Saturday, May 23, 2009

pretty in the city

The makings of a classic NYC weekend...






school's out for summer!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

a new bird in town

Birdie Busch (click), pictured below, breezed into town tonight for the first stop of her summer tour. Her CD flew to me a few weeks ago in the mail, stamped with the whole-hearted approval of Marty Machado (click). Marty and Birdie met years ago in Florida.

He reconnected with her recently and thought the two of us might be kindred spirits "...or something." Marty was right. I love Birdie's lullabies about benders, tenderness and slow dancing in the kitchen. These are things I can get behind. She played a beautiful set, and we got to catch up and exchange homemade gifts (honey-wheat bread with raisins for the songbird, and a hand-printed Birdie Busch shirt for the jaybird) and laugh about this old story she found (click) when she tried to track down Marty a while back.

Birds of a feather, indeed.

Read more about it at Foam...

Friday, May 15, 2009

ready to rumble

Check out these guys getting their butter-yellow 1968 Camaro ready for the weekend.

Lately I've been loving yellow, and working on a story about the Busselton Ute Muster (click) is making me miss my friend Paulo's old 1972 Maverick. In his words, "It was a machine!" P-nut's moved on to heavier machinery, managing corporate jets in Málaga, Spain.

One of these days I'm going to turn up ask for a ride, but for now in Brooklyn it's a good day for just rollin' in the sunshine...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

bella



is four!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

love, MOM


Seriously, I am about to give you all the best Mother's Day gift. It's called Postcards From Yo Momma (
click)--a bulletin board of hilarious correspondence from moms. You won't regret this.


I learned about it from Lauren Collins in the New Yorker (click) a few weeks ago, and laughed out loud on the train. (Is there something about childbirth that bestows a genius for the comic use of punctuation and capitalization?)

I have plenty of gems in my inbox from my mom too, who generally signs emails in all caps: love, MOM. Here are a few favorites:

Subject: Pixel pink
Finally got the lipstick and will bring it to you soon, only 10 days! love, MOM (I didn't know you jumped out of a plane!)

Subject: Home again
Hi there, I hope your class went well. Tabbouleh is made from bulger wheat, not couscous (what was I thinking?), but I see no reason not to make it with couscous if one needed too. lots of love, MOM

Subject: CORSICA

HELLO? I AM HERE. ALL IS WELL; THIS ISLAND IS SO BEAUTIFUL. THIS FRENCH TYPING IS BAD? KEYBOARD IS STRQNGE. LOTS OF LOVE. MOM


Mom and Sara

So, MOMs can make us laugh without even trying. But making my mom laugh? Like, really really, laugh, is another story. It's something that only my sister can truly achieve, and it's totally priceless. So, she's pulling out all the stops on this one. Happy Mother's Day, MOM. Scroll down...





love,
your Jaybird

city lights + may moon


Ever get the feeling that you're being watched?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

a torrent of tauruses

Tauri? I like Tauruses better.

This week, in Taurus birthdays in the tri-state area...
(Introduced by Ferdinand, the friendly bull.)

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/wp-content/e/aferdi.jpg

Jack kicked it off on Tuesday. I just came across the email where I first learned about Jack that (very partially) reads, "Name, Giancarlo Salvador (fabulously italian!), (nickname, Jack-cute) tall, dark, incredibly handsome! From...here (meaning Padova)..." I'm glad we get to keep him in NYC for a while.


Wednesday was Mom Mom’s (pictured below). I'm actually writing this from her house. Last time I visited I wanted to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's, but she wanted The Devil Wears Prada. She's a typical Taurus, so she won.


The lovely Kristen Joy Watts (click) took the photo above, and happens to share Mom Mom’s birthday…which I botched yesterday, thinking it was today.



Sorry! I'm hoping that some smart cookies (click) with cherries made it up to the pretty smart cookie herself.

Friday will ring in Nicolette's. If she looks like trouble, it's because she is. Nico is a totally typical Taurus--stable, loyal, nurturing and ready to toss you through the air with a flick of her pretty head if you get in her way. Just kidding, kind of.

I'm glad she's on my side.

Saturday is another double-whammy. My Aunt Carol, who is famous for giving fantastic books for birthdays, including one of my all-time favorites, pictured below, Maira Kalman's (click) Ooh-la-la Max in Love.

And speaking of birthday presents, Saturday we'll also get a full moon...
http://rlv.zcache.com/osborne_bull_salamanca_spain_poster-p2286906943877359023msa_400.jpg
which means wacko magical times will soon be upon us, as they often are this time of year...

and it will be Erin's birthday, which is beyond cause for celebration. It's cause for a cosmic sigh of relief.

*¡Happy Birthday!*

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

may showers


Weather for New York 11211

56°F
Current: Overcast
Wind: NE at 0 mph
Humidity: 84%
Wed
Partly Sunny
67°F | 56°F
Thu
Showers
70°F | 56°F
Fri
Chance of Storm
72°F | 56°F
Sat
Chance of Storm
72°F | 54°F

So, Monday I was inspired by a technicolor Gene Kelly-ish fellow with a little canary on his shoulder. (click.) Yesterday was a sort of navy stockings-ish Mary Poppins sort of day (below). Today is more Catherine Deneuve in the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, complete with yellow slicker.

http://www.dvdtown.com/images/displayimage.php?id=2722

Which leads me to the question--if London has Mary Poppins and France The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, what is New York's contribution to the canon of rainy day moments in cinematic style? Or your city's, if you're not in New York? Any ideas? Leave a comment...

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

singin' in the rain

Here's a question for another drizzly day:

Who has done more for the umbrella's place in pop culture--Mary Poppins' magical nanny-transport or Rihanna, forever adding an extra syllable to the word, making it um-ba-rella? (Click.) Sorry, if it's stuck in my head it's gonna be stuck in yours too.

http://www.greatmovietour.co.uk/resources/Mary-Poppins-mv03.jpg

I'm more of a Poppins girl myself, channeling her today in a restrained (but a tiny bit ruffled) navy dress, stockings and sensible little black boots--punctuated, however, with this little number, a gift from Bella and Maizie:

A yellow umbrella that looks like a longshoreman. I highly recommend the yellow umbrella (though maintain that carrying an umbrella of any color in midtown should require a license.) It's sort of a portable sunshine on an otherwise grey day. This fellow I captured for Dossier (click) was onto it too, with an even cuter accessory on his shoulders. Perhaps his Gene Kelly jaunt yesterday inspired today's Ms. Poppins.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

does anyone know the charleston?

Cookie Monster pointed his xylophone stick at me.
"She knows the Charleston," he said, a glimmer of recognition in his plastic eye.

And that, my dears, is how I ended up performing in my platforms at the West 4th Street stop.