Catharsis via Internet Publishing

I don't like the person that you are.
I never did.
You constantly asked me if I liked you.
I'd always dodge the question with an 'I love you.'
That was true.

But you felt that I was unhappy with you.
Why else would you ask all the time?
Yet you changed nothing.
Did nothing.

Yesterday Was a Good Day

Yesterday I:

- had a legal win
- discovered the back garden at Raines Law Room. A charming respite from the city that my intern and I had to ourselves (don't you wish you were my intern?)
- received my certificate in Fragrance Evaluation from FIT/Givaudan after a successful final presentation
- FINALLY won tickets to Book of Mormon after 4 YEARS of actively trying to go- lottery in person, Twitter lottery every possible day, etc.
- fell through the enchanting labyrinth of FIT. I've only come and gone from the Fragrance Lab- but yesterday I decided to go through the double doors I've often seen other students go through. What I found is that it was an endless passageway that stretched the entire avenue. With each double door that I entered, I came upon a new area of study. Fragrance developed into Fashion Design which transitioned into Business/Marketing study which changed into Fine Arts & Illustration. I peered into open doors of classrooms and delighted in the student work displayed on the walls.

...and it was Kujo's 14th Birthday! 

Weird Dream

Either I was the daughter, because that was the perspective I was having, or I was watching a movie about Karl Lagerfeld and his daughter. (In this dream he had a daughter). And Karl had just bought a house in Oahu. He's also really into vintage planes, because he had a collection of them in his yard at his actual home somewhere else. And this home is a beautiful, modern home. As the daughter and Karl are dining, he offers to give her some of his furniture for her new place. It's really esteemed designer furniture, but it was a dream designer, not a real person. And she's like "Don't you need this furniture for your Oahu house?" And he was like "I have much more (*name of designer*) furniture someplace else." And there was also another character involved who is a pilot. I don't remember now what he had to do with anything. The reason I think that this whole thing might have been a movie was that in another part of my dream, I was watching the last scenes of a movie and one of the shots was a pilot walking beside some planes.

Otto Dix & Alfred Kubin

These two created some morbidly awesome art, as I discovered today at the Neue Gallery. Today was the last day of 'From Klimt to Klee: Masterworks From the Serge Sabarsky Collection.' I really loved a set of 4 Otto Dix ink drawings that were placed together next to his 'Mother And Child' painting. I flipped through the exhibit book in the museum store to see if they were in there (and if the book was worth buying), but sadly, no. The top right one depicted a sex murder, the victim being a male. The bottom right piece was 'Woman in a Feathered Hat', I believe. The bottom left one was of the same woman, but with a demonic face. I don't remember the top right picture in the series! I can't find these images online. I've seen Otto Dix stuff before, but never like this. An internet search also revealed his intense war art.

Alfred Kubin's stuff is mostly grey, macabre fairytale-like illustrations. He has very interesting depictions of women that can range from empowered, evil, and victimized. The pieces I saw almost always have a theme of death. There was one piece entitled 'Female Suicide' that had an Ophelia-esque body floating along a river, with a fish reflection beneath the water, perfectly mirroring the body. I found the others online:

'The Last King':



'Return to the Womb' or something...the one I saw seemed to have a less evil face!:



'Earth: Mother of Us All':



Here's a good NYT review of a previous Alfred Kubin exhibit at the Neue Gallery/

As a German-culture-and-arts in-the-early-20th-century nerd, I absolutely loved the Neue Gallery. They have a great collection of poster art, even a few Fritz Lang's! There are two gorgeous cafes that are modeled after Austrian cafes of the time. The museum also has a beautiful collection of decorative arts.

Oh, and I saw her.:

ODD BLOOD

I'm obsessing over this album. Yeasayer could have easily (not actually, though) followed the same formula as on the first album, and I would have loved it. Music critics show favor based on progression, and the men have created a new incarnation of their sound. Yeasayer could really blend any combination of genres, and it would work beautifully. This album is based on synthetic, electronic effects. And, as the New York Times pointed out inconceivably, there are love songs on this album. I would naturally take these two points done on a sophomore album as a selling out, but it's anything but. Apparently the men were recording in a Peter Gabriel bandmember's farm in Woodstock, with tons of crazy equipment to test out. I'm glad they did. There are some unexpected sounds that are so satisfying to hear. I'm really digging 'The Children', 'O.N.E.', and 'Love Me Girl'. Nothing is mediocre or bad on this album, I have to say. The layers and layers on these tracks will take many listens to appreciate fully. Can we talk about the crazy rhythms as well?! 'Strange Reunions' is exceptionally well-crafted in its meter shifts between 5/4 and 6/4. That shit must have taken HOURS to compose and practice to the perfection I saw in their amazing live album release show two nights ago. Yeasayer hasn't given up the elements that make them who we think they are. There are still the global music influences, the gorgeous vocals, and the extraordinary art direction. They're fucking great songwriters. There are definitely poppier, dancier tracks on this album that could make them break out like '1901' did to Phoenix. I'm sure they wouldn't mind the success :)

The men break it down themselves.

Seeing them live and listening to Odd Blood has inspired me to get back into my music, though that simply means practicing my carnatic vocal, yet they make me feel like I can do something further with it than what is traditional. aka this album is inspiring.

Knowing the Boba Fett Accordion Man

This monday as I descended the 20th St stairway from the High Line, I heard, then saw the Boba Fett accordion man. For those unfamiliar with this character, he's a young street performer playing the accordion. Wearing a DIY Boba Fett helmet. He made me smile, so I gave him a couple bucks-- a first for me in NYC thus far! 

Photo by C-M

He was interviewed for Time Out:

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/public-eye/76751/public-eye-nathan-stodola

Oh, and he has his own YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/renegadeaccordion

& a twitter, fbook, and myspace account

What can't you find on the internet?!

HIPSTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Oh yes! Adrien Riemenn, the artist, is so cool.



See 'em all!

Sabbath Californiay

"...I'm up in the cupolo and with my newspaper dig the latest news on the front page and also consider and make notations of the money I spent already for this day Sunday absolutely not jot spent a nothing- California rushes by and with sad eyes we watch it reel the whole bay and the discourse falling off to gradual gils that ease and graduate to Santa Clara Valley then and the fig and behind is the fog immemoriates while the mist closes and we come running out to the bright sun of the Sabbath Californiay."

-"October in the Railroad Earth" by jack Kerouac

NARCOCORRIDOS

The immensely popular folk ballads that chronicle and celebrate the lives, loves and illicit achievements of Mexico's powerful drug lords.



"Contrabando y Traicion" (Smuggling and Betreyal)- Angel Gonzales, Los Tigres del Norte, 1975; rough translation

They left San Isidro,
from Tijuana,
They brought the tires of the car
full of weed,
were Emilio Varela
and Camelia the Texan

Passed through San Clemente
stopped by immigration,
requested documents,
He asked them: Where are they?
She was from San Antonio,
a female heart.

If a female wants a man,
he can give life,
but care must be taken
if that female is wound
Smuggling and betrayal ...
things are incompartidas.

Came to Los Angeles
moved to Hollywood,
in a dark alley
changed all four tires,
he handed the grass ...
and there he was also paid

Emilio says to Camelia:
Today you see for farewell
the part that touches you
you can rebuild your life,
I go 'pa 'San Francisco,
with the master of my life

Seven gunshots sounded,
Camelia killed Emilio,
the police only found
a thrown gun,
Of Camelia and money ...
Nobody ever knew anything

Remedies From Random Products

I haven't worn a trace of makeup in over 2 weeks. I highly, highly recommend Doxycycline for non-natural skin rejuvination. Gulping down water included.



ALSO Vitamin E Lip Balm is an excitingly good substitute for mascara. For the already dark-lashed.

This Was Me Today

High school girls trying on prom dresses at Saks Fifth Ave.
Photo: Al Fenn./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
May 01, 1958

A Fitting Song for Me Right Now

'Life in LA'- Pharrell, Jermaine Dupri, & Chester French

Life in LA is so insane

Everyday feels the same

Spent all my cash, I'm down to change

It's time to move away

(I was having chocolate cake and sauvignon)

My New Favorite Site

Killed by Death Records (www.kbdrecords.com) is AWESOME. Its title alone is brilliant, along with its subtitle, 'I won't pay for punk records.'

I have been searching for the song I'm obsessed with currently ('False Pretenses'- Frank Details), and KBD was the first entry in google that had anything to do with it. And then I found that I could dl it. I love. The punk tracks featured here are IMPOSSIBLE to find, unless you own the rare vinyls! They have a listing of other MP3 blogs that I have to check out after I'm done milling through here.

PS I really love Fairfax.

My Worst (Conventional) Enemies

Why not just get a jackhammer going on my mouth while simultaneously stabbing my gums with Ronco (as seen on TV!) knives.

I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST & I HATE MY MOUTH FOR NOT BEING PERFECT. My definition of torture. While sitting tensely in that chair I always make pacts with myself to not eat sweets ever again, or to floss twice a day every day (with the insane threader floss), BUT it never happens.

YEAH, that whole thing goes through. Why do I still have a bottom permanent retainer?!

I have a high tolerance for physical pain, but not in the dentist's chair. I guess it's because I can't see what's going on and I can only know what's happening through feeling it. Like when dental hygenist goes wild with the scaler and stabs your gums.

Honestly felt like I lost 20% of my blood in my extended (fml) cleaning sesh today.

I'm up to get 20349823 fillings and getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Oh boy!



As if that isn't enough, I woke up early and spent an hour at the podiatrist's this morning for nothing. His verdict was: Don't wear the sandals that hurt you for a long time. THANKS I couldn't have thought of that without you.

And my parents wonder why I won't go into medicine.

Ufff

Cassius

Shut Up & Let Me Go

Some more Lolla goodness.

Post-Punk Junk

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Urgh! A Music War and Debt Begins at 20. I've been able to find all the clips from Urgh! online, but I am DYING to find the music from Debt. The early Pittsburgh punk scene is ridiculous, in the good sense. The Cardboards, The Shakes, Hans Brinker & the Dykes, the Shut-Ins, The Puke, The Cuts, The Dark, Carsickness, and The Five.

I wish I were alive for this and every performance in Urgh! (esp Surf Punks)

a DREAM JOB

Interning with Vinoodh Matadin & Ines van Lamsweerde

Memories of 8th Grade & Erica Steiner

Louis XIV- Finding Out True Love is Blind