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.

Les jeunes filles quie portent des lunettes de soleil, Item 7

Item 7, Les jeunes filles quie portent des lunettes de soleil Collection

I feel like these girls just exude cool, audacious self-confidence. I do so definitely want to be them. They are like the Jets, but in more expensive clothes and too lazy to get into rumbles with the Sharks.

(I find the shirtless guy over-zealously playing ping pong rather irritating in comparison.)

Come On Get Crafty: Spring Fling

This girl is from a perfume sample I believe. I can't remember which one though. A bunch of samples came inside a Macy's catalog or something, and you would have thought some one had set off a canister of toxic gas in the house, the way my parents carried on about the overwhelming fumes.

Many months later, I showed this to my mom and she asked me where the border came from. I told her I drew it. Did I use a stencil? No, I did not use a stencil. She gave me a look of astonishment! Really!? Yes.

I actually momentarily impressed my mother with this one! Ha!