Last night Linda, Bob, and I went to see stand up comedian Michael Ian Black (of I Love the 70s, 80s, 90s fame and Sierra Mist commercials) on campus. He was really funny, and somehow put up with all the embarassingly stupid things people were yelling during the question and answer portion at the end. Somehow Linda had found out ahead of time that there would be a reception afterwards at the Jewish center and that Michael Ian Black would be there. So the three of us went even though Linda was the only Jew among us. She and I were acting like idiotic fangirl stalkers at first, staring at him from across the room and giggling. We each asked him to sign a random magazine we had, which was awkward because everyone else had posters from the show and I had some student activist magazine. We also had Bob take our picture with him with Linda's cell phone camera, which I'm sure came off as equally moronic. Then we got the brilliant idea to ask him to get a drink with us.
We had to wait for all the vapid groupie girls to finish asking him about summer camp (really guys, all Jewish kids go to camp, it's not that special that he did too). And when we asked him, he shockingly said yes, even though he seemed really tired and sick of questions. So the four of us went to the bar at the Sheraton and hung out for two hours. He was really, really mellow and seemed maybe a little depressed, though he was probably just worn out from driving to Syracuse from NYC and dealing with dumb college kids all day. We mostly chatted about our program and just basic things. He only cracked jokes a few times, and of those, it seemed like he was just saying it to entertain us. He seemed like a really normal, mellow guy overall. He's married and said he was planning on taking his kids trick-or-treating for Halloween.
All in all, it was a bit awkward, but it was really nice of him to actually come out with us. In fact, the Hillel woman who was acting as his caretaker-of-sorts seemed quite perturbed when he said he was going with us, and was walking to the Sheraton with us no less (it's only three blocks from the Hillel house). So, yeah, he was pretty cool. Plus when I mentioned that I read comics, he said I can be a "cute comic girl who writes about comics" for a career. (Michael Ian Black thinks I'm cute! Tee-hee.)
I believe Linda said the same thing in her blog, but during his act, he claimed to google himself all the time. So if you come across this, M.I.B., thanks a lot for hanging out with us. You're a swell guy. And Stella is a really funny show.
Oh yeah, and I have to join Linda here as well, and say that he is absolutely adorable and I want to marry him (except for the fact that he's already married).
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
weekend
This past weekend was one of the best I've had in a while. Friday was the Tully Free Speech symposium, which was actually far more interesting than I had anticipated, so that was good. Afterwards Dave, Jon, and I got Korean food at Secret Garden, then watched "Wayne's World" and "Dodgeball" with Kathleen. Dave and I stayed up for a while more after the others left, just hanging out, which was cool because I used to stay up super late doing nothing with friends in undergrad, so it's been a while since last doing that.
Saturday Dave and I went to Highly Atomic Vintage, a vintage clothing and record store in Syracuse that turned out to be pretty damn cool. Their stuff cost a bit more than I would care to spend on used clothes and records, so I didn't buy anything. The point of going was to check out the fetish-inspired photography on display there by a local artist anyways. I really loved most of his photos, particularly the ones that used a lot of black and white contrasts. Most also had little shocks of bright color, like a model's red lips or auburn hair, or some other small detail. Really lovely stuff, and very sexy for the most part. I wrote a 300-word review about it for tomorrow's AJ class. And 300 words was tough, let me tell you. I could have spent pages describing every detail of the photos I liked best.
The weather was really, really beautiful, so we then went apple-picking in LaFayette. Of course on the way there, the clouds got more and more dark and ominous, and just as we were finishing picking apples, it started to hail like hell. But then ten minutes later, as we came back out of the apple and whatnot store, the sun was back out and the clouds were completely gone. It was crazy! So then we came back to my house, then went to Wegmans to get some stuff for my parents, and then parted ways. Later Dave, Jon, my sister, and I met up and went to the hip-hop show that Steve from high school was going to perform at. About half a dozen people I knew in high school (and actually liked) ended up being there, so that was really great. And the music was pretty damn good too. We eventually left and all went to an after-party for Jon's brother's comedy troupe, which turned out to be quite fun. It was full of nice people, including a bunch that spoke French! It's been a loooooong time since I've been to a decent house party, so I enjoyed that very, very much. Plus it was fun to go out with my sister. We will have to do so more often.
Today I woke up at noon, which was glorious, and my mother and I did a bit of shopping. I got a corduroy military-style cap, a leopard-print cardigan, and most importantly, Halloween costume supplies! I'm making a quasi-geisha outfit. I already have tabi socks and tatami sandals, so I just have to make the kimono, which I'm keeping short, because that's cuter and more fun. Cannot wait to get started, though I'm not entirely sure when I'll have the time. I finished my re-write of my last review and the review of the photography show for AJ class, and it's only 10:45! I can either go to bed now, and end up waking up at a decent hour tomorrow (and probably do more homework before heading off to school), or do more homework now and get up later tomorrow. Hmmmm...? Is there really any doubt as to which I'll choose? Bed now!
Saturday Dave and I went to Highly Atomic Vintage, a vintage clothing and record store in Syracuse that turned out to be pretty damn cool. Their stuff cost a bit more than I would care to spend on used clothes and records, so I didn't buy anything. The point of going was to check out the fetish-inspired photography on display there by a local artist anyways. I really loved most of his photos, particularly the ones that used a lot of black and white contrasts. Most also had little shocks of bright color, like a model's red lips or auburn hair, or some other small detail. Really lovely stuff, and very sexy for the most part. I wrote a 300-word review about it for tomorrow's AJ class. And 300 words was tough, let me tell you. I could have spent pages describing every detail of the photos I liked best.
The weather was really, really beautiful, so we then went apple-picking in LaFayette. Of course on the way there, the clouds got more and more dark and ominous, and just as we were finishing picking apples, it started to hail like hell. But then ten minutes later, as we came back out of the apple and whatnot store, the sun was back out and the clouds were completely gone. It was crazy! So then we came back to my house, then went to Wegmans to get some stuff for my parents, and then parted ways. Later Dave, Jon, my sister, and I met up and went to the hip-hop show that Steve from high school was going to perform at. About half a dozen people I knew in high school (and actually liked) ended up being there, so that was really great. And the music was pretty damn good too. We eventually left and all went to an after-party for Jon's brother's comedy troupe, which turned out to be quite fun. It was full of nice people, including a bunch that spoke French! It's been a loooooong time since I've been to a decent house party, so I enjoyed that very, very much. Plus it was fun to go out with my sister. We will have to do so more often.
Today I woke up at noon, which was glorious, and my mother and I did a bit of shopping. I got a corduroy military-style cap, a leopard-print cardigan, and most importantly, Halloween costume supplies! I'm making a quasi-geisha outfit. I already have tabi socks and tatami sandals, so I just have to make the kimono, which I'm keeping short, because that's cuter and more fun. Cannot wait to get started, though I'm not entirely sure when I'll have the time. I finished my re-write of my last review and the review of the photography show for AJ class, and it's only 10:45! I can either go to bed now, and end up waking up at a decent hour tomorrow (and probably do more homework before heading off to school), or do more homework now and get up later tomorrow. Hmmmm...? Is there really any doubt as to which I'll choose? Bed now!
Monday, October 9, 2006
WHY???
Bec sent me a most frightening link today: http://store.delias.com/item.do?categoryID=821&itemID=46531&sizeFilter=&colorFilter=&brandFilter=
How the heck are stirrup pants back in style??? These have got to be one of the worst crimes of fashion in history. Since when is it flattering to have your crotch pulled six inches below where it's meant to be? Because that is precisely what stirrup pants do. Plain leggings are bad enough; they're ugly as sin. But leggings with stirrups? How can they be back in style? Everyone ridicules 80s clothing, but there seems to be an 80s element in style every year. Leg warmers? Those were pretty big a couple years ago. Leggings are still rearing their ugly, unfortunate heads, and now stirrup pants are inexplicably making a comeback. How is this possible? Have we learned nothing from our past fashion foibles??
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PANTS, PEOPLE???
How the heck are stirrup pants back in style??? These have got to be one of the worst crimes of fashion in history. Since when is it flattering to have your crotch pulled six inches below where it's meant to be? Because that is precisely what stirrup pants do. Plain leggings are bad enough; they're ugly as sin. But leggings with stirrups? How can they be back in style? Everyone ridicules 80s clothing, but there seems to be an 80s element in style every year. Leg warmers? Those were pretty big a couple years ago. Leggings are still rearing their ugly, unfortunate heads, and now stirrup pants are inexplicably making a comeback. How is this possible? Have we learned nothing from our past fashion foibles??
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PANTS, PEOPLE???
Sunday, October 8, 2006
oh well
I'm supposed to be treating this "blog" more seriously, posting my opinions on art and whatnot and less on my personal life... and write professionally with no cursing, but...
LOU REED IS A FUCKING GENIUS.
The polite police can stuff it. I finally started listening to the Velvet Underground boxed set tonight (which I received for my birthday almost two months ago). I started with the CD that's a bunch of demos of some of their most popular songs. The songs were basically screwups from when they were recording in the studio. Hearing Lou's unadulterated gravelly, scratchy voice was awsome. And then listening to him curse or laugh when they messed up was really entertaining. And as much as I adore Nico, and love her in "All Tomorrow's Parties," sorry, but Lou just does it better. It was his song, after all. Nico was just put in place by Andy Warhol. Him singing it is so much more genuine. I'm so glad I have these CDs. In fact, I think I'm gonna put one on and do some homework now.
LOU REED IS A FUCKING GENIUS.
The polite police can stuff it. I finally started listening to the Velvet Underground boxed set tonight (which I received for my birthday almost two months ago). I started with the CD that's a bunch of demos of some of their most popular songs. The songs were basically screwups from when they were recording in the studio. Hearing Lou's unadulterated gravelly, scratchy voice was awsome. And then listening to him curse or laugh when they messed up was really entertaining. And as much as I adore Nico, and love her in "All Tomorrow's Parties," sorry, but Lou just does it better. It was his song, after all. Nico was just put in place by Andy Warhol. Him singing it is so much more genuine. I'm so glad I have these CDs. In fact, I think I'm gonna put one on and do some homework now.
Thursday, October 5, 2006
nyc trip
Finally an update about the trip to NY (three days after I got back, of course):
Friday night I flew out of Syracuse. The plane was delayed. Annoying. The guy next to me on the plane was a sophomore from SUNY Oswego, and would not SHUT UP the whole way. Like 15 minutes before we landed, he finally overheard the girls behind us talking about smoking pot, and they turned out to be from the same college, so he started talking to them instead. I got to NY around 9:30ish and it took about an hour to take the Air Train to Jamaica and then the subway to the club where I met Susan, along with her sisters and some other people she knew. Susan and I chatted and such and eventually I ended up talking to her friend Anthony for most of the night. He was okay, but kind of aggravating because he was drunk and kept whining about how he's fat, bald, and old (none of which were actually true) and kept bringing up awkward conversation topics (like body hair) and also kept talking about all these art exhibits I should see. Pretentious drunks are tiring, especially when they bring up obscure modern artists and expect me to know every name they mention. Remind me not to tell artsy NY people what my field of study is anymore. I ended up practically falling asleep around 2 a.m., so I went back to Susan's sister Jackie's apartment and fell asleep, while Sus and Jackie stayed out until something like 5 a.m. even though Susan had class Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
So Saturday I slept really late for the first time in weeks, then went to the International Photography Museum for three hours. The museum is only two big rooms, but there was so much stuff there. It was organized really well, because even though there was a ton of stuff, it was all spread way out, so it didn't feel cramped. I'm really mad at myself for not writing down the name of this one artist... his (or her, I don't even remember that much) piece was these two MASSIVE (I'm talking like seven feet tall by nine feet wide) crystal clear photographs of a forest at night. But there was no flash, so it was really, really dark, and all you could see was the few tree trunks right in front, and even those were dark grey from the lack of light, with complete black emptiness behind them. It was so ghostly and beautiful. And I was really impressed with the quality, considering how big these were. You could see every little wrinkle in the bark. It was incredible.
Saturday night Susan and I went to a sushi restaurant with Sus' friend Erica. The restaurant was actually pretty cheap. My meal was only $15. The place was interesting... there were disco balls and weird stuff painted on the walls, and a DJ. It was set up like a club, basically. Then we went club/bar-hopping on the lower East Side (I think) with Erica's friend Rachel. First we went to some bar where there happened to be a burlesque show. The show itself was kind of lame because one of the dancers really sucked, but the host was hilarious. He was this monstrously tall gay guy in clear plastic stripper heels and a sparkly bright blue spandex suit from head to toe that had bunny ears and a tail. And he kept making fun of the people sitting in front because apparently they were acting prude. We eventually sauntered over to a couple other places. The first one seemed cool, but Erica and Rachel didn't like it, so they insisted on leaving. Then we found some place called "The Annex," which ended up being unexpectedly cool. They played kind of punk music, but stuff you could dance to, and at one point played "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen. Unfortunately it was a tad too dark, so it was hard to tell if people were cute or not, but nobody really paid us any attention there anyways, so it didn't so much matter.
Sunday Susan and I went to Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, and hung out with her friends Jason and Brad. We went to this "artists' show," which turned out to be people selling homemade clothes and buttons, and old records and stuff. Hipster stuff, basically. Then ended up at a park and later got cheap dinner in a Mexican restaurant. I want to move there SO BAD.
Monday I hung out with Jon Hansen, and was going to hang out with Brad again, but didn't so much feel like it later and preferred to hang out with Jon, considering we haven't seen eachother in months. So we walked all over the city for like six hours and talked and talked. It was really cathartic. And we must have walked something like 10 miles. We ended up in Chinatown, South Street Seaport, Union Square, the East Village, walked all the way down Broadway until we reached some sketchy area... it was a lot of walking, needless to say.
Monday night I caught a 9:00 plane back. It was delayed. Again. So I got home late and was totally exhausted. Good times.
Friday night I flew out of Syracuse. The plane was delayed. Annoying. The guy next to me on the plane was a sophomore from SUNY Oswego, and would not SHUT UP the whole way. Like 15 minutes before we landed, he finally overheard the girls behind us talking about smoking pot, and they turned out to be from the same college, so he started talking to them instead. I got to NY around 9:30ish and it took about an hour to take the Air Train to Jamaica and then the subway to the club where I met Susan, along with her sisters and some other people she knew. Susan and I chatted and such and eventually I ended up talking to her friend Anthony for most of the night. He was okay, but kind of aggravating because he was drunk and kept whining about how he's fat, bald, and old (none of which were actually true) and kept bringing up awkward conversation topics (like body hair) and also kept talking about all these art exhibits I should see. Pretentious drunks are tiring, especially when they bring up obscure modern artists and expect me to know every name they mention. Remind me not to tell artsy NY people what my field of study is anymore. I ended up practically falling asleep around 2 a.m., so I went back to Susan's sister Jackie's apartment and fell asleep, while Sus and Jackie stayed out until something like 5 a.m. even though Susan had class Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
So Saturday I slept really late for the first time in weeks, then went to the International Photography Museum for three hours. The museum is only two big rooms, but there was so much stuff there. It was organized really well, because even though there was a ton of stuff, it was all spread way out, so it didn't feel cramped. I'm really mad at myself for not writing down the name of this one artist... his (or her, I don't even remember that much) piece was these two MASSIVE (I'm talking like seven feet tall by nine feet wide) crystal clear photographs of a forest at night. But there was no flash, so it was really, really dark, and all you could see was the few tree trunks right in front, and even those were dark grey from the lack of light, with complete black emptiness behind them. It was so ghostly and beautiful. And I was really impressed with the quality, considering how big these were. You could see every little wrinkle in the bark. It was incredible.
Saturday night Susan and I went to a sushi restaurant with Sus' friend Erica. The restaurant was actually pretty cheap. My meal was only $15. The place was interesting... there were disco balls and weird stuff painted on the walls, and a DJ. It was set up like a club, basically. Then we went club/bar-hopping on the lower East Side (I think) with Erica's friend Rachel. First we went to some bar where there happened to be a burlesque show. The show itself was kind of lame because one of the dancers really sucked, but the host was hilarious. He was this monstrously tall gay guy in clear plastic stripper heels and a sparkly bright blue spandex suit from head to toe that had bunny ears and a tail. And he kept making fun of the people sitting in front because apparently they were acting prude. We eventually sauntered over to a couple other places. The first one seemed cool, but Erica and Rachel didn't like it, so they insisted on leaving. Then we found some place called "The Annex," which ended up being unexpectedly cool. They played kind of punk music, but stuff you could dance to, and at one point played "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen. Unfortunately it was a tad too dark, so it was hard to tell if people were cute or not, but nobody really paid us any attention there anyways, so it didn't so much matter.
Sunday Susan and I went to Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, and hung out with her friends Jason and Brad. We went to this "artists' show," which turned out to be people selling homemade clothes and buttons, and old records and stuff. Hipster stuff, basically. Then ended up at a park and later got cheap dinner in a Mexican restaurant. I want to move there SO BAD.
Monday I hung out with Jon Hansen, and was going to hang out with Brad again, but didn't so much feel like it later and preferred to hang out with Jon, considering we haven't seen eachother in months. So we walked all over the city for like six hours and talked and talked. It was really cathartic. And we must have walked something like 10 miles. We ended up in Chinatown, South Street Seaport, Union Square, the East Village, walked all the way down Broadway until we reached some sketchy area... it was a lot of walking, needless to say.
Monday night I caught a 9:00 plane back. It was delayed. Again. So I got home late and was totally exhausted. Good times.
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