other than running a fabric shop, here's what i've been doing

Had escargot for the first time in honor of Erica's b-day. Went to the Paris Bistro in SLC which was super delicious.

Attended a fake wedding b-day party for a friend's daughter, at which her father dressed up as Macho Man and stayed in character the entire time.

At the last minute JD got us tickets to the Postsecret event at USU. Lucky day, though it turned a bit too group therapy-ish at the end.

Saw Glasvegas. Swooned the whole time.

Dyed Easter eggs with Rosie despite not having any kids around.

Continued to be obsessed with my monkeyniece who likes to play this game where she blinds me.

Carry on.

wompus

Maybe Erica and I spent a whole evening recently whipping up this little bag. Made the pattern up ourselves and everything. It's to be a gift for her friend.

It's nice and stiff so it can hold scriptures! And maybe there's also room for a Relief Society manual. We used what Erica likes to call Thomas Tricks, which are techniques my mom has taught me, to get the features we wanted.

You probably want one in which to take your lunch to work.

single songs

Niall had a lovely idea and started a collaborative blog effort called Single Songs. I can't wait to see what everyone does with it. Here was my first post. But go to singlesongs.blogspot.com. Better yet, subscribe.

The Waitresses - Square Pegs

I started watching Square Pegs again recently. Filling in all those holes since I was 3 when it aired. The Waitresses show up in the first episode to play the freshman dance where they play "I Know What Boys Want" and the theme song "Square Pegs." It's even better if you watch it than just listen to it. The singer Patty Donahue has a presence that reminds me a bit of Alison Goldfrapp.

amer i can: part zwei

My other recent traditional American-type adventure: quilt show in Ogden with Natali. I mean, what's more American than a John Deer/Ford truck quilt?

I took that specifically for Erica who's obsessed with tractors. I mostly like this one.

But I was especially obsessed with this one, made with found blocks from the 30s that ladies had embroidered their names on. What was the story with that? And those prints on the fabric are killer.

Speaking of quilts, here's the haps on my shop. My mom and I are opening a quilt shop, meaning we will carry cotton fabric used for quilting (or anything else), and other sewing notions and fabulous stuff. We'll also teach quilting, sewing, and project classes. We're both obsessed with cool fabric, she is an expert quilter, and I'm a control freak, so this should be awesome. The shop is called Suppose, and grand opening is tentatively planned for Black Friday. So anyone who's in the Cache Valley area for Thanksgiving, consider coming by for our big party the day after. We also have an amazing team creating our online shop which will launch the same day. More details on all that to come.

hey there, towelbama

May I introduce you to Towelbama. For Obama fans who have kitchens. Amy, Ashley, and I collaborated on this project which sprang out of a ridiculous conversation at Sunday dinner. I quite like the result. Amy inspired, Ashley drew, I hand embroidered. We feel like there could be a huge market for our creation, available now at Etsy. Leave a comment with your email address or contact me via Etsy if you'd like to buy a made-to-order Towelbama. Soon to come: Pillowbama, Scarfbama, and Shower Curtainbama.

not too tired for you

Have you seen ronaldchevalier.com yet? It's the site of Jemaine Clement's character in the Hess' new movie Gentleman Broncos and it is full of ridiculous awesomeness to be expected from all involved. Those yellow eyes following your curser around are creep creep. The other day I got to see my homies Ali and Sam in action creating some big amazing harpie paintings for the gallery on the site. You can see a couple of them there already but there are more to come. Can't wait for the movie! (It premieres at Sundance and releases in Feb.)

amer i can: part ein

Been having some very traditional American-type escapades. That word just makes me think of Paula Abdul. Classic type, not mental type.

My first Utah State Fair!

I just love all bottled color.


This was the hugest fowl I've ever seen. Nearly stuck his head through the top of the cage when he stood up straight.


4-H crafts! Don't worry, Dirk and I are gonna make some doll-head pillows so you can have one too. Not a joke.


Eating fried stuff. This is my friend Erica who recently moved in. Every day she has a new story like about how Ando from Heroes is kind of a smarmy creep. Or about how she talked to Tilda Swinton on the phone days after winning her Oscar and she was totally delightful. I told her she needs to start a blog.

Fried oreos. I cannot believe I put that in me.

unbroke

Last week at this time I was readying myself to see this.

Mark Nakemura, why aren't we friends? Maybe you're gay with Thayne and don't want to date me, but I still want to hang out.

Jerusha treated us girls to a VIP box & delicious spread at the SLC stop of the So You Think You Can Dance tour. Just in case you've never seen the show and weren't sure, you should be jealous. It inspired us to put on our own dance competition. We'll choreograph dances for each other then perform them for each other and then give each other prizes. Who's in?

edit: blogger took down this previous post, probably cause there was a duffy track. so whatever, here is it again without music, and with jory's appreciated comment:

Ok, so I do not watch SYTYCD -- haven't ever caught a single episode. But when you said that thing about Thayne, I was like... wait a minute.

Back in 2002, Jac and I shot some pics for this dance studio in SLC, and one of the guys we shot, and that I later worked on an illustration for, was named Thayne. So I Just looked it up and it's totally the same guy.

The illustration is here. (The studio name is made up, as is the show name -- this was just spec. work.)

CRAZY.

Every time I hang out with Adam it's an adventure.
Unfortunately my camera battery was dead this time.
Not capturing great moments on film just keeps them uncorrupted, right?
Tonight we tried to see Delta Spirit but got there too late.
Adam, you're right, they do make quite good music.
Found an aged, hand-carved wooden box full of old tiny teeth in his new old house.
And a locked door surely hiding some good secrets.
Drove through Midget Village.
It was more than I had imagined, a fanciful forest with fairy tale cottages, peacocks, and stone pillars adorned with adages.
Next time I'll charge my battery.

At Broken Social Scene

Gallivan Center, 8/21


Beanies unite!

What are you reading?

Adventures in Utah County: Part III

And finally. The last reason Utah County is now the place to be, the new art gallery on University avenue, the Sego Art Center. Jory has done all the graphic design work for this project and that is some art to appreciate in and of itself. The gallery opened last week with some very cool pieces. Please go check it out, sign up for the email list and all of that. The guys running this thing are just so lovely and are doing such good things for Utah.

And I'm off to the airport!

Adventures in Utah County: Part II

2nd stop: Chadders in American Fork--the In-N-Out ripoff. In a blatant and spineless sort of way. But at least it got In-N-Out to finally expand. The burgers were good, but not as good as the real thing. Fries were pretty close. Until In-N-Out comes to SLC, I'll be satisfied with Crown Burger and Hires.

Then to Provo. We missed the D.I. this time around so off to Mode Boutique which gives those BYU kids a place to buy their Nudies and Cheap Mondays, as well as great local lines. And I always like their earrings and sunglasses. While there I picked up an Eliza magazine to flip through and to my shock, this is what I found.My dearly beloved Mitch! The whole store heard me freaking out about it. Kept flipping and saw several more girls I know from NYC. Deal is, this is Eliza magazine, based in California, targeting good little LDS girls who still like to be worldly. It's a pretty great idea. So because she knew someone who knew someone, and is adorable, Mitch ended up in it. Of course. She knows everybody.

Then to Coal Umbrella, concerning whom I hope to have some exciting news soon. They have a very impressive collection of Members Only jackets. Last stop of the night coming up...

So I have this friend. She's one of the smartest people I know. She's also funny and has a very interesting life. She would keep a killer blog, except having a blog would be totally against her nature. Even if all she did was watch tv all day and she blogged about it, I would totally read it. But she actually does interesting things and knows interesting people. Like, she gets to go to court to see a certain British author of children's books about magic. And she has this acquaintance who is apparently, how to put this, not the kind of person I would want to be friends with, but he also happens to write music. Like that one Kelly Clarkson song you secretly love? He wrote it. Or that one Avril Lavigne song that got remixed with Lil Mama? He wrote it. And remixed it. The other day my brother told me about a Sugababes song he heard in Korea that he's now obsessed with. Yup, he wrote that too. He's even written for Lady Sovereign. And if my friend kept a blog she could tell you all the stories about him and everyone else she meets. But that will never happen.

high places

I got the best email from Clara the other day in response to my being arrested story. I don't think she'll mind that I'm posting this as she had originally tried to leave it in a comment. Here's what the email said.

...i tried to comment, but it doesn't appear to have taken, so i'll just tell you what i said. i said that last week at a work lunch, i sat next to the guy who successfully argued Miranda v. Arizona before the Supreme Court. he even drafted the language that we all know and love: you have the right to remain silent.... at the time, i had no idea who he was. we talked about giving little baby girls old lady names and he asked me what i thought about hillary. feeling like he was trying to trick me, i said, "what do YOU think about hillary, victor?" he said he doesn't like her. i only found out about his career when i googled him the next day after i got an email from a co-worker asking who my new friend was.

anyway, i'm sure victor would be shocked that you weren't read your miranda rights...

and she added this link. How cool is that! Man I have rad friends.

make me a supermodel

Today Ali and I had a little photo shoot for some of my vintage wares for etsy. She was all bashful when I asked her, but turns out she is an amazing model. I was pretty much a robot with a camera, and she turned out a very pleasing outcome.

Notice how when she was in the granny sweater she wanted to be reading her scriptures. A few more here.

Went to probably the coolest birthday party ever last night. An Asian-themed, last minute surprise for Erica thrown by Jerusha at her office which could be mistaken for Dirk's old Williamsburg flat. Here's the rundown. First, have some sushi, pad thai, and coconut soda. Then make your way to the red-light district room for a massage gratis. Watch Héctor Jiménez sing karaoke but get distracted by the nail techs who are there to give you mani/pedis. When your toes are dry and the wax has been peeled from your hands, the games start. Jerusha leads everyone in the name game, where you have to make your team guess as many names of famous people as possible, first by description, then by acting. Except amongst this group the names you draw are Billy Butt Hugger and Ravishing Rick Rude. Watch Jennifer Coolidge try to act out Anne Frank, but her team fails to guess right. Wonder if Jennifer Coolidge is a little bit crazy. Win Commodore Perry In Japan for making your team guess the most clues in a row. Compliment Erica on the birthday headdress and glasses given to her by Jennifer Coolidge. Take home a magically delicious cupcake topped in mini chopsticks. Wonder when the next party is going to be.

you say popsicle, i say yoyoclay

Lately the spoils of being a psychologist seem a bit evasive. The whole feeling good for helping humanity thing, it's just hard to come by these days. A client ends treatment early because they're happy, but they're happy for totally wrong reasons. Nobody shows up to your mental health workshop for underprivileged parents, and then you can't even figure out how to lock the building. So yeah, I wasn't entirely feeling up for it today when it was time for the schlep to week two of the workshop. I ran off to get the mail before leaving since I wouldn't be back for two days. Expecting only some carefully packaged comic books for my roommate, a small brown paper package addressed to Bobcat Valentine Loveless, from Buffy Loveless, took me by surprise.


One late night in NYC, intoxicated with cucumbers and hot chocolate, Mitch, Jenny, Emily, Amy, and I gave each other aliases, which we had never used again. I'd forgotten Amy was sending me something. I knew it couldn't be chocolates inside that chocolates box.

I was in a rush to leave, but I paused to open it before climbing into the car. What was inside made me gasp. Like, actually. The almost silent kind. When was the last time you had a good gasp? For a moment, it might as well have been the ashes of New York City in that box.


Amy has recently moved out of the apartment we shared in Harlem. The one where we kept our original quote wall, on scraps of paper, taped down the long hallway entrance. Utterances that, probably not meant to be funny, sounded just too good to forget. This box contains the fragments of that quote wall neatly wrapped in an orange ribbon. The words on those scraps of paper archived most of the people I met in New York and most of the times I laughed. They were moments that proved to me that the city is magic, moments that surely I would have forgotten had they not been written down.

After pulling out of the garage, it took me 10 minutes of wet eyes before I could stand to hear music. I didn't dare take the ribbon off, and I wondered where I should keep the box, like I was deciding what to do with an urn of remains.

Being in New York was an unspeakable experience, as was leaving it, and I didn't expect that to be the thing that was on my mind today. Tonight, once I felt a little tougher, I read through the scraps of paper and laughed. Until I'm in heaven and I have a perfect memory, thank goodness Amy invented the quote wall so I can remember how funny every day is. And so I can stop feeling sorry for myself.




Oh, Words. Anyone who remembers or guesses the context of these quotes wins prizes.

to the max

Thanks everyone for playing Sad or Sadcore with me. That was fun. Let's do it again soon. If you haven't played, scroll down and rock the vote with your opinion on oversized reproductive organ trophies. Looks like the majority is going with "sad." I agree.

Here's something exciting. Dirk has finally started a blog! It can be found at Forty-one Gorgeous Blocks. It is fresh and slimy from the womb, but it will be a sure spot for entertainment and has been added to my peeps links.

I feel like there is a little catching up to do here, in the music realm. For some reason I want to remind you that when I post music it's because I actually really like it, or love it, or am completely obsessed with it, and want it to be part of your life too. Not just because I need something to post or someone asked me to or whatever. So. A few things that've been in my ears a lot lately...

mp3: M.I.A. - Paper Planes (DFA remix)
Funkosity. There are rumors that she's coming here to SLC to play at the Depot. This is from a decent source, but I have yet to corroborate it.

mp3: Miss Kittin - Barefoot Tonight
My theme song. Having to wear shoes is the pits, especially on the dance floor.

mp3: El Perro del Mar - I Can't Talk About It
I can't decide whether to go to L.A., San Fran, or NYC to see her with Lykke Li in the LadySwede extravaganza. Ayayay!

Hmm this post is ugly without something interesting to look at. I'd very much like to gaze at this for a while.

I would eat a fish eye [no I wouldn't]

Nothing like talking about famous people to boost the blog traffic. I could just stop blogging now and leave that last post at the top forever. Nah. I'll try to drum up some more interesting news. Oh, the other day I did help out on a little art project for the movie. When it comes out and you see some sadcore fashion illustrations from the mother character, you can say you know the girl who colored those. Oooh yeah, it's the big time here, mister. We visited the movie offices/set to drop off the illustrations and I could have stayed for hours going through the costumes, props, and artwork being prepared. I'm hoping to bump into Jennifer Coolidge one of these days. In the mean time, I have to act like all the movie stuff is not totally impressive and refrain from taking pictures like a gawker, but then gush to you, internet, while still being discreet and not giving away locations and stuff.

If my plan to woo Jemaine falls through, I have other friends whose coattails I can ride to stardom, you know. Remember my dj gig with 1/4 of Franz Ferdinand? If all else fails I will make Niall hire me out to all the Glaswegian bands as a backup dancer. Somewhere on that list will be Correcto, which Niall sent me recently but I couldn't tell you about because of that whole ill laptop thing. What a lovely return to some good old Brit pop.

mp3: Correcto - Do It Better

I don't have the patience for many music videos these days, so hats off to their video for "Joni" which has enough quickly moving grainy old vacation footage to keep me interested.



Correcto, if you've any doubts about my abilities, just ask to see my Cupid's arrow moves and you'll be sold.

You can't break my heart--it's liquid

The reason I scavenged the kangaroo pelts out of storage the other day was for the Australian themed birthday party we threw for Jerusha. We draped those pelts over the backs of the couches where everyone was tempted to nuzzle them.

One thing about filmmakers is the sorts of guests that might be at their birthday parties are not the sorts of guests that would be at, say, mine. This party was pretty small, but one of the stars of the Hess' new movie, which starts filming this week here in Utah, was in attendance: Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement. He was lovely, although monopolized most of the night by his new boss. And I neglected to offer to show him around Salt Lake. Maybe next time. At least we got photos.

Does it look I was playing it cool? He had no idea how much I was actually freaking out.

This baby belongs to my friend Emily. How cute is that? I had to immediately send these photos to Mitch, who just recently taped my eyes open in front of the Flight of the Conchords dvd, and was the one who introduced me to them back when with this video. If you haven't seen the show, or the movie Eagle vs. Shark, check em out. More photos of the party, including the kangaroo cake, at my flickr.

mp3: Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopapotamus vs Rhymenocerous