a big thank you for donating money to build schools and a water well, and also for coming to build their last classroom. Ashley named him, brought him back to camp with Wilson, and visited him every chance she got.

It became a horrible running joke and we had to LIE to her about Sammy, telling her that he was going home with Wilson's family to be their pet, and that his dad was coming to get him in the morning (he was to be slaughtered on site). Flo felt so terrible about it she decided to get a new goat at the market and have Sammy live with her and the staff at Bogani.

We spent the day building but we were rained out most of the time. Each time the rain started to stop we'd start building again. We managed to get up to the bottom of the windows and set the stones for those, which was good enough progress but we were all disappointed we didn't have enough time there to completely finish the classroom.

To pass the time in the rain, we were each called into classrooms to speak with students. Robyn and I played our hangman game, having them guess the word (THUNDERSTORM). Instead of having a man in a noose, I drew a giant lion and parts of him were erased with every wrong letter guessed.

Here is the second goat we ended up getting, not as meaty looking but just as good. Robyn, Bryan, Jim and I decided we'd watch it get killed, and we ended up doing this not that far from camp. I figured I eat enough meat and this is a rare chance I'd get to see it go from living to table.

I took a lot of photos but I'll spare you. They stretched the goat out on the grass and it uttered a single cry. Then Wilson took out his machete and cut its throat. The blood started spilling out, a much brighter red than I thought and he started shouting "The cup! The cup! The cup!" We had frozen in our tracks so he reached out for the plastic mug he is holding above to collect the blood to drink. The goat was gurgling and spewing blood, and then they pulled its head back to finish it off.

Then Wilson stood up and took a few swigs of blood, offering each of us the cup and smiling with blood stained teeth. If he had insisted I would have tasted it but I think he knew not to. He and the other Maasai (I've forgotten his name) quickly skinned and took apart the goat, to be marinated for dinner.

I turned to Jim and said, "Well I guess I'm still a carnivore." High five!

After lunch on our way back to the school to continue building, we walked past the kill site, hoping Ashley wouldn't notice from her ride in the car. "OH MY GOD." Bryan had spotted the mug hanging on a tree branch, still dripping with bright red blood, a symbol of our treachery. We all cracked up over that one.

Here is the goat. We had to be careful not to say it was goat, instead calling it "Nyama Choma" which is Swahili for "BBQ," lest Ashley catch on. It's not Sammy but she would've been upset. I asked Flo what it was marinated in and she said light soy sauce, garlic and rosemary. That's it. I preferred the meat on the bones better than the skewers and had two helpings.

We also had some roasted potatoes with caramelized onions and some roast chicken. I later learned that the kidney and heart of the goat were shared among the staff, eaten raw as is customary.

This is sauteed cabbage, often served in traditional Kenyan meals. It is eaten with ugali, pictured below.

This is ugali, which is made from maize. It looks hard and stiff but it's actually soft and malleable. You tear off a small piece, make a hole with your thumb, and pick up some meat/cabbage in the hole, then pop the whole thing in your mouth.

Robyn Wiszowaty, Free the Children's Program Director, was with us for dinner along with two other team members. We were able to talk at depth with them about the situation in Kenya, future programs and also to ask our own questions. Sadly, no photos! She is a great speaker and told us a few stories from her life in the Mara (going on 10 years now).

This is a cake that the staff made for us our last night, with thick and slightly salty chocolate icing. It was served with what looked and tasted like thickened evaporated milk. So good because it was not too sweet.

All of a sudden Wilson busted out with the "Cutta" song, which is a traditional cake cutting song. We were dying! Jim didn't know what to do because he was so disoriented by the clapping and singing. "Do I cut it?" "Cut it cut it!" "Okay I cut it!" "Keep cutting they're not going to stop until you finish cutting the cake." So poor Jim cut the entire cake, while the entire staff sang the Cutta song.

After cake, we sat around the table and had an iPod battle, Finn & I against Bryan, Rudi and Jim. Diplomatically, the judges called a tie but it was a lot of fun razzing and laughing at each other (and Jim sang us some Miley Cyrus as well).

It was bittersweet because despite all the fun we were having, knowing it was our last night in Oloosiyoi was always at the back of my mind. I can say without question that we all would've stayed another week there if we could, to finish the school and spend time with the community.

The Bonbon & the Hare

2010-06-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

Some exciting news from dear Deb: today's the last day for Bonbon Oisearu's moneyclip special but she will be at the Brooklyn Flea all day Saturday in Fort Greene and will be offering FREE stamping on your Bonbon moneyclips. Bring your old Bonbon moneyclip or purchase a new one Saturday and they'll be hammering away just for you (or dear old dad)!

And because she is such a sweet lady she is also offering a giveaway. Leave a comment here by 9 a.m. Friday, June 18th and win this lucky rabbit money clip (and yes, they'll stamp any initials you'd like on the back to boot).

Isn't she the best?

The endless summer

2010-06-13T21:48:00.001-04:00

Friday: At Brooklyn Heights Cinema to see the world premiere of Colin Hearts Kay, one of the feature films of the Brooklyn Int'l Film Fest. Mellini from my knitting group was in it.

Saturday morning: A shrimp roll at Brooklyn Flea, then stopped by Deb's booth to say hi and check out more of her Spring/Summer 2010 pieces. Beautiful stuff! She was sharing her booth with Virginia Galvan, a fellow Brooklynite. Organic, dainty pieces.

Saturday night: Biked out to Bed-Stuy to Brooklynite Gallery for the opening of Surface Tension. It was a lot of fun, like a backyard party with DJ Rekha and professional Indian dancers. We met Angel there and once the dancers started we inched our way up to the front.

There was a group of neighborhood teens who showed up and started dancing, and battled the dancers. It was so much fun and they were so cute! Totally stole the show. They were really fun and had a great attitude. What were you doing at thirteen? I would tear around the neighborhood with my friends and hit up the different parks where they'd hidden bottles of booze in the bushes.

I almost ate shit on the way home trying to follow Angel in between two cars. Made it back in one piece and ended the night with hot dogs and rose on the roof.

Sunday afternoon: David's rainy birthday BBQ in Williamsburg. Stopped by The Meat Hook to pick up some sausages, then walked over in the drizzle to Nick's building. I started with dessert first, a mocha cupcake topped with a chocolate-covered espresso bean from Cupcake Land. Then I narfed bratwurst and a lamb-rosemary sausage, jalapeno mac and cheese by Andrew, and then another one of our sausages, called the "Long Dong" which had jalapenos, pepperjack cheese and Texas Pete hot sauce. Whiskey and beer made me sleepy. At home now watching the Celtics kick some Laker butt!

Richard Mosse: North Kivu (eastern Congo)

2010-06-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

The color treatment on these photos make it look surreal, like Arrakis.

Day 7: A rush of blood to the head

2010-06-12T00:52:00.001-04:00

Our first full day in Oloosiyoi was also our first time meeting the schoolchildren we were helping. When I arrived at the build site, this little girl in the yellow came right up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, smiling up at me. From that point on, she was always around, being hugged by one of us. Totally adorable, our little ray of sunshine

Here is our team mixing cement with Peter, one of the fundis. Ashley was hilarious - the kids were fascinated by her but she kept telling them, "I can't play right now, I have to get back to work!" Free the Children was founded on anti-child labor principles. Classic!

Finn with some schoolchildren. The little one in purple started crying because big brother ran down the road and he thought he was being left behind.

After lunch we came back to the school for their welcoming ceremony. From the road, we saw them lining the entry way singing "Jambo Bwana" ("Welcome Mister") which is a traditional African folk song. The entire school, all 8 classes and their parents were there to welcome us. We walked in one by one, led by the children. It was very overwhelming and emotional.

Here is Paul amidst a sea of children, documenting. They led us to the back of the school where they had set up an area for the ceremony.

The superintendent and headmaster got up to make speeches about the school and to thank us. At this point I couldn't keep the tears in any longer - they were so welcoming. They apologized to us for not having enough to thank us with, then told us to tell our families that they loved them and that they had friends and family in Kenya, always.

Then we were treated to traditional dances and songs performed by the school. We were asked to perform as well, and the only song we could agree on that everybody knew the words to was "If you're happy & you know it." Kid you not. I wanted to die.

The last performance was by the mamas, who pulled us into their circle and started taking beaded necklaces from their own necks and putting them on us. I'd never been a part of such a celebration before - great fun.

At the end they presented us with a goat, which is one of the highest forms of thanks. A goat is usually included in a bride's dowry. Of course, Ashley had to go and name him Sammy Maxwell. More on that in a later post but it became the source of many horrible jokes.

The celebration continued until we reached the finished 7th grade classroom, which had been completed before we arrived in Kenya. Above, Jim cuts the ribbon to the classroom.

After all the excitement,we went back to the build sit and tried to continue work but it was impossible with all the kids around us. We continued meeting everyone and taking photos with as many kids as possible. They are fascinated with seeing themselves on instant playback. We could not get enough of them, they could not get enough of us. So here are more photos of the Oloosiyoi Mutual Appreciation Society (Bryan's photos):

Day 6: Mother's Day

2010-06-02T21:00:00.002-04:00

Day 6, we headed out to visit Jane, a mama who has fully embraced the ways and teachings (ways and teachings??!) of Free the Children.

Here we are in a new home she has been building herself (along with some fundis - construction workers) for the past three years. She is able to find the money to build this new home from a local merry-go-round she belongs to.

There are about 50 merry-go-rounds in the area. Each is joined by women from one area, who pay dues. They meet to discuss community and family matters and every year one woman gets to take home all the dues from that year to use. The merry-go-round helps to decide what she should use it on, be it a form of alternative income (beehives) or sending their child to secondary school, which is not free like elementary school.

This is Jane's current home, where she and her husband and five children eat and sleep. It is divided in half - the other half is for the goats to come in at night, so that they don't get stolen.

The yellow jugs you see are called "jerry cans" and are used for transporting water from the river (about 1km away) several times a day.

Some pink flowers outside Jane's home. There were so many awesome flowers - really colorful and bright. I couldn't get the names of all of them.

Jane took us on a tour of her home and surrounding area while Wilson translated. Here, she shows us her drying rack, which FTC taught her to build. In the past, she had dried them on the dirt floor of her home.

The Mara River, now rushing past us full of water. Rudi told us that just last year, this was only a trickling stream. It's been raining a lot lately, and this is good for everyone.

Here, Jennifer demonstrates how to fill up a jerry can with water. She is balanced atop some rocks, about a meter out from the shore.

Bryan and I loaded up on the way back to Jane's. I'm carrying a smaller one. Jane told us that she usually carries a large one, with a smaller one on top, and when her children were babies, she would carry one baby in the front. She does this several times a day, so having us help her like this was very much appreciated. Two of the jerry cans were taken to another family nearby.

After this adventure, we headed back to Bogani for lunch along with Jane and Jennifer. They spoke about how their lives have changed and we were able to ask them more questions.

After lunch we departed for Oloosiyoi, the village UM had adopted last year and where all our donations had gone to. Here we are in front of the sign. If you'll notice, Bryan's wearing the Klinger necklace.

This came about because when we heard we would be staying at a mobile camp close to the school, we asked for more details and were told it would be like MASH. So of course, we had to have MASH nicknames. We were giving everyone an alias and when it came to Klinger (the cross-dresser if you don't remember), no one wanted to be him. So Paul and I decided we'd have a rotating Klinger for people who did dumb shit. Bryan is wearing it because we got stuck in a huge rut leaving Jane's and while Paul, Finn and Ben got out to push, Bryan stayed in the car with the sick guy and the girl. So there.

Here's the mobile camp - Finn & Rudi's tent is the closest one, at the near left, and mine & Robyn's tent is the one with the tree right in front of it, 4th from the left. Toilets had their own narrow tents. Inside was a plastic toilet set over a deep hole. TP was stuffed into pockets on either side of the tent, and each day they would fill up the hole and move the tent over a few feet. Wash basins were set outside each toilet, a tripod of sorts with a soft vinyl bucket. We had to lather up and then scoop water out of the bucket to rinse off.

Showers were separate individual tents with vinyl buckets hung on top. When we wanted to shower we'd call for "maji ya moto" which means hot water, and the guy (whose name we thought was Majimoto) would come with hot water and pour it into the bucket in the shower. Needless to say, showers were quite fast!

The inside of our tent - it was fun living like this and not once were we attacked by mosquitoes. If you look closely you can see green mosquito nets bound to the sides of the tent. At night these were untied and fitted over the edges of the bed and we could not figure out how to get in without messing it up. So we'd crouch beside our beds and slither into them, careful not to mess the net. And in the morning when we heard everyone zipping and unzipping their tents we would slither out and brush our teeth out front. This was the extent of our roughing it, which was actually pretty cush considering.

Breakfast, lunch & dinner were served at the big mess tent and we ate well - french toast, beans, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit, salad...

This is the build site at Oloosiyoi school. A youth group had come earlier to dig and fill in the foundation. The scaffolding is there to hold two giant towers of water to supply the school.

We started building close to sunset but we didn't mind because this is what we'd come to do. We jumped right in, moving bricks over and mixing cement.

Here Kristi, Bryan & Robyn work together to fill the gaps between bricks with mortar.The tools we used were rudimentary. They didn't want to bring in any fancy equipment or machinery to support sustainability - they have to be able to maintain and repair the buildings by themselves.

To measure corners and to make sure the building was level, the fundis used strings tied around corner stones and tied to a pointed weight - simple but effective.

This picture pretty much speaks for itself. It was a really long day but we learned and accomplished a lot. That night - you guessed it - MORE TUSKERS!

a funny bear

2010-06-02T07:43:00.004-04:00

A break for BK

2010-05-30T10:26:00.000-04:00

Saturday at the Flea... Giant red light-up letters spelling E-A-T from Kings County Salvage

Tons of mason jars from Kings County Salvage

Bikes put together by Shane da Bikejack - so beautiful! I love that he put bullhorns on them. I know I just bought a bike but am seriously considering one of these if he's still got them by end of summer.

At Pizzamoto. Benigni strikes me as more of a Campari & soda kinda guy but I guess they can't really sell alcohol at the Flea.
Bonfire stroopwafel from The Good Batch. A little soft for my liking - this thing was filled with ganache, marshmallow and salted caramel. Gooey!

Kenya Day 5: Christmas in May

2010-05-29T08:42:00.004-04:00

On the 5th day of our trip, Finn & Rudi took us to Mulot Market, about 1.5 hours from Bogani. The market happens twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays and is in full swing by about 10:30am. For food, we saw mostly potatoes, beans, avocado, sugarcane and sacks of salt, measured carefully to sellers in different sized containers. I wanted very much to take home some pink salt but save for my ziplock bag containing all my toiletries, I had nothing safe to put it in.

We were given 200 Ksh (Kenyan shillings) and a name. With the 200 Ksh we had to buy our person a present, utilzing our new Swahili ("Pesa ngapi?) and bargaining skills. I drew Ben and while I overheard him expressing a desire for car parts, I thought it better to stick with some souvenirs, a deck of Obama playing cards and a bandana printed with the Kenyan flag and colors.

I also purchased a few souvenirs, not knowing that this would be our only chance to do so. Though crowded and busy, the market was full of smiling faces and color. Looking back at this now, this is one of my favorite parts of the trip, as it was one of the only times we were able to interact with local Kenyan people on our own and to experience a real market. I very much wanted to eat the mandazi, chapati and frozen ice drinks being sold but we were warned not to. I was a little disappointed as eating street food is such a great way to experience a country!

After our day at the market, we went on a warrior hike with Wilson, Finn and Rudi. Bogani Cottages sits at the base of a wide mountain, and we were going to the top.

This is a plant I'd spied from the car several times. Not sure what it's called but I've never seen anything like it before, with several full-sized flowers on each "branch."

This is a gigantic cactus we walked past, almost blocking out the sun. I never expected to find these in Kenya!

Our group at the top of the mountain. It was not an easy hike - there were no trails and often Wilson had to bust out the machete to clear branches away.

This is African sage, which smells basil-y and citrus-y at the same time. It's also called deodorant plant, and the Maasai place a few branches under their arms for a few minutes, as a natural way to deodorize.

Later that afternoon, we gathered everyone and headed out to the field at the base of the mountain for Maasai weapons training. There, they had set up folding camp chairs and a table full of snacks and drinks. And by drinks I mean Tuskers and wine. I wasn't so sure we should be wielding weapons as we drank but in the spirit of things, I downed two glasses of wine.
In the photo above, you can see a rainstorm in the distance.

We were taught to hurl congos and shoot a bow & arrow. It's a lot harder than it looks to keep both arrow straight and bow upright, at the same time.

Throughout their young lives, Maasai men are trained to use these weapons. Also when they are young they are cut with machetes and burned, to prepare themselves for manhood. When they are the right age, they and other children of the same age are circumcised in a grand ceremony. The burning and cutting is to prepare them for the pain of circumcision - if they cry out or flinch it is very shameful and it takes years for them to gain back the respect of their family and community. After going through this ceremony with other boys, they are brothers for life.

Jim stands tall & proud as the Green Mambo

Team UM - here we are, the essay contest winners. Now trained Maasai warriors! (Minus the burn and machete scars) We are holding the congas we purchased at Mulot. These can be hurled at a target in the distance, or used in hand-to-hand combat. I also discovered that the little pointed nub at the tip is good for scratching your back. An awesome weapon, in any case.

We had been bugging Flo to take us to a local bar, so that night they set up a campfire at Bogani, complete with a cooler full of Tuskers and wine and all the makings of some S'mores.

Memento Mori

2010-05-26T09:29:00.002-04:00

A Tale of Two Sisters, 2003, Ji-woon Kim

When I was young I'd daydream about my funeral. I'm not sure if this was a common thing for kids to do but maybe I was an uncommon kid. I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and that's probably the closest I've ever come. Throughout my life I've lost people near and dear to me, much more than anyone should by the time they're 31.

Please stop it - I miss you terribly.

Anyway here are some songs I put together for when my time comes. I made this mix about six years ago:

Click here to download it
1. Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
2. (smog) - Dress Sexy at my Funeral
3. Mates of State - Parachutes
4. Morphine - Cure for Pain
5. David Bowie - As the World Falls Down
6. Dinosaur Jr - Get Me
7. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Ghosts are Good Company
8. Roxy Music - More Than This
9. Hayden - You Were Loved
10. Morrissey - There is a Place in Hell for Me & My Friends
11. The Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma (you like that back-to-back Morrissey action? I do.)
12. Smashing Pumpkins - Today
13. Saves the Day - This is Not an Exit
14. Coldplay - We Never Change
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Porcelain
16. Spiritualized - Angel Sigh
17. Smashing Pumpkins - Spaceboy

Kenya Day 4: Off to Bogani

2010-05-24T21:27:00.005-04:00

On our 4th day in Kenya, we headed to a small airport and boarded a 14-passenger plane bound for Bogani, near the Ngong Hills, about 4-6 hours (driving) east of Nairobi.

We flew over part of the Maasai Mara. Pictured above is the swollen Mara River, full now after a long drought. Our first instinct is to of course complain about the rain, but to the Maasai, this means they can eat, that their crops will grow and their animals won't die.

By the time we landed at the airstrip, the sky looked awesome and blue. The thing that constantly amazed me about Kenya is how big the sky was. It looked big in Socorro (NM) and it looked even bigger in Williams (AZ) but here, it never seemed to end.

We stopped at Enelerai School, where Free the Children had completed all the buildings and health centers. Above, Ashley is surrounded by a sea of schoolchildren. Wilson had just given us Swahili lessons so it was a great time to practice. She and Jacki sat and taught a small group to sing Don't Stop Believin.

This is the original school building, which they left standing as a reminder. The floors are dusty and desks are falling apart. Up to 6 students would sit at each desk, sharing books, notebooks and pencils. The building was long and when kept up, had only one or two small windows in the walls. Housed in this building would be grades 1 - 8. The government assigns teachers per number of buildings on site, so schools were usually short on staff.

These are the new buildings built by Free the Children - each grade has its own classroom with lots of natural light and cement floors. Teachers live in small buildings at the back of the school property.

Is this looking like a vacation yet?

The rest of the day was spent touring a new health center and central water line. The health center would service the surrounding area (up to 10,000 people) and the water line would provide water to local schools and the community for a small fee. This would keep it sustainable, as the fees would help to provide salaries and repairs.

And of course, after dinner, another game of "Who am I?"

Kenya Day 3: What jet lag?

2010-05-19T06:22:00.005-04:00

Our first full day in Kenya, we woke up early and headed to breakfast to meet the rest of our crew - Bryan (winner of the trip from L.A.), Kristi (head of client in SF) and her son Ben. Our first stop was the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, not too far away.

Baby elephants are rescued within hours of finding them. Usually, they fall down wells or manholes but sometimes their mothers are killed or injured. They are taken here and fed 4 times a day and their caretakers sleep with them in their stalls. Once they are well enough, they are taken out of the orphanage to interact with wild elephants for longer and longer periods of time until they are accepted by the herd and no longer want to come back.

Next stop: the Kenya Giraffe Center. Here we met some Rothschild giraffes. They were super friendly and we had buckets of pellet food to feed them. After interacting with them we sat down for a short lesson of quick giraffe facts:

Giraffes gestate for up to 15 months, during which time the mother decides when she wants to give birth. The baby then drops about 2m to the ground, where there may or may not be a hyena waiting to eat it.
A giraffe's heart is about 2 ft wide; its footprints are 12" x 9"
Giraffes have no bone marrow in their leg bones.
A giraffe's tongue is black and approximately 48cm long. Its saliva is an antiseptic.
Giraffes are related to camels and are able to store water for long periods of time. They don't normally drink from rivers or ponds because they can black out and die from bending down so far. Instead, they collect water from the dew on the leaves they eat.

We had lunch at the Talisman, which is considered one of the nicer restaurants near Nairobi. It's built out of an old mansion. I was hoping we'd get to eat some native Kenyan food but there was no such luck. When I asked our guides Rudi & Finn about this, they explained that because they do a lot of youth trips, they tend to do a lot of American/Continental foods. Damn kids!

After lunch we visited the Kazuri Bead Factory, which was started in 1975 as a means of alternative income for women. Much of the product is exported to Europe and the United States.

The afternoon was pretty free, so Bryan and I decided to take a walk outside the Karen Blixen compound. We must've walked about 2 or 3 miles total, with nothing but more houses and more bus stops. Pictured above is a "matatu" which is Kenya's most popular form of public transportation. Much like the jeepney in the Philippines, they are painted colorfully and will pick you up at any point along the road. Their routes are painted on the sides and they can usually jam about 15+ people inside.

The first of many late Tusker nights, playing drinking games. This was a game of "Who am I" which failed because Jim got his own submission (Jerry Garcia) and Bryan had no idea who Paul was (Ziggy Stardust). Instead we whipped out 2 decks of cards and attempted to play a monster game of Bullshit, which had to end when we started throwing down groups of 8 cards. I also knocked beer all over myself and the cards as I was dealing them out, but not because I was drunk!

Kenya Days 1 & 2: What goes up must come down

2010-05-16T16:04:00.003-04:00

A 13-hr flight to Dubai followed by a 5-hr flight into Nairobi. I had the entire row to myself on the way to DBX, so I got to stretch out and sleep. And also watch a whole bunch of movies: An Education, Public Enemies, Leap Year...

I arrived in Nairobi bleary-eyed and excited/exhausted. Finbar met me at the airport - it was my first time ever to be greeted with an official sign with my name on it. Exciting! Jorot drove us from the airport to the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden where we'd stay for the next two nights. As I arrived, Jacki and her family pulled up right behind us, followed by Paul & Jim, who had been there for a few days already and had a safari under their belt (Amboseli near Kilimanjaro).

We had tea with a friend of a friend, an old British lady of the monacle & pith helmet safari era. Horrifying and hilarious at the same time. Fin left us with instructions for the next day and we moved to the restaurant for a group dinner and the first of my many Tuskers. I decided to try to find my roommate Robyn, who I only knew by name and through email. We hit it off right away and after dinner, we moved to the bar with Jim & Paul for more drinks. I asked for an order of kilifi oysters, which at 450 ksh (about US$6) I expected to get a mere half dozen. What arrived instead was a mountain of 20+ on a platter of ice and seaweed. YES!!

We went to bed with mosquito nets drawn and fits of laughter, excited for our first full day in Kenya.

Drifting & floating & fading away

2010-05-01T18:00:00.002-04:00

Red Balloon, originally uploaded by lazysundae.

Went to the Flea today to get in some last eats before I leave for Kenya. I had a shrimp roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound, a Maine Root root beer and then I got a quarter pound of organic lox from Mile End.

I also picked up a couple of tomato seedlings from Groundworks and planted them. I'm hoping they'll be in fruit by the time I get back...

That said, I'm pretty much all set to go. I've taken almost all my typhoid pills, I've gotten polio, yellow fever, tetanus & hep a vaccines, and i will start my malaria meds on Monday.

Everyone's freaking out about mosquitoes and OMG don't drink the water! While I appreciate the concern...
I've lived in the Philippines. I've been to India, Thailand, Indonesia. You can only prepare yourself so much, but at the end of it, whatever happens happens. I'm not stressing and I'm very much looking forward to the trip.

We are giving a lot to the community by providing money to build schools, wells and health clinics, but they will be giving us even more by taking us into their homes and sharing their culture.

See you on the flipside.

...or die

2010-04-25T22:44:00.004-04:00

Anyone who's known me for a while knows I'm a very horribly frustrated skater. Meaning, I've tried and tried but I just can't do it. The last time, I hit a rock and didn't compensate enough and flew off the deck right onto my ass. But that never stopped me from loving the sport, especially the skateboard art. I just randomly happened to check out CCS and found these gems:

This is the Marc Johnson Endless B(S)ummer deck. He's one of my favorite skaters.

This one is just hilarious - it's called the Bass Turd deck.

YouTube Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon song. This is an awesome deck designed by James Jarvis.

Here's Daewon's deck.

This is Dylan Rieder's Warhol deck by Alien Workshop.

Organized mess

2010-04-18T15:05:00.002-04:00

So this is what I did this morning - I started out by photographing what was in my bag from last night, and then got carried away... Click on the photos to go to my Flickr site to read notes on everything you see here.

My bag, 4/17/10

My lip balms/glosses (that's not even all of them)

Notebooks

OMG

2010-04-18T10:55:00.002-04:00

Helen shared this in Google Reader. This is awesome and I'm taking it to Kenya with me. Speaking of... I have to get to work on that. What other music should I take? So far I have Brian Eno's Music for Airports, Jonsi's two albums, Beck's Sea Change, Explosions in the Sky, Kid Cudi (I don't know why, just in case), some Snow Patrol, Burial, Mulatu Astatqe, and a few of my own mixes.

Stuff that's happened

2010-04-18T09:49:00.005-04:00

I swear I'm taller than this

Thu Tran & I at Santos Party House for the launch party of her new show on IFC. Photo by Angel.

Candles for Poland outside the Polish embassy

On my way to La Superior to meet Aaron for dinner. He agreed to be my bodyguard while I met someone to sell my DS...

...so that I could buy my new bike!

At Freemans with Ryan, waiting for Nancy-oh-Nancy

At Randall's Island with Alex for Ovo.

Sunday breakfast - leftover potato casserole, the last egg, the last campari tomatoes

Weekend nails!

I HEART BK

2010-04-11T21:05:00.003-04:00

Giant letters from Kings County Salvage at BK Flea

New Bonbons at BK Flea

BK Flea fashion

Clinton Hill at 8am

More early morning Clinton Hill

BK Flea comes home this weekend!

2010-04-09T10:14:00.002-04:00

Colorful silk scarves from Thailand

A blueberry-cardamom popsicle from People's Pops
Japanese fishing net floaters from Kings County Salvage
I'm most excited to be able to brunch at the Flea again, just a 5-minute walk from home. This season, Porchetta will be making an appearance as well as Brooklyn Soda Works, both new to the Flea.
Additionally, the sweet & wonderful Deb of Bonbon Oiseau will be back:
Please come visit her at the Flea to say hi. If you can't make it, you can still get your hands on some Bonbons. Everything in the store and online is 30% off until April 20, excluding key fobs, money clips and bridal.

Washing the clouds away

2010-04-06T15:54:00.002-04:00

My bday/Valentine orchid is dying. I like the way the flowers turn papery as they dry. Alex wants to clean them off but I'd rather they stay until they fall off naturally. Orchids are so expensive. Why?? You can buy them on the street for $10. I've seen it.

My oxalis is blooming again. It'd been touch and go all winter until I realized it loved the sun. It's just started to sprout flowers again.

A newly blooming tree in Bed-Stuy. I didn't use flash, this is lit from below (or above, rather) by the streetlamps. There was another tree I wanted to take a photo of instead, it had paper-thin plastic banners tangled up on it.

Hussein Chalayan SP10

2010-04-03T07:51:00.004-04:00

I never really write about fashion on here but I spied these and had to share. I love his work. See the rest of the collection here.

I thought these comments were hilarious for some reason

2010-03-29T11:47:00.001-04:00

Hide

Vogue Knitting The wool industry in the UK is in crisis—and this affects many of us—so the Prince of Wales announced an initiative in January to work with the industry to raise awareness of the wonderful qualities of wool in fashion, carpets and other products. Let's hope it works. We give him the needles up for effort!

Prince of Wales leading wool fashion comeback

www.telegraph.co.uk

The Prince of Wales is trying to orchestrate a fashion comeback for wool to halt dwindling demand and falling prices for the commodity.

Early morning knitting

2010-03-29T10:49:00.003-04:00

Brioche Progress Shot, originally uploaded by knittingand.

No, this is not my knitting, I was searching for brioche stitch pattern photos on Flickr and this one caught my eye.

Yesterday I finished that seed stitch striped cowl I have been working on for the past two weeks. Photos to be posted later as this shitty gray day leaves much to be desired in the way of lighting.

This morning I stupidly tried to teach myself how to knit brioche, which is a way of double-sided knitting. You end up with a very stretchy-squishy piece of knitting that looks good on both sides. It looks especially interesting when you knit with two or three colors, where you can make vertical stripes or an interesting alternating color pattern. Needless to say, as with much new techniques I had to do a lot of trial and error. I was late to work but now I'm super inspired to try out these new stitches! Stupid work.

My next project will consist of different brioche stitches - I might need to slap myself a few times to get my head on straight but stay tuned!

Here is a great resource for learning brioche.

Afternoon date, do or die

2010-03-28T00:15:00.002-04:00

Make it Fit at Brooklynite Gallery

Beautiful buildings

Sunny side lot

DO OR DIE

Biohazard

At Saraghina

The bad angle

A laundromat was on fire

Progress

2010-03-26T07:41:00.000-04:00

I NEED MORE YARN!!

Spring = color

2010-03-20T09:49:00.000-04:00

Os Gemeos on Houston

My latest yarn shipment

Death by Rain

2010-03-15T07:43:00.002-04:00

After all the storming all weekend, we made a last-minute decision to head out to Littlefield yesterday to catch a pre-SXSW show of Scandinavian bands. I'd bought tickets beforehand but was ready to eat the cost if it was still pouring rain. Luckily it was not, so we headed out late to see Julie & Scott and to get face blasted by some Scandi-rock.

The Good The Bad came on - I'd never heard them before but their sound is awesome. They're like The Ventures on 'roids - all instrumental surfer rock. The lead guitarist kept clowning us, asking if we were going to dance and if they should just go home. Americans are lame, dude, sorry! We bought their LP, which is covered in naked chicks. Awesome!

I already love Casiokids but hearing them live was totally different - their sound is much bigger and they don't sound so cheap, given that their keyboards are basically children's toys. They kept switching up instruments throughout the performance - I'm pretty sure they each played every single instrument on stage, from the guitars to the drums to the keyboards. I loved how versatile they were - a really fun band to listen to and see.

They're each performing several shows at SXSW this year, including their official showcases. If you're lucky enough to be down there, I highly recommend both bands.

Layer cake

2010-03-15T07:28:00.003-04:00

I had been working on this layered necklace all week and finally finished it yesterday. I used bamboo-silk and pima cotton-silk yarns.

As it's made with scrap yarn, it is truly one of a kind and I probably won't be working on another one until I finish another project.

Layered necklaces are gaining popularity and I wanted to experiment with different styles.

Available here at my Etsy shop!

If you're balking at price, please stop to think about how long it took me to do this - it's handknit, after all!

Power to the crystal

2010-03-12T15:04:00.005-05:00

Since seeing these awesome (and awesomely expensive) crystal-embedded-in bullet casing necklaces by Unearthen last year, I've been lusting. Looks like others have too:

Gold-dipped citrine by solisjewelry on Etsy - this is really pretty and delicate. I love that she integrated the top of the stone into the findings, which makes it a little more streamlined and delicate.

This is by savagesalvage, also on Etsy. It's called the Stalactite Necklace and features 3 separate Madagascar crystals.

This is one I spotted at Makool - I love the look of layered chains and also the length of the crystal.

This doesn't have any crystals in it these body armor pieces inspired by Bliss Lau have been nagging at me for a while. This is another Etsy find, this time from ashaloo. She has a lot of medieval-inspired jewelry. Her knuckle armor rings and headpieces are especially interesting.

With spring almost here, I'm looking to pick up some new jewelry pieces and these seem to be right up my alley.

BUT. I am also waiting to see what Ms. Bonbon Oiseau's got up her sleeve. Fresh from a vacation in Oaxaca, she is gearing up to unveil her Spring 2010 collection soon (I hope I hope!). I got a sneak peak last year and can tell you - it'll be worth the wait! Save your chests for new some new bonbons, trust.

Also be on the lookout for some new pieces by Lazysundae Knits - I am working on a prototype right now and will be on hand to model it once it's done. Meanwhile, you can peep some new spring pieces at the store!

Spring has sprung

2010-03-07T22:59:00.005-05:00

Spending this weekend cooped up inside would've been harebrained. We brunched at the newly reopened Pies n Thighs, spotted a harried-looking Ed Levine, many weird ears, and then spent some time at McCarren Park where we soaked up the sun, knit and watched skaters not land tricks. Sullivan St. Bakery was out of sandwiches so instead we had tacos and beer at Tehuitzingo. We went to the Armory show where we were followed around by a bunch of art freaks, spotted Karim Rashid and then had $3 frozen margaritas.

Outstanding.

Happy Sundae!

2010-03-07T09:21:00.001-05:00

Ira Glass, originally uploaded by nash.zach.

I had an awesome dream last night for a change, I was working at a radio station and was walking past a waiting room/lounge of sorts and I happened to peek in. I saw Ira Glass sitting in there and walked in to introduce myself and tell him what a fan I was. He was super nice and somehow ended up on the air with me doing a short session. I can't remember what the subject was, but it had something to do with robotic witnesses at a court room hearing.

Afterwards I asked one of his producers if I could take a photo but due to legal issues (I don't remember what) it was not possible. He offered himself as a consolation prize but I walked away disappointed. This would not be the case in real life, however, because if you look through Flickr there are TONS of photos of him with fans.

SO THERE. Ira Glass, one day we will be together. In a photo.

i don't even know why i started writing this or maybe i just don't want to explain

2010-02-28T00:28:00.000-05:00

you are born. you're unaware of yourself.
you get older.
you learn to speak.
you start to walk.
you learn to go in the potty.
you get older, you go to school.
you start to make your own decisions and make friends.
you get older, you start to realize your parents aren't your only heroes.
you discover girls. boys. there are school dances.
you get older, you learn that your heart is breakable.
you graduate high school and learn that the world is so much larger than you ever imagined.
you enter college and try to reinvent yourself. but you realize you'll always be you.
you get older, you start to realize the value of real friends.
you might lose one or two.
you get older, you realize a different kind of heartbreak.
you start work. you get more responsibilities.
you get older, you start paying rent.
you have more bills to pay.
you get older, you find The One. you settle down.
your friends start getting married.
you get older, you start a family.
your children grow up together.
your worries are different.
you get older, your parents get older.
you get older, you lose people. people who you're not supposed to lose, not just yet.
your childhood heroes get older, they die.
you get older. your friends start to lose their parents one by one and, you fear the same happening to you.
you get older. you wonder where your life went.
you realize the highlight of your day is, you're so old people give up their seat for you on public transportation.
you're so old.
you're so old.

Snow day!

2010-02-27T00:13:00.003-05:00

This morning, Alex woke early to walk Kennedy because Michael is away. I woke and showered to go to work. I happened to check my email and...happy day - the office was closed!!!

Thanks for living in CT, shot callers!

A squirrel, a hamster

2010-02-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

I have a problem. This is one yarn shipment I received this week, and I still have enough yarn for two other projects, only one of which is started, and only 1/3 finished at that! These will all be made into thinner, warm weather cowls of different stitches - I found a couple of great resources online and am learning a lot of new stitch patterns!

Vogue Knitting's Stitchionary
Knitting Fool's Stitch Library

This is a stitch pattern called "Op Art" from Vogue Knitting that I'm making into a long cowl with a provisional cast-on. It looks really complicated but it's a great pattern because you know exactly where you are at any point in time - you just have to count back from the start. This way, if I lose track, I don't have to freak out and start over.

This is called "Shell Lace" and is also a fairly easy lace pattern. It's pretty much finished - I blocked it last weekend and only need to stitch the ends together and weave in loose threads from where I joined skeins.

Stay tuned!

I need a sewing machine!!

2010-02-24T10:10:00.003-05:00

Then I can make curtains and pillows and aprons with these wonderful Marimekko fabrics. Via Pink of Perfection, via Mellini.

Sun makes shadows

2010-02-21T20:59:00.002-05:00

We didn't really do much but it was nice to see and feel the sun. More weekends like this, please.

Snowy Saturday with Sean

2010-02-14T08:21:00.002-05:00

We went to the BK Flea...

Old 45s displayed on a wall

Antique dough cutters

A pile of fox tails!

Newsstands all knocked down

An abandoned umbrella, far from home

Crunchy snow

My score from the Flea - vintage cocktail/juice/cordial glasses (I'm a slow collector of these)

Alexander McQueen + Jonathan Adler + Giles & Brother + Alexander Wang

2010-02-11T09:56:00.001-05:00

Just another big, fat wishlist

Conrad Ruiz

2010-02-08T14:10:00.001-05:00

Words cannot express how epicly awesome these paintings are by San Francisco artist Conrad Ruiz.

die, die my darling

2010-01-28T13:17:00.003-05:00

Ioselliani is an Italian jewelry design team out of Rome. I love the juxtaposition of tough, thick materials and dainty, sparkly details:

Is it wrong to want an iPhone based solely on these?

2010-01-28T10:17:00.004-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I've played with my friends' iPhones and they're alright. I just wish it was on T-Mobile and not AT&T. I've been a T-Mo customer for about 7-8 years now and am happy with the service. Plus their data plans are the best in my opinion. Another problem I have with the iPhone is the touch-screen keyboard. Not feeling it. Lots of spelling mistakes, etc. Plus, I don't really know if I'd like to be that connected all the time.

That said, Uncommon is a semi-new (at least to me) site that sells capsule cases for the iPhone & iPod Touch that are designed by artists. At $40 a pop it's a little steep to have an entire wardrobe of iPhone cases but here are some of my favorites:

Ice Cream by Allison Cole

Waders by Brendan Monroe

Kitty & Horse Fisherman by Corey Arnold (he was on the Deadliest Catch!)

Redwood by Jill Bliss

Brown Girl by Saelee Oh

Wendigo Deity Eater of Man by Skinner

The great thing is that you can customize your own case, to show all of the artwork or just a portion of it. You can resize, recenter and rotate the image. Cool!

Catching up on movies

2010-01-25T10:48:00.005-05:00

This weekend I had a mini marathon of new-ish movies:

Fantastic Mr. Fox
I think Wes Anderson needs to just be made the Roald Dahl movie-maker. He just gets it - the sense of humor and the detail. The voice actors were really good too, especially Eric Anderson as Kristofferson and Wallace Wolladarsky as Kylie. And, in this blasted new world of CGI, it's really nice to see directors and moviemakers who are taking the time to still create stop-motion movies.

Sherlock Holmes
Total Guy Ritchie eye candy the whole way through. Very entertaining.

Whip it!
I went into this with very low expectations but seeing Ellen Page in her first non-annoying role was kind of nice. And have I mentioned how much I love Kristen Wiig? I do. This ended up being a lot better than I thought it would be. Alex and I have been wanting to go back to Austin (and not during the clusterf--- that is SXSW so that he can actually spend time with his friends) and if we do I definitely want to check out a roller derby.
It's got a pretty good message re: girl power etc etc but not irritatingly so. Plus the soundtrack is awesome and Drew Barrymore gets jacked a lot. Oh and Juliette Lewis is still awesome.

Bruno
Sascha Baron Cohen is certified bananas. That's all.

Inglourious Basterds
I've had this movie for a while but kept putting off watching it for whatever reason. I don't know why - it ended up being a great watch. Tarantino's got a formula but it's one that works. The costumes were amazing and so was the acting. Definitely a re-watcher.

Emergencia!

2010-01-22T10:51:00.003-05:00

I've just started following this blog fieldguided and was inspired by this post of emergency things needed to get through winter. So I figured, we still have at least two long months left. Here's what helps me stay warm and happy:

1. Warming foods like cassoulet (Alex has been begging me to make this soon). I've just discovered Ben's Kosher Deli up the street from my office, where they serve the most delicious, healing matzoh ball soup. The matzoh ball is so fluffy and big and tastes so chickeny it is the best comfort food for the cold. Also BCD Tofu House's soon dobu. This weekend I will attempt a Taiwanese spicy beef noodle dish. With handmade noodles.

2. Lots of knitting projects

3. Breakfast at Tiffany's

4. Scrabble at home with a nice bottle of red

5. Looking forward to my trip to Kenya

6. Friends and family coming for a visit

7. Lounging around all weekend in Uniqlo's Heat-Tech leggings

8. Podcasts - This American Life, The Splendid Table, KCRW's Good Food and Radio Lab are tops on my list.

The same shit every year...

2010-01-20T07:34:00.002-05:00

Already thinking Halloween ideas:

Prince songs (not sure what this site is but his people have not flagged it yet so...)

Green Porno:

The Prince & the Queen from Katamari Damacy:

Always the same - so many ideas until we get to October, and then my mind goes blank...

Shinzi Katoh

2010-01-19T22:48:00.004-05:00

I discovered Shinzi Katoh while perusing the online store Makool. I just bought a mug set from them that arrived about a week ago, pictured here:

There is a removable tea strainer that is great for all my loose tea. The cover can be used to place the strainer in after steeping, or as a container for snacks. Cookies? Almonds? Craisins? All of the above?

Then one day at Dick Blick in Soho, I spied a whole display of...Shinzi Katoh pens! I took my time choosing just two.

Here is one of them but you can see the rest here! Normally I'm scared that such cute pens will not write very well but luckily these are fine point and with black ink. I'm a bit of a pen snob, I must confess.

Here are more designs that I really love and am hoping to grow my collection more & more:

Another mug with saucer/cover

A mushroom forest sesame grinder - great for noodle soup dishes

An adorable set of Alice in Wonderland ceramics!!!!

Like I need another bento box...this is good for dry snacks like crackers, cheese, nuts, etc.

Little Red Riding Hood loaf dish - I'd make poundcake! Meatloaf! A vegetable terrine!

Little Red Riding Hood tea pot and cups set for two

I really love his simple designs and sense of humor. I'm feeling a bit crazed right now, with all these wonderful things I could be stuffing into my kitchen cabinets.

Must remember for next year, a 2011 planner. I've yet to get a 2010 one - I've kept all of mine since 1996. Believe that?

My kingdom for a hat!

2010-01-19T10:56:00.002-05:00

Knitting 3 hats at the same time - I ain't lyin, originally uploaded by lazysundae.

So my long awaited shipment from Knit Picks came in this weekend and I got to work on a few orders.

Roxy wanted a neutral colored extra large beret/slouch hat, Christine wanted a gray hat that wouldn't smush her brains out with horizontal ribbing and Angel wanted this hat from UO in red, part of their mass-produced EEK (Eugenia Kim) line. Since UO is famous for ripping everyone else's designs off, I'm doing the same, free of charge. EAT THAT!

I'm just kind of winging it, using basic stitches and decreases as inspiration. I'm hoping these hats fit!

Stay tuned for some warm weather designs, comin up next.

Spring Things

2010-01-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

My picks for spring 2010:

The new year thus far...

2010-01-10T23:47:00.004-05:00

BK Flea at One Hanson

You go girl!

Cat + mukluks

I love my new accessories...but will have to re-take this photo. It's not easy self-styling.

Close up of my mitts. I got the pattern at The Purl Bee.

Future bullriders!

The best weekend in a long time.

Plus,
* When you're at a loft party in hipster land and you hardly know anyone...that's the best time to make up dumb dances.
and....
* My best friend is getting married!

Resolved

2010-01-04T16:05:00.003-05:00

Rather than set resolutions I will never adhere to I thought that this year, and this new decade, I should set achievable goals for myself.

For 2010 these include:

EAT AT: Bar Artisanal, DBGB, The Breslin, Scarpetta, Minetta Tavern
DRINK AT: Clover Club, Rye, Mayahuel
Travel to the Philippines - ETA sometime in the fall of 2010. This Jan 1st marked 10 years since I've seen my dad. Unacceptable.
Get a new job. Deadline: end of summer! Or at least be headed in that direction.
Finish house things - need more frames and artwork (hang up the ones Alex found also), paint bench, repaint kitchen, industrial chandelier or other lighting projects. We also need a new shower curtain in the master bath.
Make a work area in the bedroom - more storage bins, clean up shelving unit, need comfy chair and lighting. Need an inspiration board.
Get a museum membership. MOMA would probably be the best.
Build up my Etsy/knitting side business. Start writing my own patterns. With money I earn, half of it will go back into the business - more yarn, business cards, sew-on labels.The other half will go towards paying off debt. (This will probably be the hardest)
Try hosting supper club at least once.
Start embellished sweaters project.
Go to the Cloisters.
Learn to crochet.
Make spare bathroom into a darkroom.
Learn intarsia and fair isle knitting.
Visit Boston/Berkshires. Watch a Celtics game, visit WEBS store.
Go to Philly & watch a 6ers game.
Make pate, a vegetable terrine, fresh gnocchi.

Some ideas for my work area:

Lillberg rocking chair from IKEA - comfy, rocks but not granny's

A Moroccan pouf to put my legs up on....as I rock. Most definitely to be destroyed by cat.

Trollsta side table from IKEA

I wish I had some roots

2010-01-02T10:11:00.006-05:00

Then I'd have a home base where all my old things would be permanently instead of everything being split between 2 continents, all haphazardly divided by mom & dad...

When I was about 10 and still living in California my dad went to an estate sale and came back with beautiful a old Russian lacquered hinged box for me. It was black, with a snow scene on the front. A couple in a troika pulled by a red horse. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT IS!!

So I went in search of some. Ebay has some ridiculously expensive ones but Etsy has proven once again to be an awesome resource:

This one features a woman weaving.

This is a small container with flowers

Beautiful design - I'm looking for some more similar to the first one, with the detail and filigree at the edges. These look like they're a good size but they are actually TINY. The one I had was about 6 inches square. I desperately need jewelry organization so I'm looking at these and also some tiered vintage dessert trays.

Here are some other ideas...

Inlaid box from Syria

Antique bank box
This would also be a good container to put all my knitting needles.

End of a decade

2010-01-01T21:25:00.002-05:00

These last 10 years I...

Graduated from college.
Moved to NYC.
Had my heart broken.
Broke some hearts.
Worked on a farm. TWICE. I can inject medicine into animals and put a chainsaw together. I also got really good at keeping myself occupied.
Groomed a pony in Kentucky. And ate awesome BBQ there.
Lived with my best friends.
Made some new best friends.
Drove cross country in a van with no heat.
Traveled to Japan, Germany, the Southwest. Toronto. Vermont. Aside from JPN, I'd never been to any of those places before.
Went whale watching.
Had a major injury.
Got a real job with benefits & direct deposit.
Lost 2 people near & dear to me.
Went camping.
Watched Grandpa deteriorate.
Connected with long losts.
Went to some great live shows: Asobi Seksu like 5 times. Feist 2 times. Bad Religion. Face to Face. Explosions in the Sky. Jungle Brothers/Black Sheep. Edan. Tilly & the Wall. Cibo Matto. Thievery Corporation. Kid Koala, P-Love & DJ Jester 3 times. Tommy Guerrero. Smoosh. Sebadoh. Ted Leo 3 or 4 times...
Got duped by some real assholes. And learned.
Met my Brand New Love. And then acquired a cat.
Got my first tattoo. And then my second one.
Taught myself to knit, then tried to start a side business. It's okay so far.
Tried my hand at food styling - it didn't really work out.
Was a fairy, a 1950s diner waitress, Trinity (from the Matrix), Ziggy Stardust, Wednesday Addams, a Dazed & Confused senior (Air raid, bitches!) for Halloween. I skipped dressing up those years I was on the farm.
Celebrated my birthday alone twice (also on the farm). It builds character. Plus, the Jack Russells wore party hats.
Learned to cook a lot of things - roast chicken, a real carbonara (there is no cream!), porchetta, risotto, bread in a Dutch oven... and developed a few signature dishes (namely those awesome chicken wings).
Ate a lot of awesome meals. Too many to name but more recently (in the past few years) - cassoulet and profiteroles at La Sirene, a 3-course dinner at Ad Hoc, roasted bone marrow with ox tail marmalade at Blue Ribbon, every meal I've eaten at 'ino, sweet water oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co, Thanksgiving dinner 2009, BBQ at Louie Mueller, Mom's sinigang na bangus, Peking duck buns at Corner 28, cold sesame noodles from Xian Foods, Szechuan hot pot, sushi at Ushiwakamaru, any meal at Soba Totto, Akamaru Modern ramen at Ippudo, darjeeling pannacotta and peach sorbet at Chikalicious (it was Andrew's but I wanted to eat it all), Di Fara's Sicilian pizza, lobster roll and bouillabaise at Mary's Fish Camp, the first time I had soup buns (Joe's Shanghai w/ DS & co), lobster grits at BK Flea, blueberry pie with cream at Pies & Thighs......
Was featured in a couple of magazines. If Giant Robot counts, that's one. And also Fader with Peelander-Z.
Bought my first pieces of real furniture. No milk crates, no sidewalk hunting.
Was sexually harrassed several times - peepee on the E train, ass grabbing on the 6 train and a pervert following me home on a bike telling me to suck it. Awesome!

The year in photos

2009-12-31T00:37:00.004-05:00

Here's a smattering of photos, one from each month...

January - a shivering dog in DUMBO

February - I turned 30

March - this is when i started binge-stocking yarn. This is Knit New York - having been to a few yarn stores in NYC now, this is by far the best. Too bad it's closed, like a lot of my favorite spots.

April - the BK Flea reopened...on a Saturday

May - Alex ran his first half marathon

And we road tripped the Southwest

June - Asobi Seksu!!
Also we moved upstairs to a much bigger apartment.

July - we went to Six Flags for Alex's birthday

August - end of summer! Hyden Yoo premiered at Bloomingdale's and Steve came for a visit.

September - it started to get a little cooler and the seagulls started flying around in crazy flocks again. Our office moved to Herald Square, a shit show. Also, VH1 Hip Hop Honors and a visit from cousin Jen.

October - whiskey tasting at Tuthill Town Spirits. Also, Eros & Mario came from L.A. and we finally had our housewarming party.

November - I voted in the mayoral election. Laurea turned 28 and we ate hot pot. Crispy pork skin at Thanksgiving 2009.

December - NYE snowfall in Clinton Hill. This month I started selling my knitted things for real, we had our 2nd annual DIY gift exchange, and we rang the new year in quietly at a small house party in Brooklyn.

Happy New Year :)

Apweh

2009-12-30T22:54:00.001-05:00

Yarn tornado!, originally uploaded by lazysundae.

I got really sick last night and puked up all this yarn.

Oooh!

2009-12-26T22:42:00.003-05:00

I was perusing the Purl Bee for new patterns and came across this book they posted, Reversible Knitting: 50 Brand-New, Groundbreaking Stitch Patterns by Lynne Barr. What caught my eye was this sweater by Wenlan Chia:

What the hell! Why does my first sweater ever have to be this complicated thing? It looks like it's knit with cotton, which I hate because cotton sweaters like this are super bulky and heavy. And I would probably use different colors.

Anyway, planning to cop this book soon.

First pattern post

2009-12-22T22:30:00.005-05:00

Ok this was a bit crazy to write because I did it without looking at the mittens - I'd already gifted them to the recipient. So I was doing this from memory and there might be a few glitches. But here goes:

The Diana Mittens (Horse shoe cables with inside pockets for handwarmers!)
Horse shoe cable mittens with inside pocket (for your handwarmer!)

Yarn: 1 skein Cascade 128 Superwash
Needles: 1 set US9 DPNS, 6"
Notions: darning needle, stitch marker, stitch holder
Optional: Cable needle (you can also use a spare DPN)

Notes: This is a bulky yarn suitable for US10 needles but I wanted them to be knit tighter so I used the US9.
You can probably use any not-too-bulky weight yarn - I used up the entire skein of Cascade 128 on this project with about 2 feet left over to die a ribbon on the gift bag. This yarn's very forgiving and holds the cables well, and it is machine washable which is a plus. Comes in a lot of wonderful colors, both neutral and bright.

Using 3 DPNS, CO 36 sts and join in the round. Mark the beginning of the round with your stitch marker - if you don't have one, tie some scrap yarn into a loop. There should be 12 sts on each needle.

Rows 1,2,3,4, and 6: *K1P1* repeat to end of 1stneedle, K12 to end of 2nd needle, *K1P1* repeat to end of 3rd needle
Row 5: work your horse shoe cable. Sl 3 sts to cable needle (CN) and hold in back. K3, K3 from CN. Next, sl 3 to CN, hold in front. K3, K3 from CN.

Repeat this two more times.

Rows 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12: Knit all the way around.
Row 11: work your horse shoe cable again. Sl 3 sts to cable needle (CN) and hold in back. K3, K3 from CN. Next, sl 3 to CN, hold in front. K3, K3 from CN.

Row 13: Knit all the way around.

Row 14: You'll start to work your right hand thumb gusset. K27, M1, K1, M1, K to end of round.
Row 15: K all the way around.
Row 16: K27, M1, K3, M1, K to end of round.
Row 17: K12. Work horse shoe cable - sl 3 sts to cable needle (CN) and hold in back. K3, K3 from CN. Next, sl 3 to CN, hold in front. K3, K3 from CN. K 12.
Row 18: K27, M1, K5, M1, K to end of round.
Row 19: K all the way around.
Row 20: K27, M1, K7, M1, K to end of round.
Row 21: K all the way around.
Row 22: K27, sl 9 sts onto a stitch holder (if you don't have one, thread scrap yarn onto your darning needle and thread them onto the yarn, and tie the scrap yarn in a knot). M1, continue knitting all the way around.
Row 23: K all the way around.
Row 24: K12, make horse shoe cable, K 12.
Row 25: K all the way around.

Rows 26, 27, 28, 29, and 31: K all the way around
Row 30: K 12, make horse shoe cable, K 12.
Repeat until the mitten reaches your little finger, or until desired length.

To shape top:
K3, K2tog all the way around.
K all the way around.
K2 K2tog all the way around.
K all the way around. Make sure there are 8 sts on your 2nd needle (the one you've been cableknitting on) and that sts are more or less divided evenly on your 1st an 3rd needles.
K2tog to end of first needle. K a smaller horseshoe cable on 2nd needle - sl 2 on CN, hold in back. K2, K2 from CN. Sl 2 on CN, hold in front. K2, K2 from CN. K2tog to end of round.
K all the way around.
K 2tog all the way around.

Cut your yarn and leave about an 8 inch tail. Thread through darning needle and sew through remaining sts, then pull tight. Turn the mitten inside out, make sure the top is still pulled tight, and then weave in ends on the inside.

Now make your thumb. Turn the mitten right side out again.
Pick up the 9 slipped sts onto your DPN and cut the scrap yarn out.
Pick up 5 sts and divide the 14 total sts onto 3 DPNS.
K 9 rounds.
To shape top -
K1, K2tog to end of round.
K2tog to end of round.
Cut yarn and thread through a darning needle. Draw the yarn through the remaining sts, turn the mitten inside out, and weave in ends.

WAIT YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!!

To make the left hand mitten, follow directions until row 13.
Row 14: K6, M1, K1, M1, K to end of round.
Row 15: K all the way around.
Row 16: K6, M1, K3, M1, K to end round.
Row 17: K to end of first needle. Work horseshoe cable on 2nd needle - sl 3 sts to CN and hold in back. K3, K3 from CN. Next, sl 3 to CN, hold in front. K3, K3 from CN. K to end of round.
Row 18: K6, M1, K5, M1, K to end of round.
Row 19: K to all the way around.
Row 20: K6, M1, K7, M1, K to end of round.
Row 21: K all the way around.
Row 22: K6, sl 9 sts onto stitch holder/scrap yarn. M1, K to end of round.
Row 23: K all the way around.
Row 24: K12, make horse shoe cable, K 12.
Row 25: K all the way around.

Follow all the directions as described above.

Optional inside pockets:
CO 12 sts onto US10.5
Knit in stockinette stitch until desired length (about 3 inches)
Turn the mittens inside out and pin to the palm side.
Using needle and thread, stitch the pocket to the mitten.

Et voila :)
If you decide to use this pattern, please let me know and link back. And send photos!

Okay...

2009-12-21T14:24:00.001-05:00

Moon Jelly, Mono Lobo - Carmel, California, originally uploaded by kendra karr.

I realize I was being snarky in that last post but having spent all that time prepping and planning, it kind of sucks to have guests complain to me about their shitty time management/planning skills. It ain't my fault!

Here's a pretty photo to brighten up your Monday - a moon jelly taken in Carmel, CA. Right by where I want to retire in Monterey.

A DIY Christmas

2009-12-21T09:57:00.004-05:00

Last year's DIY gift exchange was so fun we decided to do it again this year. Everyone felt the need to top themselves from last year, which resulted in a lot of needless stress, but I think everyone ended up with some awesome presents. I drew Christine, and I decided to make her some felted nesting bowls. Basically I made small, medium and large hats and then boiled them on the stove and felted them BY HAND. I don't know anyone with a top loading washing machine that I could use. They turned out pretty good though:

It was a really busy week at work and any time off I had I wanted to spend lazing and relaxing. But I had decided to make my own decorations so I was up til 2am on Friday making tissue paper pompoms:

Alex helped me string them up, then added Christmas lights to them. They came out really pretty and I'm thinking I'll leave them up all year.

More photos from the party can be seen here on Flickr.

While it's a lot of fun to see what everyone has made, I'm afraid it's caused a lot of unnecessary stress. I've yet to decide whether I'll do it again next year because of all the complaints I got...and all people had to do was make a present! I had to plan the menu, spread ingredient-getting over several days, make the decorations, and then Saturday I was in the kitchen from 10am-guest arrival cooking. AND I barely got to eat. I'm not really complaining, I'M JUST SAYING.

The rest of the weekend was busy otherwise. On Friday we watched Broken Embraces at BAM, Pedro Almodovar's latest movie. He was there to introduce it and give a brief explanation of where his head was at when he was writing the movie. He was so normal-looking I wanted to hug him and call him "Abuelito."

I liked the movie a lot - classic Almodovar with the vibrant colors and plot twists. And as usual, his zany sense of humor. Highly recommended if you can catch it while it's still in theaters.

Another movie we got to watch was Where the Wild Things Are. I'd heard mixed reviews from all over the place - people wanting it to take them back to the time when they first read the book were sorely disappointed but others enjoyed this version. I have to say I'm with the latter. I actually enjoyed the sense of alienation and loneliness I got from the film. I only wish that it had been a little longer.

To round out the weekend, I headed out into the city on Sunday, the day after the blizzard. I went to Purl to pick up some new yarn for some last minute pre-Xmas presents, including a pair of mittens I wanted to make for my office gift exchange:

This is knit with Cascade 128 Superwash, which is 100% wool and super soft. I had seen this pattern and wanted to make something similar. My cables go the opposite direction and I kind of winged the thumb gussets and decrease stitches but overall I am happy with the result. If I'd known it was so easy to cable, I would've picked it up a long time ago.

After Purl I went to Brooklyn Flea's Gifted market, where I visited Deb & Michelle. I bought myself some treats, including Rick's Picks Phat Beets and Liddabit Sweets's Slurtles & Ricotta-Honey-Orange Caramels.

For Christmas, we are going up to Queens to spend a quiet evening with friends for a potluck get-together. Sounds just right after all this craziness.

I don't care if Monday's blue...

2009-12-14T19:02:00.000-05:00

A very colorful day off!

Dear Me

2009-12-13T15:34:00.002-05:00

Short of a DIY gift exchange with our friends, Alex and I aren't doing presents this year. Rather, we are getting things we want for the apartment, a throwback to our first Xmas in our new apartment downstairs. Namely, a scanner/printer and a sewing machine. If anyone has good recommendations for either, it'll be much appreciated. Especially for the sewing machine - neither of us has ever really used one before and it would be for basic hemming/alterations. And then eventually, Alex will make me clothes (Just kidding! But I will try to find some fun fabrics while in Kenya...)

But that doesn't mean I can stuff my own stocking! Xmas wishes I'll get (or make) for myself:

Mariage Freres Earl Grey French Blue tea
Mariage Freres Casablanca tea (green, mint, bergamot)
This scarf knit with this yarn
New winter house slippers (Sock Monkey has a hole)

In other news, I received the itinerary for the trip to Kenya. The countdown begins now: Cinco de Mayo!

Blog bump

2009-12-13T10:19:00.003-05:00

So I've been on Ravelry for the past two days looking for hat and toy patterns. I've made a couple of hats and am looking to expand my skills and I came across these patterns by Nikol Lohr, on a Japanese/Manga/Anime site of all places. Katamari Damacy's Prince & Queen earmuffs!

Being that the internet is a super superhighway, I Googled "Nikol Lohr" hoping to find more fun patterns by her and came across her blog, The Thrifty Knitter. Photos of yarn, projects in process, food, farm life & fiber workshops - it's very visual and informative. Apparently she actually lives on a farm and spins her own yarn and also teaches at an annual yarn school in Kansas City. Check it out!

Gettin knitty widdit

2009-12-11T01:14:00.004-05:00

Participated in my first arts/crafts fair today, hosted by a company in my office building. It was open only to employees but I made out better than I had thought! The necklaces with pendants ($40/45) were very popular as were the neck cozies ($45-70). And when I say popular I mean I sold about two of each.

I didn't really know how to set up my table until I was at a bookstore and spied craft wrapping paper, and then it just all came together. I made pompom garlands to decorate and then just covered the entire tabletop with the paper. I didn't have any business cards so I took a few photos with my Fuji Instax and wrote my info on mini sticky labels on the back. Tadaaaaa!

I love knitting - it's amazing to see what you can make from a single strand of fiber. The fact that I can do it pretty much anywhere makes it appealing as well. One thing that's funny to me is that people ask me things like "Do you have this in such-and-such color?" especially for the necklaces. All of those pieces are made with scrap yarn, so it totally depends on what I'm using at the time and what colors I have. Plus, it's not like I have a stockpile of supplies. I guess I'll get a feel for what is popular with buyers vs. what I like myself. It's always a learning process.

The pompoms were really fun to make too. Using scrap yarn, remembering what projects I made them for... It's like a trip down crafty memory lane!

My Etsy store is now open - I'm slowly adding to it as I take pictures of my goods. Please visit and pass the word along!

Lazysundae Knits at Etsy!

It's the little things

2009-12-07T13:25:00.003-05:00

Did some shopping with Angel this weekend. We stopped in at a little vintage jewelry store and after perusing everything I stepped up to the counter to pay for my finds, a tiny military (?) pin and a pair of 1960s/70s enamel clip-on earrings. Inside the glass case were the more expensive pieces, including the tiniest, dantiest bar pins. Some where enameled in baby pink and others had simple filigree.

I asked the saleslady what they were and she responded, "They're lingerie pins!" LINGERIE PINS?? "What, like thong clips??"

Apparently, back in the day when people actually paid attention to gorgeous little details like these, and garments were carefully made and most probably handcrafted and not mass-produced, they made lingerie pins to attach your bra strap to your slip.

I'm pretty floored by little details like this.

Official

2009-12-01T12:58:00.002-05:00

KENYA Masai Mara, originally uploaded by maksid (on a trip).

So it's officially been announced: I'm going to Kenya next spring!

After a written portion, the selection committee picked 5 employees from each location to interview. They then interviewed our bosses and announced the winner about two weeks ago.

We will be working with Free the Children to visit the community we are sponsoring, called Oloosiyoi and located about 2 hours outside of Nairobi. There we will observe their way of life and help build schools, plant trees, and help them get running water.

I'm really excited about this program because it's not like a lot of other aid programs. In providing them with schools we are helping to educate them. Women are being taught skills needed in order to become economically self-sufficient. It's not a missionary kind of charity where they try to force them into a different way of life. Through education and knowledge, Free the Children helps those in need to become confident and aware of how to better their lives.

They also have projects in China, Ecuador, India, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka.

When we return, we will be expected to lead discussions and to spread the word. It's rarely that you ever get to see the good your donations make, which is why I was so excited about this opportunity.

To learn more, visit the website. I've also added a donation link to the right of the page if you are interested in doing so. There doesn't seem to be an official HTML code for this but once I know more about the program and meet more of their people I hope to get this in the works. Please donate what you can!