thisisntJimmy's Top 10 artists of the decade

Roger Ebert did a Top Ten films of the decade... and rounded it out with another 10 (for a total of 20)... and he approached it not as the top ten of artistically and historically important film but rather the top 10 to affect him. So I decided to do a list of important artistic things to affect me this decade. And not ALL of this was created in this decade, but was made aware to me this decade. As you may notice, I was a late bloomer to many things of this world. The things that have made me who I am in this decade:

1. Sufjan Stevens - Perhaps it’s too obvious a choice. Maybe it makes me look like I’m trying too hard, but Sufjan’s music has meant an incredible amount to me on artistic and emotional levels. His albums are stellar, but his live shows are truly amazing. I’ve been fortunate to see him live three times. During a performance at NY’s Town Hall (with the amazing My Brightest Diamond opening), there came an incredible deafening squeal of feedback during what seemed to be freeform improvised noise from all 12 instruments on stage at the end of my favorite song, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us. Everyone stopped playing, the feedback ended, and Sufjan was very professional and friendly in his apology. He did a quick count off and everyone jumped right back into the song/noise, proving every sound in this emotional build up of the song was intentional, written out, and well rehearsed. It just showed me that he has such a command on every aspect of his music, from the wonderful lyrics and melodies to the way the live shows (including costumes) are performed.

2. Emily Hubley - I was very familiar with her parents, Faith and John, as they were pioneers in the independent animation world, but this decade brought me Emily. Her short films take both visuals and story to a personal level that I never considered before. You can thank her for my personal narrative approach. In fact, I literally have thanked her as she was my thesis advisor in college. What I never told her was that the animations she provided for John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a connecting point for my (then future) wife and I, as it was a favorite film for both of us. (For music buffs, note her sister Georgia is the drummer/singer of Yo La Tengo.)

3. Robert Bresson - I don’t even remember now what exactly sparked my initial interest in Bresson’s films. I think the MoMA’s The Hidden God: Film and Faith series is where I first heard about him. How could I read “...a donkey is baptized...” in the description of Au hasard Balthazar and not want to see it? I drug the wife to that one... she was sweet enough to go. How many women will see B&W French films with non-professional actors just to encourage your interest? I admire much of Bresson’s process, but what intrigues me most is his focus on the spiritual and his attempt to avoid non-diegetic music in his films. His final film L’argent is by far my favorite that I have seen of his. Amazing to see a film end so violently yet carry the spiritual emotion it does.

4. Synecdoche, New York - I love all of Charlie Kaufman’s work, but this film caught me at the right time. The ‘meta’ in the film is mind-blowing, but doesn’t become too out of control. Just what is happening? I think Roger Ebert says it best when he says this isn’t a film about story but rather about identity, specifically the categories of our lives we create.

5. Roger Ebert - Ebert is a perfect example of how you can be an artist, think artistically, but not provide an artistic result in the end. NOT to say that Ebert’s writing isn’t artistic! He’s an amazing writer. I just mean to note that you’re not going to walk into a gallery or go to the cinema to aquire his work, but his thought process and critique is completely that of an artist.

6. Stan Brakhage - If you’ve seen my film Self Portrait 1981-2009, (and you’re familiar with Brakhage), then you’re saying, “Duh.” But beyond his beautiful paintings on film stock, his writing about life and film are insightful. If you want to study a new way of seeing (or chuckle at a letter to a teacher about why it’s okay that his daughter doesn’t bathe regularly), read his essays.

7. My Wife - Selfish? Biased? Mayhaps. BUT honest. Her ability to write music surprised me. She tells stories about people with such vivid details while reaching an emotional state with her music, and it never fails to move me. I don’t know what inspired her to start creating music with the ukulele the way she has, but her voice is the greatest instrument she uses. Her interesting use of the uke pairs amazingly well with her voice. I’ve been fortunate enough to see her approaching this new creative outlet from the ground up and that’s been such an inspiring thing for me to watch. When she finishes her album (March?!?!) you will see why she was an important part of this list for me.

(For those who forget or didn't know, I choose not to post her name here as we try to keep this blog anonymous so our students don't find us online!)

8. Michael Chabon - How do I write about a writer? All I can say is that all of his work that I have read pulls me in. His worlds are so well thought out and believable and his characters fit so comfortably into them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry... start with Wonder Boys or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

9. Tom Colicchio - Sometimes I regret not going into the culinary arts. Watching Bravo’s Top Chef brings those pangs of regret while allowing me to live vicariously through amazing artists that show me I would not have succeeded in that world. Colicchio is clearly a driving force of inspiring these new artists and a wonderful chef himself. I’ve only had the pleasure of eating at ‘wichcraft. It’s amazing. Perhaps my unwillingness to shell out the bucks to eat at the other craft family eateries makes you think it odd that I would include him in my top 10, but it’s more than just his food that makes him important to me.

10. Alfred Hitchcock - How did I not know Hitchcock was a master of film until my mid-20’s?! His precise filmmaking process allows me to draw clear lines to Bresson’s process, but their end results could not be further from each other. Hitchcock just wanted to tell a good story, and maybe scare you (at least involve you) along the way. Every frame of his films are intentional and he’s successful because of this.

Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Lethem
Beirut / Zack Condon
Tim Hawkinson
Brent Green
Wilco

Appalachian Christmas

The pbf and I are in the hills of eastern Tennessee for Christmas. We're visiting his side of the fam, enjoying seeing his many sisters and bro's in law, his mom and our sweet, adorable, smart, perfect niece and nephew. Today was his mamaw and papaw's 65th--please reread--65TH(!) wedding anniversary. They got married at 4pm on Christmas eve many moons ago. Since then they have done a family dinner at that same time every year. Today was no exception. It was complete with delicious southern goods including banana puddin', cornbread dressing and string beans with potatoes and of course Mountain Dew! It's always fun to come down here and see where the pbf grew up. It's so easy for me to forget that my oh so city dwelling baby grew up with a wood burning stove as the only heat option, 60 acres of land to be perused while squirrel and rabbit hunting and having one high school for the whole county. Today, his cousin told him he had a Yankee accent which I found amusing. It is true, you would never know that my husband is genetically a hillbilly (his mother suggested that I say that, so don't be offended) but when he drinks he starts to sound like the country boy he actually is. I'm always proud of my husband for deciding to go to art school in NYC when he had such rural roots, but I also really appreciate those roots and I want to honor them. For my wedding present to my pbf I got him a banjo. Sadly he has yet to pick it up--baby, it's never too late!--here's to hoping.

Thanks to my Tennessee family for a wonderful Christmas!

Death in London

The last leg of our Summer '09 Europe trip was London. Two days before we left to go home Michael Jackson died. I remember very clearly sitting on the toilet in the bathroom with no door in our tiny (and I'm a New Yorker people) hotel room. The pbf tells me, "Michael Jackson died!" The next day in Trafalgar Square there was a whole mess of memorials, flowers, impersonators and mourners. I just wanted to keep being a tourist and in all honesty I was selfishly annoyed with MJ for dying when he did and not waiting til we were stateside. Again--I acknowledge that as an unbelievably shallow and selfish thought! On that same day I bought blue Roman sandals that got a serious wearing-with many compliments-when I came home but will likely be out of style next season.

Oh Queen of England!
Oh King of Pop!

A Superficial Christmas Miracle

I've been waiting for six months for my new ukulele, the ukulele that will subsequently have a pick-up installed so I can plug into sound systems and move around rock 'n roll style. Ok, patiently is maybe not the right word. I have called every week since I ordered to check on the status. Each Monday afternoon a new detail would unfold, the delay, the new headstock logo, different design, when it was shipped from Indonesia, when it was stuck in customs, when it arrived in Indiana, when it shipped from Indiana and when they gave it to me FOR FREE for waiting so long. It's a beautiful instrument, I may post a picture. I changed the strings, added the humidifier and have been playing it like crazy to break it in so it will be ready to share with the world! I take such tremendous joy in playing and singing that's it's difficult to describe. During the work day I think to myself-if only I was playing my ukulele right now. When I travel, it travels. I took it on our three week Europe trip over the summer. I took it on a two days work trip later in the summer. If I leave the city, it has to come with me because if I can't pkay and sing then I feel like I can't express myself. I say, "it" but I actually have multiple ukes, the one that currently travels with me is a soprano meaning it's about 20 inches long and weighs less than three pounds. This has been a full two years leading up to doing the album and doing the music thing. I feel so grateful to have music back in my life and find amusement in the ukulele being the catalyst for this. Ok and Jimmy. Also God. Three different sized catalysts.

Again I acknowledge this is a crappy, generic blog post but I refuse to let facebook eat my blogging so crappy generic it will be until inspiration bubbles.

Time after time after time after time

The semester is almost finished! In two weeks I will have a month long break that will be productive and relaxing (hopefully). The album is coming along, it's probably about 75% done so that's good. It has been a really interesting process, parts of it exactly how I would imagine other aspects very different. My producer has really challenged me and I know this album would not have happened if not for him, so I'm feeling blessed by his presence in my life. Hopefully the album's gonna have 13 songs, one hymn and the rest original. The pbf is doing the cover art, he has a really awesome concept that I shan't speak of here-but it's really great. We moved upstairs into our dream apartment, well ok, that's a bit much but it feels as close to a dream as we can get in our price range-two bedrooms, washer & dryer, dishwasher!! For those of you from out of NYC these last two are luxuries that seldom folks get so we are thrilled. Also the renovation on the apartment is newer and feels more homey. Our Christmas tree is up and we are basically settled. We need to get new blinds but that's going to take time because they are pricey little mofos. We've got skylights which are a nice treat to be able to look up and see the clouds moving is a taste of heaven for me. My Mom, in an unbelievably generous early Christmas gift got us a new TV! We are total movie geeks and it has really made watching movies even more fun. The TV came with a Blu-Ray player and we got a few--whoa, it's so clear! Having the TV in HD has made for some interesting moments of holy crap that person looks terrrrrible! I see Ann Curry in a new and more blotchy light! Poor woman. In other news we are thinking about taking our summer trip to Iceland. We were both just thinking it could be a neat place to go. We'll see if it ends up happening, I hope so.

I know that this was an unbelievably generic post but I am bound and determined to not let my facebook completely stop my blogging so this was an attempt.

Facebook ate my blog

...at least my ability to blog. It used to be that if there was a spark of suggestion I would blog about it, now I just make it my status update without elaborating. Here are my last 10 status updates:

-just scratched the floor with the Antietam bullet I dropped! I can't begin to imagine getting shot by one of those bad boys!
-how did my plate get so full? Sheesh.
-so proud of my baby who has illustrations in the new DK book 109 Forgotten American Heroes!
-apple picking today!
-chords.
-is movin' on up(stairs).
-can anybody recommend an audiologist in the city/bklyn?
-otalgia.
-"It's the day of the show, y'all!"
-The Importance of Being Earnest-ing!

I do want to get back to blogging because I think it could be fun to look back on when I'm older. That seems like a strange reason to do something. My pbf kept a xanga years ago and it's a nice trip down Old Memory Lane to read about when we met. We are moving upstairs soon. it will be great but as I started packing yesterday I got a bit teary eyed. I'm working on my album, I think it will be good. Shall I say, I feel confident you won't hate it. I shall. You mightn't love it but that's another story. I'm re-rewatching the X-Files. I don't know what it is, it's just part of my life cycle I suppose. So is blogging dead? Hmm...

Big Ship

I saw a Titanic artifact exhibit today. It was really great. I have always been into the Titanic. When I was little there was a series of beginner reading books on all sorts of subjects including King Tut's Tomb and the Titanic that I read and re-read. To this day my interest in said subjects remain. My favorite part of the exhibit was a huge block of ice that was the same temperature as the water the Titanic sunk in. Actually it was a few degrees warmer because salt water freezes at a lower temp than fresh water and for whatever reason this exhibit used fresh water. I pressed my palm to the ice and truly could stand only 5 seconds of palmery until my hand was in pain. This portion of the exhibit pointed out how the majority of the victims died not from drowning but from hypothermia. The exhibit was really moving and I'm really glad I went. In the gift shop portion, which the exhibit naturally funnels into, there were the standard souvenirs-shirts, postcards, books even coal from the actual ship! I resisted that purchase. One souvenir in particular struck me as unbelievably tacky and not in the spirit of the exhibit. "Gin and Titonic: Sink One in your Drink" ice trays. Am I crazy or did you finish with a wall of names of the victims Mr. Titanic exhibit? I bought a coloring book.

how do fish swim

how do fish swim, standing still in water from thisisntjimmy on Vimeo.

The Trip

I've been avoiding posting anything to the blog... I started to post about the trip a few weeks ago and then the computer ate it. So I've not taken the time to come back and start over. I can't go into the massive awesome details here, so we should really talk in person if you're interested, but I can point out some highlights.

Our time in Romania started out at Caminul Felix... an orphanage for lack of a better term... but it's really set up like two communities of foster homes... 2 parents and 12 to 20 kids per house. They were beautiful happy children that warm up to guests quickly. We made fast friends with some of them, and we got to do a few art workshops with lots of them. They had a wonderful time drawing and coloring and just being all-in-all creative. We met some Americans that were there too and that was super helpful for us because two of them work there months at a time so they were able to show us around the town of Oradea and tell us more about the work that they do and the needs that the people have.

One great conversation we got to have with two of the house parents was telling them about being in NYC during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11th and having them tell us about living in Romania during the rule of communism and watching it fall. I think it's always tough for us to talk to people about Sept. 11th, but it was easier to open up to them as they were opening up to us.

Beyond drawing and playing with the kids, we also painted some doors and attempted to help level the volley ball court with sand, but this group of little boys came to "help" with that and so it really just turned into them playing in dirt and us getting nothing done. Also, we went to a cookout one night and I had Romanian sausage called Meech... I was sick for 2.5 days and am eternally grateful to Nancy for sending antibiotics with us!

So after the week with them we went to Cluj-Napoca to spend a couple of days with Heifer International. If you don't know about Heifer Int., look them up! They do wonderful things and this trip confirmed to us that it's an organization that we want to continuing supporting. This was definitely our favorite time in Romania. On the first day we went to a Roma village that had a goat farm... beautiful people and beautiful goats. They made us lunch right next to their barn... frying up some meat they'd slaughtered and some potatoes they'd grown over fires, and serving goat cheese they'd made. I was sure to drink the cherry liqueur they served so I didn't get sick again! It was a wonderful time. And the next day was just as wonderful when we were taken to another village that has heifers! Heifer heifers! As part of the rules of receiving gifts from Heifer, they gift their first born heifers to another family, but they also gift part of their milk to a children's hospital. We had a really wonderful time meeting these people and seeing Heifer's work up close.

Then it was on to our "vacation" portion of the trip! Rome, Paris and London.
Highlights include:
-Sweating at the Colosseum in Rome and having to tear myself away from the Sistine Chapel.
-Our little hotel with the shared shower in Paris overbooked and they had to move us to a beautiful studio apt. one block away from Notre Dame. We could hear it's bells while we relaxed on our bed. Paris was my favorite city we went to... Notre Dame and Musée d'Orsay would compete for my favorite parts about it.
-Seeing the chopping block and crown jewels at the London Tower... Big Ben is really cool... "London swings like a pendulum do..." As You Like It at the Globe... Tate, Tate Mondern, British National Museum...
-Getting bumped up to first class in on Virgin-Atlantic on our flight home. We had our own pods with seats and footstools that turned into beds...

I've not put pictures up in a public place online yet... if you want, you can friend me on facebook and see pictures there... or just wait til I get around to posting them on flickr or something.

Here come we...

Tomorrow we leave for our trip. We fly to Zurich and then catch a flight to Budapest. We get picked up in Budapest and drive 4 hours into the western Romanian town of Oradea, just inside the Romanian border. We will be at Caminul Felix for a week then we move further east into Romania to Cluj in Transylvania for two days with the Heifer Romania folk to visit a more rural Romania and see some Heifer projects at work. 10 days in Romania. Cluj to Budapest to Rome. A few days in Roma and the seeing of sights. Plane up to Paris, a few more days for the seeing of sights and working on our French accents. Chunnel to London, more sightage then fly home. There are a million last minute things that we are doing but I feel confident it will all work out. We will basically be out of touch until we get back, we decided not to bring the laptop after all and we won't be using our phones. Thus, see you in a few weeks!!!

Tripsy

We have 9 days until we leave! Obviously we are both incredibly excited. Since the first 10 days of our trip will be sort us just going along for the ride, my mind doesn't quite comprehend that portion of the trip yet. If you have any must see or must do's in Rome, Paris or London, let us know in the comments!

lost in the facebook

Because Facebook seems to be the metablog, who needs to do long blog posts about everyday life? Well, our blog has missed us. Probably to the point that no one is really reading it anymore.

3 more Monday classes for me (counting today) and 2 more Thursday classes. Working on finals and what not. Then I'll only have one class left which I'll take in the fall!

We're still excited about Europe in June. Anybody want to help us buy art supplies for Romanian Orphans? Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you more info!

bird/angel

Artist statements are whack, but check this out:


Bird in my house, Angel in my heart from thisisntjimmy on Vimeo.

artist's statement

I have to write an artist's statement for myself for a class... so far all I've managed to do is drink 1.5 beers and chew on the stem of my new estate pipe (a bent style The Everyman London Pipe).

Also I've been looking up artist's statements from my favorite artists... not much help. Do people even really read these things? They most often seem thinly veiled ways to sound hoity toity while saying nothing.

While I'm doing this, the wife is editing a song that she's been recording... a new one she wrote. So I've been hearing this beautiful voice coming from the next room, repeating the same words over and over and stopping in the middle of a word, then moving to another section of the song and repeating again and so on. The repetition and abrupt stopping... the cycles and multiple sound tracks are entertaining. The new song has a simple beauty.

Also, I've almost finished a new film and she did a nice simple music accompaniment for it. I'll put that up soon. I think I've got to get a vimeo account... youtube doesn't quite cut it for full resolution video.

Oooh... I just got to listen to the song... before you... neener neener ha ha. I do think it's the type of song you have to hear a couple of times. I believe this is the first original song of her's she's putting on on the myspace. You'll like it...

But back to my art and my statement of it. Blah. I think much of my art has an entry point from real-life experience and emotions. In fact, much of it is straight up facts from life (not facts... of life... don't make the joke). Personal narrative. There may be elements of exaggeration or minor changes, often for anonymity or humour (British pipe in mouth mean British spellings), but there's only honesty in my work. And simplicity. I fall on simplicity and hope it doesn't come off as "an easy way out" because my intent is to avoid the mess of over worked crap. I used to keep "Simplicity is key" written on my sketch book covers. But it's just the aesthetic that's important to keep simple. I hope the meaning is something that needs repeated viewings to uncover. Not because I want you to think I'm deep but because I don't want to be blunt. Much meaning can be found in the small objects. Of course, there's some stuff I do with no specific meaning pre-determined. The new film I'm almost done with came from pure enjoyment of playing with the elements the film is made from. I had fun and I think there's a meaning in it, but I couldn't tell you specifically what it is.

Anyway, I've had two beers at this point and I'm rambling and at some point I have to turn this drivel into something I can hand in. The wife's almost done with some final mixings and will be putting up the song. Take a few listens. There's a lovely story to be heard.

A Sampling

Here's a sampling of the chat messages the wife gets from me when I'm in my experimental media class:

Man: Kisses to my baby
Man: Love yiu
Man: You
Man: I'm watching david bowie dance with a tranny
Man: He's creepy in a good way
Man: Now he's speaking japanese
Man: You're not getting my messages are you
Man: Now I'm watching really old merce cunningham dance

the end is sucking

I'm kind of frustrated with this semester.  I'm taking two classes this semester and then I'll only have 1 class left, so it sort of feels like the end and the classes aren't living up to what I would want the end to be.  The postmodern film theory class has really just become a film theory class with a large focus on Lacan.  The teacher makes lame jokes and repeats them... and he likes the lamest movies.  His favorite film last year was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and he hated Slumdog Millionaire.  To me that reads as someone who is much more interested in modernity than postmodernity... at least someone more interested in themselves that things greater than them.

My experimental media making class is very interesting and I'm having a lot of fun with the work but the teacher is a nervous fellow and he's been in the hospital.  This will be the 3rd week in a row he's missing.  Of course I hope he's okay.  It's just adding to my disjointedness.  

Hey... I just got a TON of Daniel Johnston music and am working my way through it... yes, I'm late on the bandwagon.  I actually experienced Daniel as a visual artist first... anyway, does anybody have a favorite album?  I'm working my way chronologically at the moment.

I shaved the entire beard off last night on a dare from the wife.

They didn't like me?

What a beautiful spring like day smack in the middle of our winter.  I used to say winter was my favorite, but I think I've decided I prefer spring... falls fun too...  summer remains my least favorite.  I've got our windows open!

I sat in a jury box today and was questioned about my ability to jury a medical malpractice case.  In the end, they told 10 of the 12 in the box we could go and they called up the rest...  I got to leave the court house by 3:30!  I'm not sure if it was that my wife's family are all doctors or if it's because I said "I don't sympathize with people easily", but for some reason, I wasn't good enough for them.  And it's true that I don't sympathize easily...  but I'm not saying I'm proud of that.  Also, I didn't even get to talk about my opinions of malpractice suits...

I got to head to the city and pick up my developed 8mm film for class tomorrow night, and was home by 5pm!  What to do with all this extra time!  Actually, I've got plenty of reading for class to do and I'm exhausted too.  Reading about my man Stan Brakhage.  His thoughts on sight, representation, and art as worship are intriguing me.

SOOOoooo.... If you didn't know, the wife and I are going to Romania!  We bought our tickets last night to get there.  We're flying to Zurich then to Budapest and then being picked up and driven to the small town in Romania where we will be volunteering at an orphanage for a week.  This is thanks to a generous gift from the wife's dad to let us effect humanity.  Of course since we're going to be in Europe, we're not going to stop there!  After a week at the orphanage, we're going to travel around on the train for 2 weeks.  Perhaps Bucharest since we'll be in Romania, then backtrack trough some other countries and ending in London to fly back.  I think we'll definitely make Italy happen, and likely France, but not sure where else we'll spend time or just ride through.  TBD... but suggestions are welcome!

Yes Please!

micro childhood

One of my favorite toys when I was a kid were Micro Machines. And not just the cars but the Travel City sets! They were sort of little boxes that held the rest of the pieces inside. When unfolded, you put the buildings onto the base, and you could attach the base to other bases which would make a big connected road. There were houses and a dump and a car wash and so on. I had a TON of them... I mean, in my mind I had the hugest micro machine city ever. I don't really know how many I had, but seems like I might of had them all. I also have a memory, perhaps false, that my mom loved them as much as I did and would play with them with me.

I wish I still had them. I think my favorite was the car wash, but I also remember the fish and chips restaurant really well. I've discovered a bunch on ebay for $10 each... I'm just saying.

A lot of the pics don't work on this site, but it seems to have the most pictures: http://www.puremicros.com/sc-psets-tc.html 

January 20th, 2009

Today I got to witness the presidential inauguration... mind you it was over the internet rather than in D.C. or standing at Rockefeller Center or anything of that sort, but it was warm in my office. I was able to chat with my friends and update my facebook and explore the new whitehouse.gov. I text messaged updates to my wife who couldn't watch it live and I laid the office phone next to my computer speakers so my boss could listen while he watched everything on the huge silent TVs in Time Square. To sum up, I used the media that my new president is fully embracing to allow us to feel a part of our country again. Today I watched the first president that received my vote stumble his way through his oath and follow that with a moving speech. After today, I hope to stop feeling a guilt for being American. I hope to participate. I plan to complain less and care more. I hope to be patient. But today, I said Amen, I said Amen and Amen.

Rearranging life

I've rearranged the furniture in my office/studio area. Now I just want to find reasons to be back here. So far, instead of art, my reasons have become reading, and now writing, blogs. Of course I'm telling myself I can't really get started on anything because I have to start packing and cleaning and stuff for the trip to Florida. While there's the beach and the pool, I'm sure I'll be sucked into the cable, malls, and movie theaters. I'll see if I can't make other things happen though like a segway tour of Naples! or at least some Kayaking or something...

I'm actually enjoying the time off to watch some good movies, including Frost/Nixon and Synecdoche, NY. It was a GREAT movie, but a few of my friends would disagree... that's okay. Wife's checking the movies in FL now so that she can pick out some "fun" and "happy" movies because she just can't "deal with a bunch of sad movies. [She] just can't do it."

I did acupuncture for the second time yesterday. Not sure if it's for me. I'll try again, but I don't know... the first time I felt relaxed yet energized... this time I got all cramped and bruised... Of course the first time was just to check it out and this time it was to do specific things so there were more needles and new points.

Listening to Sounds Familyre Christmas! (thanks to Chloe's facebook for clueing me in.)

Enter Christmas

Merry Christmas from Wife and Man! (inotherwords, this is your gift from us and it couldn't have been done without those precious girls.)

Human Rights Day

Today is Human Rights day.  Here's some videos for your own awareness.  

And I used to watch this next one at 3am during college on the UN Network when I had insomnia. This one is 20 minutes but contains work by some of the best animation artists ever... including former teachers. Oh, and awesome 80's music and Debra Winger and Jeff Bridges do the voice overs!

Long Break, here I come!

So my last day of work this semester is Dec. 17th.  My last day of class (and final project is due) is Dec. 18th.  After that, I'm free until Jan. 5th!!!

Some things I want to do on my long break.

1.  Go see tree at rockefeller

2.  Go fight crowd at FAO Shwarz

3.  Watch lots of movies... lots.

4.  Check out the top of the rock

5.  relax in florida

6.  Hang out with friends

7.  Go to the MOMA and Whitney

8.  TKTS a show

9. Spend at least 24 hours straight with the wife... with lots of smooches.  

10.  Dyker heights festival of lights!  (and perhaps dinner in bay ridge)

11.  Try something besides the Ales at the Draft Barn

What else should go on my list?

Oh, btw

I did this for a class assignment... stole the audio from one of their actual commercials.  If you're looking for a christmas gift, might I recommend making a donation to them?!

the blog is hurting huh?

Guess we've not had the time and energy to put much focus on our blog lately.  I don't see that changing soon, but who knows.  Remember when we used to have time to make videos and goof off on here and people actually read and commented?  I miss that, don't you?  

I think we're going to put up the tree this weekend!  That's always fun!  Maybe pictures of that will come.

OH HEY, there's a new bar/restaurant around the corner from us.  Like seriously a 1 minute walk away and they have fun german type food (sausages, ect.) and OVER 200 BEERS!  I'm trying to come up with a reason to get a group together to go.  Wanna go?

Can't keep a good Ebert down

Wife put up some inspiration yesterday, so here's some more!

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/siskel_ebert_the_jugular.html

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

baby it's cold outside

Windchills in the 20's today and actual temperatures in the 30's makes this the kind of day that would be well spent bundled up in bed with a good book and a dog.  BUT somebody's got to go to work.  Well, I guess all of us do... It's 9:10 and I'm still laying on the couch trying to get the motivation to go... wife left an hour ago.  

I just registered online for my classes for the spring.  After next semester, I'll be one sweet class away from my masters degree.  I was very tempted to register for 3 classes next semester to get it over with, but that would be a bad idea in the end I'm sure.  

Yesterday my assistant was kind of rude to one of the instructors, so I called her snarky... then she told another co-worker that I was making up words.  Also, my boss told me about the color of his poop... Sorry, I had to pass that disturbing picture on to you.  Hoping my co-workers are less crazy today.

It's my bag baby

Just cleaned out my book bag to wash it... cause some of the stuff I've been pulling out of it lately has been a bit slimy.  Some things I pulled out:

Two types of projector to mac chords 

Two doses of Imitrex - one that could be expired

bottle of advil

diarrhea pills (imodium) 

sunglasses

sketchbook

pencils, pens, highlighters

sunglasses

flip mino camcorder 

extra house keys 

random cd

lysterine breath strips

1/2 to 3/4" headphone jack converter

halloween candy

dramamine

pen from china with chinese symbols on it

old airline tickets from multiple flights

reading classes

class books

1/2 terabyte harddrive

headphones

umbrella

composition book

folders

foldable metal bookstand 

apple

The last time I had to wash my backpack is because a found a rotten banana in a pocket that I never use and couldn't ever remember having a banana...

Thank you Obama.

I was peeing when Jimmy screamed my name. "What?!?!" "Obama won!" Holy moly. I am grateful and excited and proud.

We might go to the inauguration, who wants to come?

p.s.-the pbf put this picture up.

Palindrome Anniversary

Today is our 1551st day of marriage, or as the pbf says, our Palindrome Anniversary. The longest single word palindrome in the English language is "racecar."

Pendragon!

What a wonderful day--welcome to the world Alton Pendragon McMu--you are loved by oh so many already, what a great way to start.

Congrats Wifest and McMu on your beautiful new son! We love you and can't wait to meet you as a new family unit!!

Chernobyl Lullaby

The wife was away this weekend... another wedding in Ohio. Weddings and babies, weddings and babies, it is time for weddings and babies.

I stayed home to get lots of work done. I find that for some reason I don't fall asleep easily when I'm alone. When the wife is home, I'm often the first one in bed, and occasionally fall asleep before she's there, but I just can't fall asleep when I'm alone in the house. I've found that what works best is when I setup the laptop next to the bed, put the dog next to me, and watch a violent, suspenseful, yet smart, movie. I always fall asleep to the movie. I've decided to call this, in incredibly poor taste and in direct answer to an inside joke, my chernobyl lullaby. Friday night it was No Country for Old Men and Saturday night it was Pulp Fiction.

y tu mama tambian

My mom sent me an email with the subject line "word" (because she wanted me to send her MS office).
My reply - "If I replied with "Word - to your mother" would that be lost on you or as hilarious to you as it is to me?"
her reply - "lmao, mom"

Bless this Bebe

As I was taking the dog for her walk this morning we ran into this gal who works for her area family owned business. She is always very nice, a few years older than I am, and absolutely crazy about our dog. She has a dog that she always talks at length about to me. I often find myself being less than friendly because I roll out of bed and take the dog out, no bra, morning breath, hood up, the works. Anyway, she's chatting it up and says, "Did you get her blessed?" When I smiled and said that I hadn't she looked sad and said that I just missed the blessing of the animals last week, suggesting perhaps next year. She took her dog and she got a small St. Francis medal for her collar. Ok. Then, in a move that reminded me very much of Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar (one of the pbf's favorite films), she said that her dog has been different every since, "you know, happier." Ok. Then she asks me my name, I respond, and her eyes get huge and she gets very close to me and asks, "What's your real name?" I tell her. She relaxes a bit and explains her name is Nicole but everyone calls her my name. Well, our name.

A fun way to start the day to be sure.

Also, there is a new song on the myspace.

Falling down

Fall is my favorite. You know this because I've told you countless times. But fall also puts me in a foul mood, or maybe it just makes me moody. One minute i'm very happy and enjoying the weather and life and the next I'm depressed at the idea of be 50-something... because that's obviously going to happen over night and be a bad thing...?

I don't know, I'm just saying. And I'm sure it's something most people experience. Everyone feels the winter of discontent.

Laying in bed at 4pm

Man says: Wife and I are home together... she had a migraine and is just starting to feel better... we're laying in bed together reading peoples' blogs and commenting.

Wife says: Man just got back from 3 days upstate for a retreat. He was asked to speak to a 50 people or so group about film. Apparently he did a good job as I knew he would.

Man says: Wife stayed up til 3am the first night and 1am the second night I was gone. She was playing her Ukulele and had no one to tell her to stop and come to bed. She played me some new strums she learned when I got home while wearing her sunglasses and a t-shirt on her head in defense against the migraine.

Wife says: "Cause I'm awesome."

Arrrrrrr

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day--arrr! Seriously. I shall leave you with on of my favorite pirate quotes.

"To err is human, to arrrr is pirate." --the internets

High school feelings back again...

So a friend from High School got married this past weekend. We were pretty good pals in HS, but we haven't stayed in the best of touch in our adulthood. I went to a very small private school where I knew everyone in my class on a more than basic level. We are facebook friends naturally, and have gotten casually back in touch through that. I wasn't invited to the wedding, not that big of a deal until I saw this photo from the wedding with like 20 kids--a full quarter of our class was invited. I was instantly taken back to those high school feelings of am I good enough, do people like me etc. I suppose there are those of us that throughout our lives just feel left out regardless. Nice. Anyone else, find the occasional middle school or high school feelings resurface in adulthood? How does that play out for you?

Does 1-800-Dentist still exist?

I got a filling a month ago and the dentist said I needed to let her know if it was still sensitive after 2 weeks because it was very close to the nerve. When she did my filling she gave me a squishy stress ball thing in the shape of a tooth... everytime she'd walk out of the room, I'd put the tooth down on the side table. Then she'd come back in and would see it and say, "Oh, you lost your tooth" and she'd pick it up and hand it back to me. This happened at least 3 times. You'd think she'd catch on that I wasn't in the mood to play with her toy.

After a month, I was still experiencing some sensation on my tooth, so I went back. She didn't even look in my mouth! Just told me to reschedule with the specialist for a possible root canal. So I go to the specialist yesterday... he bangs on my teeth with the handle end of his instruments, then lectures me about wasting his time... then he finds out what I do (oh, did I mention he has a weird speech impediment... elmer fuddish) and talks to me for like 30 minutes about how he collects comic and animation art. He tells me about all these cells he has and all the artists he's met. Meanwhile, I'm pissed about his lecture and just want to get back to work...

Know any good dentists?

stink pot

Our washer's broken again... doesn't want to drain the water out of it... so it's all mildewing and gross. Basically, it literally stinks.

Also, our kitchen drawers are following apart.

Back to school!

Today's my first day back to school! I always get butterflies, but it's easier every year. This is my 5th year teaching--wowsa! I feel blessed, I love what I do and it keeps me creative and learning. Huzzah!

Songs

Here are some songs I have been playing around with on my ukulele. Thanks McMu for the nickname.

Uke there it is

So I got a Ukulele. It has made me sad for a very long time that I couldn't simultaneously sing and play an instrument. During my youth I took lessons in piano and violin, but you know how it can be when you're little. In May one of my students brought in a Ukulele and I fell in love with it! For months I pestered the pbf about it. Then on our 4th anniversary he presented me with a borrowed soprano Uke from our friend Stacey. He gave me a month. By the end of week three I had my own. I now have callouses all over my left hand fingers and I spend at least an hour each day playing, there have been a few 4 or more hours days. I'm having the best time. Also, I have started to enjoy singing some more because it just makes it that much more fun. Do not be surprised if I start posting more songs just for kicks. Also, I am open to requests, it just may take me awhile. Here's me and my Mitchell MU-100 Concert Ukulele. It's pretty and has some neato mother-of-pearl trim. Do you like my hat? It's some fur bob from the 40's that I got from my Nana. Wheeee...

doooowntoooown

The newest video from wife and man for you...



Dang my wife's voice is hot.

Hitchin'

So my bestest friend got married yesterday. It was an amazing wedding! It was especially beautiful and looked like a million bucks. The bride wore a bright blue, bejewled sari. Our bridesmaid dresses were custom made, very whimsical in big bold colors. I'll put pics up online when I get a chance. The ceremony was extremely theatrical and beautiful incorporating many different wedding traditions that were just perfect. The bride has patienly waited for 27 years--do you hear me people--for the man God had for her. 27 years!! You are blessed brand new Gonzalez family! Much love from the orange fairy.

Nups

So I'm in Ohio at the moment helping out with the prep and festivities of my best friend's impending nuptials. It's always very strange coming back to the town I grew up in. It gets less and less comfortable. Also, my pbf is in LA for work so I feel a bit unanchored. Good old growing up. Yes, I'm almost 30 (eeeeeee!) but I still feel like I am growing up. I woonder if that feeling of growing will ever go away? Probably not. A few months before my Mimi died, she relayed to me that she still felt young. That's how I feel. All the time. I suppose that's a good thing. The pbf will be joining me in Columbus on Friday and I can't wait because I miss him terribly. We will drive home Saturday and Sunday and then I have a couple weeks off before work gets back into full swing.

Sez You

A friend of mine from college recently became the newest cast member of Sesame Street--yeah, you heard right! Sesame Street---ho-ly-crap! It's literally the coolest thing ever. Anyway, let me say she's the nicest, most talented gal and she totally deserves this. Anyway, enjoy the awesomeness in this clip of Season 39 highlights. She closes and opens the video. She's the one with the video camera. Pretty cool.

Going to LA next week...

I'm going to LA for work next week. Sunday through Thursday. I'll be busy with work stuff most of the time and I'm meeting up with an old friend one day, but if you were going, what would you do?

got art?

I threw out a big ugly bookshelf from my office at work... now I'm staring at a big empty wall. I need something to hang on it... Anybody want to give me art?!!!

Went to the dentist today... they had to fix a filling they screwed up years ago. The novocaine didn't work so she had to shoot me with a bunch of little shots of something else around my gum after drilling for a while. Once she got the old filling out, she realized it had gotten worse than she thought... might have to have a root canal eventually. I HATE dentists.

Movies!

I was very excited for he new X-Files movie and the pbf graciously took me to see it last night. First off it was in one of the tiny theatres at the Pavillion, always a bad sign. It wasn't terrible beyond belief, but I don't think it was as good as the first film. It just seemed like a long and not that good episode. But it was really fun to see Mulder and Scully doing their thing. If you do see it, stay for the credits there is a moment that was kind of fun to see. The movie was preceded with a trailer for a new horror movie called..."Midnight Meat Train"--wtf??! As soon as the title for the movie came on the entire audience erupted in laughter. Not so scary. 

My life...sort of

This is kind of how I spend my time. Minus the just repeating it and repeating it and repeating it...

Getting Cheddar from the Grill

So I have officially just booked my first paid coaching gig for a show. It's a company I have worked with before, and it's a pretty straightforward accent. I don't have the script yet, but the produced told me it's "West Virginia" but that a twangy southern will do just fine. Oh silly producer, there is very little twang in the WV sound, in my experience. But it's my job to give them what they want not necessarily what I want. So it goes. At the moment I am coaching three other shows, one in Vermont and the rest here. Good times! 

I'm the villain

So I'm reading my Sherlock Holmes book on the train this morning... it's a story about the KKK... they send envelopes to people with 5 orange seeds in them to let them know that they are going to kill them. Since the story was written in Britain in the late 1800's, I imagine the KKK was still novel... Watson didn't know about them in the story. SO they kill (SPOILER ALERT) Sherlock's client, and that makes this case even more personal for him. After a long day away, Sherlock comes back to Baker Street and Watson asks him if he knows who in the KKK did the killings... does he have a clue? Sherlock replies that they are going to repay the villains with their own game, and he grabs and orange and starts digging for its pips. He tells Watson to grab an envelope and address it to Captain J@m3s C@--oun. (In my attempt to remain anonymous online, i'm holding back, but suffice it to say, it was my name!). Then the train pulled into 23rd street and I had to quickly put my book in my bag and go. I hope he doesn't kill me... I'm living with anxiety until I can finish reading it on my ride home!

I DO love it...

I've spent the last two days trying to decide if I should make fun of this video or be jealous of children today. I came to the conclusion that I love it.




Some of the reasons I love it:

First, Jim Henson is in my top 10 list of artists. That would be a whole post unto itself, but if you don't know much about Henson, you should check him out... not just his muppet work, but all of it. And I think that many of the things that Henson created or worked on in his life have continued to be top quality artistic productions. That would include Sesame Street.

Next, it's really fun and clever. "Chickens back from the shore"... tell me that's not ingenious. you can't.

And the last thing I'll touch on... Feist took the ability to make fun of this video away from me. She's taken her original decent song and saved it from the pop culture disaster it had become by, in a sense, making fun of it herself. She's taking a song about teenage love (perhaps the song itself was already speaking to the silliness that teenage love is) and making it about counting... a grown woman saying she loves counting to 4. She's repurposed this song that was in everyones head, including the 3 year olds that watch Sesame Street, and made it educational fun for the whole family.

Yes. This is what I do on my lunch break.

My head hurts. I feel like throwing up. This isn't good. I went to the doctor today because I've had a cold for over a week... but indeed, it's just a cold and there's nothing they could do. However, my usual doctor wasn't there, so I saw someone different. I liked her... perhaps more than my usual doc. Super friendly and nice... maybe overly friendly. I think the wife would say she flirted. She'd probably say I flirted back. But she says I flirt a lot and I don't think I've flirted a day in my life. I think this is the sort of thing that leads to lots of the problems between guys and girls... when us guys are just being our suave selves with no intent, but it's seen as flirting.

I've been watching old episodes of ZeFrank and I watch the Vlogbrothers regularly. I wish I could be internet famous, but anonymous at the same time... I used to have a blog on another site... I wasn't anonymous on there just because I wasn't thinking... then some girl that liked me googled me and found the blog and read why i didn't want to date her... there was also trouble with family on there once... random stuff. Also, after stopping that blog, a new friend found out about it and read the whole 4 years worth of entries... I felt half naked, but also appreciated... odd stuff. It's hard to look back at your old self and not think how dumb you were or something like that. My college self was so much smarter and harder working than my teenaged self. My mid-twenties self was so much smarter and harder worker than my early twenties self. Tomorrow I'll officially be in my late twenties. I'm expecting some intelligence and perseverance to be awarded me over night.

The wife got me a book of short Sherlock Holmes stories for my b-day. What fun! They're quick reads, so it's like little snacks of literary goodness. Maybe I'll be ready for a full meal soon and return to my Chabon book I stopped reading. If someone wanted, they could get me a meerschaum pipe to hold while I'm reading my Holmes stories. (though he never actually uses one in Conan Doyle's text!)

And oh yeah... go see Wall-E. One of the best films of all time. (we're not talking just in the animation genre).

blow up dolls

Here's more about that inflatable street art I mentioned on here before. (kid goes to the school i work at and puts this stuff up on the block our building is on... fun thing to walk past on the way to the office)

Cut and paste the link below

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/07/video_street_artist_joshua_all.html

INDEPENDENCE!!!!

Happy 4th of July from all the flags within 100 yards of our front door.

Tight faced

I just saw the preview for the new Baz Lurhmann film, "Australia." Nicole Kidman has had so much work done on her face it's terrible! Yikes! Please stop getting adjusted Nic. The movie looks good, can't wait for it to come out. 

Homies

We are now both home for at least 5 weeks! In August the pbf goes to LA for work for a week, tough life huh. Simultaneous to that I will be going to Ohio to help wedding wrangle for my dearest friend Chloe. I start back to work on the 7th for a five week intensive that should be really fun. Then NYU and Conservatories start back after Labor Day. Can't wait!! It should be an awesome year, I'm looking forward to it. 

Dibs?

Jen,

You can't call dibs on naming our babies... You just... you just can't.  

I really wasn't expecting that blog to turn into baby comment central.  

Back to work.  Vacation was fun as you can see from some of the pics the wife posted.  

Home At Last!

We had an amazing time on our 2218 mile road trip!! Thank you for everyone who let us stay with them, took us out to eat, and spent quality time with us! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. Go to this link. Here's a teaser.

On the Road

We're still on the road.  We're enjoying the time and our 98 honda hasn't died yet.  We've enjoyed southern city hopping (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta) and look forward to more (Birmingham, Charlotte, Richmond).  

One interesting thing is relatives hint for us to have babies and ones that hint for us not to.  I mean, there's no surprises who's who, but it's surprising how blunt it can be!

Andrew Johnston

This clip from the current season of Britain's Got Talent made me weep like a little girl.

Trippin'

We are getting so excited for our roadtrip! It's going to be fun to see all of our wonderful family. The directions I just triptiked on AAA say that we will be driving 2223.1 miles. Wow! We'll hit the odometer at the beginning of the trip and see how close we get. Can't wait!

Indiana hyoid bones

I just finished a 5 day Voice Intensive with one of the master voice teachers (in the world people). It was great! I learned a lot and had some wonderful creative experiences. It wore me out! We worked non-stop each day from 10-5:30 and last night I slept 10 hours. I guess needed it. Some notable things I got out of it, that probably won't make sense to most readers, include, manipulating my hyoid bone, just let me know and I'll manipulate yours, opening up the lower part of my rib cage, ribs-belly-belly-ribs, and doing an amazing contact improv (with text!) with my fantastic Finnish partner, who was working in Finnish, so I received only pure energy. To top it off, last night I had to go straight from the last day of the workshop to a 2 hour discussion time with one Mr. Wade (mentioned in previous posts), again, another Voice master. Good times, but the house is a mess.
In other perhaps more sensical news, I will hopefully be seeing Indy 4 tomorrow with some of my favorite people in the world. I have had the release date in my planner since I bought my planner late in 2007. Unfortunately I have been so busy that I have had to wait to see it, but that's fine. I've been rewatching the first three to get prepped for in jokes that Spielberg will doubtlessly throw in. Plus I just want to get excited for the new (please let it be the last) one.
Back to the intensive. Some areas I am interested in self educating in to be a stronger teacher: grammar, anatomy (of breath/voice), acoustics and poetry. These will be the next few focuses, perhaps even this summer. Incidentally, if you ever have questions about what I do, or questions about your own voice or anything like that, I am always more than happy to dialogue to the best of my ability about such things.

Cooper needs some brows

I saw Anderson Cooper on the street today.  My boss saw him earlier in the day.  We both noted his lack of eyebrows.  I mean, I know they look whispy on tv and photos, but in real life, they're non-existent.  

Visit Our Showroom

Because I was so swamped during the recent Fall semester, I managed to completely miss the "Speechless" campaign which was used by the WGA to support their cause. There are a lot of these, and they can all be found on the you of tube. This one, with Patricia Clarkson and Amy Ryan was one I particularly enjoyed. Another really funny one has Laura Linney in it. Check them out!

Cabin fever

It seems I am already starting to get antsy. This is one of the many activities I did today to help relieve myself of antsiness.

Adventureoscopy

So I am trying to stay productive and enjoy myself during my time off. Yesterday I made my way down to Battery Park where I explored Castle Clinton. There I got to enjoy standing with a cannon, a colonial era wall and three dioramas! Then off to the National Museum of the American Indian where I bought a postcard. It was lovely. Today I had an endoscopy which was great. I thank you Touchos for sending me in the direction of an awesome doctor. My tummy doctor's office was really close to the Roosevelt Island Tram. I had never seen it before so that was cool. Right before I went under (yeah I had to "go under") my doctor said, "Well Madame, are you ready for an adventure?" Then I woke up. As a bonus he took a picture of my vocal folds and gave them to me. Pretty sweet. Thanks pbf for being in supportive attendance and thanks everybody else for your prayers!

110 in the Lampshade

It's official. Somebebe doesn't like wearing a lampshade collar. Here are some phone pictures of her looking very depressed.

*update*

I just walked into the dark kitchen to find the dog just sitting in the middle of the room, stock still. She doesn't know what to do with her lampshade collar on.

the end is near

I have 1 week left in one class and 2 weeks left in another... so close!  Also, I helped co-curate the senior gallery this year at work and we installed the show yesterday and today... We light it tomorrow and then it's done!  Woot!  The gallery opening is next wednesday night along with the students portfolio night... Summer will be here soon! and then over before it starts... 

Stress

So, as usual I am stressed. The good news is that I am much less stressed than I was a few months ago. My dear friend and blogger posted this interesting Life Change Scale. Score your Life Change Scale for the past 6 months alone. According to psychological research, persons who total 200 points or more on the following scale within a 12-month period are more prone to physical and psychological stress-related illness than those who score less. To see where you stand, simply total the number of stress points you have accumulated in the last year. Note that both pleasant and unpleasant "life events" can cause stress. Thank you for this Nomad! As I sit here typing this I am at 210. Nice. What is your Life Change Scale number?


THE SOCIAL READJUSTMENT RATING SCALE
(Life Change Scale)

LIFE EVENT MEAN VALUE

Death of spouse 100
Divorce 73
Marital separation 65
Jail term 63
Death of close family member 63
Personal injury or illness 53
Marriage 50
Fired at work 47
Marital reconciliation 45
Retirement 45
Change of health in family member 44
Pregnancy 40
Sex difficulties 39
Gain of new family member (birth, adoption, older adult moving in) 39
Business readjustment 39
Change in financial state (much worse or much better) 39
Death of close friend 37
Change to different line of work 36
Change in number of arguments with spouse (more or less) 35
Loan of over $10,000 31
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan 30
Change in responsibilities at work (promotion, demotion, transfer) 29
Child leaving home (marriage, attending college) 29
Trouble with in-laws 29
Outstanding personal achievement 28
Spouse begins or stops work 26
Begin or end of school 26
Change in living conditions (remodeling, deterioration of neighborhood) 25
Revision of habits (dress, manners, associations) 24
Trouble with boss 23
Change in work conditions 20
Change in residence 20
Change in schools 20
Change in church activities 19
Change in recreation 19
Change in social activities 18
Loan less than $10,000 17
Change in sleeping habits 16
Change in number of family get-togethers 15
Change in eating habits 15
Vacation 13
Christmas 12
Minor violations of the law (eg traffic ticket) 11

Public art and me

I was recently in the midst of public/performance art as it was being documented... so far I've not found myself in the background of photos online.

I rode the train with these ladies on Saturday.

Two days ago I was walking by a giraffe as it was being filmed. (not the giraffe but... a bear.)

space dance

Tonight we saw a Brazilian dance company, Grupo Corpo, at BAM and we also ate Space Ice Cream (while watching Star Wars) that we bought in D.C. Guess which one was amazing and which one was a disappointment.

Adieu McMus

You will be missed.

Back a day late

We're back home! Our flight was canceled last night so we had to stay at a hotel near the airport last night and take a flight this morning... To kill our time last night we walked around a strip mall in Chantilly, VA (is this where they make the lace?). There was a game store... that is to say, there was a board game store where there were lots of people sitting around tables playing games that i'd never seen. You know the type, Dungeons and Dragons and the such. There was a rather large british guy that made fun of the wife's Ohio sweatshirt...

Hopefully more about our whole trip to come, but for now, here's a video to tide you over... we just happened upon this fun moment on the back side of the Air and Space museum.

We're heeeere

I liked your answers to D.C.=?

I'm trying to get the wife up and moving early... she's doing it but not the happiest about it.

Hi there!

So we've not been blogging... we've been busy... you know. (As in neglecting the blog, Abbi.)

But the good news is vacation is nigh!!! We depart Friday morning for 5 nights, 6 days of glorious time away! But perhaps it won't be away from our glorious readers... Perhaps we'll find some time to blog on vacation! Or at least blog about vacation when we get back. And perhaps I shouldn't say this in the event that it doesn't happen, but I'm hoping for another Wife and Man youtube video!!

In the meantime... let's think of the many things D.C. could stand for!

Dear Children
Deer Children (Doe! {D'oh!})
Dead Cow
Damp Cork
Dog Chicken
Dung Camp
Dog Corn (reverse that)
Dairy Cheese

your turn!

Neglect

*neglect, neglect, neglect*

micro-crazy

We were watching a documentary the other night and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft was on it.
That reminded me of this:




which in turn reminded me of this:




But then all that reminded me of THE GRAND FINALE!!!




Wasn't that a fun trot down Viral memory lane? Perhaps Steve Ballmer invented Viral videos for microsoft...?

We need a vacation

So we're taking one!

After years of talking about doing it, we're going to D.C. 5 nights, 6 days of our Nation's capital. We're nerds, so we're excited to see history come to life, our politicians at work, our tax dollars spent on archiving and culture. Perhaps good dining, shows at the Kennedy center and a moonlight tour of the buildings.

Help us plan our itinerary... What would you do?!

Let's make a BFD

You know what's the most frustrating of Deal or No Deall? How the family and friends are always like "She's gone through so many struggles and beaten so many obstacles in her life. She can do this!" (or some form of that)
Seriously? What does having 4 kids, being behind in car payments, fighting your way back from cancer, and saving a man's life on the subway tracks have to do with your ability to pick out a friggin' case?!!!

So turn it off! Well, I've not faced enough obstacles in life to have the power to do that.

Hectic

Once again my schedule is crazy! I set boundaries and then those get pushed. Ho hum. I just received a phone call that I am going to be a mid semester replacement for a teacher friend of mine. It's nice they thought of me and I have to take it but it's going to make my Mondays 9am-10:30pm days. Not so fun. If you thought we were going to get to hangout this semester we will have to wait until the summer. Your prayers would be appreciated! Thanks...

Urine Trouble

I had my annual physical a few days ago. It's been two years since my last one so I guess it is my alternating year physical. Unrine samples have always given me trouble. I was one of those kids who had lots of trouble using public restrooms. Thankfully, most of that bladder anxiety is gone in my adulthood but every so often it will creep back in, like when my doctor needs a urine specimen. At my last exam I was not capable of...producing. This time I planned ahead. I filled my 32 ounce nalgene and started pushing the fluids on the train. But to no avail, well, a little avail, but I don't think it was enough.

In other news, yesterday was my first day back at work and it was great! At some point I get bored over my break and miss my job so it was very nice to be back. We had to watch all the freshman do Shakespeare monologues. They had been instructed to present them as though they were auditioning, so no one had seen them before. To make it really cruel, the kids don't start their Shakespeare training until this semester so they are basically flying blind. It's a lot of pressure on the kids. It's the first time they have performed in from of their whole class and all of the faculty are there, but it's fun.
One notable performance was a girl doing a Lady Anne monologue from Richard III. She had set up blocks to represent her dead husband's body and she put a shroud over it. At one point she is kneeling next to the "body" and she pulls off the shroud and in a very unconvincing manner, faints. Freshman! Why do they make such crazy and unfounded acting choices. After a full 10 seconds all 100 of us realize simultaneously that she has actully fainted! Only at acting school can something like this happen. The paramedics came, she had to go to the hospital, it was very involved. At one point one of my colleagues was telling the paramedic, "We just thought it was part of her scene!"

The winner is...

Did all of you notice that I turned the BeBe picture post into a game?  Well, Mcüller won, and now I have to come up with a good prize to hand deliver to him when he returns Feb. 1st.  Ideas are welcome.

Our students returned to classes this week, and I start my classes next week.  I'm ready.  I think.  I'm taking Form and Meaning in Film and Visual Culture (a semiotics class).  

Ummm... that's all!  (sorry its not a cool video post like the wife's been leaving)

I changed my mind! That's not all... Michel Gondry curated the homepage of youtube.  That's kinda fun (even if he didn't pick a wifeandman video)... go check it out!

Home Library Kit

I love going to the Library. I have fond memories of all my school libraries, local libraries and home libraries. Just recently I went with my friend to the American Natural History Museum and we went to the Library there. It is only open to the public a few hours a week and we just happened to be there at the right time. It was awesome! We just started looking through whatever books captured our fancy. My personal favorite was a book that my friend found on Native American sign language. I would be happy to show you the sign for "blood" at your request. On the last page of the book there was a war paint picture key. There was one that indicated "killed an enemy using bare hands." Whoa! I am definitely hoping to go back to this particular library. Who wants to take a field trip?

For Christmas the pbf gave me the most amazing gift. A home library kit. The most exciting features are the library cards and stamp. I lend my books out a lot and now I can use these delightful cards. Here is a picture of the first card in use! There is no due date because my borrower should be able to read my books at their leisure. Yes, I know the date is wrong, that is when my patron is picking up their book. I was so excited to stamp that I pre-stamped! Also my old lady thumb has covered up the borrower's full name. This is the interweb afterall.

What's your favorite public building to enjoy?

Movies With Grandma Joy

My friend Shauna has recently created an amazing website and experiment that you should check out. It's really beautiful and made me want to hangout with some old folk!

www.movieswithgrandmajoy.com

BeBe Glamour *EDIT*

I have turned the original post below into a game!!! Match the letter of the photo with the number of the email quote you think it matches. I'll tally the scores on Monday and the closest one to matching all wins... something.

1. man to wife – “Mommy, when you aren't home daddy let's me eat peanut butter off of butter knives. It gets stuck on the roof of my mouth and I can't sleep without you anymore.”

2. wife to man – “Bebe now"

3. Man to wife – “Christmas BeBe”

4. Wife to Man – “Demon Bebe says, “have fun Daddy!”

5. wife to man – “Bebe wants me to get out of bed. Love you!!!”

6. Wife to Man – “The view from my chest”

7. Wife to man – “Bebe right now”

8. Wife to man – “Mommy worked out but I’m tired!!”

9. Man to Wife – “Mommy, I'm helping daddy study!”


Pictures of BeBe that we have taken with our phones and emailed to each other in the last 2 months, often sent with notes written as if BeBe were the sender.

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

Leaving Lowe's Vegas

Today I spent the day with my dear friend Crystal. Since it was alarmingly warm (65 degrees!) we took a nice walk with Bebe through some neighborhoods near my house. On the way back we passed Lowe's and Crystal was saying how much she would like to go in. We put Bebe in the cart and walked around for 15 minutes. With about 20 feet to the exit we were met by our 10th Lowe's employee who informed us we needed to leave and then escorted us out of the building. So I think we got kicked out of Lowe's today. Awesome! This is Bebe and Crystal enjoying the cabinetry section.

Ohio Trip

We went to Ohio for a few days and hung out with the fam. Two of my favorite people in the whole world were there, my Mom and my Aunt. Here is a small video featuring those two lovely ladies.

Yuletide Productivity

I am done with work now until mid January so I have been working on deep cleaning the house. We have this reaaaaaally old laptop that we literally could not give away--we tried! This is what I decided to do with it yesterday.

Greenwood

When it was Global Warmingly temperate in November I went with three of my favorite people (the Canning girls) to Greenwood Cemetery, a wifeandman regular post subject. The two younger girls, both in elementary school, had the best time going on a grave hunt. We went looking for the first female physician in New York state. We eventually found her but not without many wrong turns. When we located the grave the girls were so excited that they did cartwheels. Here is one picture I took.

Put the lights on the tree

Thank you Sufjan for that most wonderful of Christmas songs! We finally finished decorating our tree yesterday. It has been a two week process, absolute slow motion for us. My favorite are the nativities, not in the tree of course, just in Christmas general. Last year we added mini cut outs of the pbf and myself to be excited at the arrival of baby Jesus. I can thank the McMu's for inspiration. They have various action figures in with the standard wise men, Mary and Joseph. I think to myself, why not, everyone has a chance to come to the Christ child! What fun! I have only two more teaching days left and then I'm on a month long break! This break seemed like a great time for me to do a cleanse so I went to Whole Foods and got a cleanse called, "My First Cleanse." We'll see how it goes, I'm little nervous but I'm sure it will be fine.

What's your favorite part of the Christmas decorations?

Slow Down the Change

I've had this blog window open for some time now waiting to be filled. I don't know what to say. I know what I'm feeling but of course that does not mean I know how to say it.

I've been encountering a lot of talk about change lately, and mostly all in a positive light, but with the understanding that it's not easy. It can, however, be done in a loving way with a loving environment.

It's funny, I'm in my mid-twenties (soon to be late 20's), and I sometimes act like the rest of my life is laid out and set... and almost over. Even if I feel I want to make a change, I decide it's not easy enough... I decide I'm fine where I am. I am fine where I am. I'm happy enough.

Sometimes I worry too much about representation... about the way I am represented. I was in a situation recently, in a room with lots of people that represent an area of my life. I got uncomfortable, as usual, around them. But they don't represent me. They aren't me. AND THEY AREN'T BAD PEOPLE... they just make decisions that I wouldn't make. Part of who they are is not who I would ever want to be, but I have to remind myself that while they have some affect on how I am seen, ultimately, it's not a personal affect.

Ghandi's ever quoted "Be the change you want to see in the world," has meant more to me recently than ever. But, at least for the way I am reading Ghandi's quote, the opposite, which has also been important, is Mother Theresa's "We are not called to be successful. We are called to be faithful."

Blackberry Post

I'm sitting at the main branch of the New York Public Library, you know, the one with the Lions (and from Ghostbusters). I am having a typical NYC adventure, walking around, seeing brand new things. I'm sitting in a huge, marble reading room on the 3rd floor with an ornate ceiling. I already saw the Gutenberg Bible in the next room. I took a picture but I can't figure out how to post it from my phone. Hmph.

Mustache

I gave myself one.

rain rain go away

Lucky you! Two posts from us in one day... that is, if you're still reading... perhaps we scared you all away with the videos? or you got tired of waiting for us?

It's raining... many of you know how much I haaaate it when it rains... but only because I hate walking in it and being on a wet train with wet people and a wet umbrella on my lap. If I could sit at home with a cup of coffee and read, then rain would be just fine!

So we saw the final night of Sufjan Steven's performance of BQE at BAM on Saturday. I don't want to say too much, so I'll just say AMAZING!!! Also, just so you know, after performing John Wayne Gacy, Jr., he appologized for leaving out some of the lyrics. He said it was too disturbing and it might be time for him to put that song away. I'd never heard him perform it live before either...

I'd throw in my regular grumble of being too busy, but you all know I like it. The one thing that does suck is that i'm too busy to do some needed things... like fix the wall that was torn from our coat rack falling... and putting the coat rack back up. Our jackets and hoodies and car keys and dog leashes are all sort of scattered around the kitchen now, on the backs of chairs and the table itself.

Ominous Brooklyn sky

I am working on my first Off-Broadway show right now(!). It's very exciting. It's a West Texas dialect so I have had to do some fun research. Yesterday I spoke with a professor over at the University of Houston who sent me some sound samples. I will let you know when the show goes up.



Here is a photo I took the other day on the train, it was with my phone so it's not the best quality but...I think it makes the sky over Brooklyn look like the final battle between good and evil in a super hero movie. Thoughts?