Photogsnazzy: Drunk (on procrastination) Goggles

So I am supposed to be writing a paper this weekend.

And I've managed to do everything imaginable EXCEPT work on my paper.

Including make York Peppermint Patties Glasses.

 There is no hope for me, is there?

Why?

is Dominic Cooper on my Rootbeer can? 

I mean, I like Dominic Cooper, but he seems a bit misplaced.  Hope he finds his way home.

In which I design my own Doctor Who episode:

Instead of writing my final paper,  I spent some time this morning catching up on all the blogs I read.  One of my favorite blogs is of course the BBC America blog: Anglophenia.

They've been going a little overboard lately with all the Doctor Who posts, probably to keep the Whovian momentum going Stateside, but I try not to read most of the Doctor Who posts because I find they make the episodes a little less exciting.

Any who (hehehe), I actually took a glance at this one today because I love the Adipose and would totally love a free Adipose toy, although I would never win their competition.  But the question you had to answer was: If you were to create an alien race for the Doctor to encounter in Season 7, what would they be like?

I'd have to give this more thought to be truly creative, but for some reason--- maybe because it is Christmastime or maybe because the Adipose are so cute--- the first thing that I thought of was:

"I think there should be aliens who are glowing, floaty auras of happiness.  They always try to think positively and take delight in the wonders of the world."

For the plot of this episode, I would have humans trying to colonize their planet (because let's face it, there are always aliens trying to take over OUR planet and the Doctor has to boot them off the island, let's try it the other way around for a change).  But these colonizing humans are on deadline, overworked, and stressed because of the bureaucracy of their company--- all of the humans' negative energy and stress starts polluting the environment my happy aliens need to survive and they start turning green and blue and dying.  The Doctor has to intervene to save them!  It's a story of psychic pollution!

I think it is a pretty great idea!

I don't know what to call my aliens though: Positrons? (too mechanical)  Any thoughts?

Photogsnazzy: A Tree, No More

Trees are very beautiful.

Even without their leaves in the beginning of winter this year, I keep on being surprised by how beautiful the trees are in the early morning, late at night, during sunset, in the rain, in the fog, all the time!  I find myself writing poetry about trees many times a week as I drive to work.

Sadly (or perhaps happily) by the time I actually get to work and can write my musings down, I've forgotten them.

My parents cut down two of the trees in our yard this summer.  As relieved as we all were not to have to worry about them falling on our house/cars during the Hurricane, I will miss them, especially the one outside my window.

No more will I be able to watch its bright leaves rolling back and forth in the breeze or being flattened in a windy gale or dancing against a backdrop of tumultuous dark thunder clouds.

I took this picture of the tree from my window last autumn, not knowing it would be our last together.

Come On Get Crafty: Triangles Triumph!

I finally had time to finish a card last weekend.  It's been a while since I've had a chance to make any cards.

I was determined to make this one out of TRIANGLES ONLY and to get it finished (I think I started this one in the end of October).  So I stayed up until 1:30am!

It's not terribly exciting, but gosh darn it, I got it finished!

TWLOHA and whoa, Men care!

I had the fortuitous opportunity to hear Jamie Tworkowski, founder of the non-profit To Write Love on Her Arms speak at Rutgers University yesterday night.  I literally wandered into the student center while waiting for a friend, noticed the even flyer, and realized that he was going to be speaking in 1 hours, and that I was actually available to go!

I'd been aware of the organization loosely as it had come up a few times when I was working for a research project on self-injury at Cornell, but the real mission of the organization still seemed a bit illusive and vague to me, so I was really chuffed to go hear, from the horse's mouth as they say, what it was all about.

While one could describe TWLOHA as a non-profit organization that works to support recovery for those struggling with suicidal thoughts, depression, addiction, and/or self-injury, after hearing Tworkowski speak, I think the real mission of the org. is something deeper and even more beautiful.  More than anything else Tworkowski spoke about hope, love, and speaking . . . speaking to other people about problems and struggles, sharing our stories with each other, and telling others that we are listening, that they are love, and that their stories are important and that it is ok to have questions and to ask for help.  From this philosophy, the drive to help people with serious, stigmatized, and unspoken struggles like depression or addiction springs, but the real foundation is this place of frankly profound love and fellow-feeling.

This message is what makes finding TWLOHA's 'mission' so difficult to pin-down the way we often want when we want to understand what someone/something 'does,' and to understand quickly.  They don't give us the traditional sound-bite about preventing suicide or debunking myths about self-injury, for example.  What they really want us to 'get' is this idea about loving, hoping, sharing, and truly living whether we are living through the good and the bad, and knowing that we are never living alone.  This concept is so powerful yet so amazingly simple, and maybe even more amazingly tough to actually do!

But the other thing I took away from this talk was how great it was to see a man up on a stage talking to people about loving and caring for other people and for ourselves.

In a lot of discourses about gender and empowering women/girls, you can hear a lot of us vs. them talk, and this talk is not always readily obvious, but usually counterproductive.  One of the ways that this happens a lot 'under-the-radar' is the assumption/claim/belief/assertion that women somehow have a monopoly on things like loving, feeling . . . caring, is often the word used.

Of course it stands that women do most of the official work that typically falls into the category of what scholars/policy analysts etc. call 'care work' but I think it is pretty ridiculous to assert that somehow women are intrinsically good at 'caring,' and men don't really care about anything (and stumble around the world obsessed with competing with each other, impressing females, and trying to have sex . . . is usually the other half of this story.)  I mean, when you take a millisecond to think about this, how absurd is this?  Of course, men care about stuff: men are passionate about many things (and not just sex, beating each other up, and video games).  Men love their parents, siblings, children, friends, countries, idols, god(s), whatever just as well as women do.  The difference I would assert is that in this gendered society, it is just not ok for men to really transparently acknowledge this reality . . . but that doesn't mean that they don't care or don't know how to care . . . and that women are expected to be perfect at/obsessed with caring and doing 'care work'.

The real problem for both men and women is that women are not allowed to do much without doing carework and making it known that they love doing carework, and that we berate and ridicule men who are brave enough to be transparent about their caring.  Feminists who gloat over how much better women are at caring than the stupid men don't help to solve this problem; rather they reproduce it--- further cementing women in their subjugated role and implying that certain ways of being belong to certain genders, and preventing men from being open about their caring and debunking masculine stereotypes . . . not to mention alienating the very men willing to be their allies.

This is why it was so great to hear Jamie Tworkowski talk about this organization and its foundational philosophy.  Here was a man who was not only doing caring, but who the world was letting share this gift of sensitivity and deep caring, and maybe more importantly, who was not ashamed of his caring.  I mean, this is serious progress happening right in front of our eyes!  Witnessing this, on top of an already profound message, was a inspiring and beautiful privilege.

I can't wait to see more men claiming their caring and showing other men (and women) that its ok for them to do that.  There really is hope! Lots of it!

In the Papier: Fans Fans Fans

I bought this card for myself.  It is really pretty and I don't want to send it to anyone.  I want it all for myself.

So selfish!

The card is by Sharyn Sowell, for Sunrise Greetings.

Rant: Clothing 'compliments'

This many sound self-indulgent and whiny but I've been in a bit of a conundrum.

While I don't consider myself a fashion adventurer or even a trend-setter by any means, I guess I do dress a little unconventionally.  What I really enjoy doing the most with clothes is celebrating beautiful colors, textures and patterns and seeing which complement each other, and taking conventional rules of dress and seeing how much one can play with them without really transgressing those boundaries.  For example, gotta wear a collared shirt, because that is what is "professional"?  How can I satisfy that requirement but do it in fun way that adds more color and life to my experience and feels right?

So whatever, I end up dressing a bit "unconventionally," but without being too crazy or subversive (as much as I'd really love to), in my opinion.

As a result, I frequently get comments on my outfits, and sometimes my make-up.  It is usually a simple, 'I like your outfit." or "Your top is really pretty."  or "Those shoes are cool, where did you get them?"  Pretty standard fare, polite and small-talky, and easy to respond to.  Although recently a clerk in the grocery store decided it was normal to scream at me from several aisles away: "MISS I LOVE YOUR LIPSTICK!!!!!!! IT IS REALLY PRETTY."  That was a bit disconcerting for me as well as all the other customers who then proceeded to stare at me.

Photogsnazzy: Sunshine and Newspaper

All of this snow in October is making me long for the summer when I could spend a Saturday afternoon reading the newspaper on the lawn in the warm sunshine.

Film for all you Fashion Freaks.

There's a new documentary about famous fashion school Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, which has produced such designers as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and Ricardo Tisci.

I'm excited to see an inside look into the school and development of such talented and influential artists. Unfortunately, the film, "I Hate My Collection," has yet to announce a release date, and even when it does, I doubt it will be showing anywhere near here.

But here is a trailer/clip:

I Hate My Collection - 1st TEASER from Markus Nylaander on Vimeo.

In the Papier: Pigmented Insects

I love stationary.

I love sending letters and notes to people. I love writing addresses on envelopes and sticking on the stamps. But best of all, I LOVE sending people letters and notes that are a visual party. Stationary and note cards feature some really beautiful, funky and creative art, full of cool colors, shapes, images, interpretations and materials. It is so enjoyable to receive provoking visuals in the mail along with the latest news from your pals, and it is so enjoyable to browse the stationary stores and aisles until you find something you think your correspondents will get a kick out of or really really love. I still have many many cards people have sent me over the years either because they are beautiful or because I can tell the person put a lot of thought and effort into picking a card they knew I would really love or would really speak to me.

So much love can go into that simple, little physical packet of paper.

As such, I'm going to start sharing with you some of my finds, starting with these cards featuring insects against some gorgeous colors. I've started to get really into butterflies, so I think that's what drew me to these initially when I picked these up at Michael's off one of those $1 stands. They are a little cheap-looking, but still very pretty.


The orange one is easily my favorite.


These are done under the label "Studio18" by Rachel Tribble, and distributed by International Greetings USA.

Travelling the Ode: Exercise 2

I've always wanted to read more poetry than I have: Keats, Plath, Mitlon, Byron, Poe, to name a few. I recently got Plath's Ariel from the library. But I feel like I could get a lot more out of poetry, if I knew a little more about it. I'd really like to read and write more poems, but understand the structures and forms of poetry better before I do.

I've never really learned anything really foundational about poetry, except in a crazy 2-week poetry-cramming session after the AP English exam junior year in high school, and then it was summer and I forgot everything, and let's face it, I only really read Ulysses and The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson anyway.

So I've turned to any learner's best friend, the erudite Stephen Fry and his super accessible, friendly and very educational book, The Ode Less Travelled. It's all about understanding poetry in order to enjoy poetry, and is written in an humorous yet earnest tone by an author who makes you feel right at home, making the same observations you are: about how pretentious pretentious snobs are, how seemingly arbitrary prosodic jargon can be, and how mediocre/silly his own poetry is.

Another great thing about the book is that Fry provides exercises for the reader to do, in order to better understand the concept he's just explained---- and he is constantly begging the reader to slow down and actually do the assignment, actually get a pencil and mark up the book. After a while you just feel deceitful not doing the exercises and not doing them properly. Although I started the book last year and balked at the first exercise (marking iambic pentameter and reading it over and over again outloud) I decided to try harder this time. I actually followed the instructions, and what do you know! It really helped! I am understanding iambic pentameter a lot better now, and can read it out loud much better than before.

The second exercise set me the task of writing my own 10 lines of iambic pentameter. It neednt be good, lofty, profound or anything like that, repeated Fry over and over again. Just practice writing iambic pentameter, trying to use more than just monosyllabic words, and trying to do a few paired lines. And do it all in 10 min so you don't obsess over everything: you are just practicing the meter! (He even does the exercise himself to demonstrate that it is possible and to keep the stakes low.)

Here's what I came up with. It's not very good, but it sure is in iambic pentameter. Or at least I hope so:

1.
I should obey the hateful clock alarm.

2.
My mother's shoes, those hammers split the floor

3.
I killed a man today with just a blink.

4&5.
How can you know how I experience
a sunless Spring, a birdsong scraping snow?

6.
A dancer's body never lasts for long.

7.
I see your apple sure is ruby-red.

8&9.
If worlds would shut I'd stay alone with you
blockade the din, the eyes, and hold your hand.

10.
My tea was bad and nearly cost my health.

Fry says to practice writing a few lines everyday. So perhaps more bad iambic pentameter coming soon!

Becoming an Adult

There are some pretty standard ways We as a society determine if someone is truly grown up: graduating from high school or college, securing employment, acquiring a significant other, having children, becoming "financially independent" . . . whatever THAT means . . .

But in this turbulent economic times, us youngin's are having a hard time meeting a lot of those standards. But I think there are better ways to determine if you are truly becoming a "real person" as we college kids say. Here are some tell-tale signs, in my opinion, that you are becoming a grown up:

1) You avoid checking your emails because they are too numerous and stressful.
2) You have so many keys, you have to flip through them all to find the right one.
3) You compare all discussion of large sums of money to your loan payments and rent.
4) You are constantly flabbergasted as to how these young people think they are going to get anywhere in life with attitudes like that!
5) When you are feeling a bit blue, you think of the comp-time you have coming to you, or at least should have coming to you.
6) You find yourself automatically asking people for business cards, even if you don't have any yourself.
7) You discover yourself "networking" at any gathering of more than 4 people. Either that or discussing work-family conflict, even if you don't really have a family.
8) The social gatherings you attend include a larger and larger number of pregnant women or men discussing the significant pregnant women in their lives.
9) Your "elevator" speech actually sounds somewhat natural and less apologetic than it used to.
10) I need to come back for ANOTHER appointment??? When in bloody hell am I supposed to do that??? What do you think I am??? MADE of time???
11) You actually need a religiously updated calendar (maybe even several) to survive and may have given other people access to it in order for the world to continue revolving.
12) Is this MY responsibility? Am I getting paid to do this? Is this in my job description?
13) You unexpectedly find your car out of gas at very inconvenient times.
14) You feel accomplished after spending the day taking care of things that were not actually ever on your to-do list when the day began.

There are many more. Any additions?

Unintended Adventures at the Mall

Today I went to return some earrings to Macy's. I bought the only rhinestone clip-ons in the store to go with a wedding outfit, but they ended up just looking horrible. It's been three weeks since the wedding, so my goal for this weekend was to actually return them and not be stuck with them forever.

I got to the mall, which is a rather long drive (by which I mean slightly longer than the 15 min it usually takes me to get to some of the other malls around here), and promptly locked my keys in the car. Luckily, I did this while my parents were out collecting duckweed for some biology lab activity of my dad's; they would not be showing up with the spare key anytime soon. So there I was stuck at the mall for an unknown period of time, when my whole intention was to get money back, not to spend it.

I thought: This is ok! Great even! I can go to the movie theatre while I wait. What an excellent excuse to watch a movie! Everyone will admire what an wonderful experience I made of such a sorry situation. But then realized I was not at the mall with the movie theatre.

Second idea: well, gee! I happen to have some of my reading with me in my purse. I'll go find a nice quiet bookstore and read about audience analysis of black women watching The Color Purple. Boy I will be so productive!

But there was no bookstore. Not even a quiet eatery where I could order a hot chocolate to mask my homework-doing. Also EVERYONE was at the mall: squalling babies, frantic saleswomen mowing people down with racks of clothing, toy salesmen flying remote control helicopters, hoards of teenagers who seemed to think Payless shoes was the most hilarious place on earth. There was not a place quiet enough to make a phone call, much less read.

I found myself forced to browse. I think my feet actually just walked me into Forever 21.

I resisted buying things in Forever 21. I did this by refusing to look at the accessories section, and contemplating the shoddy quality of the clothes in general (I bought two-pairs of shorts there last year that I had to sew the buttons back on two days after I purchased them) and the exploitation of the third-world which probably assures the "affordability" of such clothes.

I then resisted buying things in Old Navy. Express. Delia's. I almost bought a pair of brown boots, but then I didn't. Oddly enough, In doing this however, I discovered that I'd only put on one sock that morning. How peculiar! I'd like to think that it was endearingly eccentric, but it just isn't.

After about 40 mins, I got in touch with the parents, who said they were departing to rescue me. I still had about a half hour though until they got there. I got off the phone to find myself in Claire's.

I began to inexplicably and rabidly want to buy EVERYTHING. Necklace with a fox wearing sunglasses. Stick-on fake blood for Halloween. Jewelry box covered in peace signs. Cheap-looking red cloche hat with a studded bow. A gold collar, Cleopatra-type necklace. Glittery tights. Gold leg-warmers. I managed to draw the line at the Bieber products, and got out with only 2 sunglasses (on sale!) and 3 rings.

Parents finally arrived (I did actually do 4-5 pages of reading in the parking lot while I waited) and let me into my car and brought me a Coke. Woo!

The traffic on the long way back was rather bad. To entertain myself, I did what any responsible driver would do and tried on my rings as I poked along and took blurry photos of them!
I also feel compelled to mention that I was also singing songs from Finian's Rainbow whilst doing this. "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" is one of the most hilarious songs ever, and inspired by my girl, Florence Welch, I really belted out "Ole Devil Moon" into the blustery autumn wind.
"You and your glance
make this romance
too hot to haaaaaanndllllee.
Stars in the night
blazin' their light
can't hold a caaaaaanddddlllle . . . . tooooo your razzle dazzle"

"WAAAAANNNNAAA CRYYY
WANNNAAAA CROOON
WANNNAAAA LAUGH LIKE A LOON
IT'S THAT OOOOOLLEE DEVIL MOON
IN YOUR EYEEEEEEEEES"

It's a good song. Check it out sometime.

Also, here's what my sparkly rings actually look like:

Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil, Item 11

Item 11, Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil

This one is simply a classic. Classic shades. Classic relaxing girl. Classic black and white. All in all, very classy.


Now that I've started this series, I've had a really difficult time finding any more sunglasses-related ads that I like. I hope I find more soon!

Photogsnazzy: Autumnal Guest Author Ania!!!

Welcome to my first guest authored post! I have super cool and talented friends who deserve a little attention. One of them is Ania who does a little, gorgeous photography--- while simultaneously being a medical student! You can check out her blog about photography, U2, and med school here. But first check out her post below:

Autumn Photos, Pinckney State Recreation Area, Michigan by Ania

My friend Ashley and I decided to leave Ann Arbor for a day and go immerse ourselves in the wonders of Mother Nature while the trees were changing colors. Lost among girl talk and miles of trails, I managed to remember to use my beloved Nikon D90.

Ashley really liked the Sassafras leaves, and found one so appealing she put it to her face. Voilà, the birth of a very fun photo.
I am a huge fan of macro shots, and when we spotted these adorable fungi growing on a tree trunk, I could not help myself.

Dressing a film

One of the things that often bothers me about the Oscar for Best Costume Design is that it so often seems to go to the big showy costume dramas or period pieces. While obviously all theses designers are doing great work, I always feel like it is too easy to award these movies this award because 1) they kinda have to go all out--- no one is going to take a period film to seriously if it has low production values and 2) they have SO MUCH room to experiment and create. I mean, in Marie Antoinette, they actually HAD those massive giant wigs and gowns to play with. In Changeling not so much.

Also Changeling or An Education could probably have saved some money, blood, sweat, and tears but doing a less fantabulous job on the costumes. But they did it anyway, even though it was hard and there were much stricter lines, outside of which they could not color. They really couldn't put these characters in feather-plumed hats or neon ribbons or engraved armor.

This brings me to another point, I don't think people really appreciate the dedication and work art directors and costume designers and their staff put into this "background" element of a film. But it is a lot of high-quality, dedicated, and difficult work. But if they don't do this work, the world of the film and the essence of the characters exist less and less.

I recently came across the music video Drew Barrymore directed for Our Deal which I think is a nice microcosm of art direction and costume design that demonstrates what I'm talking about. The storyline is not stellar, but the world of the film and the ambiance of the gangs is really vivid--- most of it comes down the art direction and the costume design.

Get More: MTV Supervideo, Music, Best Coast, Best Coast, Music, More Music Videos

The style and set dressing is great right? MTV provides two additional behind the scenes videos about developing the look of the film and shows just how much work, by many people, went into getting it right.

Get More: Supervideo Style, MTV Style, Fashion News, MTV Shows

They get more into the details of the costumes in this video. It is amazing to realize all of this stuff is conceptualized, planned, and choreographed. And it is also so cool to see how enthusiastic and familiar the director and stylists are with each piece.

Get More: Supervideo Style, MTV Style, Fashion News, MTV Shows

As, Barrymore says "These people will have put time into making themselves individuals." When you are making a film or designing any space or outfit for any character, you have to remember this, and making this come alive for a fictional character is a lot of work and a lot of creativity. And this is just for a music video; imagine the forces that have to get rolling to do a stellar job on a film or tv show!

And when you've seen it done right, you often don't notice. What you do notice is how great the film is as an experience and how present and real the characters are. These elements are a key piece of making that happen, and when they are that seamless, you are seeing some excellent excellent work. Which is why I'd like to see one of those types of film win the Oscar sometime soon.

P.S.
1) How rad do Alia Shawkat and Miranda Cosgrove look?
2) How cool is Drew Barrymore?
3) I want a Night Creeper jacket.

Anecdote: Smile and the World Smiles with You

So last weekend I took the day off and went to Ithaca, NY to visit with my wonderful college roommate and to go to a Janelle Monae concert. After three months of working working working, running Grad Student Association events in the evening, attending class and falling behind in the reading, and somehow applying to, getting, and getting used to a new job and revising my academic/life plans in between, I was so excited to be just saying "hang it all! I'm taking the day off. I'm not going to think about anything but having a good time for the next 24 hours."

I mean I was really really really excited. 5-year old waiting for Santa on Christmas eve excited.

The morning I was leaving I got up and seriously could not get the smile off my face. I was grinning ear to ear like the Cheshire cat. My dad even asked what was wrong with me at one point. But nothing was bringing me down that morning!

Eventually I got on my way. The last thing I had to do before I officially headed toward upstate NY was fill up the gas tank. I pulled into the gas station, whistling "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" because it was the only way I could stop myself from singing it and weirding out everyone.

A scruffy older gas station attendant came up to the car and for some reason said:

"Bonjour! Comment ca va?"

I got really excited (yes even more) because I never get to speak french with anyone. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered why he had decided to speak french to me, but when it came down to it, who cared? It was cool and fun and oh wasn't this the best time I've ever had at the gas station.

Just about brimming over with enthusiasm I just grinned even more and burst out:

"BIEN!!!!!!!!"

This time he was a bit surprised but carried on the conversation:

Attendant: "Ahhh! Parlez-vous francais?"
Me: "Mais oui! Un peu. Un peu."
Both: "Oh hahahahhahaha!"

Eventually we got around to the business of filling up the gas tank and parted company with a "Bonne journée!" and a "Merci bien!" (which is apparently a but old fashioned but I like the expression).

I don't know what the whole episode was all about but it sure made my day! It was one of the best random encounters I have ever experienced. Perhaps the gas station attendant was merely so friendly because I was in such an outrageously cheerful mood, especially for 9am on a Saturday morning. But I like to think that magic of the moment was because we were both in a gloriously, unjustifiably, stupendously bright mood. Together we just made the world overflow with happiness!

They say, smile and the world smiles with you--- but if you smile and the world smiles back, well, that's even better!

Come On Get Crafty: Drop in the Bucket

After doing some work with all the triangles, I wanted to try some curved lines.

I really liked the shape that I cut from Paltrow's picture, especially with such a substantial block of orange to work with.After I finished this one, it really made me think of a regal retinue of fine ladies for some reason. I mean, all these women are like modern-day royals or courtesans, aristos, "ladies," whatnot. The border around them kinda looks like flames or streaks of light, almost as if they had been painted into a retinue of holy people to whom we should pay homage, like queens or saints. And we kinda do act like that towards celebrities.

But then thinking about this, as I started to add the drops of polish--- mostly to experiment with colors initially, I thought to myself: "if these are the queens and courtesans, well, this is just a drop in the bucket." Because there are so many other celebrities and beautiful women we pay attention to!

And to go off on a bit of a tangent, that word "celebrity" sounds so horrible and unromantic the more and more I use it. It gets right down to the bare-bones of the matter: these are people who are celebrate, whose most defining descriptive element is that people pay attention to them. It doesn't allow them any other attributes. The word lacks the descriptive finesse that something like "queen" (connoting power, wisdom, responsibility, divine right) or "courtesan/courtier" (touching on class, relationships, political and cultural status) or even "artist" (highlighting talent, insight, sacrifice, beauty & philosophy)--- which is essentially (arguably) what they are (these ones anyway) or try to be. I wish sometimes we could use other words to distinguish those celebrities celebrated for specific merits from those whom we just consider "famous-people" whose central focus is the mere banality of "fame."

Music Vid: Fun.-Walking the Dog

I recently happened upon this band: fun., although I haven't quite worked out if they capitalize the "F" ever or not. I think not, but to be safe I'll do one way in this post's title and the other in the previous sentence.

I unexpectedly got to see them live, as are touring with Janelle Monae--- whom I went to see on October 2nd. They were great live, so I searched out their youtube and they had this fantastico music video, full of cool music video creativity!

Here is a pic to give you an idea:

I wish I had been an intern on this video.

However, I really roll my eyes at the video for We Are Young (love the song). As I say often to friends, DON'T WATCH, JUST LISTEN. It's (it=video, not song) a bit of a giant walking cliche and you know exactly where it's going once she picks up the random knife. To peel an apple? that's what it's for? yeah. suuuurrree. lame. lame. lame. Please kick the cool back in.

Come On Get Crafty: Mirrored

This was mostly an exercise to use up scraps. I wanted to see if I could fill up the whole space with just triangles, keeping with the meditations of "women's stuff" and sharpness I mentioned in the "Hard as Glass" post.

I almost succeeded. If I had planned ahead and been less lazy I could have done it. But as it stands, a few 4 sided shapes are in there.

These type of images--- I think I did another like this, but I may not have posted it---make me think of a prism or even a hall of mirrors. Which one is the real face? Is there just one or multiple faces? (Well, here there are multiple--- or are there?)

Although the hall of mirrors I have been in have been relatively non-threatening, as a concept they seem rather frightening to me. You don't know what will be reflected back at you. You don't know which reflection is real. You don't know the way out. All you know is who you are and what you feel, but you don't see anything familiar reflected around you. It's a very 'alone' experience and powerless, in my thought experiment about halls of mirrors. And yet, I feel like sometimes our social groups and the whirl-wind of media images that make up our collective 'mainstream' is a bit like this when you think about it.

Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil, Item 10

Item 10, Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil

This ad has always made me think of Kristen Stewart and the complex combination of gentle vulnerability and tough aloofness she expresses.

This girl is enjoying some quality time with her boy, taking an exhilarating and romantic summer evening ride. But somehow I feel like she is still retaining a part of the experience just for herself.So in fact, who cares about the bag she is wearing? I don't.

Come On Get Crafty: Hard as Glass

In keeping with the contemplations on stained glass, I was interested in contrasting the "feminine" arts of fashion, and its general recognition as a "soft" and "girly" preoccupation with the hard points of triangles because in the beauty pageant of life that is the female experience it really can get pretty nasty--- even when you are just staying on the level of shoes, dresses, make-up, glitter & gloss. I used flower---or are they diamonds---like shapes to continue the theme.

Our self-image and confidence and sense of beauty shatters and fragments so easily, like glass. Are we as hard as diamonds or as hard as glass?

I also liked (well, not liked, but acknowledged and appreciated) the symbolism of cutting the women into pieces to be appraised and assembled at the discretion of a consumer.

Come On Get Crafty: Patchwork Parade

When you read a lot of magazines like I do, all the tons of pictures of celebs and their dress are nice to look at once but they eventually being to melt into a sort of blur, a parade of people. We are obsessed and mesmerized with them one minute, and but then they fade into the background. Sometimes we look at them and appreciate them for their real beauty, other times, we just expect them to be there.

It kinda reminds me of stained glass.

Powder Keg: Talk about Talent!

Boy oh boy are the magazines making me so pleased this month! On my way to Macy's to get some last minute jewelry for a wedding I was attending, I stopped at the ole B&N to check out the magazines.

I almost cried for joy out loud when I flipped through this month's Vogue and found the fantastico John Hawkes betwixt the glossy pages. Not only is the man a wonderful actor, but what a great great face!

I also love that men like him are being recognized as handsome and attractive. Even though he doesn't look like your typical Hollywood hunk, his face has so much personality and expression you could look at him for hours. And he is an older actor. While generally we are MUCH more forgiving to older male actors, often times these older actors are ones we've been fawning over since their early years of hunkiness, hilariousness, let's just say fame (example: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, John Travolta, Tom Hanks, Clint . . . you get the idea). But Hawkes has not had that type of fame, but holds his own without it.

I've only seen him as the scruffy characters he's played in Deadwood and Winter's Bone, but cast as the older but irresistible leading man in the spread, he looks fantastic! The copy describes the spread as "Hickcockian" and that is best way I can think of describing him. Here he's got class, he's got character, he's got mystery and a versatility that could make him an villainous art smuggler or the dashing detective. I almost wish the model and all her fashion would just get out of the way so he could do this thing! It makes me so pleased that he is here, making my Vogue so much more dynamic and alive! I may actually even write to Vogue to congratulate them on featuring him; that is how pleased I am!

After this, I was set to be pleased and grateful to the magazine gods for the rest of the month. But then I causally picked up this month's InStyle, and flipped to: a spread featuring one of my favorite up-and-coming actresses: Felicity Jones!!! (and her co-star from upcoming Like Crazy, the adorable Anton Yelchin).Here she is with Ed Westwick from the March Tatler. The girl has got some serious sparkle!

Like Carrie Mulligan, I've been following Felicity Jones' career for a little while now and am really excited to see her getting some of the attention she deserves!

And THEN, just when you think life can't get any better, you turn the page, and find Leelee Sobieski!
The casting directors sure earned their salaries this month!

Anecdote: Oatmeal Bread

While some of my co-workers are evil, others are pretty hilarious. Some amusing gents eat lunch outside my office. Today I overheard this:

Guy 1: I was wondering, can you just get your own oatmeal and make your own bread?
Guy 2: How do you mean?
Guy 1: You know, make multigrain.
Guy 2: Well, you could get a bread maker.
Guy 1: So I could just get some oatmeal and have my own flour.
Guy 2: Yeah, well wait, why do you have the oatmeal?

Rhetoric: a "so-called" homily

I've come to really enjoy going to church on Sunday. It's the one time of the week that I remember to take substantial time to think about the important things and steer myself back to them. The homilies over the past few weeks have also been really good and thought-provoking. Last week, we got a really good one on forgiveness and the poisonous destruction of hate that made for a beautiful reflection on Sept 11th.

This week, I didn't get so lucky. Instead of the presiding priest giving the homily, he got to take a break and the presiding deacon gave the homily. These homilies are usually not terrific, but rather simple and t0 the point: forgive each other, pray---it's good for you, don't judge other people etc. They are not terribly inspiring, but they generally get their message across, and their message is usually a good one.

This week however the deacon somehow started talking about equal pay (well, actually to be fair, it actually makes perfect sense when one remembers the parable Jesus uses in the gospel: Matthew 20:1-16). As he ran through a list of real world examples about arguments over equal pay, he let this slip: "During the so-called women's movement, people were concerned that women were not getting equal pay for doing the same job as men." Or something to that effect. The part I do remember him saying verbatim is: "the so-called women's movement."

What is that about?

What is so "so-called" about the women's movement? By saying this instead of saying "the women's movement" or "the women's movement of the ##s," he implies there is something dubious or illegitimate about the women's movements of the past several decades, and their struggles for equal pay. Why?

The women's movement happened. It consisted of women. They fought for equal pay for women. They, being women. Fighting during the movement everyone calls "the women's movement." What is there to dispute about the statement: "During the women's movement, people were concerned that women were not getting equal pay for doing the same job as men"?

It is a factual statement and a fitting example to use in his discussion of equal pay struggles in life. By saying this statement, he is not saying that he likes the women's movement, agrees with all or any of their other efforts, or even that all women agreed with everything in the women's movement and that everything they did lead to rainbows and peace on earth. It is a mere reportage of fact that requires no personal commitment or implication of endorsement on his part or that of the Church.

So why add the "so-called"? The only purpose that serves is to demonstrate that he does not recognize the women's movement as a legitimate cause worthy of his respect. Rather he casually antagonizes the entire women's movement--- homogenizing all its myriad causes (or dismissing them all, save the One)---- by insinuating his disapproval and by his example, signalling that the congregation should follow suit. To me this is disrespectful, shallow, patronizing, and harmful.

I understand that his motivation for all of this is probably his belief in the immorality and sinfulness of abortion. (Or at least I hope that is where this is coming from, and not from some old fashioned conservative patriarchy--- which considering the track record of the Church in general in this regard, is possible.)

But my problem is that he is not actually making this point (i.e. abortion is bad and encouraging women to engage with it is not actually in their best interest), but rather is, as an authority in the parish, making a vague insinuation about the suspicious, untrustworthy, illegitimate, and maybe immoral nature of all women's movements--- basically making a random dig at feminists. And even ignoring the fact that is had nothing to do with the subject or structure of his homily in the first place, this is grossly unfair.

The women's movement and feminists have done a hell of a lot of good. They have improved labor conditions for women, worked to reduce domestic and sexual violence, championed efforts to improve the health, safety and education of children, reformed rape and divorce laws, striven to reduce delinquent fatherhood, fought against stigma and victim blaming, and the list goes on and on. And many of the women who worked to make these positive changes in the nation, in communities, in families did so while being moral and Christian people.

By equating 'feminists' and 'women activists' with 'pro-abortion,' and failing to recognize the good and Christian efforts of many women due to this miscalculation, the deacon unfairly tars all women and women activists with the same brush, fails to give them respect and consideration by giving them the benefit of the doubt before learning more about them, and most importantly, makes it clear that they are automatically under suspicion, will not be trusted and that they will have something to prove before they will be considered good and righteous members of the Church.

It seems like a small thing, that simple addition of "so-called," but it is things like this that alienate women (and men) from the Church, blocks them from hearing the positive messages and teachings, renders them fearful of being open about their spirituality, doubts, and struggles, and prevents them from feeling truly welcome. I hope that Church leaders will some day soon begin to take this problem seriously.

Fashion-able

My middle school French teacher, who was french, was trying to teach us what " a la mode" meant.

He said: it means fah shone ay belle.

Us: what?

Prof: Fah shone ay belle.

Us: what???

Prof: ehhhh, Fah. shone. ay. belle.

Us: what the heck are you saying? Fah. shone. ay. belle. OHHHH!!! Fashionable.

Prof: Ah oui, fashionable.

We both learned something that day.

Well, in any case, here is me being fashion able in my new "Hamburger" dress from Mod Cloth that I love. I am still waiting for the perfect opportunity to debut it.


I should also mention, it has pockets.

Me & Irene

Irene has not had a significant impact on me & my family as of yet. All she has done is mess up our weekend plans. My parents were meant to go away for the weekend because it is their anniversary, which would have meant I would have the house to myself and was going to go magazine shopping and then dance around playing Florence + the Machine really loud/do my laundry. (Also I was going to have to cover an event on Saturday for work, but it got cancelled. Woo!)

But instead we found ourselves hunkering down. In the morning, my dad and I brought all the lawn furniture and hanging plants into the garage along with the trash bins. My parents recently murdered two of the trees in our yard, so we didn't have to worry as much about falling branches as the rest of the neighborhood. While my dad dealt with our compost bin (so smelly!!!!) I went around collecting all the nicest flowers in the garden before they all got blown to hell. Our marigolds have been especially gorgeous this year:
The rain started mid-afternoon and didn't really get bad until after dinnertime. I spent the day drinking tea, making random attempts to clean my room, watching the first three episodes of State of Play, surfing the net for articles about Florence Welch, eating the mountain of bagels my dad had brought home from his TA orientation on Friday, putting a poster of The Sound of Music back on the wall because it fell down on Wednesday, discovering that with my new haircut I could do this:and having my mom explain to me how much my car insurance was going to cost me this year.

By about 11pm, I decided to stop watching Midsommer Murders on netflix and get ready for bed. My parents laughed in my face when I told them I was going to sleep, because apparently it was going to be impossible to sleep through the hurricane. They instead were planning to raid my dvd collection and stay up all night watching movies.

I decided to get in bed and read Stephen Fry's book on poetry, "The Ode Less Traveled" now that I had a new snazzy light for my bed. Also, reading poetry sounded like a highbrow thing to do on a stormy night. I got into bed. Turned on my light. Opened the book to the first chapter. And the power went out.

Unwilling to read by candle light and set my pillows alight, I grumpily went to sleep. My window was shaking like the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw was trying to get in, but that didn't seem to trouble my sleep. What did end up troubling my sleep turned out not to be any weather-related phenomenon, but rather my parents watching Stardust.

This morning, things are still pretty much the same. Tea & bagels.

Apparently there is lots of flooding and power outages going on around us, but we are pretty much fine except for lots of wet leaves everywhere and broken branches up and down the street. We lost power two times during the night, and we can't really drive anywhere without encountering closed roads, but that's all. I actually recklessly went outside to check on the garden for a minute and did not come at all close to being blown away. The lawn was very soupy, but it was actually rather nice out, if blustery. My parents warned me not to be fooled. So I canceled my plans to go backpacking. I guess I'll do some online shopping instead.

Powder Keg: W Magazine tastelesly reinvents Kristen Stewart

Can I just mention that I hate this cover shoot of Kristen Stewart? It's like they erased her whole personality and replaced her with a bland 60s sex kitten. Ugh.

Revisiting my distain for Vanessa Hudgens

Seems like everyone's been freaking about Emma Watson lately, and her hair cut. She was young innocent when first thrust into the limelight and we are all fascinated by her growing up; I get that. But it really feels like its been going on and on and on. Dakota Fanning gets a little of this from time to time, but it feels like it comes in appropriate waves.

It recently occurred to me that Vanessa Hudgens has not gotten any of this attention at all really. That seems a bit strange for someone who became a starlet at a youngish age and is having to reinvent herself in public. I mean, we barely batted an eyelash at her when she appeared in Sucker Punch (and by this I do not mean we should take notice of Sucker Punch itself, but rather the function of the film in Hudgens' career trajectory and public image, by which I mean to say: spend no mental energy whatsoever on Sucker Punch). Granted she doesn't seem to be working as much as Fanning, and is not as big a global sensation as Watson, but I would have thought the world would be some what invested in watching her blossom/flounder.

But perhaps the whole unfortunate incident with the photos tarnished her glow, and we are now treating her like the disowned second son who is a disgrace to the family name.

Regardless of what everyone else is doing, I am considering revising my opinion of her. I have always held in her a sort of lofty contempt because I passionately despise the entire High School Musical phenomenon and think it is evil. (I wrote a 30 page college paper to this effect.) Being that she plays the perfecto, goody-goody, cutsey, apparently 'smart,' passive ingenue-romantic prize for the lead male, a lot of my disgust for the travesty as a whole has been projected at Hudgens. Although I am yet to be convinced of her singing/acting prowess, this is probably unfair.

And I've recently discovered that the girl has some serious style. Check her out in a snap found in July InStyle UK.
She looks great! Why have I not heard of this (her being stylish) before? Have I just been in some sort of Hudgens-less bubble? Her outfit looks dynamic, personal, intelligently coordinated yet effortless, lived-in and like she actually likes what she is wearing, not pandering to 'looking sexy,' and generally oozes coolness and confidence. She looks comfy and glamorous. We want her hat! We want her top! We want to know where to get cut-prize replicas of her trousers--- as evidenced by the rest of the article.

If we are interested in developing style and looking to celebs (and their teams) for guidance, why aren't we looking to Hudgens more? I feel like she deserves a little more attention.

And remember all the ballyhoo over Emma Watson's hair? If you don't, no need to worry. It will probably happen all over again in a few months. But the gist of it is Hermoine went from long, typical locks, to short, snappy pixie cut. STOP THE PRESSES!

But check out Hudgens in some recent snaps:
(Photo from the Daily Mail.)

Her hair is now super short and super cute!

But do we care and go on and on and on and on about it (like the people in the office next to me do re: Emma Watson's hair)? No.

But then again, maybe we were all just in love with Zac Efron.

Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil, Item 9

Item 9, Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil Collection

I had misgivings about this one as it deviates from the close-ups in most of my previous selections. She is wearing sunglasses, but I think ultimately I held onto this one because of the pants. They are great.

Photogsnazzy: The nefarious Sir Roderick

We went to the Renaissance Faire in Lancaster, PA last weekend--- until it started extreme thunder storming and we all got sent home.

But not before we got to see the jousting!!! This was our knight, "the nefarious Sir Roderick," who was assigned to us based on where we were sitting in the audience.

The script was rather bad, but Sir Roderick was pretty good at putting those hay bales in their place! He also had the best tunic of the lot.

Unfortunately he doing his best to be voted most "evil" knight of the company assembled. He was lucky it rained, because it probably wasn't going to end well for him.

Here he is already getting himself into trouble with the Sir I-Forget of Kells, who also had a pretty groovy get-up. Tsk tsk.

Anecdote: Hanger Theft

Lots of things happened today. I got offered a job. I rejected a guy who asked me out. I admonished a supervisee for not coming into work. I received compliments on my turquoise socks. I heartily wished for bricks to throw through the windows of the selfish, evil car that melodramatically and recklessly drove around me when I was moving over to make way for an ambulance. All and all, quite a day.

But the pinnacle of the drama came when I arrived back at home and when changing out of my work clothes, I discovered that the un-garmented hangers I had left in my closet were gone.

Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but if you, like me, have cultivated a collection of hangers, perfectly harmonized to the needs of your wardrobe, this would make you jolly well ticked off. I have a fine-tuned assemblage of hangers, each one selected for a specific garment, chosen to maintain the apparel's shape, texture, and movement, to reduce wrinkles, stretching and crumpling, to indicate its level of importance in my esteem, and to working cooperatively with other hangers around it. A bad hanger can ruin an article of clothing and gums up the process of perusing the rack.

As such, I take hanger-theft very seriously. It is a terrific blow to my beautiful system of clothing maintenance, and requires me to embark upon the grave task of finding a replacement hanger--- and not just any hanger, but one which I can be satisfied will adequately take care of such articles of clothing now finding themselves in limbo.

On this occasion, I had two un-closeted dresses, and two missing hangers that had been present and accounted for in the morning. I had checked.

Upon accusing my mother, she readily and without any degree of shame fessed up to having been too lazy to make the long trek to the laundry room to find her own hangers, and had decided to usurp mine.

!!!!!!!!

She didn't understand why I should care so much as they were old and misshapen hangers. But they were hangers that had been misshapen to the perfect degree wherein they could support the broad shoulders of these specific two dresses. Such is the beauty of hangers. There is a garment for every hanger, no matter how battered. And my two uprooted hangers had found their match, only to be torn unceremoniously from that union and enslaved to the service of poor garment-care.

One day I hope to liberate them.

Come On Get Crafty: Dealing with Mistakes

This is actually one of the first cards I started making. I was inspired by Hershey's kiss wrappers; I was really into the vibrant brown and orange colors they had chosen for their Halloween wrappers. So as I ate the chocolate, I ironed out the wrappers and kept them and then started gluing them to this card. I thought they looked really cool for a while, but then I realized the colors clashed with the rather muddy red of the card itself.

What to do, what to do? Paste pictures of shoes and models partying over top of course!

Nothing was really going to save the card. It is too bad the colors clashed because I really liked the shapes I made with the wrappers which have been rather hidden from view now. But considering the mess it started as, I think it turned out rather well.

I find myself particularly pleased with the dot pattern on the red. It looks much better than I expected. I just wish I had not patterned the white around the model in the hat first. Ah, but such is life!

Becoming High Class with Tomato Salad Sandwiches

How classy is my family? Well, we recently tried a recipe from the New York Times dining section. I usually flip through the dining section to see if they have any good pictures because once they had this fantastic picture of fried calamari and lemons. Last week I came across a picture of yummy tomatoes with basil on bread.


Because tomatoes are great and apparently photogenic, I just had to read this article! It was all about the beauty of eating summer tomatoes on sandwiches. As I am growing to love tomatoes, I just had to try this! It all sounded sooooooooo good.

The recipe was very easy (no real cooking involved, just chopping and mixing stuff, excellent for me) and exciting because it involved anchovies, which I'd never had before. It also involved capers, of which I had never heard and consequently I had to resist walking around going "Capers? What is capers?" a la Gollum befuddled by"taters."

But it was super tasty, and a great light supper that somehow managed to fill you up. We ate it with fresh mozzarella on the side and a little extra basil. The key of the whole shebang is to let the sandwiches sit so the bread can soak up the juices. Not a fan of soggy bread, I was a bit apprehensive about this, but it was definitely good advice.

The only downside to this is that between this and my showing them an article on scenic drives in the Northeast, especially the local Delaware/Raritan Canal which we frequent, my parents are actually realizing that it might be interesting to read the arts, dining, style and home sections of the paper instead of just chucking them in the recycling. (By the way, the home section is best section!!! I am obsessed with this section!!! I seriously cannot wait for Thursdays to read this section! It is one of my great loves! Why oh why must the parents insist that I now share it with them????) I now upsettingly no longer have supreme reign over these sections of the paper, which I often cannibalize for my card-making. A most distressing situation!

P.S. Here is the cool pic of calamari:

Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil, Item 8

Item 8, Les jeunes filles qui portent des lunettes de soleil Collection

I almost disqualified this ad because Kirsten Dunst's heavily airbrushed skin annoys me and I don't particularly like the sunglasses. However, the texture of the lion's mane is really gorgeous, and that is what I spend most of my time looking at when I contemplate this picture.

Come On Get Crafty: Granny's Birthday in the summertime

I made this for my grandmother's birthday. When I started using these materials, it reminded me a lot of the cards she used to make us for our birthdays. She paints as a hobby and her cards are much better than mine.


This is one of her cards (below, signed DP) that I keep on my bulletin board.

Come On Get Crafty: The ways

I experimented with a new style recently. It looked better without the dots and lines, although I do like the comet-like effect they make when smeared.

But can you guess what I used to make this?

Anecdote: Mystery of the Rear Right Turn Signal

Recently, the turn-signal indicator on my dashboard has started doing double time when I indicated right. Instead of going tik tik tik tik, it went tiktiktiktiktiktiktiktik. I thought, hmm that is abnormal. What a funny car I have!

The next day I thought it would be amusing to tell my dad the story of my hyperactive turn signal. At the conclusion however, Dad suggests that there is probably something wrong with my light.

Uh oh!

Later, I promptly forgot about this problem until after I had driven to church and back. Fortuitously, when I returned I found my little sister outside mowing the lawn. As I pulled up I hollered at her to make sure the lights were working. She gave them a clean bill of health. Problem solved.

I announce as much to Dad, who frowns and wonders if I checked both the front turn signal AND the back turn signal.

Uhhhh, no.

Next day, I drive to work and think, wow, I better find out if my back indicators are not working! Shouldn't be driving around without working turn signals. Sure enough, the right indicator light is not lighting up!

That evening we investigated. What was the deal with the lights?

They are filled with water. Yes, that's right. My car lights are filled with water. ?????

Dad says: oh that happens sometimes with Dodges. It must be a design flaw. Somehow the rain gets in. I'll drill some holes in them so they drain better.

And that is what we did. We drilled holes in my tail lights.

Photogsnazzy: Luna

We came home from work and found this behind our front door. I generally don't like moths when they flutter around and collide with your face, but when they are sitting still, they are really very lovely.

Come On Get Crafty: Walled Garden Party

This one is not great. It started off ok. But after pasting on the images, I couldn't think what else to do with it. The doodling when a little amok I think although the studs help a bit, but I feel I should have left them off the black decanter. It looked shapely enough without them.

Also, for some reason my scanner has turned the dusty green shading I've done in white spaces into a peachy brown. And that makes it look even worse. But alas, I am too lazy to rescan.

Josh Josh Josh Josh Josh Josh Josh: Part 2

Our seats were not super-good nor super-terrible either. We had a pretty good view of the stage, I just wish we had been a tiny bit closer.

The opening act was a piano-playing extraordinaire named Elew who called himself a Rockjazz pianist, from Camden of all placed. He was very good, a bit loud, and played hilarious medleys of Coldplay, the Waltz of the Flowers, Sweet Home Alabama, the Entertainer, the Pink Panther theme, Katy Perry, the Peanuts theme music, and much more. He also wore these insane metal arm sheath things that I guess helped him bang on the piano and play the piano strings (which he does by the way) without inflicting pain on himself, but from far away he looked like a super-hero mid-transformation. A woman behind me leaned over to the woman next to her and said hopefully "Maybe he'll be on a PBS special." Maybe, dear lady, may be.

After he finished there was a rather long wait in which we ate the rest of the Swedish Fish and felt peeved at the ads. But then the lights dimmed, the orchestra came out and started a really intense, anthemic intro. I really felt like the astronauts from Apollo 13 or Olympic athletes were supposed to be approaching. They were so good I almost missed tricky Josh running out into the audience from the BACK of the arena!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!! THE FLOOR SECTION WENT BONKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!! JOSH IS IN THE BACK OF THE ARENA!!! HE'S SO SNEAKY HAVING US WATCH THE ORCHESTRA ON STAGE AND THEN SURPRISING EVERYONE FROM THE SOMEPLACE ELSE!!!!! HE. IS. SO. CLOSE!!!! MELTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was not surprised; I knew that he has been trying to interact with the audience more so figured he would do something like that. (See all my research paid off.) He hopped up on a little stage they had in front of the sound board and started crooning away.

He sang as song called "Changing Colors" that was nice, but a little cheesy. Not my favorite song he's ever sung. But then he went into "February Song" which I LOVE. It was a much more subdued version than I'd heard previously; on his last tour this song kinda blew my mind because he really rocked out to it and IT WAS AWESOME. I missed that raw energy.

What was nice about his playing a few songs from the back of the arena was that he actually ended up being pretty much right in front of us, rather than at a longer side-angle when he was on state. I took a picture on my phone:See Josh playing the piano!!! Isn't he just the best?!?!?!?!? See all the crazy women gathering around. They were actually rather entertaining to watch as well. There were a couple of girls absolutely having a meltdown and lots of middle-aged women swaying and waving their arms in the air.

After that, Josh launched into the feel-goody "You Are Loved" which he obligingly sang to diverse sections of the audience. He only sang to my section once though. That was a bit disappointing.

Here, in an even better phone-photo, is the back section hogging all his attention:
After this he charmed his way to through the audience and got up on stage to do the rest of his singing, although he did come back to the back for a few songs later on. He did lots of my favorite songs: A La Luce, Oceano, Higher Window, Bells of New York City (sooooo good), and If I Walk Away. The only song I really missed was Awake, which is a super beautiful and deep song. I would so have preferred that over Galileo, which I really do not care for (It starts "Galileo fell in love as a Galilean boy . . . the chorus involves: "who put the rainbows in the skkyyyyyy?").

Josh did some cool drumming though. He and his two drummers had a great percussionfest in the beginning of the second half of the show and during Você Existe em Mim.

I was desperately afraid he was not going to sing Machine, which is such a GREAT GREAT song, but then he did it close to the end of the show. YAY!!!!!!!!! It was stupendous. He had a kickin horn section that really got into the jazzy attitude of it--- and to be honest, how can you not get into it, it is too fantabulous! I wanted to get up and dance; I definitely was singing along. (The one and only downside of going to a Josh Groban concert is the other audience members are 80% 50 and older, so they are not exactly super carefree, groovin people to sit next to.)

They also lit up the lights above the stage and choreographed the (not-on) lights to rotate and move around during different parts of the song, which was SO COOL. It really caught the eerily, cold, emotionlessness of the person the song is about ("Oh you're a machine!" accuses the song). It was a fantastic touch. And while I am on the subject, this tour had some super cool projections, which made the background look really detailed and 3D. I'd love to know how they did that some day.

In between songs, Josh was funny and witty and darling. He answered questions people had texted him before the show which was really adorbs because he called out their seat number and the spotlights swirled around and landed on them and they got to stand up and show-off.

Josh also started the wave when asked by a texter which was really funny because he got really excited and started running off to the back the arena to start it off (although the orchestra participated). From where were were sitting we saw a gleeful little Josh running off through the floor section being chased down by several panicked, burly body guards.

And then all too soon, the concert was coming to a close. Josh said goodbye. People started leaving.

But then the Encore!!!!

Those poor stupid people who left early! Boy did they miss out! The encore was great!

He sang a Neil Diamond song!!! A Neil Diamond song! Such a perfect fit! He sang the beautiful "Play Me" and it was glorious. I really was elated and privileged to hear that.

And then to send us all home happy, he sang You Raise Me Up, and because he didn't have a gospel choir to back him up, he tasked us to sing! It was great! I've always wanted to be in an audience that sings loudly enough to carry the song without the singer, and it totally happened! It was wonderful!

My companion and I skipped joyfully back to the car, and filled with Josh-related-happiness, narrowly avoided being killed as we left the parking lot and attempted an insane merge to get onto the highway whilst belting out Elton John and Billy Joel all the way home.