Sunday, December 23, 2007

Fa la la la la

Last night we went caroling on the back of a flatbed truck. The truck was decorated with Christmas lights and garlands, and a few people brought along ukeleles. As we traversed the streets of Hanalei people came running out of their homes and shops, waved to us from lanais and a few even followed us on their bikes.

Afterwards we went back to the church social hall for a potluck dinner, where I was force-fed Christmas cookies and had spam for the first time (salty).

In case you're wondering what's going to be in my head this Christmas, here it is.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Monday, December 10, 2007

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Tiny injured baby hedgehog


All safe now and recovering at Tigglywinkles animal hospital.

From the daily mail via jezebel.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Bethany and me in Beverly Hills


Somehow, this looks like neither of us.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Poof!

Just as quickly as it arrived, it's gone.

My newish camera is back in the shop for repairs, so it seems I'm going to have to wait a little longer to explore the land of digital SLRs.

Sigh.

Friday, November 30, 2007

rainy day muffins


I took this with the Canon 5D my parents passed on to me over Thanksgiving. I don't know too much about digital SLRs just yet, but I suspect it's going to be fun learning.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

And you know what else?

Just as I am too old for twee heart/star/skull prints, I am too old for writing in all lower case.

From now on, I'm capitalizing.

i'm back!

i'm not sure what happened over the last couple of weeks. at first i didn't blog because i had nothing to say, then i was too busy, then i was out of the habit, and when i realized how long it had been since i'd last posted, i felt a lot of pressure to come back with something witty or beautiful or profound - things i just don't seem to be feeling right now.

what i am feeling is inward-facing - the desire to be silent and alone, for measured social interactions with plenty of time to think.

so apologies if i seem to have retreated. i think its a healthy thing every now and again, but i'm hoping to pull out of it soon. i miss everyone!

,

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

i couldn't make this stuff up if i tried.

seventy-five year old, german identical-twin acrobatic duo.



wiener dog races.



play-off bound


(i'm the weak link)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

i didn't realize i had a problem

until i saw this study.


we're just misunderstood.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

i worked with a 7 year old girl and an 11 year old boy today

they goofed off for the first 2 1/2 hours, insisting their homework was too hard, and then finished it swiftly in the last 30 minutes.

i persuaded and cajoled and put my foot down, but it did no good.

the truth is, that's how i work half the time too.

Monday, October 15, 2007

i think my dentist is coming to hawaii with me for thanksgiving

i'm totally serious. how did it come to this?

she wants me to send her my flight info so that we can sit next to each other on the way over.

i'm kind of weirded out.

Friday, October 12, 2007

paperweight

the bad news

i just picked up the first roll of film from my newly-repaired canon - and it was blank.

the camera store (which is already on my bad side for moving far, far away from me, losing a roll of film, having cranky employees, and randomly cropping 4 x 6 prints into 5 x 5) said it could be a problem with the lens, but they're not sure, so i have to bring it in again.

sigh.

the good news

i am tentatively scheduled to receive my mom's old digital slr, which - quite frankly - kicks ass. i've been secretly hoping this would happen ever since my mom told my dad she wanted a cute little digital camera for christmas, and he bought her a camera bigger than her head.

this means i won't have to deal with far-away cranky error-prone expensive camera stores to get high quality images anymore.

so don't fret, my pets - all is not lost.

Friday, October 05, 2007

new light

through this window.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Thursday, September 27, 2007

i went on a date with this guy

from LA Can't Drive
And this just in....
A reader emailed this to me, and I just had to share. "My true story... I watched a guy in stop and go Friday traffic on the 10, driving with his knees while practicing his ukulele. I know he was practicing because he had his sheet music propped up on the passenger seat and was turned sideways so that he could read it as he drove. I only wish I had a photo."
no, seriously. we met at a coffee shop. he made me a mix of bluegrass and indie rock. we went on one date and he explained to me that he used traffic time to learn new instruments. it started with the harmonica and progressed from there.

later he told me i reminded him too much of an ex-girlfriend he wasn't yet over. he was upfront about it and there were no hard feelings. it was just one date.

but it makes me happy to know he's still out there, playing the ukelele in traffic.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

this is olive


olive lives next door. she likes to watch me. it's a bit disconcerting and unbearably cute.

Monday, September 17, 2007

someone stole my bike

i mean, really?

the fuji thrill i bought used a couple of years ago?

it means way more to me than any stupid bicycle thief.

it'll get you where you're going, but i don't think it'll get much at the pawn shop.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

so long, mr. bird

i'll miss your blank stares, your loud, random squawks, your hostile demeanor.

mr. bird is back with his rightful owners.

they call him something else (something stupid), but to us he'll always be...

mr. bird.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

global warming and my house

marina del rey and venice given a 3 or 5 meter rise in sea level.

i live in the little red star.



these visuals are from architecture 2030, which recently released a coastal impact study on the effects of rising sea levels on 32 coastal towns, including new york and san francisco.

they're quite effective.


predicting the results of climate change is hardly an exact science, so they provide a range of sea level changes. you can find out more about their methodology here.


Sunday, September 09, 2007

my emmy-winning roommate


this was on the kitchen table when i woke up this morning. it's really real, really shiny, and damn heavy.

no matter where life takes our little kelly, she'll always have an emmy.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

what will you do when your suntan is faded and the summer's gone?


the new york times recently did an article about the last days of summer in stone harbor, nj - the tiny south jersey beach town where i spent all of my summers as a kid. it's been a long time since i've spent any significant time there - by college i'd left behind summer jobs scooping ice cream for resume-building internships, settling for weekends at the shore. but those summers left little footprints in my brain, and i can still taste the bittersweet ending of summer inside my mouth.

summer is ending here too, but i'm not going back to school. i still don't know what i'm doing. i suppose i should feel sad, but i'm not - i'm excited. i have a blank slate and the rest of my life in front of me. i was sad to leave hawaii, but i'm ready to begin.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

queens bath

yesterday we hiked down to the ocean.


we swam in gentle, salty pools carved into the lava rocks. later, when we put on snorkel masks, we realized we were surrounded by hundreds of tiny little fish.


i believe those two splashes in the foreground are mike and julie.

Monday, August 27, 2007

flying through clouds gives me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. when i was a kid i loved it. now i'm not so sure. the light is beautiful, but i'm always relieved to come out the other side.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

bacon-wrapped hot dogs at home?

with corn on the cob?

heck yeah, summer!

Monday, August 20, 2007

clever, clever

i saw superbad last night - fucking hilarious. go see it now.

that being said, one element of the movie did bug the hell out of me [warning: small spoiler ahead]: the unattractive-to-average-looking, nerdy anti-heroes end up with the hot/sexy/popular girls in the end.

now, i don't resent the notion that an average looking person can end up with a hot person - attraction is incredibly complex and personality is critical. i just resent that in hollywood, this personality-as-attractor scenario is only played one way: nerdy guy and hot girl. when was the last time a nerdy, unattractive girl ends up with a hot, popular guy (without getting a music-montage makeover first)? not since the says of john hughes and molly ringwald has this been seen on the big screen - and molly ringwald isn't exactly a hose-beast.

am i a touch bitter? perhaps. after all, what happens to the unattractive-to-average-looking nerdy chicks when their counterparts are off with the hotties? not that i'm really on the market these days, but it still strikes a chord.

perhaps pelle carlberg says it better:

clever girls like clever boys much more than clever boys like clever girls - pelle carlberg*

sigh.

*i'm not trying to imply that women can't be hot and clever, btw, but in the case of superbad and other male fantasy movies, they're usually just identified as hot.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

the time between hearing there's been a major disaster in the city where some one you love lives, and hearing that they're ok

sucks.

but by the way, he's ok.

my camera died yesterday

the last image it captured:


do you suppose the television was contagious?

it was a sad day. i own many cameras - toy and digital and polaroid - but this was my camera. the one i've had for 13 years. an extension of my eyeball. it's been around the world and across the country with me (several times). its the camera i learned to shoot with, and it's captured every aspect of my life since i was 16.

it's in for repairs as we speak. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

my roommate's been nominated for an emmy!

i'm no longer calling her my roommate. from now on she's my "emmy-nominated roommate," the same way actors and actresses are prefaced.

and that's the way it's going to be until she's my "emmy-winning roommate."

Thursday, August 09, 2007

banksy in venice?



wouldn't be the first time...

last night i dreamt

that i got a random chinese character tattooed on my left breast.

it was actually kind of a nightmare.


p.s. did you feel the earthquake? it was my first!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Monday, July 30, 2007

simpsonized

behold the simpsons version of me. i'm not one for short pants but otherwise i think its a pretty flattering likeness. the hair is spot on (but only on a really, really good hair day).

and apparently i'm not the only one on my block who's excited about the simpsons movie. this little floral arrangement graces the front of an otherwise drab apartment building just a few doors down.


i wonder what happened to marge and maggie?

Sunday, July 29, 2007

i learned to drive so i could read los angeles in the original

reyner banham loves los angeles



if you're interested in more, esoteric bus tours is starting a reyner-banham-themed-tour in the fall - check it out.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

attention muggles: do not deliver or open before july 21!

it's here!

a question answered by the late, great wendy wasserstein


i've been trying for years to determine the correct spelling of the slang word for casual. i'm currently reading the elements of style, and according to wendy wasserstein, its caj.

caj. i like it.

and coming from her, it has authority.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

its been a while

a week, actually. i think this may be the longest i've gone without posting since i started this blog, unless you count trips abroad.

i've been taking a bit of a pause, if you will. circumstances have required my body to take a break, and i've decided to give my neurotic, over-active mind a break too. there are a billion things i could be freaking out about at the moment, but for now, just for right now and the next couple of weeks, i'm not going to. i am going to play wii and watch television marathons. i am going to read trashy novels and all of my edward tufte books. i am going to construct wooden insects. i am going to beat zelda. i am going to make pancetta-burrata-tomato sandwiches, and not drink or smoke. i am going to sit in the sun and talk to my mother.

doing these things, not freaking out - its harder than it seems. my life is a giant question mark, which is both scary and exciting. and - just for now - i'm going to be ok with that.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

here i go

wish me luck.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Friday, July 06, 2007

these orthopedic flats are made for walking

i wasn't feeling well when i left kelly and jake's, so i decided to go back to dumbo for a nap. as i walked the three long block to 6th avenue, my feet and my ipod conspired to take control of my body, and walked right passed the subway entrance, to 7th avenue, 8th avenue...i was almost at 9th avenue when my mind finally regained control and turned me back towards the F train.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

so long chicago

we spent the weekend in chicago getting drunk with his relatives, listening to jazz at all night clubs, checking out the theater scene, and haunting cavernous used book stores. i always manage to catch that town during beautiful weather, and it absolutely captivates me. but i hear that's not always the case...

this morning finds me in new york on a beautiful july day.
i am a lucky girl indeed.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Walking Wilshire

from downtown to santa monica.

via thrillist

i haven't had a cigarette in over a week

it still sucks.

Monday, June 25, 2007

first bowl show of the summer last night

cut chemist and dj shadow


afterwards we went dancing.

later that night we stole a gang of balloons and led a parade down hollywood boulevard towards roscoe's chicken and waffles, but it was closed.

we let the balloons go.

(starring: marcel, elisa, david; cinematographer: me)

Saturday, June 23, 2007

i love the soft coolness of the air just after the sun sets on a warm summer day.

Friday, June 22, 2007

on spontaneity

i accepted a last minute invitation to lunch with my dentist (remember her?), her two dental hygienists, her receptionist and 4 other patients yesterday. the lunch was actually a blind date set-up between two of the patients (she's known for this), and the rest of us were along to ease the process. except the guy being set up didn't show. awkward. i was still numb from the novacaine and drooling all over myself.

good times.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

fuck it

i'm baking cookies!

who's with me?!!?

still not m*&f%*&&n done

blech.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Thursday, June 14, 2007

the stars (mis)align


two different people have pointed out to me that mercury goes into retrograde tomorrow, the day of graduation. when i asked what that meant they both just made a face and shook their head. so i did some research: apparently mercury in retrograde signals a time of cosmic change in which inevitable or fated events will occur. it also effects communication, leading to poor decisions, misunderstandings, confusion, and is best spent in introspection rather than action.

now i know why they shook their heads.