Howdy Ya'll

I'm off to the dirty South today. To a little town called Cumming, Georgia- if you can believe it. I'm visiting my Uncle whom you may recall was in the hospital getting triple bypass surgery. I'll be sure and take lots of pictures of me dying in the heat. I'm back in NYC on June 6th, just in time to see The Gaskets at Mercury Lounge.

"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."

The sunsets in St. Andrews were the most beautiful I have ever seen. I sometimes forget that the ones on Long Island aren't too bad either. This is a shot I took from the parking lot of Trader Joe's (specialty grocery store) in my town.



Typical Long Island, an SUV parked in front of a grocery store and pizza joint.



Today, Deb and I went over to see Silvia's new house. Yes, Silvia has her own house. A house, a husband and come next year, she'll probably be pregnant and done with her Ph.D. as well. A Ph.D. in something real too, psychology, not something fake like say, art history. The new place is great. Just about 10 mins away from my house, three bedrooms and all new inside. And the best part is, all her big Persian style furniture her parent's bought her when she got married finally fits in her home. In the apartment it was a bit of a tight squeeze with that eight person dining table and all.

It's In Her Smell

I was discussing with Sea the other night about what scent we like to wear. I was telling her that lately I've been using grapefruit moisturizer. "But wait," I asked "do guys like the smell of grapefruit?" It was decided I should post about it and ask any male readers, what smell do you find most intoxicating on women?

In turn, I suppose it's only fair that I tell you what I like a guy to smell like. I suppose it's two rather dull answers: the smell of a nice, but subtle, cologne, not any of those ocean smells, something richer. But more than that, a guy's own scent is really sexy. It's what I always remember. When a stranger passes me by with that same mixer of shampoo, detergent or whatever makes a person smell the way they do even years later, it will make me recall that one guy who once smelled like the same.

Few and Far Between

It is one in the morning and I am sitting in a dark house, staring at the moon as it rises over the horizon. It's beautiful tonight, large and golden.

Today was a good day. For the first time in a fair while, I was happy. And I know exactly why. Because I was actually busy. I have two projects in the works. First off is the Music Slut's concert on July 30th. I've been working on the poster all evening and emailing liquor companies trying to get them to sponsor the event. We've booked The Gaskets for the show which I am so psyched about- when I read the email from their manager confirming it I actually jumped up and pumped the air. Please everyone come and tell your friends.

Also, since I still haven't found a job I've decided to jumpstart my own art career and curate an exhibit at my father's store on the Upper East Side. I think it will be something about outsider art as compared to those on the inside. Artists are still to be confirmed but the outsider may just be yours truly. Thursday I am taking a look at my dad's store to figure out the logistics and hopefully I can have the opening in the beginning of July.

Speaking of Thursday. My wondrous friend Billy has booked me for a free haircut in his high-class Upper East Side salon, for which I am so grateful and so excited for. That evening after dinner, Matt and I are heading over to the Knitting Factory to see Art Brut and special secret guests, We Are Scientists- whom are rapidly becoming my most seen band after I attend their show with Arctic Monkeys in June. It's going to be a good day.

What else is making me happy is Brook's film being done and the possibility of getting to see it in the next few weeks. Afterall, I am in it for a whole three seconds.

Oh, and May 30th until June 6th I might be in Georgia visiting my Uncle, whom is doing well and out of the hospital.

And remember, party at my house July 1st, holla. FUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK. My parents might not go away afterall. May have to postpone until they do.

Will anyone see The Da Vinci Code with me this weekend? Please? I also want to see the new X-Men movie next weekend.

Below you will find a computer slowing slew of photographs that I never posted from my trip to Barcelona. They were taken on my day alone in the city, walking around finding churches, placas, and lots of shopping. Some of them are rather interesting so I thought I'd share.

My first stop of the morning was Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. I took my first and only ride on the Barcelona metro to get there. The metro was very clean and easy to understand. Definitely one of my top Metro rides.


I wish I could find my bloody journal so I could write what I thought at the time. I do recall thinking, as I sat within this great space that perhaps one day will be a church, "God will never be here." I was charged some astronomical amount to get into this construction zone and it just felt like the most unholy place I have ever been. I understand the need to raise money for building, but I have always had a problem paying to get into churches. It always feels so wrong.


You could either pay a few euro to ride an elevator up the towers on one side of the church, or walk up the other side. I decided to walk. It was scary but worth it, so worth it.


The view onto the street from one of the windows on the stairwell up. Thankfully they had small landings to rest on as you climbed.


Barcelona has a pickle building just like London.


The church is actually quite remarkable. The first stone of the church was laid in 1882. The original architect quit and Gaudi was hired in 1883. The church remains unfinished to this day, therefore the construction. If you don't know anything about Gaudi, he's a bit of an eccentric artist. The design of the church was to encompass all of God's creations. The columns inside the nave are trees, on top of the church are bunches of grapes and littering the outside are images of animals. The church, to me, is like reading a children's book with lots of little mythical details.




Hot and sweaty at the top. Some girl while I was up there had a panic attack and needed to be dragged down by her friends.


The facade covered in animals and vines. I can't say that I was very drawn to the design. It was certainly interesting but there is something to be said for keeping it simple.


The other side, where the elevator goes up. It reminds me of something from Lord of the Rings.


After leaving La Sagrada Familia, I made my way to the center of the city. I walked through all the side streets in the Gothic Quarter, getting lost and looking at the architecture.


I actually didn't want the smart car in the picture, but it was taking forever to turn the corner.


Above is La Boquieria market on La Rambla, the most famous street in Barcelona that 'rambles' down to the water. Lots of shopping and cafes and generally a place to see and be seen.


Placa Reial. I stumbled upon this and was stunned. My foot was killing me, I had hurt it from walking too much in Istanbul, so I sat here on the fountain and watched people drink coffees in the pricey cafes.




The Plaza de Sant Jaume - a government building.




The courtyard of the Cathedral of Barcelona, begun in 1298. It was a beautiful, sunny day but I always find it such a relief to duck into churches after a long day of walking. Where else can you sit in peace within a work of art?


The middle of the courtyard had a fenced in area with a dozen white ducks.


The gated area under the apse holding the church's precious objects.


St. George.


You could go up to the top of this church as well. This lift was free, unlike Sagrada Familia. It was an old elevator without much signage. I went in and picked the highest number. After some debate with itself, the elevator left me on the roof where there were benches to sit and look over the city. The clock struck the hour while I sat and all the bells of Barcelona rung out. Now this was a church.



Since I had followed Javier here on his conference, I stayed with the participants in the dorms of the uni where it was being held. It was actually quite lovely. I had a single room with a little tele that played MTV and CNN. So after the church, I made my way down to the water where the hotel was, stopping in a bakery for some jamon stuffed pastry for dinner. I wish I had a few more days to explore the city and the beaches but I really enjoyed my time there. September was a great time to go, tourists had left by then and the city was mainly filled with locals. I suggest getting a place near the water and walking around the city getting lost amongst the narrow streets.

Best Way to Waste Time At Work Ever

On the back of yesterday's Lost post comes this awesome find. On ABC.com, you can watch the ENTIRE season of Alias, four episodes of Lost and three Desperate Housewives (and also Commander and Chief but I don't watch that). If I was working, I would be so happy about this.

The Hanso Foundation

In case you didn't already know, I am rather obsessed with Lost. I don't read all those crazy conspiracy theory message boards or anything, but I do have to make sure that every Wednesday at 9pm I am sat in front of my tv or there will be hell to pay. During tonight's episode, they played a commercial for the Hanso Foundation, a fictional company linked to the show and all the mysterious things happening on the island. The commerical flashed a website, sublymonal.com. Like the fanatic I am, I immediately went to the url. The site flashes the word, 'obey' and then after some clicking you are led to the Hanso Foundation page. Because I am also a web geek, I went to view the source for the html. I was surprised to see that imbedded was a tracker for Sprite. A quick websearch came up with an article on Sprite's new avant garde ad campaign spear-headed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, an ad team from Miami. 'Obey' is the tag-line for their new campaign for the soda, whereas traditionally it is 'obey your thirst.'

So it seems that Sprite is now involved with the bizarre happenings on Lost. I find it strange that the program would get involved with sponsorship at all when promoting their show. Lost fans can get pretty crazy, so it won't just be me who has discovered the Sprite/Lost connection. Lost is complicated and to keep up their aura of mystery, it would have been so much better to leave real corporations out of their imaginary world.

Calling All Party People

I promised Sea last night that I would do another 'day in the life of' post today. Well evidently, today was not that day. Perhaps tomorrow.

But I thought I would mention what I have been up to the last few days. Friday, the Tribeca Film Festival had a whole bunch of music events going on and my awesome friend Gretchen got me on the list for all of them. So from 3pm-3am I saw ten acts perform. It was great yet incredibly tiring (you can check out my ramblings about what I thought about the shows over on The Music Slut, so I won't bore you with it on here). The first show was at the Canal Room at 3. Elvis Costello was performing, so for Deb's birthday I brought her along. It was so fun AND there was an open bar. It was hot, I felt like an interloper into an oh so cool world. The plan was for Deb and I to get to the city early and walk around SOHO and have lunch. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a parking spot so we drove around for an hour before I gave up and parked in the Village. That gave us a half an hour to eat lunch before the show. Ugh. At least we were rewarded with free booze, even though a member of the Hip Hop Project spilt my vodka tonic all over me.


Cut to 9:30pm and I am sitting in my car waiting for 10:30 to roll around and the next Tribeca show at Don Hill's to start. No open bar this time, instead I stopped by the corner store for wheat thins and a juice to bring in. The Don Hill show was good but long. The set changes took forever and it annoyed me to no end that because it was mostly industry people, they kept talking through the music. Have some respect people. I met up with Gretchen and Grant there. Gretchen is Stephanie's friend from college, Grant is Gretchen's friend and both of them rock my world so I was psyched to hang out with them again. Also there was Derek, the manager of R. Star whose show I reviewed over on the music blog. He's adorable and sweet, and said my article on music and ethics really touched him, I just wish he would stop pushing his act one me. It's so hard to tell whether he is being sincere or trying to get me to plug R. Star. Anyhoo. At 2:30am, I called it a night even though the last act was still on. It was time for bed.

And this week finds me sending out even more resumes and working on The Music Slut's party in July. July 30th at the Delancey, my music site is throwing a party. Partly for our anniversary but mostly because it's fun and we want to. So mark your calendars now. Sunday July 30th 8pm at the Delancy. The cover should only be 6 bucks and we are attempting to get some sponsorship to provide some sort of open bar. Definitely on the list is Band of York and tentitively are O'death, The Gaskets, The Glass and We Are Americana. My fingers are crossed for The Gaskets, they are so fun. Check out their song, 'Hot Steady (Hot weather)'- just right click and save as.

Also, July 1st I will, most likely, be throwing a fourth of July party. The parents are going out of town so like an underage high schooler, I'm inviting all my friends over to drink too much and puke in my bushes. I promise barbecue and bocceball. Party will probably start at about 7pm. I may even make another Jenpardy game.

Nightwatching

I just read today that the impossibly adorable and funny Martin Freeman was just signed to play Rembrandt in the upcoming film Nightwatching. In case you don't know what the Night Watch is, it is probably Rembrandt's most famous painting and depicts the militia company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch. It was painted in 1642 and is now the prize of the Rijksmuseum. I saw it in 2003 and it is indeed amazing. When I was there the museum was under construction so all of the more famous works were in a separate space. The Night Watch was in the last room of the museum, a room dedicated to just this painting. The painting is massive and spanned one whole wall. Apparently the director of the film, Peter Greenway, is suppose to have a special exhibit about the painting to coincide with the film premiere.

I have a weakness for art films, for obvious reasons. I'll watch them no matter how bad they are. Over the summer I even sat through a terrible made for tv children's movie because it promised to show Rubens. This movie looks like it might end up on the better end of artist movies though. The director is trained as a painter and directed the beautiful, yet disturbing, Pillow Book about the art of calligraphy and sexual fetish. Since this film is set to star both Rembrand't wife and lover, I am sure it will not be without a little sex as well. I always imagined Rembrandt to be a rather affable, bumbling, happy sort of man, so I think the choice of Martin Freeman is inspired. Sarah Polly will be playing Saskia (Rembrandt's young wife) and Minnie Driver is Geertje (housemaid turned estranged lover). The film should be ready for Cannes next year.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

I’m having trouble starting this entry in any sort of clever way so I guess I’ll just dive right into it.

Monday I received a letter in the mail. I receive about 30 emails a day but never an actual posted letter so it caught me a bit off guard. It was from Kim, a girl I have mentioned on here but not in a long while, probably not since I left for Scotland in September 2004. I opened it figuring it was some sort of invitation but unfortunately for me, and for her really, it wasn’t. It was a typed, full page, single spaced letter, signed at the bottom above her typed out name like she was applying for a job. I couldn’t bring myself to read it, I could already imagine all the ridiculous things it said. When my eyes glimpsed the word “cool”, in the quote marks, my suspicions were confirmed so I quickly folded it back up and shoved it in the envelope. Dealing with an overly neurotic friend at that specific moment in time was not something I could deal with. Not only was I nervous about an interview I had the next day, but I was just informed that my Uncle Rob was in the hospital about to have emergency triple bypass surgery so I was on the computer looking up last minute flights for my dad to fly down to Georgia to be with him.

But all of the other things I have going on in my life right now aside, I don’t think I should have to deal with this situation at all. This girl is playing a game with me. She hasn’t called or emailed me in a month to test whether or not I would call her. Since I am usually never the person to call people to hang out unless there is an event I would like to invite people to, not calling her to go out for a coffee shouldn’t really be a surprise. Being that I’ve been friends with her for quite a while, she should know this. I think this little test was more of an excuse to get angry with me then to test my loyalty or friendship. What perhaps would be a better test is leaving the country for over a year and counting the times a friend emails you. Hey, wait a second! I think I already performed that friend test. I didn’t hear from this girl for most of my year abroad. Other then the few emails to inform me of sad events, which I always responded promptly and lovingly to and to which she would sometimes respond back but then never again to my second email, I hardly heard a thing. I moved to Scotland, I didn’t die. Simply because I move back and this girl wants to have coffee all the time, doesn’t mean she is suddenly a great friend. I don’t like being manipulated and used and I certainly don’t like to be the pawn in someone’s game.

The funny thing is, is that I wasn't angry at Kimor not calling her for any specific reason. It's just been a hectic month and I haven't felt like just hanging out. But that's what happens when you read more into things than you should, you end up assuming that the world is against you.

In any event, I’ve lost interest in this situation. It’s impinging on my happiness and I’m sick of it. I’m going to let Debbie read the letter for me and sum it up because I can’t bring myself to read it. I wish this girl love, happiness and a good life, but I also wish those things for myself so it appears that for the time being- this friendship is going to have to take a breather.

All of this melodramatic nonesense brings me to this question: What do we do when we want to break-up a friendship? In so many ways, it is harder than breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend because with a boyfriend there was either going to be an end or there was going to be some sort of commitment ceremony. A friendship is, ideally, never meant to have an end- unless you count death. In High School, Debbie and I (and ok, maybe an episode of Friends) came up with the phase-out method for friend break-ups. It is a quiet removal of a person from your social life that ultimately results in that person removing themselves. Now that I am an adult, I don’t want to waste time with people I don’t like. I am determined to find happiness and if my friends make me miserable, why are they my friends? So how does one end a friendship like an adult? With a cease and desist letter? A deletion from your cell phone? Well in case anyone wanted to know how to end a friendship with me, write me a letter.

If any of my friends out there were wondering if I still cared about them even though I haven’t emailed, you should know that in my mind I have written you a thousand emails, I’m just poor at actually writing them, and I still love you so much. Hopefully you all know that already, but with this whole letter debacle I just wanted to make sure.

So, Stevie D., Jan, Ebru, Rob, Kiril, Javier and Crawford. I'm sorry I don't write as much as I should but I want you to know that you are never far from my thoughts and always are close to my heart.