Sunday's Song (Music Monday)

{I was unable to post this song yesterday from the road b/c I lost my phone! So here it is, a day late...still beautiful, still very appropriate...}

Now to go find a new battery charger for my camera, and see what to do about my phone mishap.

Sidenote: I am not sure that I am really spiritual but I believe in fate, or that things do happen for a reason...and I really think that my phone disappeared on me or was stolen for a reason. Even if it wasn't...I find that it makes it easier to think like this...to agree that some magical dragonfly is swooping in watching over me. Maybe I needed to be late enough to miss the last train back to Brooklyn, maybe it was important to sit on the front porch a little longer. Maybe if I had my phone I would have texted while driving and crashed my car...maybe I just needed a hiatus...or to feel what it is like to disconnect for a little. Who knows...it is ironic that I lost my phone though right after a long conversation about how we as humans used to get by just fine, if not better before cell phones.


Without further pause...here is Sunday's Song on a Monday. Beck, Lost Cause:



{The more new memories I make in my old town, the easier it gets, the better I feel. This weekend was so much fun, and I will post photos really shortly of my trip up to Providence!}

xoh!

d

celebrate!

{This is what teachers do on the last day of school with kiddos, this is how teachers FEEL on the last day of teaching.  We love those little patoots, but man, summer break feels good!}

 most ineffective picture block ever!

also, side note:

This rules, and I want to do it too!

xoh!

d

Jaime Lowe Guest Blogger for Bust Magazine!

{so awesome}

My dear friend Jaime Lowe has left me high and dry in New York City without my favorite dance buddy, park partner and shopping sidekick to head out on tour with The Body singing for the The Assembly of Light Women's Choir.

If that wasn't cool enough, she is blogging about the whole experience with Bust Magazine!

Be sure to follow the blog, and her journey: and if you are in any of these towns: check out the awesomeness that is The Body teaming up with these amazing ladies!


Friday June 17 Philly, PA @ Pi Lam w/ serpent throne, trophy wife

Saturday June 18, Pittsburgh, PA @ Braddock Carnegie Library Theater w/earth, o paon, onodrim

Sunday June 19 Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head Club @ Sonar

Monday June 20 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor w/ braveyoung

Tuesday June 21 Jacksonville, FL @ Warehouse 8B w/civilization

Wed. June 22 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn

Thursday June 23 Greensboro, North Carolina @ Legitimate Business w/braveyoung

Friday June 24 Washington DC @ St. Stephen's Church w/braveyoung

Saturday June 25 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

Sunday June 26th Providence, RI @ AS220

Follow her blog here: 

A Tour Diary: 14 Ladies, 9 Cities, 1 Choir

xoh!

d

8 weeks to a better me: Week Seven (Personal Style)

{a funny thing happened on the way to the blog....}

I was downloading and looking through random photos that I have in order to show what kinds of things I usually wear.  I was thinking that the target of my Personal Style goals could be to pare down some of the weirdo things that I own.  Who, after all, needs 5 gowns from the 70s one in lime green with metal details?  Who needs 15 pairs of lamé pants and every color of lamé top and high waisted booty shorts possible?  And why do I actually have an entire portion of my closet devoted to "costumes"?

Then I realized...because it is FUN, and I like it, and it's ME! 

Sure the closet article in Shape magazine gave me a little bit of inspiration, having a sparse closet with a few choice pieces sounds great...but what kind of terrible predicament would I be in when invited to a hillbilly dance party, a zombie festival or an 80s prom dance party...I would have nothing to wear! Let's face it, that is just unacceptable.

Sure I have a lot of clothes, and yes, I have a lot of impractical clothes too, but for right now...I am not over playing dress up!

So here are my 3 personal style goals for this week:

Goal 1:  Cut up and redesign any clothing that I just never wear.  Donate things that are nice enough to donate, or put vintage wear for sale.

Goal 2:  Put aside any shoes that need repair, donate or get rid of shoes that are beyond repair or that I haven't worn all season.

Goal 3:  Switch seasonal clothing out and reorganize school clothing versus play clothing (Mister Rogers style).

Thanks Danielle and Elsie for the inspiration!

xoh!

d

OOPS! I guess I took a video!...so, hi!

{whatever, I am a total nerd}

ps: thanks youtube for that totally flattering still...hahaha!

xoh!

d

Tonight: Museum Mile Festival NYC

{Tonight is the one and only Museum Mile Festival in NYC!}

The festival is HUGE and amazing and a great opportunity for adults and children alike to get their fix of a ton of art, FREE!  Nine Museums total open their doors for free for a mile long block party celebrating art!  What could be better?!

Museum Mile welcomes its newest member, the Museum for African Art, slated to open in September 2011. Be sure to stop by their table at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street.

Here is a schedule of events taken from the Museum Mile website: 

6:00pm:

On view: EL MUSEO’S BIENAL: The (S) Files opens to the public!

VOCES Y VISIONES: Signs, Systems and the City in El Museo del Barrio's Permanent Collection

Art-making activity: Create your own headdress

Photo booth: Citizen of El Barrio!

6:30pm:

Performance: Capoeira and West African dance by Harlem’s Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in conjunction with Museum for African Art.

7:00pm:

Performance art: Artist Rafael Sánchez re-creates Papo Colo's 1977 piece Superman 51

7:15pm:

Live music: Johnny Colón and his Orchestra

8:15pm:

Sound Presentation: DJ Sonidero Potencia Latina

All evening:

On the street: Sidewalk chalk drawing

Plus: Superman 51 - artist running down mile

DJs Potencia Latina

Johnny Colón and his orchestra

{What a GREAT event, don't you just LOVE living in NYC?!}

xoh!

d 

Street by Street, Block by Block

{I am really sorry if this title gets that song stuck in your head! OOPS!}

NYC is interesting because the neighborhoods change street by street and block by block in a way that I haven't really seen in another city. I felt this very heavily weigh on me when I was searching for apartments and was jumped. I also felt this the other day when I biked from Windsor Terrace (by Park Slope) over to Bushwick. I hadn't realized that I routed myself right through Bed Stuy...not exactly the best place for me to be biking alone in short shorts and a tank top...and also the location of where I was previously jumped...so I felt a bit squirmy and just kept on pedaling!

It is a blessing and a curse that the neighborhoods change so quickly...wandering around by yourself can be a really fun past time...but not if you wander yourself lost in an area where people are no longer friendly.

I work in Harlem, and feel completely safe there...(knock on wood)...even though my friend and I had a bottle thrown at us the other night. I felt completely safe in Bed Stuy and almost signed a lease at an apartment right beside a HUGE community garden...but decided to sleep on it before signing and walked outside one block and was jumped. Getting jumped the first time in that neighborhood didn't exactly scream Home Sweet Home to me! I immediately set my sights for a different area.

The other day I was driven home by my friend in his fancy little BMW (because my crappy car broke down at his house) and when he dropped me off at my apartment building he told me that I live in the projects. To this day I am honestly not certain if he is joking...I MIGHT live in projects? Who knows! I will say this though...I took a walk back to get my car the other day...and you tell me WHO lives in a better area!

My walk in photos:

so in my neighborhood, homemade "lemonaid" stand signs, pretty leaves and a playground...and his neighborhood broken windows, a hanger suspisciously looking like a dead baby chicken (I let my imagination run wild), a stripped and deserted bicycle, and a warning about staying safe hmmm...

I love my apartment in the "projects!"
xoh!
d