birthday wishlist.

my birthday is in 20 days.

Lola


Kombucha


Feelies reissues




Nick Hornby's new book


Our Noise


Music Listography


Roper Boots, like these






Hefner reissues




Swedish Princess Cake

My Guide to Greenpoint: Part One!

i've been speaking out so much lately on behalf of Greenpoint, even boldly declaring it the BEST AREA OF BROOKLYN (oooh, controversial!), so i figured that this lovely, northernmost part of the borough deserved to be written about. maybe one day in the future i will start a blog solely dedicated to Greenpoint. ah, dreams!

i have moved 3 times since i've been in Brooklyn, recently settling in the best abode of all. my room was unfurnished so i had to get creative with books & cd's used as tables or shelves or something. i also put fun stuff on my walls to add a bit of personal FLAV-OR.



notice my adorable, super cool (hey now, don't make fun of me!) Welsh Corgi calendar, side by side with some inspirational Feelies & Buddy Holly pictures.



my very minimal wall.



i live near McGolrick Park which is bound by Nassau and Driggs Avenues. it must be named after some Polish person.



this is one of the many beautiful churches in Greenpoint, on Manhattan Ave., and you can see it from all different points in the area. it's called St. Anthony of Padua Church i believe.



peaking out...



so, now, onto some of my favorite places in Greenpoint!!

sometimes, after a day of not eating very much, i am really hungry and i'll go down to the deli on the corner of Sutton & Nassau and get a bagel with cream cheese for 1 whole dollar. and, when i am workin' in Greenpoint and not in the big city, while everyone else is having some type of meat-y lunch, i'll go down there and get a delicious cheese sandwich. piled high with sharp cheddar, lettuce and tomato, and lots of mustard on a big old roll, it only costs me $2.50!!!! amazing!

another of my favorite food places is Amarin, a Thai restaurant on Manhattan between Driggs & Nassau. sometimes when i am out of Diet Cokes and don't feel like leaving the house, i'll order delivery from them so that they can bring me one. i also get some tasty, surprisingly light and very spicy! pad thai with tofu out of the deal.

one of my favorite non-food places around here is Susan's Laundromat at Diamond & Driggs. before i moved to Brooklyn, i had never dropped off my laundry- i'd always suffered through the dredgery of doing it myself, miserable the whole time. but since i discovered this place, i have changed my ways. i just give them everything & it's only 10 bucks and they do such an amazing job. they are so sweet and neatly hang and fold everything, it is such a joy!

there aren't many "cool" "hip" hotspots in my area of Greenpoint (clearly, since i am talking about LAUNDROMATS in my Guide), but there is one good place called Bar Matchless, at Manhattan & Driggs, right by McCarren Park (we'll get to that later). i recently went there to see my friend's band Pow Wow! [www.myspace.com/powwownyc] play a show. it was also where i spent Election Night! alongside a bunch of happy, drunk hipsters! by the way, only a few blocks down from Matchless, on Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, there was some major craziness on Election Night! there was a bit of drama eventually, but it looked pretty amazing for the most part. this picture is courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan [www.brooklynvegan.com] which is a great source for music news & happenings in BK.



the only non-positive thing one might be able to say about Greenpoint is the transportation situation. the L is a 15 or 20 minute walk, to either the Graham or Bedford stops. the G is a little closer, with locations on Nassau and Greenpoint Ave., but the G seems to be pretty universally disliked. there is a good place to use the bathroom right before the G stop on Nassau, if you were wondering. i've used it a few times on my way to far-off destinations like Park Slope. anyway.
cab drivers also have no idea how to get to Greenpoint (or Brooklyn in general). despite being located right off the BQE, the few times i've taken a cab in the past 3 months, i've had to direct my driver where to go. which, if you know anything about my sense of direction, is a scary thought.

so i end up walking A LOT. and there are a few certain walks that i make frequetly that i absolutely love. one is the walk from Greenpoint to the Bedford area of Williamsburg. i do this walk if i am going to the subway or Salvation Army or, most commonly, the Music Hall of Williamsburg. i walk past the lovely, lively McCarren Park, which is always swarming with families with small children, kids playing sports, people jogging, old people, young people, hip people, normal people. it's very fun.



then, on my way back home, when it's late at night and i've just been to a show, i love to go to Anna Maria Pizzeria on Bedford for an incredible slice of pizza. they stay open until like 5 am and the place is always packed with drunk people (funny if you are drunk too, highly annoying if you aren't) and the guys who work there are kind of wiseasses and try to sell you 5 slices instead of 1, but all that insanity is worth it, because that pizza is seriously amazing. i eat it as i walk back down Bedford towards Greenpoint, where even very late at night there are people around and it is 100% safe and i get to take in all the beautiful sights that look downright magical at night, like this school right by McCarren Park.



speaking of long walks, last weekend i was at a party in a different area of Greenpoint, down near the East River by Java and India Streets, and by 2 am, i was the only one ready to head home. so as to not send me on my way totally defenseless, D and J "borrowed" a big umbrella for me. what gentlemen. so i walked down bustling Manhattan Ave., in a light rain at 2 am, using this sweet umbrella as a sort of walking-stick. like a cane. like when Kramer was a pimp on Seinfeld.

teenage.

"woke up on Monday and got ready for school, put on my uniform, it was three sizes too small. i said, 'dear, dear, dear teacher, i've been six years away and ain't finished my essay 'cos rock'n'roll rules ok!'"
-Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

so. because i have a birthday coming up, & i am going to pretend to not really age another year ever again, and stay this age i am now forever, i came up with the ultimate list of songs about being young. here they are:

1. to be young- ryan adams ("when you're young you get sad then you get high")
2. why must i be a teenager in love?- dion & the belmonts
3. sixteen blue- the replacements
4. thirteen- big star ("maybe Friday i can get tickets for the dance and i'll take you")
5. spanish dance troupe- gorky's zygotic mynci
6. part of growing up- the tammys
7. wouldn't you?- biff bang pow!
8. 1,000,000- r.e.m. ("i could live a million years!")
9. let's kiss- beat happening
10. no time to be 21- the adverts
11. i'm not a juvenile delinquent- frankie lymon & the teenagers
12. susanne cochtrain- the right angles
13. ask- the smiths
14. i think we're alone now- tommy james & shondells ("'children, behave,' that's what they say when we're together")
15. expectations- belle & sebastian
16. you're so square, baby i don't care- buddy holly
17. noise annoys- buzzcocks
18. not yet three- jonathan richman & the modern lovers
19. the boy with the perpetual nervousness- the feelies
20. crazy- galaxie 500 ("you're so old, you must be 23, spent the year in a drunken frenzy")
21. now i wanna sniff some glue- ramones
22. teenage partner- gene vincent
23. joyriders- pulp
24. i know everything- the soup dragons
25. this angry silence- television personalities
26. silver lining- beulah ("punk rock was my first girl")
27. be true to your school- the beach boys
28. my girl- hoodoo gurus ("i took her to a dance and then i didn't see her all night")
29. holy moly- the pastels
30. today i lost a tooth- olivia tremor control
31. teenage kicks- the undertones
32. (i live for) cars and girls- the dictators
33. all grown up- the crystals ("when i'm all grown up/no more ponytails/if he wants to kiss i might say 'all right'")
34. brother- oh-ok
35. teenage fbi- guided by voices
36. doreen- old 97's ("when i first met doreen, she was barely 17, drinkin' whiskey sours at the bar")
37. perfect youth- the pointed sticks
38. the teacher- super furry animals
39. rock'n'roll high school- ramones ("i don't care about history/i just wanna have some kicks, i just wanna get some chicks")
40. teenage high 2- the pooh sticks
41. it's my party- lesley gore
42. sex is boring- ballboy
43. you're just a baby- belle & sebastian ("so kiss me on the cheek and then go off to school")
44. temptation- new order
45. big girls don't cry- frankie valli & the 4 seasons
46. our secret- beat happening ("i said 'i like you' and she said that she liked me/no one in this whole world could ever understand, that's why we're running away")
47. got a job- smokey robinson & the miracles
48. oh oh i love her so- ramones
49. young & lovely- blur
50. melt show- old 97's ("in the front row of the Melt show i fell in love with you and that was 3 weeks ago/i don't believe in school no more, you don't learn anything, you're just waitin' around")

things of inter-est lately.

i've been obsessing over the Vulgar Boatmen for the past few weeks. almost all i've been listening to are their albums Please Panic and You and Your Sister. they were from Gainesville, FL, back in the late 80's & early 90's. they sound twangy and poppy and basically like the best thing you've ever heard and the lyrics are incredible, they make me picture mossy Southern towns with winding, hilly streets, that seem quiet but are actually brewing with activity. um, yeah, anyway. there are not many good videos of them to be found, but this one showcases a beautiful song of theirs called "Drive Somewhere."



Bas Jan Ader is my favorite artist of all-time only after mr. a.w. he was this amazing Dutch guy who did really sweet conceptual art involving sailboats & tea parties & falling off bicycles. he went missing in the Atlantic Ocean during his final work of art. this is a particularly wonderful piece of his, from 1974, called Flower Work.



i've been up to some creative projects, including filming random shots on my video camera downtown at night & of my friends and i being hysterical. we've also been plotting our upcoming band, maybe or maybe not called The Tundra. it's going to be the best tambourine-laced party band ever!! and last but not least, i recorded 2 albums on my trashy tape recorder (that was once used by me to interview Calvin Johnson no less!). they are entitled Broken Tailbone and Twangy & Jangly.

i just re-discovered this part of an atrocious picture once taken of me & E. our legs aren't really that stumpy.



i've also been really, really obsessed with Athens, Georgia, and all things having to do with it. like, Elephant 6 bands (especially Circulatory System and the classic Olivia Tremor Control albums) and the Happy Happy Birthday To Me record label and the band THE SQUALLS. they are incredible. their song "Na na na na" is one of the greatest ever. it was featured on the seminal Athens, Ga: Inside/Out film. this clip from the film is kind of a nice encapsulation of everything i've been into Athens-wise. (you'll see some sweet R.E.M., Flat Duo Jets, Pylon, and BBQ Killers action, among other stuff. oh, and watch Peter Buck- he's amazing in this!)



um, and i've been way into glasses lately. i've been sporting a sweet pair of thick black-framed ones, ala Elvis C. and Buddy H. they look like



plus



and i've obtained a pair of red heartshaped sunglasses, ala one of my other style icons, Lolita:



finally, i've begun watching what some people consider to be the greatest TV drama of all time, The Wire. i'm not even through season 1 yet, but it's super terrific. here is a picture of my fave character, Bubbles, pulling at fast one on some mean drug dealers!

summer & sandy.

i guess i should say something non-music related here. but nothing's coming to me, as all i ever think about or DO is music. well along with one or two other things. but i digress. i have a phone interview with Matador Records in two days & i've been thinking lots about music. it's really the best thing we've got, you know.

i'm coming out with a double album on cassette soon. one side (songs written in 2007) is called Broken Tailbone and the other side (songs written in 2008) is called Twangy & Jangly.

this is a list of random good songs i've been loving this summer. isn't LIFE GOOD?!

1. nite club... old 97's
2. i don't care... justin townes earle
3. got my mind set on you... george harrison
4. fisherman's blues... the waterboys
5. auntie alice... okkervil river
6. falling slowly... glen hansard & marketa irglova
7. shut down... the beach boys
8. sayonara... the pogues
9. some of shelley's blues... great lakes
10. welfare bread... king khan & the shrines
11. i tell myself... the seeds
12. i can't stay mad at you... jonathan richman
13. actors' colony... my teenage stride
14. rain king... counting crows (L-O-L, i know right? whatever, this song is GOOD ok! i am not ashamed.)
15. big tears... elvis costello & the attractions
16. you don't love me yet... vulgar boatmen
17. he doesn't know why... fleet foxes
18. crying in the rain... dave edmunds with nick lowe
19. up the junction... squeeze (especially fun to sing at dinner parties)
20. the grey estates... wolf parade
21. everyday i write the book... elvis costello & the attractions
22. you're so good to me... the beach boys
23. when you fall... pine hill haints
24. my heart... gene vincent
25. hands off... old 97's
26. mouth almighty... elvis costello & the attractions


i can't believe how many good shows i've seen this summer: old 97's x's 2, meat puppets, king khan & the shrines, justin townes earle, billy bob thornton & the boxmasters. that's in addition to the pogues and billy bragg, crystal stilts and pains of being pure at heart, dean & britta, marshall crenshaw, and stephen malkmus earlier this year...

my favorite things.

these are like big time favorites. the things (and a person) that always make me happy and make me feel like me, that i always enjoy and that constantly bring me JOY! these are only the first 5 i thought of. there are more somewhere in the world, i am sure of it.

1. diet coke
2. Dean Wareham
3. my Izod cardigan
4. Seinfeld
5. my Saab JoJo

BOK BOK

if you've ever wondered what i would look like if i were a man, now you know.
like this:


aka mark lanegan of grunge legends The Screaming Trees, circa 1991.
it's the long wavy blonde hair & black Ray-Ban's that do it. and as one of my friends pointed out, "your chest isn't very big, so the top looks like it could be you too." there you have it!


last night H & E & i discussed our spirit animals. i am:


1/4 cat because you have to work for their love & affection & they can be quite aloof, but also loving & cuddly!


1/4 raccoon because they are mischievous & have black and white stripes.


1/4 giraffe because, well, i'm not really sure. something about the long neck & the spots being reminiscent of my art history background (?!?). and the purple tongue of course.


and 1/4 ostrich because they have ATTITUDE! "BOK BOK, I am an ostrich! Out of my way bitches!" (ostrich impression courtesy of E).

the superbowl, life, and wayne & garth

we had our 2nd annual superbowl party this year & while it did result in momentary disaster (for me only, and not unlike last year's party, which had to do with me kissing the boy i liked at the time...) the more important outcome of the whole debacle was LIFE CHANGING! in a good way! supberbowl XXIIIIVVV did my psyche some good in the end.

these pictures are not from that night, but they were taken only a few days prior, and they are far more hilarious and entertaining than anything you could ever write about the superbowl, so there you have it.


garth.


wayne & garth.


the b-52's


mona lisa. and garth.

mardi gras & king cake in Mobile, AL!

"Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival, though the term is often used incorrectly to describe the days and weeks preceding Fat Tuesday. Carnival begins 12 days after Christmas, or Twelfth Night, on January 6 and ends on Mardi Gras, which always falls exactly 46 days before Easter. Mardi Gras Day can therefore fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations include New Orleans, Louisiana; Venice, Italy; Mobile, Alabama; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."


"A king cake a type of cake associated with Mardi Gras and Carnival. The cakes have a small trinket (often a small plastic baby, sometimes said to represent baby Jesus) inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations."


i made the King Cake myself!


yum yum!

William the Conqueror/cats & glasses

new things:


william!


he has one green eye & one blue eye, and is pure white except for his jet black tail. he is SO AMAZING!


wayfarers


intellectual 40's/50's-ish bifocals


these are dorky and far too big for my face, but somehow i think they kind of WORK!

eyelashes.

my eye lashes are always getting into my eyes because they are really long. it's really annoying. but i do like long lashes.

2 things that make me feel out of place/not like myself & 1 thing that makes me feel very much like myself

1. wearing jeans. or any pants, really. i don't know why exactly, but i just do not like to wear them. i only wear skirts & dresses, with tights this time of year of course, as i live in the snowy winterland that is Upstate New York. i do like shorts too, but only during warm times, because i think that tights under shorts is a little tool-ish. so tonight i put on a pair of jeans, and they looked cute & all, but i had to take them off and put on a skirt because i just thought YOU LOOK WEIRD.

2. being at a hip hop show. yet another thing i did tonight. i felt terribly out of place. i don't think an explanation is really required.

3. the Beat Happening song "Fourteen." it just warms my soul to know there are people out there who get it. everything. see:

"we were playing with your rabbits
we were feeding them some cabbage
you were telling me that you have a black and white cat
we took a walk, you start to hop
we jumped rope and played hop scotch

you see, to me, the best part of sex is walking home, holding hands, after swimming in the lake
to me, the best part of love is when you say, you'll be my friend

we were wearing our pajamas
we were eating some bananas
i wanted to tell you how i want to be your pal"