Final Product

Some of you may remember the sad-looking stray blue chair I had picked up off the street last year. It took a long time before I had time to finish it, and it ended up requiring some repairs I hadn't expected, but I wanted to share the final product. I'm happy with it.

March 20, 2010

I sat down on the subway Wednesday night too tired to read the book I had with me. Without other entertainment I noticed the girl sitting next to me sat with her journal open. On the unlined page she had written:

March 10, 2010

Missouri

Possible Locations
--------------------
parent's yard
50 acres
ferry
State Park

The girl just stared at the page not writing anything else and flipping though all the blank pages to follow this one. Maybe this girl is planning a year on the road as a vagabond and she thinks she'll be in Missouri on March 10th! Now that I type this out I realize how ridiculous this conclusion was, but at the time that was really my first thought. I started drifting off to all the daydreams I've had of leaving everything behind and living outside of mainstream society. In The Zahir, Paulo Coelho writes of the punks in Paris who choose to be homeless so they can live outside of society's rules. When I was doing my own traveling I would always notice the dread-locked teenagers with backpacks who had obviously been spending a good portion of the their last year(s) on the road, and I wondered what their lives were like. There's something appealing to me about leaving society's rules behind and living every bit of life in the moment. As the girl flipped through all the blank pages left, I wondered if she was considering where else to take her life on the road. Maybe she would make it all the way to Washington. Maybe, one day, I could leave everything behind.

But, as I sit on my memory phone mattress typing on my laptop I know how much I enjoy my comfy bed and my internet connection to the outside world.

Right before I got off the train the girl flipped to a back page with scribblings about sets and costume designs. So I guess she's writing a play, and neither one of us are taking our life on the road next year.

So far...

The strangest object I've seen laying abandoned on the street since living in NYC was when I stepped off the bus heading home from my internship and I nearly stepped on a colostomy bag. And yes, it had been used.

The strangest occurrence that I can think of was seeing a man skipping down the street yelling out letters in an angry tone. When he got to the end of the block he stopped and started walking normally as if nothing had happened.

Summer in the City

Let's face it. I don't have enough money to live and pay rent in NYC without an income. So here are some of the ways I'm considering trying to get by this summer:

1. Getting a real job.
2. Getting a job through a temp agency.
3. Working with a grassroots political campaign, canvasing to raise money for progressive causes.
4. Taking classes so I can take out more loans.
5. Dressing up like a superhero and standing in Times Square charging people money to take pictures with me.
6. Figuring out how to make crystal meth out of my allergy medicine.
7. Asking my parents for a bailout plan.

Right now, options 3 and 4 are looking the most viable but any other suggestions are appreciated.

Check out what I found on the street today!

They're both painted on solid pieces of wood with wooden frames on the back, kind of like an artist canvas. Except with wood instead of canvas.

I'm thinking of somehow joining them together and then making a coffee table with them.

I'm also thinking it would be nice to have an apartment with a workshop.

Where an Adult Can be a Kid

As a awaited the refund from my latest round of student loans for the semester I still wanted to be able to have fun on my last weekend before classes started again. As I was brainstorming on cheap or free things one can do in New York City that also doesn't involve being outside, since it was like 12 degrees outside. One option that came to mind was FAO Schwartz. I've always wanted to check it out, especially since whenever I think of it that giant piano scene from Big comes to mind. For lack of better ideas that's how I ended up spending part of my last Saturday of freedom for the next couple months. Also I convinced Brian to come with me, even though I'm not sure he was as excited as I was.

As we walked into this wonderland of children's toys an actor dressed as a Nutcracker welcomed us and instructed us to 'feel free to act like kids'. This is something I need no instructing to do. The store greeted me with giant dino stuffed animals and bright colors everywhere. There were rows and rows of stuffed animals stacked neatly on shelves. Two foot tall Ugly Dolls were on sale for $10 a piece! I really wanted to buy one, but couldn't figure out what I would do with a two foot tall Ugly Doll. Looking at the stacks of stuffed toys was almost mesmerizing. Here is a group of harp seals dressed up for Christmas.


My favorite part of the description introducing the customer to the harp seals is that it specifically listed it's favorite hobby as sleeping. But aren't they adorable?

One thing that FAO Schwartz does to add to the atmosphere of the store is that every brand or type of toy has it's own little section. Some of these sections are extra special and get actors or some sort of toy specialists to either demonstrate the toys or create a special world within which the toys exist. Here I am watching an Ugly Doll play soccer with some little kids:



One of the 'worlds' I was anxious to see was the Leigh Middleton Doll Collection. One of the actresses who had played a nurse in the orphanage was recently featured on This American Life sharing a story about the latent racism shown through a bunch of Upper East Side moms buying over-priced dolls for their children. I won't recount the story here, but if you're interested in knowing what I'm talking about just go to thisamericanlife.org and listen to Act 3 of episode 347: Matchmakers, aired on 1/9/2009. After hearing the show and then seeing the place where it all went down, I felt a kind of awkwardness. Like I'd been let in on some secret of the world that the average person looking at these actresses in costume and babies in incubators wouldn't pick up on. The story added a kind of sinister edge to something that would otherwise seem completely innocuous. That's why I don't have any pictures of the Leigh Middleton Doll Collection; I felt too awkward.

When I got to the giant piano, I had almost forgotten that was one of the main things I was there to see since there were so many other wondrous, colorful things on the way to the piano tucked in a corner on the second floor. I refrained from dancing on the piano myself since it was occupied by toddlers with their parents and I didn't want to be the big mean kid taking up all the space. The toddlers seemed to be enjoying it though. The piano was in the same area as the Legos, so I entertained myself by meeting Lego Batman.



He had a firm butt.

After all this I was feeling a little over-stimulated and started to make my way back out. My sentiments were echoed in a kid I overhead asking their parent 'Can we just go?' in a tired overwhelmed tone. On the way out I got to see the rubix cube guy solve a cube in under a minute and discovered that a German toy company still makes Smurfs.




Overall, I enjoyed my time at FAO Schwartz and my brief regression into childhood. I was also happy to head next to the MoMA store, where I could look at grown-up toys and pretend to be an adult for awhile.

What I'm Thankful for This Year

Tofurkey.

My recent stab at veganism prevented me this year from having my traditional Thanksgiving salmon. When my mom asked me what I wanted instead, I started thinking about recipes involving things like seitan and whole wheat panko and other things that are probably a lot harder to find in Lacrosse, WI than they are in Brooklyn. Then I remembered the Tofurkey. Tofurkey is something I've often made fun of in my mind and thought I would never be feasting on one myself. I mean, come on, does the word Tofurkey sound like something you really want to eat? Also, I'd never actually seen one and kind of assumed it was tofu pressed into the shape of a small turkey. I should definitely know better considering I eat Gardenburger "ribs" on a regular basis and know that those are good among most other meat substitutes I've tried. I think I was just stuck on the name. I thought since I came to accept and enjoy Tofurkey this Thanksgiving, I would share my Tofurkey with you all too.

Here's what it looks like out of the box:



Ok, I admit it may not look tasty at this point. However, as I learned, an integral part of the Tofurkey preparation is a kind of baste made of oil and sage and other yummy spices.










Here's my Tofurkey all snug in it's casserole dish ready to go in the oven.










All done! Now doesn't that look yummy?! Check out the stuffing in the middle!







Here you'll notice how the Tofurkey, now covered in mushroom gravy, compliments the traditional (and vegan) Thanksgiving meal. Mmmm....








All gone! It really did taste good. AND the mushroom gravy recipe I used came printed on the side of the box and was most excellent. I hope you all have gained a new appreciation for the Tofurkey as I have. Really, it's all about understanding.