Budding fashion designer, meet the president

As I refuse to spend money on Barbie clothes, my kid has been designing her own. On the left, 'Bluey' wears a short repurposed shift dress from last year's summer line as well as a lovely necklace from the winter jewelry collection. On the right, 'Steve Obama' wears a muumuu from the spring 2010 line.

And yes, she really did name him 'Steve Obama'.

Getting the hang of it!

Greg gave Anevay one of his decks (her old board was a nightmare), and then my girl and I went to KCDC for trucks and wheels. $100 later, and we walked out the door, ready to ride. She's picking it up fast, and I think by spring you can expect to see us tooling around the nabe.

Unfortunately, thought, I'm having a little board envy- Anevay's is great- I want one just like hers! Anyone out there have one s/he isn't using? Let's make a trade? I know you've always been hankering after a piece of my beautiful... jade plant? Or perhaps a nice rooting from one of my philodendrons?

Sigh. I think it's any day now that Anevay realizes just how big of a dork I am. Hopefully she won't take the news too hard. Until then, skate or die!!

My work in New York Magazine, and the reopening of my Etsy store!

Some of you may remember that last year, New York Magazine contacted me to embroider illustrations for two pages in its 2010 Winter Wedding issue. The magazine also included one of my wedding handkerchiefs, which I thought was pretty great. Amazingly, when the issue came out, I was so consumed with other things that the work I did for the magazine was quickly forgotten. Even when one of the magazine's fabulous art directors dropped off a couple issues at my door (thanks!), I leafed through their pages and then forgot they existed. Job searching, embroidering, freelancing, writing and being a single mom all seemed a little overwhelming, so at the urging of friends/family (who said I was taking on more than I could chew), I cut out the embroidery for a bit.

This morning, after reopening my Etsy store after a many month hiatus, I remembered the issue, and thought it a fitting time to share the images. I embroidered and beaded the wedding cake, as well as the outlines for both pages (which took forever by hand).


Those of you who know my work are probably familiar with my more, well, macabre images. But those of you who REALLY know me understand how much I enjoy weddings. I love them. They make me cry, laugh, dance my ass off, and feel hopeful in all sorts of ways. I love being in weddings (as a bridesmaid), I love being invited as a date (hint hint). They just make me happy, which, as we all know, is pretty great. I guess what I really get off on is seeing people in love.

That said, my romantic soul is firmly mired in reality, meaning that I realize that true love is hard to obtain and even harder to maintain. Unfortunately, that feeling often doesn't. Not many things last forever... This is why, perhaps, I turn much of my art to more gruesome subjects- I see a certain comedy in it. Exposing a little muck is better than glossing it over, yes?

Below are some of the art pieces I have up in my store. They were shown last summer in a solo show at Spacecraft Brooklyn. Since I'm poor and am in serious need a break, I think you should buy them. Or, at the very least, suggest to anyone you might know who has just received a yearly bonus, that s/he should buy them. I think they'd make perfect weddings gifts. Hm... Maybe you could commission a piece? I'm envisioning a bride and groom with bird heads... Muah hahahaha (evil laugh).

Click here to see my Etsy Store!! (if you're a friend, shoot me an email... Perhaps I can cut you a deal;)

I'm Nobody

Yesterday an old friend, Cameron, emailed me pictures of Anevay and Carlos, taken about four or five years ago. Perhaps Cam was reminded of the pictures after someone sent him a link to a Wikepedia page that has been set up for Carlos? Who knows. (A brief aside- if any of you have good secondary sources to add to the Wiki-page, please take a moment and click here.)

In Cameron's pix, Carlos sat with Anevay looking at all of her little treasures. He used to spend a lot of time going through the things she collected. It's nice to have one of those moments documented. I don't have many photos of Anevay from that time. Such a sweet little thing, yes? And the pictures of Carlos, though they make my heart break, also make me smile.





There's also a photo Cameron sent of a gang of us from the same day, taken after a great brunch we shared in Greenpoint. I still remember what I ate: mushroom crepes! From the pictures above, you can see that Carlos is the only person on the planet who manages to look amazing in pink pants, a winter coat AND flip-flops. From the pic below, you'll also be able to get a glimpse of what a happy dork he was. The picture documents an interesting time- Jessica and Gil soon before Leo was born, me with my broken arm (which, speaking of Carlos' pink pants, happened while wearing pink fishnets at Greg and Camille's roller-skating pink party a week or two earlier. Can you see the pain written across my face??), and of course, a vibrant and very much alive Carlos.


After seeing Cameron's pictures, Anevay asked to make the following little video so that she might dedicate a poem she likes to Carlos. The title of the poem, 'I'm Nobody', is pretty perfect:

Revising

Writing takes work.  A lot of work.  Some people, I think, believe that writing is as simple as thinking a thought and getting it down on paper.  Well, that's a part of it.  But making it coherent and appealing, at least in a short story or a novel, isn't as easy as writing a quick blog post.

Just wanted to put that out there.

Blood, sweat and tears, baby, and a whole lotta ink.  (click on the image above for a larger photo)

Vomit-flavored jellybeans?

Funemployment

The video below might not make it look as though I work hard, but believe you me, I do.  I really, really do.  My writing has been taking off, the world has been spinning in a brand new way, life has been good.  Yet I have, in many ways, foregone having a social life in order to keep things moving.  I think one has to do this, at times,  in order to prioritize, and, in this economy, make money!  Today was wonderful in that I took a moment away to relax, which doesn't happen very often.  Usually, when Anevay is at school, I'm busting my butt, writing, revising, working on Excel spreadsheets, etc.  All good, positive, productive stuff, but today it was nice to let it all go and kick it with a friend.

Word of the day: Funemployment!!

Enjoy:

Seen around the nabe

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I haven't been very motivated lately to write blog postings- but that hasn't meant I haven't been having fun here in NY!!  Anevay and I spent Christmas and New Year's with friends, two days up in snowy Rochester with my family, and this past weekend, we went to the NY Ballet to see A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Now, anyone who knows me well appreciates my obsession with Shakespeare.  Apparently Santa Claus knows, too...  Every year, Santa puts two tickets into Anevay's Christmas stocking.  Usually, he seems to make an effort to obtain tickets in the orchestra- this year, however, he must have been on a budget, as the tickets were on the fourth tier.  For those not in the know, the fourth tier is the highest level, VERY far away from the stage.  My sweet girl, however, upon finding our seats, clasped her hands together and said, "Oh, we have a great view!  We'll be able to see even more this year than last year!  Santa brought us the best seats in the theater!"

The ballet was beautiful.  Balanchine also adored Shakespeare, as well as Mendelssohn's music, which he said inspired his choreography.  Anevay was captivated by everything she saw, and spoke particularly about the young dancers.

Balanchine often choreographed parts for children.  In this particular ballet, their little limbs offered a somewhat ethereal quality to the butterflies and small sprites they played. 

Anevay even laughed at one of my jokes (now that she's eight, sometimes she's too 'cool' to laugh with her mother), about the huge orb of a light in the theater being an overgrown disco-ball, and wondering if the dancers knew they were all dancing to the wrong genre of music (classical, as opposed to disco or electronic).

Special days such as our day at the ballet- taking the subway to the formidable Lincoln Center, getting warm drinks afterward at a beautiful, sunlit cafe, make me rejoice in our living in NY.  Sure, there are ballet companies in every city, but NY just has a magic that other places don't have.  If only Santa delivered Anevay tickets to huge productions more than once a year- although for the record, we delight in all the other things NY has to offer- free watertaxi rides to Governor's Island, Central Park, even hanging out with Anevay's bike by the East River...

Happy Belated New Year's To All!