Pushing pushmepullyou design

One of my favorite artists is Eleanor Grosch of pushmepullyou design. [Full disclosure: I was introduced to her work by Larry, who worked with her in 2005 to create a poster for a benefit show he organized. I loved the poster she did for the benefit, but she became one of my favorite artists all of her own accord--by which I mean her incredible talent, wit and design sensibility.] She is constantly creating new animal illustrations that are both modern and whimsical, like the city pigeon that I hope to add to our collection soon, along with the mourning dove. Her prints are affordable and way cooler than some tired "masterpiece" poster. Plus she silkscreens all of her work by hand, with an average print run of 50 (each piece is numbered), so you're getting a limited edition piece. But the best part is that you'll have her beautiful print on your wall and it will make you happy every time you look at it. Trust me!

If you're not ready to commit to a print, Eleanor also has a collection of greeting cards and post cards that are just as fun. We got a few cards last year at Bumbershoot and I love them--bright, colorful and A6-sized, which is larger than the average 4-bar note card and therefore quite handy when you want to write a little longer note. And at $10.00 for 6 cards, they're a downright steal. Right now I'm liking the mice a lot, but they're all pretty darn cool. There are lots of other fun things to buy on her site too, but since this blog is about paper I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to visit and see for yourself, but be warned, it's hard to resist.

What does $8.325 million buy?

Apparently, a head-case pitcher who gives up 6 runs in the first 1/3 of the first inning. That's right, at tonight's game Jeff Weaver pitched line drive after line drive, allowing nearly the entire Royals batting order to hit off of him. Now I know he has a history of pitching badly in April, but this has to be a new low. They should take him out of rotation for a while and get him to a good sports psychologist so he can get his confidence back. Because when I start feeling relieved that they put Mateo in, it is NOT a good sign.

So what do you do when it's the bottom of the first inning and you know your team is going to lose? You eat. Tonight was an unparalleled festival of gluttony. Major and minor league hotdogs, a cheeseburger and french fries, warm peanuts, disgusting yet delightful nachos with cheese and salsa, one desperate-attempt-to-warm-up coffee, a souvenir size Sierra Mist, and finally the really-cold-but-still-awesome-7th-inning Dr. Pepper. Mmm. We got to the ballpark early so we could watch batting practice, which was fun--we're usually the ones dashing in halfway through the first inning, so it was nice to be settled and watch all the pre-game rituals. It also meant we didn't have to stand in line as long for food...I think we'll have to remember that trick for next time.

The other highlight (besides watching my favorite player Yuni) was watching Raul Ibanez in left field. He made 3 really sweet catches tonight, one for a very exciting double play. Even on a bad night, it's still fun to be at the ballpark.

Oh for the life of a cat

Other than a brief period from 2:30-3:00 spent whining for their lunch and then eating it, this is what the boys have done today. I have to admit I'm a little jealous.

A few of my favorite things, weekend edition

homemade ice cream
cocktails at noon on a Saturday
The Namesake--go see it immediately, it is just soooo good. ps. Bring Kleenex.
Rex Lee as Lloyd on Entourage
lying on the couch all morning with the Sunday NY Times
springtime in Seattle

The joy of television

I love TV. At any moment of the day it's there, waiting to suck you in with a Lifetime movie, classic music video, or syndicated sitcom (of which the best by far is still Golden Girls, thank you very much). But I hate the end of the season, when you're never sure whether or not your new favorite shows will get picked up for another 18 or 24 episodes. Cases in point: Friday Night Lights and Veronica Mars. Now I know V Mars is actually in its 3rd season, but I just started watching it this year. I became obsessed so quickly that seasons 1 & 2 on DVD showed up in my Christmas stocking and were devoured in 2 sleepless, junk-food filled weekends (and a couple of very late weeknights). Sure, there are 5 more episodes to go (indicating that CW might order more for fall), but they are stand-alone mysteries that won't have the same emotional and dramatic arc of a season-long investigation. And there's no guarantee that it will be back in September. Then there's FNL, which I never thought I would be watching so religiously, but it's seriously one of the best shows on TV right now. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are so great as the football coach and his counselor wife. Add to that an adorable romance between the quarterback and the coach's daughter, a fabulous supporting cast that provides intriguing sub-plots every week, and the sheer adrenalin of watching the Dillon Panthers play, and I find myself glued to the couch. How could NBC even think of cancelling it? I just don't understand how TV execs make their decisions these days. Take a show like Studio 60: yes, it's true that despite having a gifted writer and stellar cast, the series had a very uneven season and has often come across as more preachy than funny. But should it really be cancelled to make room for another violent family drama like The Black Donnellys or, when NBC decides that's a dud too, another reality show? Um, NO. Studio 60 has the potential to turn into something great--even with its dull moments, there's still intelligent writing and genuine comedy. It deserves a second chance!

Just as the network season is coming to and end, Bravo is following its Wednesday cash cow slot (aka 10 pm) into the salon with Shear Genius, yet ANOTHER attempt to follow the Project Runway formula. Now I like Top Chef but just couldn't get into Top Design--Todd Oldham put me right to sleep. Shear Genius, however, is luring me back into the land of wooden hosts, celebrity guest judges and lots o'drama, which this time is all about the hair. With real people saying things like, "I AM success" and "If I had just had 20 more feathers it would have been explosive," how can you go wrong? It's so bad it's awesome. If you're looking for a new guilty pleasure, look no more. And even if you're not, you should prepare yourself to be sucked in, because it's only a matter of time before they air the Shear Genius marathon. You know you can't resist...

Tiptoe through the tulips with me...

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is in full bloom up at Mount Vernon through April 30th. Now I know you can't actually tiptoe through the tulips or they'd be ruined long before the end of the month, but it seems there is a shocking lack of songs written about tulips so it was the best I could come up with. Christine and I checked the festival out last Friday (more on her trip in my next post), and I think this weekend will be the best time to get out there before petals start dropping off.


This one's for you, Christine!



Tulip Town is totally worth the drive, and the 4 bucks admission. Just be sure to eat lunch before you go, or eat there--no outside food is allowed.



Tulip Town


And it was all yellow...

(I wanna) call it love

This will be my last post for a week or so, as Christine is coming to visit from LA and it looks like she's bringing the sun with her--hooray! But I have to write about the fabulous show we went to on Monday night. Sondre Lerche and The Faces Down played at the Crocodile Cafe, the first time he's headlined Seattle since 2004. (In between he opened for Elvis Costello at the Paramount, but it was just him and his guitar.) I have a soft spot for Sondre because Larry took me to that 2004 show on our first date. So of course I would love him just for being a part of our history, but in addition to that he is one of the best pop singers playing nowadays. His music is so catchy, the rhythm is tight, there are interesting little twists and turns in each song, and did I mention the brilliant lyrics? Like these: Just like in that old movie about Carlotta's spell /I feel obsessed like Scottie felt/ minus the drama and the fraud /I hope I got to get into her way /Out of my way. Truly, he's fantastic.

Now, Sondre's albums are great on their own, but nothing can really compare to seeing him live--especially when he plays with The Faces Down. Morten (bass), Kato (guitar) and Ole (drums) are the most entertaining band I've seen recently. Maybe those Norwegians know something the rest of us don't, because the 4 of them together had soooo much fun onstage Monday night that it was contagious. I found myself grinning like an idiot through most of the show because it was just so fun to watch their antics. They weren't even antics, really; you could just tell they were having a good time. It's refreshing to see a band so lacking in pretension. That's not to say they don't take their music seriously, because they're all obviously very accomplished on their respective instruments. During Monday's show we were treated to several mini jam sessions within individual songs, which is often the best part of going to see live music. You won't hear anything like that just by putting a CD in the stereo. It was especially fascinating to hear them, after having jammed for a few minutes, bring it back around and return to the song. Lots of bands do this, but few do it so well.

We missed the opening act, but I really liked the second singer Willy Mason. He's got a Johnny Cash, Mason Jennings kind of sound and his voice is really quite hypnotic. I felt bad for him because he was sick, but in my opinion it just added to his charm because it enhanced the bluesy, scratchy quality of his voice. I'm definitely going to be adding his album to our collection.

Interestingly enough given my last post, Sondre's playing The Waiting Room in Omaha tonight. Seriously, when did Omaha get so cool?

Update: The Omaha show has been cancelled because they're stuck in a snowstorm. See, this is why I live on the west coast.

Somewhere in middle America

Today's NY Times Travel magazine has an article about Omaha, where I spent many of my formative years. It's funny how it never felt like home when I lived there, but now the longer I'm gone the more nostalgic I become about it. I get especially nostalgic when Larry and I start looking at real estate and realize that for the price of a teeny-tiny home in Fremont we could practically have a mansion in Omaha. Then again, I always say that the catch is that we'd have to live there. This article, however, reminded me of all the wonderful things Omaha has to offer, and it's got me longing to go back...to visit. I just don't think I could live in the midwest again after living next to the ocean for so many years, and I'll take a rainy Seattle winter over a snowy Nebraska winter anyday. But for a long weekend in late spring or early fall, Omaha could be a great destination.

In case you're visiting anytime soon, here are a few of my favorite Omaha locales:

The Old Market in downtown Omaha--I could (and did) spend hours sifting through old sheet music at Antiquarium, which is still my favorite used book store anywhere. I also like Ted & Wally's, The Diner, The Underground, and Retro Recycle (although the incense can be a bit much). Christine and I used to eat at Spaghetti Works in the Old Market on a very regular basis. Mmm, spumoni!

Also in the Old Market: Delice European Bakery. I love their chocolate mousse in its own edible chocolate cup, and the fresh fruit tartlets. I also recommend any of their savory pastries for lunch. Yum!

Catch a movie at Dundee Theatre, the very last single-screen movie theater in Omaha. It really is the best.

I love thrift shopping on 24th Street, and at the 84th Street Goodwill. The thrift stores in both Omaha and Lincoln are awesome--not overshopped or overpriced, and you can find great vintage pieces. Although maybe I shouldn't be sharing this information...

See a show at Sokol Hall. Sadly, I wasn't cool enough to know about the great acts that come to Sokol when I was younger, but if I lived there now it would definitely be on my list of favorites. Just a few of their upcoming shows are (local talent) Tilly and the Wall, Aqueduct and Tapes 'N Tapes.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it. If there's anything you think I missed, let me know!

One of my least favorite things (canine edition)

I love dogs. I plan to have a dog or two someday. What I do not love is the person who, every week on trash day AFTER the trash has been picked up, leaves their stinky dog poo in our empty trash can. It's gotten to the point where I wait for the garbage truck to come, then go out immediately after the trash has been picked up to put the can away before they can strike again. But sometimes I forget, or have to be gone for a while, and then I come home to that stealthily dropped plastic bag in the bottom of my trash can and get angry all over again. I know I'm crossing the line into crotchety-old-man territory, and will soon be angrily waving my morning paper at the neighbor kids while wearing a bathrobe over my white t-shirt, plaid shorts and sandals with socks, but I can't help myself. Other people's dog poo is just gross.

You call this spring?!?

Sunday was the most perfect kind of spring day--sunny and beautiful, with just enough breeze that you're comfortable, but warm enough to drive with the windows down and wear shorts to play tennis at the park.

This morning it's sunny, but it's 33 degrees outside and there's frost on all of the cars.

Is the Fremont troll punishing us for Missy's impertinence last fall?

I still remember

Okay, it's a week late, but here's the Bloc Party review:

The evening kicked off with Seattle pop duo Smoosh, who were fabulous as always. Their music just makes me happy, and Chloe can really rock out on the drums. I was a little sad because we arrived in the middle of their set after dinner at Dahlia Lounge (we could have skipped dessert to make it on time, but how can you go to Dahlia and not have their doughnuts?) Fortunately we saw them last fall at the 826 benefit, and since we live here I'm sure we'll get to see them again before the year is over. Up next was Final Fantasy, the name Canadian singer Owen Pallett gives his solo project. He played violin (extremely well) and a little Casio keyboard and sang, while a cute girl made movies on an old-school overhead projector using different colored and cut-out transparencies (just like high school!). I loved it. My favorite movie started with a transparency that had a black and white drawing of a winding path that went over a lake; there was a giant tree that cut through the middle. As the song went on, she put different colors of perfectly cut-out transparency over each part of the drawing until it was all colored in. Then she had a transparency with a drawing of a little man that she floated over the original drawing so it looked like he was walking down the path. It probably doesn't sound as cool as it actually was, but the overall effect was incredibly charming. I should also mention that Owen has a lovely voice, and that his new album is called I Poo Clouds. I'd love to hear the back story behind that title...

Seattle was the first stop on Bloc Party's US tour to promote their new album, and they put on an amazing opening night show. If I were 10 years younger, I would have been down front dancing, but as it was we enjoyed watching the kiddies go crazy from our seats off to the side. (I know I'm still young, but since it was an all-ages show I felt really old next to all the little 15 year-olds...plus I just hate standing for 3-4 hours straight at shows nowadays, so I certainly feel old.) But I digress! Bloc Party's songs combine serious lyrics about modern day London with these incredibly catchy beats. The music was brilliant, their energy level was through the roof, and they looked good onstage.

About halfway through it became clear that the best part of the show for me was watching Russell, and of course Russell's hair. (see pictures below) I had just seen a similar haircut in a Prada ad earlier that day and was totally in love with it. It's the kind of cut that is soooo cool but looks good on noone but the model, you know? But! It looked completely natural on Russell. He was just adorable. I just wanted to give him a hug, he was so cute. I'll stop now since I'm starting to sound like a stalker, but seriously--the hair!!! Anyways, it was Russell's 26th birthday on Sunday, so at one point between songs Kele got the whole crowd to sing Happy Birthday to him; it was a sweet gesture and of course we all sang along. That kind of collective energy is what makes going to live shows so much fun--you just don't have experiences like that sitting at home on your couch! So if Bloc Party is coming to your town, get thee to the box office today and pick up your tickets. It's well worth it, plus you'll get to see Russell's hair for yourself. And you do not want to miss that.

Addendum to AFoMFT, late edition

Just got home from the Bloc Party show and my official new favorite thing is...

Russell's hair!





(photo by Jenna Decker; see more of her work here.)


(photo by Juliette Robert; see more of her work here.)

I'll post a full review of the show tomorrow, but in the meantime, how cute is Russell's hair???!!??!?

A few of my favorite things, early daylight savings time edition

NPR made a great point yesterday: if we now only have standard time 5 months out of the year, can it really be called "standard" time? Hm. But on with the list...

Swedish pop music
pink champagne
owls
pushmepullyou design
having Fridays off!

The extremely early bird does not get the worm.

We're having a yard sale tomorrow to raise money for my good friend Christine and have put out quite a bit of publicity in the papers and online. The sale will be from 9-4, and I specified no early birds, but another friend who is experienced in yard sales warned me that they would show up anyways. Well, I guess she was right. An elderly gentleman just rang our doorbell asking if he could come in and see the books that we would be selling tomorrow. When I said no, he asked if he could come back tonight. I said no again. Then he asked if he could come at 7 tomorrow morning and played the age card to gain sympathy (he's 75). I finally said he could come at 8 and hang around until I get the books set up. Which I know is unfair to the people who will come at 9, and I feel a little bad about that, but I just did't feel like arguing with him. On the bright side, it's nice to know that at least one person will be coming to the sale tomorrow!

Shameless plug for my fabulous mechanic

If you live in Seattle and are looking for a good mechanic, may I suggest Dr. Don's Automotive in Ballard? They are just awesome. Honest, helpful and downright friendly.

Eew.

This morning I dropped my car off for an oil change, then took the bus home. On the bus I witnessed something that nobody should ever have to see: public grooming. A man sitting nearby was using a fingernail clipper to trim his chin hairs. On the bus!!!

After a few seconds of appalled staring, I regained my sense of politeness and thereafter stuck to furtive glances in his direction to see if he could possibly be doing what I thought he was doing. (He was.) He appeared to be using the reflection from the bus window for a mirror, as he pulled his chin skin taut with one hand and clipped with the other. Blech. I mean, we all know that natural light is the best light for facial grooming, but come on! Doing it in public is just unnecessary and wrong. I've had this image seared into my corneas for the past hour, so hopefully posting this will clear my brain, much like passing along an earworm helps get it out of your head...

I can't believe it's going to be March next week, or the Andy Rooney post.

Seriously, this year is flying by at record speed. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Last Monday we saw Camera Obscura at Neumo's and they were brilliant. I've missed them the last two times they came to town, so I was excited to finally hear them live. I was a teeny bit sad that they didn't play "Books Written for Girls," but it's pretty slow so maybe it would have been too much of a downer. They did play my favorite-est song of theirs, though, ("Suspended from Class") so I can't complain.

On Valentine's Day we went to the Triple Door for a special Jesse Sykes show. She played some old songs and of course, lots of stuff from the new album which came out last week. Get thee to Sonic Boom and check it out! One thing I love on this album, besides the music, is that in the liner notes where all the musicians are listed, there are hand-clap credits. Now my new goal is to be a hand-clapper for her next record. Jesse, if you're reading this, I'll do it for free as long as I get a credit....

Over the weekend I saw Music and Lyrics. It's worth seeing it for the music video alone, but I will definitely be adding the DVD to my collection when it comes out.

We also celebrated Chinese New Year Saturday, and spent lots of time shopping and cooking for our New Year feast. Saturday night our friends Rod and Shannon came over and we ate: dumplings; ma po doufu; beef with snow peas and oyster sauce; ants climbing trees (bean thread with pork); sweet and sour shrimp; chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, mu shu pork, and roast duck (we bought a whole one from Uwajimaya). For dessert we had ginger and green tea ice creams--yum. Sunday night Missy and Jessie came over and we ate: leftover chinese broccoli and sweet and sour shrimp; sole with mushrooms and rice wine; shrimp with ribbon noodles; vegetarian ma po doufu; vegetarian ants climbing trees; bok choy with garlic. For dessert Missy and Jessie brought puppy chow (I think it's rice chex with peanut butter, chocolate and confectioner's sugar, but I don't want to know the recipe or I'd make it all the time). We'll be eating leftovers all this week, but I don't mind because Larry is an awesome cook so it's all delicious. Plus it means we won't have to cook for a while!

You better not kill the groove...

Thanks to The Imaginary Socialite for reminding me how much I loooove this song and video! You can go to Sophie's website to hear a bit of her new single; the album comes out in a couple of weeks. You know it's going to be dance-tastic.

A sad day for the opera world

Composer Gian Carlo Menotti died today in Italy. He composed many wonderful operas of the 20th century, among them The Medium, one of my favorites. He is probably best known, however, for his sweet, classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Amahl premiered on television in 1951 and is still shown at the holidays. You can read Menotti's obituary from the New York Times here; may he rest in peace.

I love that dirty water...

Larry's sister lives in Boston, so we got to stay there for a few days between Christmas and New Year's. The first day we drove up to Freeport, Maine to visit the gigantic L.L. Bean. Of course we had to take a picture by the giant boot.

On the way there we stopped at the DeLorme headquarters in Yarmouth to visit Eartha, the world's largest globe. I'm still partial to the world's largest buffalo, but we had fun checking Eartha out.

The next day Larry's parents drove up for some family sightseeing fun. [Sidenote--I need to mention that we got coffee the first two days at Diesel Cafe, which had the best coffee I drank on the east coast. If you live in Boston I highly recommend it.] We walked through the Public Garden, which I found out has a fascinating (and well-deserved) monument to ether. We also walked a good chunk of the Freedom Trail...

and visited the Paul Revere House. One thing about the house that I found really interesting was the discolored glass in the windows:

The guide told us that homeowners ordered their glass from England and had it shipped over. The mass-produced glass would often have particles of dust or other imperfections in it, so while the window arrived as clear glass, the individual panes would discolor over time. I think it would be cool to have that happen to your windows--it's like having your own custom stained glass.

The next day, the 30th, we took a tour of Fenway Park. It was exciting to be in the park, although it would be even more exciting if we were at a game. Or if Big Papi was our tour guide. Still, it was fun to learn Red Sox trivia, like that former owners Tom and Jean Yawkey's initials are written in Morse code on the manual scoreboard. Now I'm going to spend every home game looking for them.

By the way, those seats behind us go for $450 a pop, and that's only if your number is chosen after you enter the lottery for them. But the view is amazing...

We had purchased buttons for the First Night celebration, which gets you free admission into a ton of places. So on New Year's Eve we headed first to the New England aquarium, which had free admission till noon. The penguins there are seriously cute. Then it was on to the Old State House, Old Granary Burial Ground, and Otis House Museum (also old, but the word is not featured in the title). We had dinner at Whole Foods, where Larry got a slice of "Manny" pizza--they describe it as "pizza just being pizza." Love it!

Finally, for no other reason than that I think this is a really cute picture, here's one last shot of Boston:

Cheers!