Sans Soleil

sometimes I still feel like an outsider in this city. i've never been to staten island or to carnegie deli. i still gawk at street performers and laugh at the men who drunkenly whistle at the lady passers-by. I don't feel this so much in winter...in winter everyone's distant, alone, and slightly miserable. But in the spring changes and suddenly there are people having lightsaber battles in the park and you don't have to wear panty hose with dresses anymore. i love it.

Washington Square last thursday. It was packed with people and there were street performers at the end of every direction. There was a barbershop quartet under the arc.

I went to Central Park with a friend visiting from DC. I don't go to central park very often, its not too close to me and its kind of depressing in winter what with the fierce life-threatening icicles and the wolf/coyotes. But it was perfect for today

the trees were beginning to bloom...

And people were beginning to dance.

Before we went to central park, we had brunch at Big Wong King on Mott St. We got enough food for 3 people, it cost 15.50. They are famous, of course, for their roast duck.

I don't eat a lot of meat, but these golden duckings were delicious.

Our meal, starting from the left corner: shrimp rice pancake, duck noodles, short ribs in a blackbean garlic sauce, and beef and squid congee. Everything was good and came out within 10 minutes after ordering. Go here. walk around Chinatown, buy some cheap sunglasses, and relax under the city sun.

Eggstra Special Sundays

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for my lack of blogging. I know there aren't a lot of you out there but I really appreciate all the views and I really need to make a better blogging schedule.

Also, I realize the title of this entry was written on a Monday morning, but like Atmosphere, i'm currently giving "half my day to last night" and haven't exactly gone to bed yet.

So, because of the crazy non-scheduling issue i've got with the blog, i've decided to give you guys a present. I fucking love giving presents. I love seeing little kids happy as shit. you know, that sort of warm tingly touchy feely-feeling that the trailer for Babies gives you. I tend to find a lot of things around New York in trash cans. Things being an umbrella term for old books, crates, jars, etc. I take it because its in a trash can, about to be lost forever. I find this absolutely devastating for some of the objects in the heap so I take them out and keep them. Its all basically shit, which is why i'm title-ing this gift "Shit on the Street". However, I actually end up using a bunch of this trash-treasure in art pieces or sometimes i'll bring home something a friend actually needs. In order to encourage this kind of thinking, I'm there by creating a "shit on the street" section on my blog. Here's what I found this weekend.

I plan on using the skateboard deck as a shelf for my wall. All I need are some of those shelf holder-upper triangle things. Not sure what to do about the army tank yet, but its so lividly toxic looking its ridiculous.

Another thing, you all should really check out my friends blogs on the Link List. Some of them are people I know and some are just blogs I really admire, but they are all a wonderful read. I really love communicating with people, so I love reading my friends blogs and seeing what they are up to where every they may be. Yay modern technology!

Today,

My friends and I went to George Weld and Steve Tanner's Egg in Greenpoint, Brooklyn today for a tasty 2 o'clock brunch.

Coffee was served in these darling little french presses.

Coffee was accompanied by little beignets! I often like to dip sugary things in coffee to enhance the flavor and add a little kick.

I ordered the Eggs Rothko aka "easy-cooked egg in a slice of amy's brioche and topped with grafton cheddar. served with broiled tomatoes and a side of meat or seasonal vegetables."

It was really, very wonderful. The brioche seems daunting at first, but the inside is basically all egg topped with cheese. The brioche is crispy and butter on the edge, too.

Two eggs sunny-side up, hashbrowns, and organic toast.

The wait was a little long to get in, but the food and the atmosphere where lovely and I definitely want to go back. They also have a ton of organic products, so thats totally a plus.

On the way to Brooklyn, I stopped to record a musician playing in the subway. I've been doing this a lot normally, usually recording on my iphone. So the quality is nowhere near as classy as i'd like. Here are some of my favorites from my youtube channel:

This week is going to be packed with student-like activities that will most likely turn me into a study-zombie. Can't say i'm looking forward to it, wish me luck!!!

the sky is falling in!

so i went to brooklyn today. my mother thinks brooklyn is in queens, but thats a different story. did i mention it was a gorgeous day today? a gorgeous fucking day.

anyway, a few friends and I went to williamsburg area for some pre-school retail therapy.

we ended up going to Beacon's Closet. I liked it, but there weren't many clothes i found appealing. however, i would go back just for the shoes.

I found these for $20 and they had a lottttt of shoes. Wore them tonight with a giant black sweater and tights to and from Greenwich without any problems.

For food, we stopped at greasy spoon kinda place. nothing special, i liked the bathroom.

this is what i want my bathroom to look like

nomming

afterwards we headed back home for naps. as i was resting i saw this ad:

awesome. because thom yorke never does any interviews ever (which i respect! but still! what goes on in that brilliant mind of his?!) this should be entertaining.

oh, and here's another video of The Silver Fox aka Andersoon Cooper saving a bleeding Haitian child from a riot. thats basically exactly what happens, right after a faceless voice tells you about thirty times that "this video should not be watched by children....mayhaps your children should leave the room." or something.

support hurricane relief!

dark and stormy

jI'm back in the city and the weather is certainly not excited about my arrival. It's wet and cold here in New York. Time for hunter boots and cuddling under the blankets for hours and hours.

I've spent the last two days cleaning my whole room, which sounds less grueling than it actually is. Cleaning this dorm room was like going through a scrapbook of all the things I had forgotten about last semester. Leather jackets, cereal boxes, half smoked spliffs, three wigs, film, hair thingies, those vans i thought i lost, concert tickets, disposable cameras, post its with story ideas, you name it it was probably under my bed.

So even though I'm mexican, i had never heard about horchata until the vampire weekend song came out. Even if you don't like vampire weekend, i suggest you listen to this song

It feels like walking around the city covered in snow and hunting for warmth and mexican beverages. It gives you a nice, tingly feeling. They are playing at Barnes and Noble (union square) this Thursday with Kwame Dawes if you are interested. Info: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/64345

Anyway, the taco truck outside of the dorm sells horchata and i obviously had to try it. Note that i'm pretty skeptical about all mexican food in the city since i'm from texas and we know what mexican food actually tastes like.

I went with my friend Taylor as seen here next to the window of Patty's Tacos

They have a lot of traditional drinks to choose from. But i went for the horchata, which was excelllllent. Taylor is from California and said the horchata was "decent", but i thought it tasted like liquid baby angels.

They also sell Jarritos. If you are smart, you'll buy some. Piña is my favorite flavor, but they have others. Makes for excellent chasers.

Now that I'm back in the city, i'm taking super advantage of all the art events here. My Brightest Diamond is playing at the Bowery Balloroon on the 22nd, maybe i'll go to that? maybe i'll see you?

***

EDIT: horchata is still delicious.

C'est Si Bon

I don't speak french, one day perhaps I will. In the meantime, I am starting a new blog. And it will be full of all the things i'm interesting in. For example: Eartha Kitt, Michael Pollan, puppies, kittens, radiohead,new york, beer, food, naps, coconuts, movies, spain, jack nicholson, cooking, politics, armadillos, music, big trees, playgrounds, jack rose, beards, mary jane, micro-pigs, green, dancing, photography, and food. To get us better acquainted, here are five facts (or slices) that you might find interesting about me and my life.

1.) When I was ten, I was terribly, hysterically obsessed with all things Harry Potter. So, naturally like any soon-to-be eleven year old, I waited by the mailbox on my birthday to receive my Hogwarts letter of acceptance. Needless to say, it never arrived and my poor, majick hungry heart shattered to pieces. So, I went mother for advice. We were in her old mini-van on the way to art class and i asked if I was a witch. Her answer was this: "Jamie, we all have a little bit of magic inside of all of us." Touching, I know. I mean, how disney does that sound? Anyway, the slow shocking realization that wizards and witchcraft didn't exist was a million times more detrimental to my childhood than that of the santa clause discovery.

2.)I LOVE FOOD. LIKE , I REALLY FUCKING LOVE FOOD. To this day, there has only been one food i have come across that i have had issues with. Grits. My first time eating them went something like this: imagine that grit scene from My Cousin Vinny, except instead of Joe Pesci, imagine a very awkward and chubby 12 year old Mexican girl. There. Perfect. But you name it and I'll probably eat it.
Now, let me make myself clear. I love FOOD. Not anything genetically modified, hydrogenated, hormone or pesticide pumped etc. That.is.not.food.
I also don't eat a ton of meat, but that's just because I'm not the biggest meat eater. I only eat meat about once a week. However, feed me a nice, juicy grass-fed and medium rare hamburger with all the fixin's and i'll probably love you forever.

3.) I have a cat who i'm utterly in love with. His name is Diego and he's about 2 years old. Here's a picture. Around my house, he is called Prince Handsome. I'm not joking. He doesn't look as majestic in this picture because he had feline pink eye or something when this was taken and his whiskers are a little wonky. But I guarantee you, he is the most good-looking cat you have ever met. I also have two dogs named Piper and Shirley. Sadly, I live up in New York and my little menagerie has to stay in Houston with my family.

4.) I once had a flesh eating disease called cellulitis. The first time (yes, it happened twice. Cured both times) it flared up, I was about 9 and it was under my left eye. I had just spent the night at my friend Bess' house and my mom thought she punched me. No, just a flesh eating bacteria infection. The next time I was 11 and it was in my left ear. I swear, there was a puss waterfall flowing out of my ear. It was disgusting, but for some reason I thought it was awesome. The infection even became part of a show-and-tell presentation. Fortunately, I don't have cellulitis anymore and I am, for the most part, pretty healthy.

5.) I know facts. Lots and lots of random facts. I don't know why I know so many, but I do and a lot of people find it entertaining. I'm a hit at parties. For example, did you know Cleopatra was most likely blonde and blue-eyed? Or did you know we have about 50% of the same DNA as a banana?

Okay, there you have it. Five facts. I'm super duper excited about this blog and will write again shortly.

sweet dreams,
-j.