Devin and I are getting married in ten (!) days. Here’s what we look like in case you forgot.
Hey Dev, you look good enough to marry! See you Tuesday!
10 DAYS
First Sign of Summer
I know it’s summer in New York when the fire hydrants get turned on. It’s the city equivalent of sprinklers in the front yard, and it makes me so happy! Last year I started carrying my phone in a plastic bag so that I could walk through the big gushing streams without a care in the world.
I think it might be illegal, but I’ve never seen anyone get in trouble. All the city parks have misty water toys, though, and I speculate they might have been built to curb the fire hydrant tradition. Scratch that, I just Googled and learned that the fire department can open fire hydrants for you, just for fun! They usually open one per block, which is all you really need, and you’re not technically allowed to open one on your own, but you probably won’t get in trouble. So I guess the water toys in the park are just for additional fun. Water toys for all!
After the fire hydrants and the misty water toys, which come in all sizes and shapes (not just fish sculptures, as pictured above), I start noticing the soft-serve ice cream trucks—they play these weird songs I’d never heard before moving here. My favorite is one punctuated by dog barks.
Then, the senior citizens set up card tables to play bingo on the sidewalk in the shade of a tree (or building). I get invited to concerts in the park, which are free unless you count time spent waiting in line as currency. My friends start talking about rooftop access, and all I want to do is spend all day every day at the pool.
Last summer I worked at a restaurant on the Upper East Side, which completely emptied on weekends because all the rich residents escaped to the Hamptons. This year, at my office job, sometimes I get summer Fridays (you only work a half-day so that you can leave the city and weekend in style, presumably). I think even if I had the choice to go elsewhere, I’d choose to stay in the city on summer weekends, making sure to walk by fire hydrants on my way to the pool.
Gloopy Shards
A few weeks ago, I was rushing to catch the train when I broke my brand new bottle of foundation. Sephora has a generous return policy, so I briefly contemplated carrying the gloopy shards of glass back to their ancestral home before deciding that even I couldn’t be so ridiculous (and okay, I had no time).
I threw them away and kept running–that funny run I do when I’m wearing heels, for some reason it involves a lot of arm flailing?
And then, while I was speed-walking across what felt like a ten-lane street, my brain went ‘hold up, reality check’, and I realized that I was running to get to a GALA in NEW YORK CITY, which I was being PAID to attend (and I do NOT mean à la ‘Pretty Woman’, thank you).
I caught the train, and when I emerged, I found myself face-to-face with my very favorite building in Midtown. It’s the one I saw while looking out the window of my first interview, on my first day as a New York resident, and every time I see it I’m like, ‘Oh! What are you doing here? I’m so happy to see you!’ even though it’s a building and it never moves.
At the gala, I ran into people I know from other parts of my life and was even more surprised. It’s like I can’t fully comprehend that I live here.
I hope I never do.
A little bit about my mom
Before I was born, my mom and dad moved from Boise to Philadelphia. Upon arriving, they took a guided tour of the city. They saw the Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, and all the other famous landmarks. At the end of the tour, my mom saw that they were hiring tour guides. Without thinking twice, she applied for the job, and within five days, she was leading the tour she’d just been on. She says that the people on her tour would exclaim, ‘How beautiful!’ and she would think (‘That’s exactly what I said last Tuesday!’) while seeming to everyone else like a Philadelphia expert.
When I was little, my mom worked for a municipal program in Chihuahua that helped wimyn find jobs. She set up training classes for the participants, taught them interview skills, and outfitted them in appropriate interview attire. She was so successful that soon the wimyn started bringing their husbands to her, and she helped them find jobs, too.
My mom had other jobs: at different points in my childhood, she worked for the newspaper, ran her own ad agency, and worked in the marketing department of the biggest chain store in town. But when I was in second grade, my mom decided she wanted to be a teacher.
We moved from Chihuahua to Texas, and she got her teaching degree. And then, she got her M.A. in Education because why not? She’d teach all day, and then go to class. Sometimes she’d pull all-nighters to finish her homework, always making sure that she did her very best. Her students’ parents would tell me, ‘You are so lucky to have her as your mother’, and her professors would say, ‘Your mom is an impressive student. You’re a lucky girl!’
My mom can become friends with anyone anywhere, and when she throws parties, sometimes the house gets so full that people end up sitting in the dining room, kitchen, living room, backyard, and even the bedrooms.
She taught me to treat everyone with dignity and respect, to learn the names of everyone at my school: the teachers, the principal, the custodians, and the crossing guards. She taught me to dream big and to trust myself and to let life be fun!
That bright little apartment
When I first moved to New York, my friends and I shared a one-bedroom apartment with a pitbull named Penelope. It was very clearly her apartment and not ours. After a month of Penelope’s antics-–and having to feed her raw chicken three times a day-–we finally moved into our own apartment! It was far from perfect, but it really felt ours. Our bright little sitcom apartment. I could always count on coming home and laughing with my friends. Outside our door I spoke spanish with our neighbors, learned to use a laundromat, and bought groceries at a little store under the Williamsburg bridge. On the best days I walked to a pool the size of a lake and swam then headed home to throw little dinner parties.
So, while my current apartment far exceeds this little one in the categories of square-footage, amenities, convenience, and non-toxicity, I think the bright little apartment is worthy of a blog post.
Hip-Hop News Alerts
So the big news for socially-conscious hip-hop lovers this week is that Reebok dropped Rick Ross after he released a terrifyingly misogynistic song (and after thousands of people signed a petition, but you know, baby steps…). I’m glad that the petition was successful, but I’m sad that Ross isn’t a feminist. It’s like, ‘Does the patriarchy even care how much I love “Diced Pineapples”?’ Nope.
In way, way smaller hip-hop news, I really wanted to listen to that song that goes, ‘Hopped up out the bed, turned my swag on/Took a look in the mirror, said what’s up?/Yeah, I’m getting money/Ohhh!’
I asked Devin to put it on, and he searched for ‘Getting Money’ on Youtube, only that brought up like a million songs, and do you know why? Capitalism.
It’s hard to find ONE piece of art about getting money when the most important thing in our society is getting money (am I being hyperbolic here? I really can’t tell. Disclaimer: If getting money isn’t the single most important thing, it’s up there). But! In our Youtube-searching and pondering of capitalism, we did discover that one of the most famous ‘getting money’ songs in recent memory isn’t about getting money and keeping it for yourself. Consider these lyrics to ‘Got Money’ (2008) by the incomparable Lil Wayne:
If you got money
And you know it
Take it out your pocket and show it
Then throw it, like
This-a-way (fly)
That-a-way (fly)
This-a-way (fly)
That-a-way
That-a-way (fly)
This-a-way (fly)
That-a-way
Clearly, this is a modern anthem for the redistribution of wealth. And so, I hereby award, the first ever smoothliminal Award for Progressive Top 40 Music (which I just made up on the spot) to Lil Wayne for advocating just economic policies. Congratulations, Mr. Carter!
He feels so honored, you guys.
I am also appointing Devin as my honorary blog editor because this blog post was his idea (and this one, too!). Fun fact: earlier I caught him typing ‘Little Wayne’ and ‘Soldier Boy’ into the search bar. He’s come a long way from not knowing who Beyoncé was in 2009, but you know, baby steps…
A Day in the Life: Tuesday April 2nd 2013
My friend Anja does this project where she photographs everything she does in one day at the the beginning of every month. It’s a simple project, taking pictures as you go about your everyday life, but there’s something really captivating about it for me. I look forward to seeing how much she packs into her days and always feel really peaceful after looking through her pictures. You can see Anja’s April day-in-the-life here.
This month I decided I’d try doing it for myself. My days aren’t nearly as full of life and adventure as Anja’s, but I’m sharing the photos regardless.
Here’s what any old Tuesday is like for me.
I wake up to this view from my bedroom every morning. It reminds me of ‘Hey Arnold!’
I walked out of my building and found this adorable scooter. I think one of my neighbors just got it.
Then, I went to my favorite coffee shop to have some tea and start reading the first book for my new book club.
I wore a dress my mom got me for Christmas (thanks, Mom!), so I thought I’d take a picture. Aside from serving great drinks, this place has the dreamiest lighting, even in the bathroom!
Despite the sun, it was very cold. I can’t wait to see what my new neighborhood will look like once the trees have leaves!
Whoosh! Time to get on the subway. Sometimes I marvel at how I get to see more people in twenty minutes than a lot of people see in a whole day, and sometimes I am just united in crankiness with my fellow commuters. ; ) This was a pretty fun commute because I listened to a gruff New Yorker give a Polish womyn advice about helping her daughter apply to college. They didn’t know each other, and right before getting off the train he told her, ‘But you never know what can happen. That’s the beauty of life.’ Also, I read that the stop where I switch trains, Hoyt-Schermerhorn, is where Michael Jackson filmed the video for ‘Bad’! Maybe soon I’ll stage a flashmob there. Who’s in?
My office building has a sign that says newsstand but no newsstand! I always feel a little wistful when I pass it even though I know it’s for the best. And yes, I am this dramatic about EVERYTHING.
Oh yeah, the elevator skips floors 2-25. Seriously, what is up with this building?
This is the view, so I guess it’s not a shabby building after all.
I worked until lunchtime, and then I made myself something to eat in the kitchen. This is what I get for eating strawberries when they are not in season. (It was tasty, though!)
After work I planned on heading straight to the gym, but my family needed help finding accommodations for their trip to Portland (for the wedding!). Sometimes wedding planning is fun, fun, fun, and other times it is just worthwhile. Two hours trying to find vacation houses and hotels is what I would politely call VERY worthwhile.
At least the sun hadn’t set before I made my way to the gym.
This mural is cool. And it is an unofficial marker for the beginning of the most francophone neighborhood in New York City. Okay so I don’t know if there’s another neighborhood that has more French people, but once I pass this mural, all I hear is French. And they even shut down the streets to celebrate Bastille Day, so it’s not just my imagination.
Super secret shot of my gym. I didn’t want anyone to think I was photographing them at their sweatiest, so I just took this. I got to the gym just in time for the last fitness class of the day, hooray! Going to the gym is a new thing for me, and so far (two months in), fitness classes are my favorite.
After the gym, I hit up the Trader Joe’s. This is what the produce section looks like at 9 PM. Haha. They weren’t out of rice noodles, thankfully, and that was all I really needed.
The quickest thing I could think to make was Pad Thai, which made me feel like a legit cook or something. ‘Oh, I’ll just whip up some pad thai.’ Ridiculous! The greens you see are from the CSA program that my roommate and I belong to. I didn’t have time to crush the peanuts because all I wanted to do was get to bed at a reasonable hour (11:30 PM).
Good night, pom-poms! Thanks for brightening up our home.
Mad Men Season 6 Predictions
**No spoilers, I promise.**
Friends, Romans, TV-Watchers…
I am presently languishing in a deep, deep discontent brought about by a lack of Mad Men. I missed the premiere——knowingly and with good reason. I didn’t just forget! I would never forget.
Coming back to New York in time to make it to one of my beloved watch parties (I love them so much, I have a history of showing up a week early) would have meant leaving Connecticut 5 hours early. Since Devin and I are only in the same city for approximately 36 hours a week, 5 hours makes a big difference.
But oh! If I only I could have my cake and keep it, too!
Now who knows when I’ll get to see season 6. Will I be behind next week? Will I never attend another Mad Men costume party again?!
Thankfully (or not), I get a little dose of Mad Men every morning at my subway stop where I get to wait by this ad.
I’ve spent a lot of time examining it and, just from this ad, I feel ready to make some predictions about this season.
Question: Who is that walking behind Don and the person he’s holding hands with?
Answer: It’s Megan. It’s totally Megan. And even if you don’t think it’s Megan, there’s no way the womyn holding Don’s hand is Megan. Megan would never wear that color, and in general, she favors bolder clothes. In fact, wouldn’t you say that gauzy blue thing is much more reminiscent of Betty’s style? In previous seasons, she often wears light blue.
I’m not suggesting that Don gets back together with Betty in season 6; but I think he will definitely cheat on Megan, probably with a womyn who is more content with being a traditional wife (i.e. being subordinate to her husband) than Megan is. In season 5, Don isn’t keen on Megan asserting her independence in any way, and he probably won’t deal with that issue by going to therapy and starting a male feminist support group (but wouldn’t that be a cool twist!).
In general, I think the show will keep marginalizing characters from historically underrepresented groups*, just like I said it did in seasons 1-4. And just like it did in season 5, even after starting on such a promising, if stereotypical, note.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch it. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I watch the show primarily for the set design and costuming. Hopefully, Mad Men will stay on point in that realm.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to hide from the internet to avoid any and all spoilers while I figure out how to watch the premiere.
*I use the term ‘historically underrepresented groups’ to mean non-White, non-straight, non-rich people.
Every Day is Hat-urday, Pt. II
I wasn’t kidding when I said it would be fun to do a blog post about all the hats I’ve worn and loved. There’s no real point to it except to declare my love for hats and encourage everyone to wear them. There just aren’t enough hats being worn in the world. Why is that?
Is there a conclusion to this? There isn’t a conclusion to this.
Four Years In
Last week, when I was blogging about my new favorite hat, Devin read the title and asked if I was posting pictures of all my hats. ‘No’, I gasped, ‘but I will!’ because, as silly as it is, I think blogging about my love of hats would be an afternoon well-spent. And the fact that it occurred to Devin before me was a total ‘he gets me!’ moment.
Devin and I have been a couple for four years now, and I’ve been thinking about how to describe it–I mean, I am in Uncharted Territory here–I didn’t grow up around young couples and all the books and movies I consumed were about falling in love, not staying in it. In fact, most of the romantic comedies seemed to portray staying in love as unbearably boring if not impossible. Here’s what I learned about relationships from Hollywood: when you’re young, you’re beautiful and passionate and you have a beautiful wedding and lots of cool friends; fast-forward and you’re either divorced because you both cheated on each other or you’re this old couple wearing sweatpants who’s only in the movie to provide comedic relief by nagging each other and rolling your eyes. Um yeah, thanks but no thanks.
I thought love was this feeling that faded with time and that some people chose to stay together despite their diminished feelings, which is kind of…romantic in a way, but I thought probably not for me because I wanted my life to be fun, and I didn’t think wearing sweater sets and reminiscing about how much fun we used to have would do it for me.
These days I’m daydreaming of writing a screenplay for a new kind of romantic comedy. It would be called Four Years In and its cheesy tagline would be, ‘It gets AWESOME’.
The movie would be about how much fun it is to make up songs while you ride bikes and cook dinner while you dance in the kitchen. It would be about going to weddings together and not feeling nervous when people ask you when it’ll be ‘your turn’ because you know you both want to spend the rest of your lives together. It would be about all the inside jokes you accumulate over the years and the traditions you get to create; about knowing each other’s families and making up games to play in the pool with your younger cousins; about having embarrassing moments; and helping each other get through hard times. It would be about supporting one another in all your dreams and how much more fun you can have when you know how to avoid annoying the crap out of each other!
I’d probably hire another screenwriter to help me infuse that with some plot points or something. ; ) But honestly, I think it would be really great to have a rom-com in sharp contrast to all the patriarchal, capitalist, Men-Are-From-Mars-Women-Are-From-Venus, Committed-Relationships-Are-Boring movies about love that already exist.
My movie would be totally feminist and progressive! Only could it still have product placement? I really, really love product placement.
Here’s to four more!
kristy
smoothliminal 