Making a move

As you can tell, I haven't really been updating this lately... I started a new blog that I think more reflects my interests at the moment. I'll still talk about pretty much whatever I feel like. It's just that lately, that's more what I feel like. Feel free to check me out over there!

The Almost Moon

I finally got around to finishing "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold... I was never fully able to shake the creepiness of it, but I definitely think it's a worthwhile read. If nothing else, it really forces you to take a look at human nature, and at your own nature. And it makes you think about what you would be capable of and how you would act in certain situations.
I say give it a shot. It probably won't end up in your repeat pile (I'm not the only one who has one of those, am I?) but you'll be glad you did.

A little creepy

I started a new book recently. Well, I use the word started loosely because I'm about halfway through it. It's called The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold. I really want to like it because I love her as a writer. I thought the Lovely Bones was amazing (and if they ruin it when they turn it into a movie, I'll cry!).
But truth be told, The Almost Moon is sort of creeping me out... without being a total spoiler, the book is essentially about a woman who kills her elderly mother. And I can't fully describe it because it's not something I've ever experienced with a book before, but it almost makes me feel uncomfortable to read it.
I am determined to finish it, though because well, I'm just not one of those people who abandons books. So I'll report back on this one when I get through it.

Obama's DJ

I must beg for forgiveness.... yet again... I've literally turned into a political zombie lately... I know I could be writing blogs... but instead, I parked myself in front of the TV for two. solid. weeks. I did nothing but watch first the Democratic National Convention and the the Republican National Convention. We're not gonna get into discussing all the political nitty gritty because with me, that can become a full-contact sport.
But I do want to comment on something I noticed during the DNC. For a campaign that has relied very heavily this time around on the youth vote, the background music at the convention seemed to be a lot of classic rock. Granted, much of it was performed by contemporary musicians but I was hearing things like John Lennon and Bob Dylan. Of course, I'm not complaining, mind you. I love, love, love both John Lennon and Bob Dylan. But I think the idea behind it is kinda cool.
Who knows, maybe I'm reading way too much into the choices of music, but think about it. We're talking about young people who are discovering politics for the first time. Who, for the first time, are being inspired to work for change in their country. The last time there was a major movement like that was, you guessed it, the 1960s. And for people in my age group, if you're working toward social change, the 1960s is something to aspire to.
So it only makes sense that they would use music easily associated with that time period...

I tell ya... some smart cookies runnin' that campaign....

The Dollyrots

I mentioned in my last post all the goodies I got when my friend went to Bust's anniversary party. One of the things in there was a CD sampler from Blackheart Records, a label founded by Joan Jett. That, right off the bat, gives major cool points. Well anyway, over the weekend I finally got around to listening to it. All the bands on it rocked, but I have to single out The Dollyrots.
Put simply, this band is absolutely amazing. Fronted by Kelly Ogden, they have an awesome Punk sound that I love.
Seeing as how their first album was released in 2004 and their newest album, "Because I'm Awesome," was released more than a year ago, I'm sure there are plenty of people reading this thinking "what the hell is she talking about? There's nothing new about The Dollyrots." Well, if you're one of the people who's known about them for a while all I'm gonna say is, lucky you.
But for the rest of you, check out the video for my new favorite song, "Brand New Key."

Bust Swag!!!!

So, I love love love Bust Magazine. And Tuesday night, the crew over there celebrated their 15th anniversary (congratulations, ladies!). They had a huge, stylin' bash at South Street Seaport and from what I hear, it was quite the time. But that's not really what I'm here to write about because, well, I wasn't invited. A good friend of mine, however, was invited and if you're interested, you can read all about it on her blog (while you're there, take note of the dress she's wearing... her knit and her design... and pretty friggin cool, if ya ask me!) She even managed to somehow plug her etsy shop to Debbie Stoller herself! (How she manages these things, I have no idea!)
But anyway, back to the reason I'm writing. In spite of all the excitement of the evening, said dear friend somehow managed to snag me a goody bag (how thoughtful is she!). It had some seriously sweet stuff in it. I won't mention everything because my mom sometimes reads this. But I really wanted to share with you the stylin' bag it all came in that will now be my purse of choice (and after all, isn't fashion an important part of culture?).
This seriously cool messenger bag, made by Blue Q, well let's just say where has it been all my life??? It's nice and roomy, but yet doesn't feel overly bulky for everyday use. It's made of woven polypropylene and brings a little art into your everyday wardrobe. And I think their Web site puts it best when they say "if you have a shoulder, you need one of these." (By the way, it's the bag in the picture up there...)
OK, nuff said... go, shop and be merry.

Some new music (to me, at least)

Something kinda cool happened to me and my little blog a few weeks ago. Not long after I posted my iTunes Top 25 (which no doubt has already changed), I received an email from a PR person at a record label. No doubt, it was the person who gets the secretary's coffee or something like that but still. It means someone other than my darling family is reading this (but I do love you guys, really).
But anywho, according to the email, this woman is from Ingrid Michaelson's label, which is incredibly cool, since I love her. The email was essentially along the lines of "if you like her, check this guy out!" Again, I find it very cool that they would think my opinion matters even a little bit, but I'll move on. I checked the guy out. And it turns out, he's pretty cool.
His name is David Ford and he released his second album, "Songs For The Road," a few months ago on Original Signal Recordings.
His label compares him a bit to Conor Oberst but what really sets him apart is the fact that he plays every single instrument himself and loops each one individually. This is the video for his song "Go to Hell," which I'm particularly fond of. I'm told the video was shot in one take with not instrumental help. Now that's talent. Check it out.



Oh, almost forgot to mention. If you wanna download the entire album, it's currently available on iTunes.

The Mystery

So as some, but not all of you know, I'm a member of a Web site called Ravelry, which is a community site for fiber artists. So a fellow knitter on the site, used this picture as her avatar (or Ravatar, as they're called on there):

For the longest time, I had no clue what the thing was... I kept trying to figure it out without having to be rude and actually say, "OK, what the hell is that??"
I was always thinking it was a butterfly dragging it's caterpillar body behind it. This always seemed sort of odd and creepy to me but hey, my avatar was a cat lying in a bath tub, who am I to judge? But it also seemed to not make sense because you'll never actually see a butterfly dragging around it's caterpillar body behind it... So I kept thinking and thinking. I tried those tricks you hear when you're looking at those stupid magic eye pictures of relaxing your eyes... all I got was a headache.
Finally, I just had to come out and be rude... so I asked... what the hell is that thing?? She was more than happy to explain. But now, I'm a little bummed that she did because now, knowing what it really is, I can't see what I used to think it is so it makes me wonder if I was being insane thinking that's what it was.
I know you're all wondering why I'm dancing around saying what the picture actually is. And that's because I'm not going to. I want to hear other thoughts on what it is. I want to know I'm not the only one who couldn't figure it out. So post a comment. Tell me what you think it is. In another post soon, I'll tell you who's correct :)

My sounds of summer

There was a time when my tastes in music were pretty narrow. If it was on a pop radio station, I wanted nothing to do with it. Most of the time, if it was anything people I knew had heard of, I wanted nothing to do with it. My music collection consisted of a ton of classic rock (Beatles, Led Zepplin, The Doors) and pretty much every Jam band you can think of as well as a few you've probably never heard of (Grateful Dead; Phish; String Cheese Incident; Madeski, Martin and Wood). Suffice it to say that I've broadened my horizons a bit of the years.
And while I'm listening to much more than that these days, there are times when all I crave is those old, familiar tunes.
To this day, it's not summer unless I'm driving along with the windows down, blasting Box of Rain as loud as it will go.
So anyway, we're into the last month of summer now so I figure we better enjoy it while we can. So, submitted for your approval, my suggestions for a really kick-ass summer play list:

Box of Rain - Grateful Dead
Chalkdust Torture- Phish
Melissa- Allman Brothers Band
Bobby McGhee- Janis Joplin
Cinnamon Girl- Niel Young
Jellyfish- String Cheese Incident
Jamillia- Disco Biscuits
Bubblehouse- Madeski, Martin and Wood
Sugar Magnolia- Grateful Dead
Ramblin' Man- Allman Brothers Band
Summertime- Janis Joplin
Torn and Frayed- The Rolling Stones
Ripple- Grateful Dead
Throwing Stones- Grateful Dead
Mouna Bowa- String Cheese Incident
She Belongs to Me- Bob Dylan
Plane Crash- Moe.
Into the Mystic- Van Morrison
Baba O'Riley- The Who
America- Simon and Garfunkel
Hatfield- Widespread Panic
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere- Niel Young
Joyful Sound- String Cheese Incident

Admittedly, not all of these are the best songs by these bands. Many of them are quite simply, fantastic songs. Others, for whatever reason, just give me a very carefree feeling that, to me, is the embodiment of summer. Enjoy :)

Read it before you die

Still gonna be boring this week... I am without camera... sigh...
Anyway, I have a new book recommendation for you... I just finished up "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini.
Better known for his hugely popular novel, "The Kite Runner," Hosseini is a native of Kabul, Afghanistan. The son of a diplomat, Hosseini's family was granted political asylum in the United States in 1980, when Afghanistan fell under communist rule.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" discusses life in Afghanistan during that period of political turmoil as a woman. The story mainly follows the lives of two women, Mariam and Laila, who come from extremely different homes but have ended up in the same situation, largely as a result of a political structure that took away any control the women had over their own lives.
This story will break your heart a thousand times but in the end, it'll also restore your faith.
On another note, as an American, this story was incredibly interesting to me because it demonstrates how people in other countries view American foreign policy. It also gives an Afghani perspective of the events of 9/11 and the aftermath.
I had a professor in college who used to recommend books by saying, "put this on your list of books to read before you die." To that, I would always respond that if I did that with every book he said that about, I would never be able to die. Because of that, I always swore I would never make those recommendations. But this time, I'm telling you... put this on your list of books to read before you die. But I hope you won't wait that long.

A Mutt Like Us

OK, once again, I'm apologizing. First, I've had the best intentions of posting every day but ya know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men... My second apology comes from the fact that for a while anyway, my blog is going to be a little boring visually. I seem to have left my camera behind at a party a few weeks ago and won't be able to get it back until the next time I'm down the shore. Sorry guys. For now, my words will have to be enough.
Anyway, I've got a good blog in the works and I promise you'll get it soon. But work is insane these days so today all you get is me... sorry.
This is a poem I wrote a few months ago and I generally don't share stuff like this, because it's intensely personal to me and I get really anxious about sharing things like this but I guess the Internet is making me brave, so here goes. Be gentle. That's not to say, however, that I don't want to hear comments. Because it is kind of a loaded topic and I think it could generate some great discussion, just keep in constructive.

A Mutt Like Us

I am the white girlfriend.
The one who had never eaten collard greens.
Who needed a definition of ham hocks before she would sample them.
The one who still isn't quite sure what chitlins are,
but is a little ashamed to ask.

As I stand in the kitchen of the woman I hope
will someday be my mother-in-law,
She poses a question:
"What are you?"
And I know what she's asking.
She wants the recipe that has come together to create my blue eyes,
my fair skin, my angular nose:

2 parts Irish,
2 parts German,
1 part English
Just a dash of Polish
Bake for nine months until golden blonde.

Oh, she replies. You're a mutt, like us.
The word, with its single, ordinary syllable
immediately sours on my tongue.

I can't imagine the bloodlines that have borne my lover,
With his coffee-toned skin,
His deep chocolate eyes,
And those full lips I relish kissing,
Ever being described so commonly.

By my own mother,
We are looked upon as a riddle
She is not yet able to solve.

No longer can she predict a family of toe heads
Long before conception has even occurred.
I cannot give her an answer until the genetic dice
Has been rolled.

It's a brand new recipe,
As of yet untested
And it still has long to bake.

I'm such a slacker

OK, I know. I was totally MIA last week... but I got a little distracted preparing for a new addition to our family (relax family members, I'm talking about a second cat). So anyway, she's arrived and she's now settling in. Her name is June and Cassidy is still trying to decide if she likes her. And since I'm still catching up a little... I'm being lazy today. Here's the songs currently in my top 25 most played on my iPod... maybe you'll find something new you like:

25. Running on Sunshine - Jesus Jackson... got this from one of the Grey's Anatomy soundtracks. It has quickly become my favorite song to take on my run. It has the perfect beat for it.

24. Shut Up and Let Me Go - The Ting Tings... the aforementioned iPod commercial favorite...

23. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches... from the Juno soundtrack. It's quickly becoming a favorite.

22. Shame for You - Lily Allen... seriously, love her. Somehow telling someone to eff off doesn't sound quite so bitchy when it's done with a quite proper British accent.

21. New Soul - Yael Naim... talked about this one before too. It's from the commercial for the thin Macbook.

20. Sea of Love - Cat Power... Juno soundtrack again... I'm telling you, good movie soundtracks are an awesome way to find new bands you've never heard of.

19. All I Want is You - Barry Louis Polisar- Juno again... noticing a pattern yet?

18. Hush - Deep Purple... not nearly as random as it seems if you know me

17. Mercy - Duffy... this one's been pretty popular lately... it's actually pretty rare for me, but I'm in a period of actually finding really good new music on the radio!

16. We Belong - Pat Benatar... an oldie but a goodie...

15. Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, and Nash... a classic... no other way to put it

14. Knock 'Em Out - Lily Allen... I won't force you to listen to any more of my Lily Allen worship, I promise.

13. Stay With You - John Legend... Just a really beautiful, soulful love song... I've already decided this will one day be my wedding song... the groom has no say.

12. Merry-go-Round - Antje Duvekot... totally random, but I discovered this song because it was used in a Bank of America commercial.

11. Sweetest Girl - Wyclef... another radio find... I'm telling you, z100 is on fire lately!

10. Love In This Club - Usher... Say what ya want... I just can't get enough of this man...

9. Shake It - Metro Station.... this is a good "I'm driving alone and it's Friday and I have way too much energy" kinda song...

8. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson... oh man, so sweet... a very folksy, totally simple love song. Short and sweet and to the point. (and ya gotta love a girl who promises to buy her guy rogaine if he goes bald!)

7. Love is Gone - David Guetta... another good dancing in the car tune

6. No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses... heard this on an episode of One Tree Hill

5. Sweet Pea - Amos Lee... OK I've always liked this song... but then I saw that Cingular Wireless commercial and it totally just killed me.

4. New York Groove - Kiss... been in the mood for this song constantly since I moved back up north.

3. I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry... I think what I like about this is that it's nothing like all the Britney types...

2. With You - Chris Brown... another radio find... go z100!

1. The Story - Brandi Carlisle... Oh...my... god... that's all I can say about this song... brings me to tears every single time...

OK... that's it for now... Happy downloading, and let me know what you think of my picks (that means leave comments, dammit!)

Where is it?

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my New Yorker. I think it should come either today or tomorrow. I always get excited when I see it laying on the floor of my apartment stairwell, but rarely do I actually get anxious waiting for it to come.
I just really want to see what all the hype is about with this cover they're talking about. The issue I'm waiting on should be the much talked-about cover with Barack Obama dressed like a Muslim and Michelle Obama dressed like some kind of extremist with an afro and a machine gun.
Many have come out saying the cartoon is offensive and completely inappropriate. The New Yorker says they were simply trying to "hold a mirror up" to the lies and falsehoods that have been spread about Senator Obama.
In The Washington Post, Philip Kennicott writes that "If it's a problem at all, is that its humor is intended for a relatively insular, like-minded readership: subscribers to the New Yorker, a presumably urbane audience with strong Obama tendencies. No matter what the New Yorker says about holding up a mirror to prejudice, the cartoon certainly didn't do that. It was more like a spyglass."
In defending the cartoon, New Yorker editor David Remnick said "Satire is offensive sometimes, otherwise it's not very effective." He added that the cartoon does, indeed, have a title: "The Politics of Fear." He also said the cartoon has a context. That context is what I'm very interested to look into. I'm curious if there's any corresponding article to explain the point of view of the cartoon, or if the context is simply "this is The New Yorker."

Perspective-changing

My favorite author, hands down, is Barbara Kingsolver. Most of you probably know her best as the author of The Poisonwood Bible, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection a few years back. No offense to Oprah because I think she's done a great deal to encourage literacy, but I think she did a huge disservice to the author with that selection. As much as I love that book, I think it's not her best work. Although for her, even that isn't much of an insult.
At her worst she weaves a tapestry of beautiful prose. At her best, her writing has the ability to change the way in which the reader views the world and themselves.
I recently finished reading her collection of short stories, Homeland. The title story talks about a little girl growing up in the same house as her Cherokee grandmother. In one part of the story, when the little girl talks about her knobby knees that she hates. The grandmother says "never say that you hate what you are. It is an insult to those who created you." Overall her writing gives a glimpse into her Cherokee background that offers a perspective rarely seen in popular literature.
Of course I would recommend Homeland, but others high on my list are Animal Dreams, The Prodigal Summer, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven.

Happy reading :)

Guacamole that's a work of art

I love avocados. Yes, I know they're a tad on the fatty side. But the way I see it, the health benefits far outweigh the fat. And besides, I figure I work it off when I go running after I eat it.
But no matter how much I love avocado, I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with guacamole. I could never find a recipe I really liked.
Finally I figured it out. It's kind of a mish mash of a few different recipes I've tried. It's also a very simple, no muss no fuss version of guacamole because I think avocados have such an amazing flavor all their own that they should just be allowed to speak for themselves. I'll also include some tips for dealing with avocados because, if you're anything like me, you've put off making your own guacamole because you don't know quite how to get the insides out.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados
1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
juice of 1 lime
1 clove of garlic
salt

First, we need to deal with the avocados. Start by making sure they're ripe. They should be a very dark green, almost black. And when you push on the outer skin, there should be some give to them. Basically, they should look like this:


Then you're going to cut into one side till your knife finds the pit, then cut all the way around the pit. Twist the two halves and they'll separate easily. To get the pit out, wedge the blade of your knife into the pit, like this:

Once the knife is wedged in there, twist and the pit should release easily. Now we need to scoop out the insides. Take a spoon and insert it just under the skin, using it to scoop the flesh away from the outer skin. Once you've gotten rid of the skin, chop the flesh into medium size chunks (exact size isn't important) and place in a bowl.
Next, chop your clove of garlic and then paste it. To do this, you'll chop the clove, then sprinkle it liberally with salt. use the flat side of your chopping knife to apply pressure to the garlic and smoosh it back and forth against the cutting board until you have a paste consistency. I'm using very technical terms, I know but it looks something like this:



Combine garlic paste with avocado. Seed tomato (cut in half and squeeze out and discard all the seeds and juice) and dice it, adding to the bowl.
Juice the lime into the bowl.
Mix well with a fork, smashing some of the avocado chunks as you go. I've seen recipes that use a food processor for this but I wouldn't suggest it. I think it makes too liquidy a consistency. You want it to be like a dip with a few chunks left in it.
Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so the flavors have a chance to marry.

** Note: In an air-tight container, the lime juice will help this keep for a few days, but not much longer. Even preserved with the juice, the avocado will eventually oxidize and turn brown.

Sam's Bunny

The other night I finished making a stuffed bunny for my nephew, Sam. It wasn't really the knitting of the bunny that took so long. Mostly it was the finishing up, which I kept putting off. I knitted him up on straight needles so when I was done, I had a bunch of parts that needed to be stuffed and sewn. Finally I just got down to it and I must say, he's pretty darn cute.
I'm planning to give him to my sister's son as part of a christening gift when she comes to visit next month and I really hope she likes it. Of course, I hope Sam likes it too but he's only 9 months old so I'd imagine he'll like anything as long as it's soft, fuzzy and pretty colors.
I will say that I'm a little bit nervous, too. This will actually be the first thing I've knit that I'm giving away as a gift. I've been afraid, I think because I have this feeling like if the thing you make isn't absolutely perfect to the point of being mistaken for store-bought, that the person will view it as you being cheap and not wanting to spend money on the gift. So I guess I haven't been confident enough in my abilities up to now. But fortunately, since it's for my sister's son, I know she'll love it no matter what. And I know that she'll know that making the gift had nothing at all to do with saving money (at $10 a hank, that's a fairly pricey little guy!) and everything to do with putting my love into the present, rather than buying something generic at the mall.
Well anyway, I used the Knitted Cuddlies pattern and he's made with Blue Sky Organic Cotton, which is soooooo snuggly. The ears are white and the body is a baby blue. For the face I just used some charcoal gray scrap yarn I had laying around.

People I'd Like to Meet: the first installment

I was thinking about this last night. I'd really like to meet whoever is responsible for picking the music for Apple's ad campaigns. I sort of hope it's not just one person because that would mean there's someone working there with inhumanly good taste in music.
But whether it's one person or a room full of people sorting through songs, I owe a large portion of what is currently on my iPod to their taste.
I think it started about a year and a half ago when they started promoting iPods using "Flathead," by the Fratellis. Then, this year they used "1,2,3,4" by Feist and that made them one of my favorite bands. (their cover of Nina Simone's Sea Lion is awesome, by the way.)
More recently, it was the ad for the new thin Macbook that turned me on to "New Soul" by Yael Naim.
And they've also been the cause of my most current musical obsession, The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings sing the song on one of Apple's recent iPod commercials, "Shut Up and Let Me Go." It has such a great energy and just enough anger for me to want to blast it repeatedly when I'm driving alone.

Into the Wild

A couple months ago, I went to visit my brother, who lives in Alaska. For part of the time I was there we went camping in Denali National Park (completely amazing, but that's another story). Before I went, I had seen the trailers for the movie, "Into the Wild" and I vaguely knew that it was based on a book, which was based on a true story and that the true story was about a kid who went into the woods right near Denali and never came out alive.
In northern New Jersey, where I'm from, the story doesn't create much of a stir. But up in Alaska, people have some pretty strong feelings about what that kid did. Many that I heard were along the lines of how irresponsible and ill prepared he was for what he was trying to do.
After being up there, it piqued my interest so I picked up a copy of the book, by Jon Krakauer and read it on the plane ride home. I'll say this: it's a worthy read. Is it going to go down in history? Probably not. Win any awards? I'd be surprised. But what it will do is give you a little more insight into who this kid, Christopher McCandless, was and what went wrong. It'll make you understand a little better and maybe even sympathize just a little bit.
All that being said, after I finished the book, of course I had to see the movie. The book is worth reading, yes. The movie... well, let's just say read the book. I hate to sound like your 10th grade English teacher here but in this case, I'm telling you, read the book.
The book, like I said, gives some insight into what happened. And you get the definite sense that the author really identifies with this kid (in fact I'm pretty sure he comes right out and says it) and what you end up with is as complete a picture as possible of a very real, very lost kid who took things just a little too far.
The movie, however, did a very superficial job of painting a picture of an overzealous, overindulgent spoiled little rich kid trying to piss off his parents. It's entirely possible that some of these things are true, but without giving you the whole story and the background information, the movie makes it difficult to draw any other conclusion.
One final note: If you do take my advice, and decide to read the book, make sure what you're reading is the most current edition. Obviously, this story struck a chord with Krakauer because even after it was finished, he kept researching what had happened. He's edited to add new information and when I watched the movie, it became pretty clear that the screenwriter was working from an older version than what I read.

This blog

Let me just start by saying that the title of this blog is not, by any means, a self-proclamation. It's a nickname I was given by a friend because basically, I'm that friend who is always recommending new music, suggesting a new book or telling you to go watch some really random (but ultimately awesome) movie.
The idea for this blog started out as just that. A place for me to make those suggestions. And without me sitting there to pester you, readers (all two of you) can take or leave my suggestions as you like. But I don't intend for this to be just that. I'd like this blog to be just as varied as I am as a person.
Yes, in large part, I'll be writing about books, music, movies and things because that is a large part of who I am. But I'll also be writing about my own artistic adventures and experiments, among them, writing, knitting, cooking and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time. (Full disclosure here: you may at some point be subjected to reading some of my own attempts at poetry)
The way I see it, nothing is out of bounds here. Partly because, well, it's my blog. And partly because isn't variety really what culture is all about?