Rickshaw

During our stay in NYC, the first two days were spent buying essentials that we didn’t have time to pack. Honestly, we were happy just to make it to the airport on time. So we ventured down to Rockefeller Center to pick up things like socks, underwear, t-shirts, shoes, etc. We didn’t buy too much after that, but here are some of my favorite things we snagged besides the books BJ got.

29.99! oxfords on final sale at Madewell. They kind of slip off my feet when I walk, but I’m determined to fix it!

Yoshitomo Nara towel (already doubling as my movie blanket) & a Warriors of Radness sweater from Opening Ceremony.

1968 (BJ’s favorite year) calendar towel from 10 ft. Single *

J.Crew tie & Steven Allen Tie from Bird **

Melissa Joy Manning triangular earrings from Bird

* Kudos to Lena C. for the tip
** Spotted George O’Malley + was probably very obviously about it

Attention, devotees of instant film. We propose that you spend a few minutes poring over Christopher Makos’s SX-70 beauties—or, if you’re in New York, to take in the fifty on display at the Christopher Henry Gallery. Enjoy the brushes with artists, musicians, and disgraced former athletes.

Makos belonged to the scapegrace entourage that loyally shadowed Andy Warhol. A movement that worshiped the moment. With a mix of love and awe, as the Factory’s house photographer, Makos preserved its history in images. Uniquely suited to this task was his Polaroid SX-70. It was portable and hence pass-around-able. It cherished accidents. And it had mood swings. The camera could toss a wintry silence over any scene, making it pale and bluish and still, yet it could also warm it up, plating yellows in gold or lending flat reds an almost bloody vitality. Hunting for the right adjective for this phenomenon, most settle on dreamy. Dreamy because you know you’re eyeing objects that exist in reality, and yet, whether or not you can put a finger on it, something—the cloudy light? the sanded edges? the deathly skin tones?—seems a touch off. Very faintly, in a word, unreal. Cameras were built to record plain-vanilla reality, but the Polaroid seems magically engineered to flavor, spice, season it. To make the familiar subtly unfamiliar. We couldn’t imagine a better way to remember Warhol and his Factory, and those after-hours adventures in the shabby, sincere, wide-eyed world of 1970’s and 1980’s New York.

Anthropologie. Rockefeller Center. Recycled Bags.

Whew! What a week. My students and I had a huge competition this week, and I was gone all day on Saturday making sure everything went smoothly. One hour into the event, I lost my voice, but I was told that meant I am officially a teacher . Overall, my students did extremely well, and three pieces advanced to state! I’m super proud. It was kind of odd for me to go to this event because it seemed not so long ago that I was competing. There were over 2500 entries at this regional event, and it was pretty awesome to see so much talent and young people invested in the arts. Makes me feel kinda of hopeful.

BJ and I are counting down the days until we get to go to New York City. I also got my little sister a ticket, and she’s going to try to visit SVA (one of her choices for next year). We’ll be staying for four full days, and I’ve been compiling a list of people, places, and things I want to see. So far, there’s Mike Perry’s show on Saturday night, MoMA, Central Park, and Chelsea galleries. Melissa also suggested Uniqlo, which looks promising. Anyways, I would love to hear any suggestions. Yay! I’m so excited and look forward to a much needed break. Work wise, I’ve been trying out freezer paper stencils and I’ll post those once they are done.  BJ and I have also caught a lot of Big Love episodes on On Demand. Cheers, c