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!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Brooklyn

This was a great holiday! Friends from all over the world came over to celebrate with a long fondue meal. The video below shows how terrible we are at memorizing lyrics to even the simplest of Christmas songs. Happy Holidays!!

Stingray Sam screening at Union Pool

 

Come join a whole mess of cool people, including the talented Cory McAbee, this Sunday at Union Pool for an all-ages evening of movie watching, beer-guzzlin' and other entertainments.  Cory is the mastermind behind 'Stingray Sam', a five part space western.  Willa, his daughter and my kid's best friend, plays the part of 'girl', and is really darn good.  Starts at 7.

Cormac McCarthy's typewriter

 

Cormac McCarthy's old typewriter was recently put up at auction and went for over $200,000.  Crazier than this is the fact that he actually wrote on the thing!  More than a dozen novels, plays, short stories, screenplays, and everything else he's put down to paper!

My.  God.


From the NY Times:

Glenn Horowitz, a rare-book dealer who is handling the auction for Mr. McCarthy, said: “When I grasped that some of the most complex, almost otherworldly fiction of the postwar era was composed on such a simple, functional, frail-looking machine, it conferred a sort of talismanic quality to Cormac’s typewriter. It’s as if Mount Rushmore was carved with a Swiss Army knife.”

Read more, here. 

I'm off...  to get some writing accomplished!

Noko Jeans

 

Jeans made in North Korea?  Check out my write-up, here.

Early morning on Bedford Ave

I didn't notice the owner of the vehicle was sitting in the driver's seat reading the paper until after I snapped this shot- he was so surrounded by animals!  I love Anevay's expression...

Paul Richard

Perhaps some of you have seen the Paul Richard 'artworks' along Bedford Ave?  Read about the artist, here.

Christmas in Manhattan

Living in New York for any extended period of time, it's easy for one to forget that she actually lives in New York.

Confused yet?  Let me explain...

For the past month, I've been working once again in Midtown.  For weeks, holidays decorations have been hung, and I've been so busy working, that I have barely noticed!

Today I let myself take a walk for lunch, and took a few pictures of the goings ons happening in a two-block radius from where I work.

Take a look-see:

Above: Rockefeller Center

The skating 'pond' below the Rockefeller tree.

Radio City Music Hall.

Giant decorations in the reflecting pool across the street from my building.

Above: Pretty obvious.

On my way back to the office, I stopped at the famous Magnolia Bakery.  I rarely allow Anevay to have sweets, but after my lunch-time walk around Midtown, I was feeling guilty that Anevay hadn't been there with me to take it all in, and I thought a couple of cupcakes wouldn't hurt.

Above: A blurry picture of my building, taken on my way home.

One of the cupcakes I chose has a Rockette on it...  although it remains uneaten.  Anevay chose a totally over-the-top blue and white snowman cupcake, while I threw myself wholeheartedly upon a decadent chocolate heart-attack.


Today, although it was filled with the usual crowded subways and chaos of the city, felt pretty wonderful.  What made it perfect was being able to talk about it with Anevay, and to see her fact at the (unexpected) treat I had brought her.  I realized something pretty great- I don't shower my kid with many goodies, toys, cool clothes, or getting her own way, but I DO talk to her about things that matter- I tell her about my day and about things happening in the world, I take her to dinners filled with interesting people (often she is the only kid- fine by me, although I don't think I'll ever understand why other parents would want to so clearly separate their lives from those of their kids), and, when the mood strikes me to give her a surprise, she is so, so happy and thankful that it makes me nearly cry.  I feel pretty proud of myself for raising such a great kid, and especially proud of Anevay for having such a great and thoughtful head on her shoulders.

Brooklyn Revealed

Brooklyn Revealed is a great site about the history of our fair borough.  I learned all manner of fun things.  For example:

Did you have any idea that there was an area in Bushwick called 'Brewers Row', which once-upon-a-time produced most of the country's beer?  Apparently the last Bushwick Brewery closed in 1976- the year I was born- and Milwaukee became the capital of US beer-making (Somehow this seems appropriate, given my Wisco connection).

Or, even more interesting, did you have any idea that on the western tip of Long Island there was once a settlement founded by a woman?  Yep, tis true.  Her story is pretty cool.  I highly recommend you history buffs go to the site to read more and look through all the pics.

Bedford Ave Corporate Conundrum

The following post was reprinted in Williamsburg Greenpoint New + Art. Check it out.




I thought it was bad when Duane Reade opened a new location at N 5th and Kent. Who the hell does development at their head office?! Have they not yet figured out that we’re in a recession? I mean, c’mon, they can barely pay their underpaid employees, let alone figure out a way to pay their burgeoning debt (just a few months ago, there was talk of Duane Reade going under).

Call me blind, but I only noticed today that the hideous constuction across the street from Kings Pharmacy is going to become *gasp* yet another Duane Reade. Blame this oversight on the fact that my daughter and I have, for the last couple of years at least, avoided Bedford Ave like the plague. Don’t get me wrong, I love Williamsburg. I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I’m not in love with the recent influx of new-blood that has moved into the ‘hood (I don’t even need to go into this, do I?!). Now, I have nothing against drunk NYU and FIT students, nor do I have a problem with trustfunders (I have love for all God’s critters, after all), but the things I love about my neighborhood are not the throng of people exiting the L-train with me each evening, and I certainly am not fond of the ugly, cheap constructions that now litter the waterfront and surrounding area. When I must walk down Bedford, I’m like a horse outfitted with blinders—after work I head as fast as I can for home, neither looking to my right nor left (although here’s where I insert another disclaimer: I love Bedford Ave. I’m loyal to my bookstore, my coffee shop, and other businesses found on this street).

I largely ignored the Duane Reade stores that seem to be on every corner of Manhattan, but now that one is moving across from Kings Pharmacy, I’m a little upset. It’s been easy for me to ignore the one on Kent. It’s largely been out of sight, out of mind. I can say emphatically that l will never feel compelled to walk through their doors. But this new one… Hm.

Here’s my conundrum:

I’m devoted to buying the few things I need from small business. I will remain committed to Kings Pharmacy. Yet Kings closes at 9pm. This has been an inconvenience I’ve had to deal with for years. Unfortunately, my kid doesn’t just come down with illnesses between the hours of 8am and 9pm. There have been times when I’ve needed to fill prescriptions, and fast. My reserve might be tested somewhere down the line when the clock strikes midnight and my girl is suffering an asthma attack. Kings: I hope you’re listening! I hope you can modify your hours now that evil is moving right across Bedford Ave!

I’m not the only one to have had problems with Kings. My roommate, unfortunately, is not able to use her Flex Spending dollars at their pharmacy, and has resorted to ordering online from Drugstore.com. Again, Kings, I hope you’re listening!

Kings, I love you. I love walking in and singing to the Cure on the radio as I wait in line. I love the sweet girl behind the counter at the pharmacy who was so sympathetic a few years ago after I broke my arm and had two surgeries (I think I lived at Kings for a couple of months, picking up various prescriptions).

What’s the answer to my problem? How will I deliver myself from temptation? Oh, I will do my best.

I will also pray wholeheartedly that Duane Reade, in its overzealous greed to grow even as their numbers have been so terrible, comes crashing down like the Tower of Babel. Is it wicked to think like this? Perhaps. Even so, I’d have you each think twice before spending your hard-earned cash at a business that cares nothing for its employees (firing them even as they build more stores!) and seeks to destroy neighborhood businesses (um, moving directly across the street from Kings is just an asshole move).

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Obama Pet!

Don't you just want to buy one for every single person you've ever met?  I think Michelle ought to put one in her organic garden at the White House, and Prez #44 should use them as centerpieces at his two state dinners a year. 

Simple...  elegant...  and small enough for White House party-crashers to slip into a large bag or coat!

Click here to read my brief write-up.

Bad, bad boots

Seriously, people, I do it to myself...

Since being forced into unemployment a year ago, I've been incredibly thrifty.  Even now that I'm working, I'm really careful.  I *gasp*, KEEP A BUDGET!  This means, for the most part, that I choose not to remember the things I used to do for myself.  Haircuts?  What are those?  New clothes?  Huh?

Honestly, I don't miss (much) these little luxuries.  Manicures have got to be the silliest things ever.  Ditto with waxing.  I mean, c'mon, what ever possessed me to let ladies attack my cuticles and pour hot wax over me (a small aside- I went for a wax the other day for the first time in forever, and it was the worse experience ever.  Lesson learned)?

Living hand to mouth is...  well...  demeaning.  Truly, unless you're a kid, traveling around the midwest with a bunch of ravers (oh, did I do that?), it's not much fun trying to figure out whether food or the electric bill is more important.

So much for security.  At this point, I'll take a positive balance in my bank account (I jest...  it's not that bad...  YET.).

I'm usually level-headed about all of it.  After all, it doesn't pay to covet objects.

Yet this morning I made a grave error.  No, I didn't order some ridiculously expensive Rinkel bag off of Vivre.  It was worse.  I went onto Zappos to look at winter for Anevay...  somehow, I found myself looking at women's boots.

Go figure.  Satan has it out for me.

I found a pair that lured me in.  Frye boots- simple- pretty.  Only the ones I like aren't $150 (which I'm still not spending right now), but $650.  Damn it, I had to like the ones in soft black vintage leather.

Now, before you think of me as an idiot who spent my grocery money, please note that I did NOT deliver myself to temptation.  I took a deep breath, and clicked back to where I was supposed to be- looking at boots for Anevay (she actually needs them, and not for $650).

So it would seem as though I'm a good-guy.  Noble, even.  I make sacrifices, damn it.  Sigh.  But you know what?  Inside my black little heart, Ican't get those damn boots off my mind.  If I were to pick one of the seven deadly sins for what I'm feeling, I wouldn't be able to narrow it down.  It would be more of a combination: Pride; Lust; Envy...

I think all of this goes to show one thing...  You can take the boots off of a girl, but you can't TRULY take the girl away from her boots...

Now, please restrain me before I go to the Vivre site to look at a pair of H. Williams boots...  (kidding...  Vivre has got to be the most ridiculous site on the Internet)

Oh, before all of you think of me as just some petty creature, know this: I have looked the other way from most things that are not priorities for over a year.  I think the fact that I glanced and now covet a pair of boots (I am in need of some new flat boots:) is a crime I'm willing to forgive.  After all- you saw the picture above...  Don't you agree those Frye boots are devilishly attractive?  Is it any wonder I was taken in by their flirtations?!

Sigh.

Update: These are even cooler, and are less expensive!  

Thanks, Frank

All those who know me understand my full spectrum of emotions.  For better or for worse, a certain mania occasionally grips me, which leads me to spiral off into 10,000 projects, talk a mile a minute about all of the millions of random things that catch my attention, and have me running circles around my friends/family.  Unfortunately, I also go the other way...  As a kid, this was definitely depression- as an adult, however, it has tapered into a sort of quiet- a lull in my usual frantic life, when all I do is sleep, read, and temporarily shut down.  One might say I'm kind of like the seasons in NY, meaning VARIED.  I'm hot and I'm cold, baby, in the best of ways.  When hanging out with me, one had better be prepared to wear a swimsuit beneath his/her snowsuit.

Terrible metaphors aside, I happened upon a fantastic quote by Frank Sinatra this morning that kind of sums me up:

"Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as emotion."

You know what, people?  I wouldn't have it any other way (although I'm glad maturity/age have cast out most sad, ugly little thoughts!).  I have an abundance of happiness with brief declines into the doldrums.  Not a terrible life, if you ask me.  Nope, not bad at all.

Broken English

Funny, I watched this movie soon after it came out and raved about Melvil Poupaud to my friend, 'V' (a total Francophile).  Tonight, I had the film running in the background as I did other things, and realized that, for better or for worse, I occasionally identify with Parker Posie's character (in the 'I hate my job' sort of way, not the 'I'm desperate for a boyfriend' kind of way).  You won't see much of what I'm talking about in the trailer, but regardless, I'm including it.  At least you can catch a few glimpses of Melvil:

Prison Law Project

Back in August, a day or two after my friend Carlos passed away, Ian Head from the Prison Mail Program reached out to me.  Besides being a local dance legend, Carlos had volunteered for quite some time, devoting countless hours to making things run smoothly.  Perhaps some of you remember me writing about this in the past?  I'll link back later (although for now you may want to look at the posting I linked above, which includes amazing memories from many people- including Ian- in the comment section.  Please don't be offended by the stories about Carlos back in the days before he was sober...  Just part of the wonderful package, people.).

About the program, Ian wrote:

I began the prison mail program in late 2005 / 2006, as a volunteer run program through the national lawyers guild distributing the jailhouse lawyers handbook (http://jailhouselaw.org) which is a self-help legal guide to defending your constitutional rights in prison (that's the simple definition). I would stay after work every thursday and answer the 80-120 letters we got a week from prisoners, most requesting the book, with volunteers I found both on idealist.org and through local law school chapters of the Guild. FYI, the book is published by both the NLG and the center for constitutional rights (CCR) who up until recently, had run their own volunteer programs and distributed the handbook in different ways.

Back then, I told Ian I'd love to be involved with the program.  Yet the last couple of months have been hectic- both with working and having Anevay back in school.  I think now, however, our schedules are somewhat defined, and I'm ready to throw myself in to the mix.

I wrote Alissa, saying that in addition to wanting to carry on a bit of the good work Carlos was doing, I've been a close family member who used to be incarcerated, and feel very strongly about the rights of prisoners.  "We are all condemned to freedom," wrote Sartre.  This is just about my favorite quote ever- you've probably read other things I've written including it.  They are important words to keep in mind when regarding the rights and lives- both interior and exterior- of the incarcerated.

Omitting some of the things that Alissa wrote about Carlos (as I haven't asked for her permission), I don't think she'll mind me include some of the general information she wrote in regards to volunteering for the Prison Law Project at the National Lawyers Guild:

I can give you some of the details of the program: The Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook helps inmates file claims against their prison where they're incarcerated for violations of their constitutional rights (things like medical care, abuse from staff, living conditions, religious practice).

We start at 6:45pm on Thursdays. We don't require a minimum volunteer commitment so as many or as few times you can help is great. Depending on the number of people who show up on Thursdays, the session can last anywhere between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. I give a full set of instructions on the night of the mailing, but the basics are that we have funding to send about 100 handbooks per month but receive 90-110 letters per week. We read through the letters and send handbooks to those that we
can and an informational letter to the those that do not receive the handbook. Also, on the first Thursday of every month, we team up with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and have a joint mailing session with them, but I send out emails to remind everyone about that meeting when it's approaching.

Our weekly mailings are at the NLG National Office is located at 132 Nassau Street on the 9th Floor. The closest subway station is on Fulton Street or Broadway/Lafayette; the A/C/2/3/4/5/J/M/Z all run through those stations.

Perhaps some of you might also be interested in volunteering?  It's a good way, I think, to keep Carlos' spirit with us. 

(Just a little aside...  Ian made a great 'Mixtape' in Carlos' memory, and wrote some great liner-notes.  Check it out, if you like, here.)

This morning in the 'burg and the LES

Bedford, between N. 6 and N. 7.  Below- just in case people have forgotten:

 

11th and 1st. Is that an alien on the side of the truck?  I'm scratching my head over this one.  Am I trying to make the message more complicated than what it is?  Help me out, people.

 

Hard to tell what this is from the pic...  A dinosaur, on the top of a firetruck.  It had friends...  Other dinos and what looked like a couple of gargoyles.  What is the fire department trying to tell us?  Not sure, but I like it.  Saw it at 13th and 1st.

Unemployment Woe in Williamsburg

With economists such as Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff coming up with a forecast that won't have unemployment easing until well into 2012, and Richard Trumka, President of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. saying essentially the same thing, it would seem that for the 16 million unemployed of this country, a rocky road is still ahead.

This is why, on the last leg of my final federal unemployment extension (having exhausted state benefits some time ago), I was heartened to hear that Congress passed bill HR 3548, which allows unemployed folks like me 14-20 more weeks of unemployment.  Good news, right?

I'm currently working a temp position, ending the end of this month.  Therefore, I deemed it important to speak with someone at the NY unemployment office to make sure I had my ducks in a row.  I first called about two weeks ago, and spoke with a very nice (but relatively uninformed ) woman who told me to call back once Congress passed HR 3548, and that due to reasons she couldn't properly explain, I might not be able to resume claiming unemployment benefits.

A couple weeks later, once the bill passed, I spoke with another kind state employee- this time a chap- who told me that once my job was over, just to resume making my weekly claim, and that all was good.

Yet I've always been highly suspicious of good fortune.  Because I had been told two different things: 1) I might not be able to comtinue claiming; 2) I would have no problem continuing to claim- I called yet again.

Yesterday, I spoke with a dismissive woman who told me that I would definitely be able to resume claiming.  I asked how much longer I had to claim in my last extension (the one before HR 3548), and also made sure to ask again if I am eligible to claim the new extension.  A week, she answered, to the first question.  And a firm yes, she replied, to the second.

Today, however, I found the glitch, in a NY Times article. 

Another bill presented before Congress has not passed...  HR 3404, would extend unemployment benefits from 2009 into 2010.  Without being passed, the 14+6 extended weeks (which one can't start claiming before November 15th), can no longer be claimed after December 27th. Yes, you're reading this correctly: If HR 3404 doesn't happen, neither does HR 3548.

This is one time I wish my intuition hadn't been correct.

Certain members of congress have vowed to fight to get HR 3404 passed.  I will certainly write my Congress Person- this much power I do have- to appeal for passing this simple fix.  However, with all of the health bills that have/are being presented, and with recess only weeks away, this bill must be a priority in order to even be revisited.

I could bitch about Republican obstructionism and all manner of other things, but that won't really help.  Believe me, I'm pleased as punch that HR 3548 will give me at least a couple weeks of unemployment benefits before the end of the year.  But without the reauthorization of federal extensions into 2010, I'm pretty much screwed.

Happy New Year!!

With 16 million unemployed, I'm clearly not alone in banging my head against bricks.  We currently have the highest unemployment, it would seem, since 1982, although many are saying it is the worst since the Great Depression.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in NY, things are at a real low-point for us unemployed folk.  Although the official jobless rate is a little over 10%, if you count ALL of the unemployed (i.e. those not collecting checks and those who can only find part-time employment), the number is above 17.5%.

Here in Williamsburg, I dare you to conduct a little experiment: Ask people on the streets whether or not they're working.  If about one out of six is sans employment, then it would seem as though 17.5% would be correct.

Williamsburg and Greenpoint are broken up into a couple different congressional districts.  The Congree Person for my zipcode (11211-5174, if you feel so inclined to stalk me) is Nydia Velazquez, the Representative of the 12th Congressional Destrict of NY. Please click here for all of her contact info.  There's a special 'Write Your Rep' system.  Use it- it's the fastest way, apparently, to reach her.

Unsure of who your rep is?  Or, *gasp*, you don't live in my 'hood (shame!), click here to find out.

Friends, if HR 3404 doesn't get reviewd/passed, will you please help me find a job, donate money into my depleted/empty bank account, or hook me up with someone wanting to buy a kidney.  I'm THIS close to considering selling one on the black market.

My brother

My brother called me at work today with some weird news.  No need to go into it in depth on such a public venue- suffice to say that the old adage,  'wherever you go, there you are', seemed appropriate.  I spent the afternoon feeling a little off, and realized toward the end of the day that my brother and I spent much of our lives burying childhood issues, or, worse, running self-destructively from them.  

Thanks to the support of our parents, as well as various friends, family and mentors, my brother and I grew up and stopped acting like idiots.  Part of this is on account of our incredible determination to be good people.  I think I speak for both of us when I say we want to live happy lives in which we are able to 'give back'.

I spoke with my brother only briefly tonight, and got off the phone feeling truly thankful- not only do we have a loving, supoortive, responsible family, but we grew into caring, sensitive souls, worthy of the various graces we've been given.  We are great parents to our children (the bro has two sweet boys), and have strong friendships.  I always say that I work harder than most of the people I know, but this isn't entirely true.  My brother works his fingers to their bones, provides for his family, and is, alongside my step-dad and my grandfather, the best man I know. 

I'm really, really proud of my brother, for all of the amazing things he has accomplished.  Tonight, as I end my long day, this is where my thoughts keep drifting.  I'm lucky my mama gave me such a strong, sweet brother. 

Dramamine

Sun Kil Moon's cover of Modest Mouse's 'Dramamine' is pretty.  Granted, I still don't think you can beat the original- but something about the Will Oldham meets Tracy Chapman voice and quiet guitar calms me and pulls at my heartstrings:



And here's Chapman's 'Fast Car' (this morning I wish, wish, WISH I were in a fast car going the opposite direction from Midtown):

Shag

Yep, W'burg's getting a sex shop.  Read my totally, uh, tongue-in-cheek write-up about the up-coming opening party, here.  (the gentirification thing in my write-up was definitely on the sarcastic side.  Any of you who know me at all know my thoughts on this issue...)

Love the flyer- bartender and fellow 'burger Lola looks like a cutie, huh?

Rain Machine - Give Blood

Loving Kyp's new project, Rain Machine.  Anevay and I have been listening to the album like crazy.  I caught him at the Bell House a month-ish (?) ago- so great. 

It's been a rough summer/autumn for many of us- losing Carlos, and then, in the case of some of you west-coasters, Don.  I'm glad to see Kyp has this outlet- and I love that it has me responding in such an emotionally positive way.  Anevay and I are lucky to have so many people in our lives who contribute so dynamically.

Read below a little info on Rain Machine (or click here to read the very short review I wrote for Lost at E Minor):

Kyp Malone's acclaimed new solo project Rain Machine is currently on tour getting rave reviews. Known for his work fronting celebrated Brooklyn art-dance ensemble TV on Radio, Malone's new endeavor is a boundary pushing yet soulful amalgamation of musical styles crystallized by his distinctive and provocative lyrical imagery and voice.

British publication NME said of a recent Rain Machine performance: "Kyp Malone's new project surpasses even his day job band for sheer inventiveness... It's undoubtedly one of the most wildly inventive and entertaining things anyone will hear all year." The Wall Street Journal remarked of the same show: "... despite the smaller band, the music musters the same swells and rising action that characterizes his better-known band. When they played a complicated song called "Give Blood," the crowd responded with noise and dance, expecting a subdued solo performance. Instead, the audience found itself a few feet away from a sound that would otherwise belong on a stage set for thousands."

Rain Machine will begin a North American tour opening for seminal indie rock band The Pixies beginning this November.

How great is that- opening for the Pixies?!  Kurt Cobain is, I'm sure, rolling over with glee in his grave.

Watch the video.  It's great (additionally, it was made by Petro, who is just a swell guy!):

Warren Buffett on relationships

This past Thursday at Columbia University, Warren Buffett told a large crowd that "the worst investment you can have is cash."  Good news for me, seeing as the only cash I have is in my pocket...  Come to think of it, I do believe it's already spent once my rent check goes through...  Mr. Buffett also told the members of the audience that the best investment they could make for themselves would be to "marry the right person."

Is it just me, or does that sound like a very un-Buffett-like thing to say?!  Whomever it was speaking in Buffett's stead, he managed to endear me to the kabillionaire just an inch...

I'll soon be looking to the bookshelves for Buffett's 'For Love or Money: One Billionaire's Travel to the Top Only to Find That Love Really is What Makes the World Go Around'.   

NY Marathon 2009

I had forgotten to post my pictures of the NY Marathon...  Better late than never!

Front women runners going by... (Missed the men due to my camera taking so long to load.  Oh well.  No matter, I think the women are more impressive.)

Mexican wrestlers watch the action before going home to take each other down?

James bought all of us ladies Bloody Mary's.  It was a little early for me to have mine...  Here's Clare with hers!

Elspeth and Maria talking; Anevay taking in the race.

Oh, boys and their codpieces...

Clare cheering on South African runners.

Um, OK...

The big question is, WHY?!

This runner came on by our table at Dumont demanding (actually, she asked rather nicely) a sip of my Guinness.

Now, the question is- do I enter the lottery for next year's marathon?  Huh?  If so, who will enter and train with me?!