Much Love for the city of Lillacs

At 8:30 pm tonight i will be boarding a flight from JFK back to Rochester NY! I can't wait to show Eric everything about my college town. As dirty and depressed as it may seem this western NY gem has a permanent place in my heart. Have a great Memorial day weekend and be ready for the deluge of pictures to come from this weekend.

C. megalodon

Yesterday a friend of mine spent me a news article on quiet possibly the best scientific discovery ever, they found a shark in captivity who had impregnated herself and given birth! You know people are always wondering how sharks are still a huge part of the ecosystem and have been a major notch on the food chain for hundreds of years. Maybe this is the answer? Even with over fishing and hunting , these animals have the last f-you since they are showing us the can procreate under any circumstance necessary. Never mind all of that oceanic crisis and serious imbalance that pulling thousands and thousands of sharks out of the water has attributed immensely to (read:Sarcasm , lots of it). I think this discovery has catapulted my interest in sharks way beyond what I could have imagined. I mean even though it was a hammerhead, I bet you great white should be able to do this as well.

I have had a sick obsession with sharks since I was seriously young, yea I loved Barbie’s and I had a puff-a-lump as well as a cabbage patch kid, but my real amazement lay in the deep salty waters. It could have been born from watching Peter Benchley’s raw and awkwardly antimatrated introduction of the fair beast in JAWS, leading to a unnecessary distress while spending time in chlorinated hotel pools hundreds of miles from any actual body of water that might contain any sort of marine life. But to me it was water and when I was involved with the idea of something else being in it with me then fear and fascination was there to stay. More than likely it was defiantly the fear that played a pinnacle aspect of my desperate need to envelop myself within and obtain as much information as i could about these mysterious creatures. Maybe it is a secret kinship that goes beyond my physical understanding and is rooted in my spiritual psyche possibly derived from our geographic roots in the fact that we have both inhabited the shores of Southern Africa. At the slightest mention of shark week I am there. I have watched documentary after documentary on these animals with my fascination established primarily on the Great white shark himself. Other sharks are beautiful and agile but there is something about Carcharodon Carcharias that forces me to continue my deranged mental love affair with something 3x’s my size and the easy ability to eat me whole.


I have visited the Natal sharks board when I was 15 or so and watched them dissect a 10-foot female great white shark that had been caught off the shores that morning. They have these things called shark nets that they clear out every day; they are in place to “protect “ the swimmers. At this point I know too much and I don’t believe I will ever find myself voluntarily in the waters with out a cage. I have an interest in these animails accompanied by a healthy understanding that I am a big fan if all of my limbs as well and would like to keep them in tact.

Which brings me to something I have wanted to write about for along time now. It was the without a doubt the single most amazing thing I have had the bravery and the stupidity to under go. In December I flew from NYC to South Africa, and spent about a week in jo’burg and the midlands relaxing and becoming accustomed to the different time zone. Later in the trip I hoped a plane down to Cape Town to meet my dad. As I stepped of my Kulila flight and decided I was hungry we went to the local what could be compared to Fridays or Ruby Tuesdays and got a bite to eat, serendipitously we ate right next to the beach which lead into the first ocean I had ever been introduced to as a child right before we left South Africa to move to the States. This would prove to be a huge foreshadowing as I ventured not even 24 hours later to another part of the Cape to plunge myself without a second thought into the Atlantic ocean, let me try that again… a chummed Atlantic ocean infested with Great white sharks. And yes I paid and signed my life away to do this.

I had always known that I would go cage diving, but I always imagined it to be my honeymoon. Odd- I know, but think about it this way; I figured any man that would get into shark infested waters with me voluntarily and get up close and a little too personal with a 20 foot sleek encasement of muscles, teeth, and death... then you know that dude who could pull the cohonays to do something like that had to be worth something and the right man for the job of being married to me. It could still happen…you know we ladies have to make sure we made the right decision. And if its putting you mortality in the hands of the deep blue then that’s a pretty good measurement of your conviction for me. Well, I got to live out my life long dream with my dad, well at least for some of the time. Until he got so seasick they had to come and take him along with a few other people off the boat. Now you laugh and think about the poor dad getting ill on the itty-bitty boat. Well let me inform you that it was an itty bitty boat in the middle of a very huge swell on the Atlantic ocean standing stationary for a few hours with the appealing aroma of fish insides being tossed off the side, I have never been prone to sea sickness and took a anti-nausea tablet as a safety precaution but I still found myself on three occasions getting a closer look to the ocean off the side of the boat and “feeding the fishes” as they so politely refer to it. Honestly, that was the only disappointing part, being so sick that the attention slightly dwindled as the trip went on and eventually ended up with me wrapped in a towel sitting in the middle of the back of the boat begging myself to keep anything down and from time to time peaking over to the area where the boat crew would scream shark, I missed being in the ocean for the biggest one as well (not kidding, it was the size of a Cadillac). This is why I have already resolved to go back and do it again, plus my brother is jealous that I went and he didn’t (never mind the fact he want bungee jumping down Victoria falls… apparently my family is was exxx-treme now). So I will venture back to visit my friends soon enough.


Sidestepping the seasickness I was blown away, we didn’t need scuba gear. The sharks are really only there for split seconds so all you have to do is put on a lead weighted belt and hold your breath with goggles. And it is damn cold in the Atlantic even in the summer, we spent most of our time bobbing in the cage chattering our teeth together trying to avoid the dead fish smell. When the boat man would see the shadowy creature approach he would yell “down Left” or “ down right” which meant go down and look respectively either left or right. And they would be the so graceful and for such a slight fraction of time, and I never really felt like I was there. It was almost out of body really, I literally felt like I was watching this huge animal in front of me on a television. Almost as if it didn’t actually exist in real life even though that was plainly absurd because the thing was right in front of me. Even though at one point one of the sharks swam up underneath the cage right where i was standing and a little but too close so natural instinct set in and I swam away as fast as possible unfortunately right over the british guy that was in the cage next to me. It was a surreal experience that I will never ever forget.





Until next time my fearsome predator, my stealthy fishy friend... I will meet you again off the shores of Dyer island and this time I am doubling the sea sickness medicine and in it for the long hall.

Meet Max

This is Max; he is a 5-month-old pit for adoption at Biscuits and Bath Adoption Center in New York. It is taking every inch of restraint in me not to go and get him right now. I love him and he would be Murphy’s bestest friend ever. I just really wish it were feasible to have two dogs in the city. But it barely makes sense to have one and I know if we have to move having Murphy is already a strike against us having two very large dogs (esp. a bully breed, even though Murphy is afraid of his own reflection) is just a huge headache in the world of renting.

I did possibly the most unintentionally upsetting thing I have done in a long time, I was looking at the dogs on petfinder because I always have my grand and glorious delusions of getting my very own puppy, I love Murphy but first and foremost he is Eric’s dogs. Even though I have wedged my way into cuddling with him in bed to the point where Eric is complaining that he is being pushed out of his own bed at night. Anyway, I thought it would be great to just google image some pictures of pit bulls, maybe find something interesting. Instead I found the most gut wrenching images I have ever seen. I don’t usually associate myself with most things along the lines of using animals for entertainment. I used to live within driving distance of Saratoga raceways and to this day have no motivation to ever go and bet on horse races. And although I was always aware of dog fighting in the city I have never had a formal introduction (and I hope to god I never get one past my google mistake). It brought up photographs of dogs that had been injured while fighting. These things looked like a horror movie, the skin on their faces stripped off so it was just raw looking. I considered re-googling the images to go along with this post but I cant. I left work with this sick feeling about how these animals had been treated. I guess it’s the same mentality for people that are physically abusive to anything, I just don’t understand how your neurons fire to make something like that all right and a normal thing for you to see and create. It’s just so sickening I can’t even wrap my mind around such a warped sense of a human being.

It took me a while to become comfortable with Murphy mainly because I had always grown up with cats, and from time to time when he feels the need to propel all 70 pounds on to the bed inevitable landing of your foot/arm/head/you name it or wakes up in the middle of the night just to run to the front door and bark like something is coming in to kill us when nothing is even with in 9 billion miles of the apartment. But I love him; We cuddle before bed, we hang out a what TV, he cuddles with me and Eric on the couch, and shakes his head back and forth to play with is toy on his own when no one feels like having their arms dislocated during the game of tug. I went home with a heavy heart that people in the world could be so mean . I gave Murphy pets and felt relieved that he didn’t have to be like that and have to fight dogs until he was raw or died. He is a good guy that could have very well be in the same situation since he was found in a dumpster by a sanitation worker before Eric adopted him. Who throws away a dog? What the fuck is that. You know Murphy is in combination with his owner are both some of the best things that have ever happened to me and I couldn’t imagine my day with out a pups to keep me company. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to sneak max home and keep him forever.

Ive been around the world...

It’s May, and so far I am planning to go to:

Boston
Utah
Chicago
Rochester 2xs
Albany (I know its not far, but i just had to include it)
South Carolina (for a wedding)
(Would love to get to go to) Washington DC
(Thinking about) California
and Maybe Philly PA

I was looking at my desk calendar and between now and September I don’t I think am physically home for a weekend. Between my jet-set travels and spending some good quality time working on my sun burn out at the beach house in Long Island i think its going to be a pretty insane and busy summer.

And to top it all off Eric and I are talking about Belize for my birthday in December!

If we are able to go through with it (money really being the only negative factor) that would be absolutely beautiful and amazing to be able to go and see it. Maybe if money gets tight we can sacrifice going to South America and hop a flight on jet blue to enjoy some reggaeton way down in Puerto Rico. Who needs the exotic and enticing aspects of the southern hemisphere of the world when you have Daddy Yankee? Ah jokes! And fingers crossed so that some day we can financially make it to Hong Kong (Eric’s home town). That will be approximately when we win the lottery or get away with a bank robbery.

“Reason #7 For Not Getting a Tattoo: People will know you are running your own life, instead of listening to them!” -Sailor Jerry Collins

Tonight I am going to go over to the Upstarts Tattoo show. I think the best part about it is getting to see Matt and Danielle in town form Atlanta. I went with them to Red Bamboo last night for some late night foods and to see Mo, and really realized that a Hugh part of my social life really changed when they went down south. I miss them a lot but I am always really excited to see them.

I am super excited to go tonight, mainly because I have always had a strange obsession with the art associated with tattooing and a profound respect for those that have the ability to do and the originality to get. I have always had ideas but I am a little bit of a baby to go ahead and get them, most of my ideas so far have averaged between 2-3 years of thinking before I decide to move forward. I am really interested in the thought process and everything that goes into best ideas and the people that have them and their ability to turn it all into the greatest pieces of work on their body. The evolution and collaboration between idea and artist.

It's not that I have any I regret, I think that my biggest thing when it comes to my first tattoo is that I wish I had waited, not because I am ashamed or that I am embarrassed at all ( although it's content could pretty much propel me into the pool of people most likely to find themselves on girls goon wild if they are not careful). What I got had and has meaning for me and I am glad I got it, my only hesitation is that I wish I had waited until I had the greater appreciation for the medium and had a more educated response to picking what was on me and who was the artist.Alas, It was the day of my 18th birthday and I would say I was a little naive. I’ve talked about getting a cover up only because I would like to have something with greater artistic merit to it, but in the same respect I love what it is and how i got it so I am sure the idea of a cover up will always be a back and forth . My 2nd (and 3rd depending on how you count) were done by Danielle who is a close friend, and that is what makes them that much more important and really special to me. I had someone I care about give me something that will never go away. (Thankfully I am not referring to herpes, although the way it might be worded when i read it over again could possibly conjure up that idea. Just making sure we are all on the same heartfelt page and not rolling around menatlly in the preverbal gutter) Everyone I know even those that are 60% plus covered have a bad one or two but I think its more the fact that they are a marker for a place in your life. And everything I have gotten (the teany tiny amount that i am referencing) have marked something important in my life (usually people) and that's really all the reason to have them that I need.


This is going to be the weekend of Tatting since we are also planning on hitting up the NYC Tattoo Convention at the Roseland ballroom on Sunday and checking out the different people there. Maybe I’ll find an artist to match my ideas and get in to some trouble.


If you get a chance you should come and support the Upstarts show, I have met a lot of really great people in NYC that tattoo or are in some way involved with the scene, it is well worth giving such awesome people your support.

"PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?

Its Monday afternoon at just about the time when I mentally checkout at work and have the inability to muster up enough brain waves to cope with even the simplest of tasks, that must mean its time for the usually weekend breakdown.


Friday: Left work a little early since no one was really working on anything. I met up with Eric and decided to go get some dinner so we went to this restaurant down the block from the mega -plex known as the Lowes on 14th Street/Union Square. I used to Intern at 770 Broadway when I was here for a summer at PDN. I was given $10 a day for lunch and not being as NYC savvy as I am know (i.e. having the knowledge to live off of pennies a day since in NYC you are perpetually just making the bills and 2 steps above hopelessly broke, well not that bad but lots of extra money is a rare commodity around these parts) I found out that I could go to the restaurant across the street (Silver spur) and get a avocado wrap for just about that amount, sometimes when I had a little left over it was a treat to get a milk shake. I learned this after one day not really knowing enough to have ordered a $9 salad expecting it to be a good amount and keep me fueled for the day... 6 corresponding pieces of basil and mozzarella slabs with 4 cherry tomatoes later I was the one with egg on my face rather than in my stomach where it would have been greatly appreciated for its nutritional value. Well, we graced the Silver spur again for dinner on Friday. It was fun to remember being here on my summers with no pay internships and hoping from apartment to apartment, at one point I was sharing a bed with a friend and splitting her rent for the room and living off of a bagel a day, as nostalgic as they might be I am glad that I can afford a bagel for breakfast and well as a good lunch and dinner after that. Being that broke and hungry wasn’t great at all. I got my usually avo wrap and Eric got a cow (not technically a cow but pretty close with the gigantic size of the burger). Then off to Spider man! There was an hour wait after scoping out the shortest line and scrambling for seats so that we could enjoy the movie. In the end it was a pretty good flick, I could have waited to see it instead of rushing to get tickets and stand in lines. Honestly Tobey McGuire cried way too much in it.

Saturday: Usual Prospect Park, then off to the city to meet up with Sara, Becky (in town from Boston), Heather, and Cate for Brunch at this place called Prune. It was pretty good, but I don’t think I want to make it a habit to pay $12 for eggs and a burned potato pancake. Afterwards went home walked Murphy and relaxed for a while. Got some Thai take out for dinner and met Cate to go to Steve’s Cinquo de Mayo/Studio warming party. It was incredible, I am seriously impressed with how well Steve is doing photo wise…really his studio is stunning. He was saying he wants to have people over to hang out on the balcony for summer Fridays, so I now have that to look forward to. It was awesome to see a ton of people from RIT and all the photo kids I see from time to time, I even saw a professor and accidentally called him by another profs name and quickly corrected myself (yikes!).

This is the view from the balcony, its not the best picture but gives you an idea of the glorious dight you got from 15 floors up!




Met Eric out at the party, he was super ampted cause that night was the last night of his externship. No more 70-hour weeks for him, now we actually have to spend time together…. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes (oh jokes!)

Sunday: slept in and woke up with my usual craving of wanting to have breakfast at home. Usually on Sunday mornings I just want to be at home rather than a crowded restaurant where I will over pay for food I can make just the way I like it at home. It took a little bit of coaxing but Eric finally agreed to make breakfast with me (by the end of this 14 hour days of cooking at his externship on Saturdays he doesn’t want to think about food or cooking). Cate came over for some fantastic cheesy eggs and French toast with some boca veggie sausages. We then gathered ourselves up after washing dishes and checked out the Court street Block party (NYC fancy way for saying street fair with tons of stuff you actually don’t want). However I did get a very pretty flower for my polka dotted pot I had bought the last time I was upstate. It’s a bright pink Dahlia hybrid. I am hoping I can do my best and not kill it; I’ve been doing pretty well with my foray into green thumbed-ness. Even my forget me nots from Target are beginning to grow!





We spent the rest of the day with a quick trip to Lowes to get some paint for Cate’s room next weekend. And the Eric and I took a trip to the met to get some snacks, and I took about 6 million photographs of the grocery store, cause that’s what you do when you get into nerd mode.








On the way home we happened upon the 5 - boro bike race going down the BQE it was a sight to see. Usually its just back to back traffic, today was a million billion bikers!



And watched Smokin' Aces, it was all right. Got some DUB Australian meat pies (well I got a veggie curry…but same idea nonetheless). Sopranos- Entourage-and Bed.

Tonight is my last class for work. I can’t tell you how excited I am to not have to go to a two-hour class on Mondays anymore!

And that’s it.

Tex-Mex. and Arachnids

You’re the best! Around! Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down!

King of Kong, a documentary directed by Seth Gordon (U.S.A.) – New York Premiere. To those in the know, no classic arcade game is more difficult than Donkey Kong. Maybe that's why the world record holder is so protective of his celebrity. Look inside this world of competitive gaming, as obsession and ego drive a diverse and fascinating group of individuals to fight over who is the real "King of Kong." A Picturehouse Release. Before Sony Playstations, Ninetendo Wiis and Microsoft Xboxes, diehard video gamers went to the arcade, where games like Space Invaders, Q*bert, Joust and Centipede ruled the day. But no classic arcade game was considered more difficult to master than the one that launched a character who would grace movies, television and future games for decades to come: Donkey Kong. In 1982, Walter Day-the owner of the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa-became the ""official"" record-keeper for video game high scores, and Life magazine asked him to bring together the world's greatest players for a photo spread. Among this group was Billy Mitchell, the world record holder on Centipede and soon-to-be king of Donkey Kong. Mitchell's score was considered unbeatable, and went unchallenged for a while. Mitchell grew up, and became a Florida hot-sauce mogul, but all along the way, he remained protective of his status as the grand champion of Donkey Kong. Like many social circles, Twin Galaxies is a clique not terribly friendly to outsiders, and Mitchell has always been their big man on campus. Seth Gordon's hilariously entertaining documentary focuses on the first real challenge to Mitchell's record, when the 35-year-old Steve Wiebe, former high school jock and musician, now seemingly perpetual runner-up, decides to bide his time, during yet another job layoff, trying to master Donkey Kong. The ensuing conflict between the mild-mannered Wiebe and the aggressive Mitchell (aided by his Twin Galaxies minions who treat the entire endeavor with the utmost seriousness) make a fun film that must be seen to be believed. A Picturehouse Release. —Aaron Dobbs
Last night our rep from a stock agency Sharon hooked us up with all access passes to the Tribeca Film Fest, there were no celebs since it was not a premier but it was still awesome to get a chance to go. Alex and I went down after work and wondered around the lower-lower side of Manhattan, I get seriously so lost down there. I have lived in this city in various places for 3 years now and there are more than a few areas that I can’t find my way around to save my life. So, after a lot of stopping and some turning around and a little bit of eyelash betting to get directions we finally found the theater on Vesey Street. We met with Sharon and eventually Eric after he go lost in the area for the better part of an hour. After a quick bite to eat we settled down to watch the movie.

I had a few reservations about the subject matter envisioning myself bored out of my mind watching nerds run around the screen talking about their highest level achieved . But I was wrong! Oh I was so wrong! This was more than likely the best movie I have seen in a very long time. I was so well done and the complexity of the characters, well they aren’t really characters since it’s a documentary. Anyways, I am in love with this movie. I would highly recommend it and would love to go on and on about the emotional ups and downs that are associated with the film (masterfully put to the fist pumping tunes of Joe Esposito’s “ You're the Best” with a little bit of “Eye of the tiger”) but I really don’t want to ruin it incase anyone gets a chance to see it. On the train ride home both Eric and I decided to write letters to Billy and tell him what a slime he was and that he didn’t deserve his fame within the cult of the uber arcade nerds, we also want to write to Steve Weibe and tell him that he is our hero. And to never underestimate the stamina of the underdog! And probably give him some advice to maybe play less video games and hangout with his wife who kind of didn’t get his journey to become the world record holder in Donkey Kong after getting laid off. I mean if she was a good wife she would totally understand her husband locking himself in the garage to video taping himself beating his highest score while you are left to tend to your two children, right?

Such a great film! When I got home I downloaded Joe Esposito’s “ You're the Best” and ran around the apartment pretending to be Karate Kid and telling Eric that Steve Weibe was my hero. I gave Murphy a bath cause he was smelling like a dog and that was getting really gross when he slept in the bed with us, and the other night when Eric rolled over and told me I smell like a dog and I had to let him know how sweet he was with and elbow to the ribs (a gentle one) and that is was the pillows from HIS smelly dog laying on them.


This morning I woke up and rolled over to pushed play on my ipod player to wake up to“ You're the Best”, ran around the apartment again like a crazy person. While Eric and I were walking to the train I told him I think if I ever get married I want that song to be the wedding song, Eric just looked at me and said sometimes he wonder what goes on in my head. We parted ways at the F train for me to go to Manhattan to my job and him to go further into Brooklyn to Park slope. One more listen to the Karate Kid theme song and I was on my way to work! I really don’t think you can have a bad day when you wake up to that song.

Tonight the plan is hit up lush on my way home to get some over priced, organic, vegan coco nutty smelly conditioner (as mush as I complain its really the only thing that works. and I really love it. I tried to out smart myself the last time I finished the bottle and went to buy ghetto Eckerd rip off Pantene conditioner for $2.99….not the same. Alas I will have to dig deep into the pockets for the good stuff) and then home to run with David. We had a semi-pathetic one last Tuesday so today we have to step it up. Then relax time.

Seriously I am deliriously amped on listening that song.

And this morning the coffee cart guy gave me a muffin with my iced coffee cause I have “pretty eyes and a gorgeous smile” and he made me promise to go back and get my coffee there tomorrow, I don’t know if I am flattered or creped out!

May Day

Well everything has been kind of quiet since last week. So here’s a quick update:

Friday: Eric and I went to Pacifico Restaurant just off of Smith Street in the neighborhood for dinner. It was kind of special; it is where we had our first date. We haven’t gone back in (gulp) almost 2 years (come August… how did that happen?!). Afterwards we just walked around a bit, then Cate came over and we watched Grey’s Anatomy and went to bed. I know we are out of hand! In bed by 11 pm on a Friday!

Saturday: Up early and out the door to meet Christine to go run Prospect Park. It was a good run, but man it going to take me a little longer not to struggle through those 3.25 miles. We did all right, had to catch out breath only once up the steep hill at the end. Went home and showered then headed back to Park slope to get my haircut. I think I may have finally found someone I like to have cut my hair, and although not cheap I think I could probably afford it better than the other places I have been trying. Afterwards I was supposed to meet Sawyer at a show in Bushwick, the combination of up at 8 am and running those miles wiped me out. So I have to make the “I’m going to lame out” phone call, and just relaxed for a few. That night we met up with Dan, Cate, Bob and his lady to go to Vegas since a friend works there and it was their last night open. Eric, Traci, and Nigel met up with us when i was pretty much exhausted but I held out a little longer to see them and then headed home to bed.

Sunday:We all woke up and had brunch, with lots of inappropriate conversation. It was very funny and lucky for us there were no children within earshot of us. We headed out and picked up some food at Fairway and then home for the usual cooking and cleaning that happens on Sunday afternoon. After soup was made and floors were washed we napped then got up to have diner and Sorapnos over at 132 Degraw.

Last night was my class for work. See, I told you nothing of note has been going on.

Tonight: I am going running with David, who has decided to move to Boston to be with his lady friend. I’m going to miss having him around to hangout with a lot, at least it will be one more excuse for me to go hang out in Boston and see my friends there. Well I have one more month with my running partner #2 (David) so we’ll have to get in as many good runs as possible! Esp since I only have one more month before my first 5k! After that I am supposed to meet Cate at this new Italian place she has wanted to go to again for a while. So it will be a quiet night, but i have no complaints at all. I think i need sometime that is just quiet for a few days once in a while.

Tomorrow: I am pretty excited, although I don’t know what to expect! I was asked to go to the Tribeca Film Festival. Who knows what we are going to see, I really haven't even had time to look into whatis going on with the fest and who is playing and what films have attracted crtic attentions. So it will be interesting! I have always had a celebrity crush on Robert De Niro (Not that I really find him attractive just awe-inspiring as an actor more or less). So I was really excited when the chance to go to the fest was presented to me. I wrote back saying I didn’t care what we saw I just wanted to go. So I’ll have to update on Thursday with my experience, and what (and maybe who !) we see.