Cake head

My sister Brook made a birthday cake for me back in 2001.



See, it really is a cake.



I'd given her a drawing of her wedding party as a present, and she used the caricature I'd drawn of myself in it as her inspiration.



This year, Brook told me she's going to paint a portrait of my cat Beatrix. Yes, Brook, the creator of such astounding canine portraits as this and this, is now stepping into feline territory.



I'm very excited.

A wolf loves pork!

No, this is not about my brother and his love of all things that oink. (Although, come to think of it, Wolf did have a black t-shirt when he was a very young laddie that said "OINK" in big capital letters on the back.) This is an amazing stop motion video that my brother Max sent me this morning. Thanks, Max! Enjoy...that is, if you haven't seen it yet. Apparently it's getting a lot of play on the web. Understandably!



And you don't have to watch this with volume to appreciate it, but the music is pretty funny.

Awww mannn

Henry, Hazy and their momma Brook were in town this past week, and I'll have more to show about their awesome visit soon, but for now...can you tell these guys know how to have fun?



It totally sucks that they live so far away.



The cats might not miss them too much (look at those grouchy feline expressions!) but I do!

My little problem

Whenever I have a jones for my particular vice, it's like this: suddenly I have to see/buy/feel some fabric and only then will I feel better. Before I run wildly out onto the streets and either down to P&S or up to Mood or B&J fabrics, I click over to Reprodepot Fabrics (I am a confessed fabric addict. Sadly there is no Fabrics Anonymous...yet). I could almost say they're responsible for my addiction but then I wouldn't be taking full responsibility blah blah blah yak yak yak. (No I am not ready to face this issue! Just step off! Damn!)

One of the first fabrics that transfixed me was something from this line, which I now have several yards of and no idea what to do with.



Cats and dogs and little penguins promising a special show with a Nice & Beautiful hat! Or look at this one. Wouldn't you like to visit this farm, with ducks, swans, sheep, bears, pigs, and a monkey all there to welcome you?

I'm also a fan of Heather Ross, an illustrator and fabric designer. I love the idea that if you saw this from far away you'd think it was a random pattern, until you got closer and realized they're actually swimming pools with people diving into them...



And no, fabric hasn't completely infantilized me. I don't always need cute little pictures of things. I also start drooling and walk like a zombie toward things like this:



So moderne! But I guess there are pictures of things in that one, too. Whatever. Please do not judge me. Just give me some cash money so I can go buy some more fabric.

The shrug bug

I had to make one last shrug for Hazy while she's still a little shrug lovin' girlie girl, but who knows if she'll wear it or not? The older she gets, the stronger and more specific her fashionista decision-making process becomes. So I made this one out of terry cloth, figuring at the very least, maybe she'll rock it at the lake this summer. Here it is about to boxed up and sent away with Hazy's birthday presents.



And here's a detail of the cute elephant ribbon. Patterns always say to face it out, but I think it's nicer to face it up, so the wearer can see it better.



And here's the kid on her birthday. Yay, it fits! (For now.)

Cat lady art

You might remember this post, wherein an awe-inspiring soapdish was encountered at a cocktail party. Well, P secretly did some research and went out and found the woman who made that crazy soapdish and bought a piece of her nutty crockery for me for a recent special occasion that has been mentioned much too much already. (Yes, P is a prince among men, and I am reminded of that fact daily. I should probably send his parents a bouquet of their favorite exotic lillies or somesuch every week just for putting him on this planet. Hmmm, that's an idea.) Should I put colored pencils in it (see background) or sip yummy coffee and tea from it? For now, I can't do anything but stare at it in wonderment.





That's one absorbing cat lady objet d'art, if you ask me.

Lucky lady

I had the great fortune, first of all, to grow up with the children's book Who Needs Donuts? a book that was miraculously republished. Stop what you're doing right now and buy a copy, it's brilliant and you won't regret it. I've been reading it over and over ever since I learned how to read (a helluva long time ago, my people!) and I still find things to crack up and marvel over in it. It's THAT amazing.

When it was ever so sadly and absurdly out of print back in the 90s, I was feeling guilty for sneaking off with the one copy we had as kids, and decided to track down a copy for my brother for his birthday. This hopeless and ultimately desperate search led me finally to the Village Voice, where the author of Donuts, Mark Alan Stamaty, was still doing his brilliant weekly cartoon Washingtoon. I left a note for him begging for one of his copies, thinking he must have a huge personal stash and perhaps he might feel sorry for me and sell me a copy. One day soon after I was sitting around at home and the phone rang — it was the dude himself, and we had a great conversation, but he told me to fuhgeddaboudit, he only had one box and no, he wouldn't part with any of the remaining copies, and yes, he got calls like this frequently from Donuts fanatics like me, but hey, that's life!

Soon after that, I received a copy of his new book of Washingtoon cartoons and an amazing personalized doodle in the mail (which I framed and have loved ever since). He was an exceptionally nice guy, in other words.

Then, this past summer, I went to a wedding where I met the awesome illustrator Nina Frenkel, whose mentor was none other than MARK ALAN STAMATY. "Do you want to go out to dinner with him? I'll set it up!" she asked me. "Well Hells Bells YES," was my answer.

So this past Monday night I had the incredible experience of being able to break bread with one of my favorite writer/illustrators in the whole world. I know! That's why I felt lucky this week. I knew I was pushing my crazy psycho fan luck by bringing a bunch of books for him to sign, but I couldn't help it. But check it out: Mark (I call him "Mark" now, ha ha), sat back and doodled away after dinner while Nina and I yapped over coffee. And when I mean doodled...will you look at the output from this doodler extraordinaire?

Here's my copy of the republished 2001 Who Needs Donuts? Check out the train on the nose and the fishbowl in his muscle and the bearded sun and...I'm in heaven.



Here's the original Who Needs Donuts? from the 70s. A horse having coffee and a donut!



And here's my brother Wolf's book: he finally has his own copy. (I bought him one for his birthday a few years ago, so that's my inscription you see partially in the bottom corner.)



Here's the front cover of another awesome strip of Mark's called MacDoodle St.



And now here's the inside cover.



That bow-tied rhino makes me so happy. Thank you, Mark! Thank you, Nina!

Street life

Sonya told me about a local art show and this is my favorite piece by this particular artist. This guy apparently dresses up shelter cats and places them in scenarios, but this one is just so...damn! I've walked by this type of scene at some point in my neighborhood, you know?

First grade

Before I finish up my birthday inspired navel-gazing, I just want to explain why I've put this childhood pic up as my blog pic. I'm surprised myself, obviously this isn't a good representation of myself currently! But it's one of my favorite pics simply because I was clearly at the TOP OF MY GAME. I mean, look at that kid. TOP OF HER GAME. It would make more sense if you saw some lower-in-the-valleys class pics from years after that but ha, ha, you'll never see those. It's better if you can just stay here, gazing upon this amazing summit. O.K. I am officially now emerging from navel to rejoin human race. Hurrah! Onto other far more interesting subjects than just thy self.

Party on

A huge thank you to everyone who braved planes, trains, and automobiles to make it up to Inwood to my crazy dance party Saturday night! That was lots of silly fun and my only regret is that I didn't open Trey's present the minute he handed it to me so we could've rocked the animal masks on the dance floor sooner. Dagblastit! Whasamatta wif me? Though I must say Caroline, jumping around in the tiger mask in her striped sweater dress later in the evening, did make up for something, I think.

The tunes were crankin, P's grapefruit bourbon mint punch was yummy and actually was getting stronger with every new batch, and there were a lot of empty bottles of wine when all was said and done, you winos. Damn!

To all the people who couldn't make it due to the many viruses plaguing our fair city: you were sorely missed. Get well soon! To those who got lost on the MTA: that's messed up. To those who chickened out of going so far uptown: lame. But I understand. I will still contemplate maintaining our friendship. And to those in far off lands unable to get on those planes, those trains...I missed you BAD! I'll talk to you SOON! Moreover, I remembered: it's fun throwing parties. I might give you another excuse to come to New York for a fun party again, soon, maybe...especially since Erica keeps reminding me that I don't wear dresses that accentuate my waist and crazy flourescent tights often enough. Speaking of...THANKS AGAIN, ERICA, FOR THE USE OF YOUR STUPENDOUS APARTMENT, NOT TO MENTION YOUR LAST-MINUTE SMOKY EYESHADOW TALENT!

Everyone can draw

It's silly, because sure, not everyone likes to draw, but for whatever reason I never believe it when someone says they can't draw. P is a perfect example of this. He's said many things that all boil down to "I can't draw," and yet when I asked him a few years ago if he had any ideas about what my new email address should be, the best way he explained his suggestion was when he sat down and drew this:



Then there was the time I was working on a drawing for the Pet Beauty Contest and P had a "better" idea. "It should be like this," he said, and started drawing alongside me.



I didn't change my drawing, but I will always appreciate the awesomeness of the above sketch!

I also like the little sketch he did to show me an image he thought of when I mentioned Palm Springs (when I visited last year):



And my sister Brook gasped when she saw this one pinned to my bulletin board. "Oh my god, who is that?" she asked me. "Who do you think?" I said.



"That's you when you're really mad!" Brook said. Well, exactly. Brook looked at Paul with a real artist's admiration — he'd really captured something remarkably accurate!

O.K., obviously P and I spend a lot of time together and I have a lot of drawing stuff lying around. Maybe that's why someone who purports to be not the drawing type would suddenly get all sketchy. But my point is, I think it's usually total baloney when someone says they can't draw. I just don't believe them!

Mambo the Great

I've been meaning to post about this brilliance for quite a while now. Ahhh, what a relief to finally get around to it. Here's another remarkable portrait painted by my sister Brook. When my friend Trey saw this portrait of Bismarck he got the great idea to commission my sister to paint a portrait of his dog Mambo as a surprise gift for his beloved wife Siobhan for Xmas. Cue the orchestra, please...

Wow. Look at this beautiful canine. Mambo is rocking a pashmina in front of the Himalayas, and considering his naturally mellow disposition, and from what I can tell, his central role in the Sager-Walshe family dynasty, this portrait captures his essence more than appropriately. Sigh. Well done, once again, sis. Thanks, Trey, for having such DOPE taste in ART!

For the love of Legos

You might have seen this already in the NY Times today, but in case you didn't, check it out now. Enjoy!

Groundhog it, why don'tcha

And a Happy Groundhog's Day to you all. I have no idea what happened this morning with the whole groundhog ritual. I just wish the groundhog in the picture above could talk. What would he say? I probably don't want to know. It'd be something like, "Sucka! You gots an economy, and I don't! Ha ha!" and then he'd disappear, I'm sure.

Who writes Nash?

Here's a great pic of Neil Nash from a couple weeks ago when we had lunch together. But lay off, Mayor Bloomby: he did not take the tag above his head! Although I love the fact that Neil's kids, as Neil pointed out, would not believe this. Looming above his head ever so slightly is the new Cooper Union building, which is almost finished, and which I'll post about at a later date, I promise.

Ah, Wilderness!

Photographer Bob Arihood has a blog called Neither More Nor Less that I started reading a while ago for his great updates about local protests and various goings on in the East Village. He catches an awful lot of action on his camera (some of it quite louche, I warn ya.). Case in point: check out his post of a red-tailed hawk catching a rat in Tomkins Square Park! And this one, which shows how a pair of mating squirrels narrowly escapes the same fate. My goodness!

Documentary showdown

I saw two documentaries this past weekend. The first was MAN ON WIRE, which I realize has been a big hit with everyone, but sadly I didn't really dig it. I've just had it with Phillip Petit, I think. Yes, it's amazing that he crossed the towers and anywhere else he threw a wire. But lord. What a narcissist! And I say this sadly, because before this, I always had a fondness for him. The Chelsea apartment he lived in when he crossed the Towers was on 22nd Street, where I grew up. I remember him and his crew stretching out the wires on the street on what must have been the day before the event, and I remember seeing the noticeable carrot-topped (i.e., fathead) Petit on the block and walking around the neighborhood.



There was just something about watching Petit tell the story with such blind gusto, as if he'd learned nothing, while his friends told it with such thought and feeling, that struck me as unnerving. And the film itself seemed thin, as there were a bunch of unanswered questions I had about things like how Petit supported himself while he obsessed over his projects and what exactly happened with his friendship fall outs.



On the other hand, DEEP WATER was a revelation! I can't say much about it, because one of the pleasures of watching it is not knowing what happens. But it's only fair to say it's not a gentle ride...so beware.

Here's a non-spoiler-y synopsis from Netflix: In 1969, Donald Crowhurst, a former engineer whose bravado outweighed his sailing expertise, entered a London Times-sponsored yacht race around the world. This thrilling documentary incorporates actual footage of the race to depict the harrowing conditions Crowhurst faced. Refusing to turn back even as his homemade boat took on water, he depended on his ingenuity to survive the dangers of the sea and the threat of insanity.

It was weird how DEEP WATER seemed to be exactly the opposite of what I meant when I was complaining about the paucity of this or that in MAN ON WIRE. DEEP WATER is an immensely satisfying, character-rich, dizzyingly fascinating and gripping tale that's very well told. But I can easily see how DEEP WATER wouldn't be every one's cup of tea...O.K., that's TWO warnings! Watch at your own risk! And if you do watch it, make sure to check out the cool extras on the DVD.

Stripes Friday

Hey, hey, it's stripe-ay Friday. Actually, it's Stripes/Plaid day, but my stripes and plaids weren't getting along, so I had to separate them. Tut tut tut. I really must thank you, Leya: you are so cool to have inspired this go 'round of kinetic pic snapping and color noticing 'round the so-called blogosphere. I've had tons of fun making these silly arrangements on my desk and even more fun clicking around and seeing what others snapped. Hooray for color! Hooray for stripes! May the Lawd bless cotton-striped socks, stockings, and dishtowels! And the cat scrap of fabric is exactly that, an amazing scrap I'm not sure I'll ever do anything with other than marvel over it. Have a great weekend, everyone. Until the next color challenge, I salute you!

Pink Thursday

Part four of color week: PINK. Ye gods. I think it's fairly obvious to those who know me that I ain't no girlie girl. And I certainly did have to poke around in quite a few cigar boxes and old toffee tins to come up with the items pictured above. And I must say, I could easily blame the whole mess of it on the existence of this kid (every pink button, ribbon, zipper, and thread I plan to festoon on none other than her and no one else!) — but then, that wouldn't exactly explain all the tarty lip products and the blusher. Whatever. This is pink day. Enjoy!

Yellow Wednesday

Today's color is yellow, and I was happy to realize that I have an awful lot of sunny stuff on my desk, too. I especially love the speakers P found on the street and rehabilitated. And the box of tea-tree oil toothpicks couldn't be closer to my heart, as without them, I could never have bid adieu to my old smokey smoke cigarettes. Yes, this arrangement is very sunny, indeed.

Purple Tuesday

For Color Week, part two: Here we have some lavender soap and some lay-it-on heavy cream with an old pair of violet-handled scissors, along with a self-explanatory vintage book and a local take-out menu from one of my favorite joints. It's all just so damn purpley. If only I had some grapes.

Blue Monday

I'm joining in a fun blog-gy thing this week, created by Leya over at Curious Bird. It's a week of color, a sort of color challenge...what? Well, each day this week, I'll post one to three photos of the colors Leya chose for this particular week of color. Today is BLUE! And this is my blue photo. It's funny, I intended to venture outside and take pictures of things like the ubiquitous blue scaffolding that's everywhere in my neighborhood these days, but it ended up being more fun to focus on a few things within arm's length on my desk.

Another great gift

I had to post about this stroke of gift-giving brilliance on P.'s part. I love my cats but strangely, I do not love cleaning out their cat box. We even use the new-ish cat litter that allows for even longer stretches between the toilsome task, and P. and I take turns we track with a Google calendar but alas! when the time comes around I still beg, plead, and plot to get out of doing it. This works probably less than one percent of the time. The rest of the time, I wear a bandanna over half my face for obvious reasons.

Well, now I have a new bandanna, and it lets me choose whether to be a LION or a TIGER. (It's one bandanna with a design on each half.)



And no, P. won't tell me where he got it, only that he bought it "from the woman who made it."



ROWRRR!

Goodbye, trees

Isn't it so sad and bittersweet to see all the Xmas trees in the garbage, in the gutter, with bags on their heads, etc., these days? Picture courtesy of Last Night's Garbage.

What a perfect answer it would be, then, don't you think, if the city were overrun by small hungry elephants to perform the clean up? Yes, the NYC sanitation department has a whole tree-recycling program already in place, and that's great, but come on...little elephants.

Perfect present

Check out my sister Erica's present to me for Xmas...a beeyootifully done quilt-y pillow with my first initial on one side, and my other initial on the other. Yes, she made it herself, patching all those colors together so well, I am totally impressed. Nice job, sis!



I love it.



So does Beatrix.

1 to 100

If you haven't seen this already, lookee lookee. "By Lenka Clayton and James Price as part of www.portablefilmfestival.com. People in Order's Age is part of a series of short films that assembles the people of Britain in a given order."

Uh...not that I'm fixated on anything that reminds me about getting OLDER these days. Oh, no, not I!

Enjoy!

A planetary disturbance

I haven't started tagging, I swear. Although I must say, the genius who tagged this on the Upper West side somewhere (thanks for noticing and sending me the pic, Wolf) does inspire me to get in the game. I like this "Jocelyn World" concept.

Seasonz Greetingz

Was there ever, or has there been since, a better urban photographer than Berenice Abbott? I don't think so.

Fa la la la la

I read two great books one after the other recently: The Three of Us by Julia Blackburn and While They Slept by Kathryn Harrison. Yes, I suppose it's obvious, these are both very dark tales and shouldn't be snapped up without a warning. It actually makes me a little sad to realize I've wised up and can't try to convince everyone I know to read them simply because I think they're so great. But if you're in the mood...it's the holiday season, after all! What better time to make an "inquiry into the murder of a family?!"

Perhaps you're already familiar with Julia Blackburn's book, from when you noticed the arresting image on its cover somewhere.

Well, this cover annoys the bejesus out of me. One of the many excellent aspects of The Three of Us is how Blackburn included photos from her life throughout the book with no explanation other that what you pick up from reading the text (none of the pictures have captions). It gives the reading experience an extra-added intimacy. But it also becomes immediately obvious that the cover photo isn't the author or anyone she knows. Not that it has to be...but for consistency's sake, wouldn't it make sense if they'd used a "real" photo on the cover, too? You end up wondering who the heck the half-submerged lady is and why she's on the cover of someone else's book. Or, you do if you're a persnickety realist, like I am!

This earlier version of the book cover from how it was published in London is accurate. I know, it's not as visually captivating as the above cover. But at least these are photos of the actual people in the book!



Hm. Now that I've written this all down I wonder if it's just my own odd take on it. I guess I should just get over it. And wrap some presents!

Crazy long lashes

The illustration I did for this year's Pet Beauty Contest! Here's last year's and one from the year before.

A heavy head

Robert, Social Tees owner and animal rescuer extraordinaire, had the brilliant idea last month or so to turn his shop window into a kind of kittens-and-cats-up-for-adoption display. As a result, there are always heart meltingly cute scenarios going on: heaps of sleeping cats, a kitten hanging off a ledge by one tiny paw and batting at other kittens with its free paw, etc. Lately, a little grey cat grabbed my attention because she/he seemed to be really hanging its head over her/his current situation. Hyuk, hyuk.



There's always someone or several someones admiring the cats of the day, and when I took the above picture a concerned woman asked me to knock on the window and make sure the kitten was OK. I did, and the kitten woke up, looked around, and then went right back to sleep. You can see her/his little ear in the pic below, evidence she/he moved!



A few days later, the grey kitten seemed to be hanging out a lot with a calico kitten, and then, a few days after that, all the kittens were gone and currently, a bunch of solemn full-grown cats are occupying the space. If you're in the market for a pet, stop by! There are tons of basement rooms in the back of this place, housing all sorts of homeless creatures, including lizards abandoned by wannabe lizard-owning East villagers and snakes dropped off by mothers of snake-loving sons who had second thoughts.



I hope the grey kitten found a good home and a new comfortable place to hang her/his head.