Saturday, January 31, 2009

greenwich village

Today was spent recovering from last night/catching up on sleep and then becoming my own tour guide in Greenwich Village.  Last night 15 of us went to a party in SoHo and got home around 3:30 AM.  

In Greenwich, Stephanie and I saw the following:

Thomas Paine's House
     More accurately, the location where Paine's house used to be.  Marie's Crisis, a piano bar, now occupies the spot.  For those of you who haven't brushed up on your US history, Thomas Paine was one of the early American patriots and wrote "Common Sense," a piece that helped inspire the American Revolution.  Next door is Arthur's Tavern which has been in existence since the 1930s and has seen the likes of many jazz and blues artists including Charlie Parker.  

John Wilkes Booth's House
     This is the house where Booth planned Lincoln's assassination.  It's now a laundry mat.  

Wood House
     On the corner of Bedford and Grove is a rare wooden house (wooden houses were banned in 1866 due to fire hazards) that was built in 1822.

Civil War Brothel
     Behind the wooden house is a gabled home that used to serve as a brothel during the Civil War.

"Friends" Apartment Building
     To the left of the wooden house is an apartment building that served as the exterior of the "Friends" (show) apartment building.

Grove Court
     On Grove Street is Grove Court, a private park-like setting that is now prized for it's tranquility. 

Church of St. Luke in the Fields
     This is the third oldest church in New York (built in 1821) and Clement Clarke Moore, one of its founders, was the author of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

66, 65 & 64 Morton St.
     The house at 66 Morton St. was used for the movie Working Girl and Harrison Ford used to live here.  John Belushi was living at 64 Morton St. when he died in 1982.  Across the street is where the alleged Communist spies, the Rosenbergs, lived at 65 Morton.

The Narrowest Home in NYC
     On Bedford Street is the narrowest home in New York City - 75 1/2 Bedford St.  It is less than 10 feet wide and used to serve as the driveway/carriageway of the home next door.  Pulitzer Prize winner Edna S. Vincent Millay lived here.  The house next door, 77 Bedford, is the oldest house in Greenwich Village (built in 1799).

Washington Irving's House
     On Commerce St. is the house where Washington Irving, the author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, used to live.  

Chumley's
     We couldn't see Chumley's because the chimney collapsed in April 2007 and it is still being renovated, but we walked by where the entrance would have been.  This was a famed speakeasy during the Prohibition and was the hangout for the likes of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Faulkner, Dylan Thomas, and many others.  

Goodfellas/Bleecker's Corner
     This is a quaint little three story brick building built in 1802.

Magnolia Bakery
     This is the bakery that was featured in "Sex and the City" where Carrie and Miranda always enjoyed the bakery's famous cupcakes.  Even today at about 6 PM, tons of people were lined outside to get something at the bakery.  

Milk & Cookies
     This is another bakery in Greenwich that is perhaps the "up and coming" bakery to rivel Magnolia.  Stephanie and I had delicious cookies and some hot chocolate to warm up.

The White Horse Tavern
     Another famous literary bar, frequented by Norman Mailer, Kerouac, Anais Nin, Jim Morrison, and Dylan Thomas.  This is one of the oldest pubs in NYC, dating back to the 1880s.  

Waverly Place
   The Witches of?

The Village Vanguard
     This is an old-school jazz club that's been around since 1935.  Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk have played and recorded albums here.

St. Vincent's Hospital
     This is the hospital famed for caring for the survivors of the Titanic.

66 Perry Street
     The exterior of this building is supposed to be where Carrie lived in "Sex and the City."

74 Charles Street
     Woody Gutherie lived here.


We didn't actually finish our tour because it got to dark and cold, but we'll start up again near Christopher Park that was home to the gay rights movement in '69.  Tomorrow we're going to see the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown and then touring around.

Friday, January 30, 2009

gallery hopping

Yesterday my seminar went gallery hopping all day.  We started out at the Sara Meltzer Gallery with an artist talk by Peter Rosovsky.  (See list below for specifics.)  We went to dinner at a Zagat rated restaurant called Don Giovanni.  It was really good but we had to eat fast to make it to a lecture given by writer and professor Susan Buck-Morss at the School of Visual Arts on how ideas of empire and sovereignty are reflected in visual imagery.

Today was my first day working at the Morgan Lehman Gallery.  I had fun, I even got to go visit three other galleries nearby.

Sandra Vasquez de la Horra - Viva la Musa!  (I really liked this one)
Nancy Spero - Un Coup de Dent
Justin Samson - Inside the Cosmic Motion Picture Projector
Christopher Miner - Easter for the Birds
Katerina Lanfranco - Below a Sea of Stars
Peter Rostovsky - This Distant World
Michael Waugh - The More I See of Men

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

yesterday

I didn't do anything exciting yesterday.  Went to work.  That's about it.

This evening though Stephanie and I went to a new musical called Sessions.  It was pretty good.  Although it was described as a comedy and drama...I would say it was mostly a drama.  It's not something I would see again but I didn't hate it and we got to see it for free (thank you Craigslist), so I don't really have any complaints.

Monday, January 26, 2009

whiplash

Worked all day.  Had to wait forever for the subway to get home.  Made a dinner that could be considered real and nutritious all around (I almost took a picture).  Went to the UCB for Whiplash.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

botanical gardens

Today we went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  We didn't get to see all of it but of what we did see it was very pretty .. even for winter with mostly everything dormant (outside).  

Tonight we're going to the UCB again to see ASSSSCAT 3000 .. (later) which was amazingly funny.  The place was so packed we had to sit on the stage.  It's the first improv show we've seen at the UCB so that was also really cool.  Afterwards we went to the Blarney Stone (the corner bar with the nicest Irish bartender).

Saturday, January 24, 2009

oscar & the pink lady

Today was spent catching up on a lot of lost sleep before heading out to the main branch of the New York Public Library.  Stephanie and I saw two exhibits, one on art deco and the other on Yaddo.  We also got coupons for a free cookie at Subway which was good.

Then we ate dinner and headed out for the play Oscar and the Pink Lady starring Rosemary Harris at the French Institute: Alliance Francaise.  Alma found tickets on Craigslist for free so that was awesome.  We're all slowly getting addicted to the "Missed Connections" and "Free" sections of that site.  Anyway it was a really good show and very moving.  Last night's show was also really good, but I liked this one better even though you can't really compare the subject matter.

Now we're heading out to an Irish pub called Tir Na Nog.

Friday, January 23, 2009

6 hour energy

I'm pretty much exhausted today after all the running around I did. Last night we went to the bar around the corner to celebrate one of our housemates 21st birthdays.  It was really fun/funny.  As a whole in the wall, one wouldn't expect much, but the owner is really nice/Irish and bought us all pizza.

This morning/afternoon I was at Mickalene's studio rhinestone-ing again.  I left early for an interview I had at Morgan Lehman Gallery.  I got the internship, so now I have three.  The gallery is right down the street which is so so nice.  After I rushed to the interview, I rushed back to my building to drop off some of my stuff and then Stephanie and I went to an show opening in the lower east side at Collette Blanchard Gallery.  Mickalene, my boss, curated the show.  It was cool, but we didn't stay long because tonight we're going to a Broadway show called My First Time.  I guess it's in the style of the Vagina Monologues which I overall enjoyed, so hopefully this will be a similar experience. 

I need 6 hour power because it is superior to 5 hour energy....  Relatively unknown comedy acts don't work well in a blog without a back story.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

the office

I started my second internship today.  I spent 5 hours rhinestone-ing a portrait painting.  Pretty awesome.  Music was blaring the entire time (thanks Pandora) - very fun.

A bunch of us watched the Office and we've been hanging out in the lounge ever since.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

internship!

Today started off with a bang .. or more precisely, an alarm.  The fire alarm went off this morning (luckily I was about to get up anyway) so the fire department came per city law.  Someone burned something in the kitchen, there wasn't an actual fire.  Still .. a little ominous.

I got to my first internship just fine.  We went over what I'll be doing and one of those things is organizing the many image files/reconciling the artist's data on her pieces.  It was fun for me, I really enjoyed it.  We left early (the artist is also my advisor) to go to my first seminar meeting.  We went to the Frick Museum for an artist lecture.  Eve Sussman was the artist - her work is very interesting .. more reflection to come.  It was a very beautiful museum and I choked up a little over the Degas piece they had.  There was also a Renoir.  (My favorite Impressionist artists.)

We got back around 9 PM and I made myself a concoction for dinner successfully.  Sort of stir fry meets a shell-less taco with teriyaki sauce.  It wasn't horrible, definitely eatable .. definitely room for improvement.

I'm so happy to have found fellow Weeds lovers in the house.  We watched the final 2 episodes that I hadn't seen yet of season 4 .. absolutely ridiculous.  I can't believe Showtime hasn't released the date for the premier of season 5.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

inauguration

The day started off at the PIT (People's Improv Theater) a few blocks from our building.  We went over basic orientation stuff and got tickets to see a show called "The First Time" this Friday.  A bunch of us went on a bus tour that we also got tickets for.  We saw the first cancer hospital, Columbia University, Trump International Tower, the largest gothic cathedral in the world ...

We had to cut the bus tour short though because of advisor meetings at the building.  We learned about our seminar.  It starts tomorrow with an artist lecture on Surveillance as a Narrative Device in the Motion Pictures of the Rufus Corporation by Eve Sussman at the Frick Museum.

After that I continued to read Breaking Dawn and then stopped for dinner.  We had a party of sorts with everyone in the basement with delicious sandwiches, fruit, veggies, cheese crackers, desserts....basically I took extra to put in my room for tomorrow's lunch.

Speaking of tomorrow - I start one of my two internships tomorrow.  I also will be having an interview at the Morgan Lehman Gallery sometime this week.  

Monday, January 19, 2009

monday is funday.

Today a bunch of us women went to Central Park.  We mostly stayed on the outskirts because of all the snow, but we did spend some quality time bonding over snow, boys, and well-dressed 50 year old men on the subway.  

I went to visit Jewlie on 3rd Avenue after we got back and it was really great catching up.  

Stephanie and I went to UCB again for Whiplash.  Todd Barry was there (from the movie The Wrestler)!  And the Pajama Men were hilarious.

Tomorrow we have orientation.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

wet boots

I started my RA duties today.  I sat for 6 hours in the lounge reading Breaking Dawn waiting for people to arrive so I could check them in.  I bought the book yesterday and am about halfway done.  It's pretty good but I have to say I like everything so much better through Bella's obsessive eyes.  (SPOILER ALERT) I also don't think I like her being a vampire.  She's only like 3 days old right now but she's lost a lot of her appeal.  I need the crazy tension back between her and Edward.

ANYWAY.  After I was relieved of my duties, Stephanie and I went out again.  I grabbed dinner and then we wandered around like usual (it's been two days and I'm already referring to "the usual"...).   It's snowing here. Ugh.  Of course, snow in the city is so much different.  It's like "ooh ahh look at how pretty the snow looks against those lights on the Empire State building" .. "I'm cold from the snow, let's stop in a store to thaw out" .. I'm not saying I like that it's snowing, but it is so much more bearable.  

We stumbled upon this amazing gallery? where life-size Barbies twirled in beautiful outfits.  I have to go back there when it's opened so I can figure out exactly what it's all about.  We also found shopping heaven on 34th and Broadway... Forever 21, H&M, Gap, Victoria's Secret, Sephora...  

Tomorrow I hope to look into ushering for shows-you usher and then get to see the show for free.  We're not wasting anytime getting down to business.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

comedy, take two.

It was so cool to see Olde English live last night.  They're a very funny bunch.  Caleb and Adam came on stage with PBR in hand.  UCB Theater was cool too, very intimate, very black box.  There were these drunk Southern couples (all of whom were friends) who sat in the front row and would not stop talking/making comments.  They were made fun of mercilessly.  After Very Fresh, Stephanie and I stayed for Gutbucket, UCB's monthly stand-up open mic-show.  The host, Pete Holmes, was probably the funniest of all the comedians we saw during that ...

Today we went grocery shopping and wandered around the city until our hands were frozen.  We went to Times Square where I was tricked into hugging Cookie Monster who then made me give him a dollar to help the homeless-at least it was a good cause-and we were later convinced to go to a show at Stand Up NY Comedy Club (owned by Jerry Seinfeld) by a guy who was actually from Michigan and whose parents lived in Brighton.  

Our attempts at dinner were pretty weak, but aspiring gourmet chefs have to start somewhere... at least I've been eating bananas everyday and no sweets/soda. 

We took the subway to Stand Up NY and got there right before the show started.  Judah Friedlander (from 30 Rock and Flight of the Concords), Donnell Rawlings (from Chappelle's Show - "I'm rich, bitch!"), Rich Vos, Paul Mecurio (from The Daily Show and David Letterman), and Jodie Wasserman were all there.  It was a way more crowded/smaller venue than UCB but still fun.  I thought Friedlander, Rawlings, and Wasserman were the funniest.  It was interesting seeing two comedy shows in two nights because almost every single comedian made some crack about the plane landing in the Hudson River... it got a little redundant.  

Friday, January 16, 2009

arrived.

The plane ride went well except for the descent...never have I felt so nauseous on a plane.  

The other student from my college, Stephanie, and I went to a little deli near our building for dinner and unpacked.  Rather uneventful.  Although! we are going to see Olde English's live show, Very Fresh, tonight at the UCB Theater.  Michael Showalter, Hannibal Burress, and Becky Ciletti are the special guests.  Yay New York!


Thursday, January 15, 2009

vagabond shoes

Since this is my first entry, I'll give a short introduction to my blog. I'd say this is a good way to keep my friends, family, and anyone else who is interested updated on the goings on in my life. I also want to start developing a record of my works in progress, things/places/ideas that have inspired my works, and anything else that's of interest to me all in one place. For now, this blog will be that place. I'm hoping to keep every entry short and sweet (text wise) with pictures to supplement.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for New York City. It's pretty exciting to say the least.

Over the last few weeks it's been difficult not having the blocks of time I need to work on creating new sewn journals. Although, I have been developing ideas for collections of journals (i.e. cover images and how these collections will be sewn) and I can't wait to get started. I plan on bringing my materials and tools to NYC so once I get my schedule down I can start creating!

Here's a little insight into the collection I'm working on right now: Endangered/native species of California. This will hopefully include everything from animals to insects to plants. I'd like to work in two tone color schemes (similar to the journal covers I already have on my Etsy page right now, but of course, with an expanded color palette).


Until next time.