that is it!

ANOTHER boy rejection. i am officially retired.

what a deal

i just narrowly escaped a bargain store with my life, or at least my chequing account. i swear, i go into those places and something about the dingy little aisles and the flickering fluorescent lights turns me into a spaced out, wandering, frenzied, freak. suddenly, everything looks fucking fascinating.

so i've arrived home with a glittery mini-stapler, a 4 pack of metallic pencil sharpeners, 2 ten packs of multi-colored creamy eye shadows, a large bag of cheezies, a vegetable cup-a-soup, a pink bikini, and a pair of striped toe socks. yeesh.










RANDOM FACT ABOUT ME: i never answer the phone. ever.

Xin yi hua

Claudia Wilson Gator: You don't know how fucking stupid I am.
Jim Kurring: It's okay.
Claudia Wilson Gator: You don't know how *crazy* I am.
Jim Kurring: It's okay.
Claudia Wilson Gator: I got troubles, okay?
Jim Kurring: I'll take everything at face value. I'll be a good listener.
Claudia Wilson Gator: I started this didn't I, didn't I -- fuck!
Jim Kurring: Whatever it is, just say it, you'll see.
Claudia Wilson Gator: ...You wanna kiss me, Jim?
Jim Kurring: Yes, I do.

turn the tables

hi there. just had the most lovely hour. i had been working all morning without eating, and it was well into the day. so i decided to venture out to a little coffee shop/ bakery with a new book. the walls of the bakery were painted one a warm turquiose and the other a bright apple green, such that they conspired, in combination, to make me feel as though i was in some peaceful and deserted spot in greece or something--rather than a ditchy road in chinatown. after my soup, i was so enjoying myself, i decided to stay on for a cup of tea and a strawberry rhubarb danish. beside the atmosphere, and i have vowed to go back and photograph the walls so that i can paint my next apartment exactly those colors, it was really my new book that made the hour so great. after trudging through more than a few unenjoyable ones in the last couple of weeks, shena mackay's "the orchard on fire" announced itself as wonderful right from the first pages. i'm only a bit in, and i'd already highly recommend it. thank god i threw my last book out the window at the workers who were power washing the street outside my loft at 6:19 yesterday morning. ugghh.

anyway, i'm back home now, and i was thinking: you all know so much about me. i'm interested in music. these are a few truncated and edited questions from an interview i just did with a band that i like. answer them, if you will:

Q: Yo la Tengo’s song Cherry Chapstick has been on my “get ready to go out at night” playlist for years. I’ve drank wine with friends, put on makeup, been silly to it. What particular song means a lot to you? Says something about your identity? And is there a particular song that fits with a really outstanding memory in your life?

Q: Again on the issue of identity: what albums had the most impact on you individually when you were growing up?
Q: What are you listening to a lot right now?

Q: Does what you are doing/ how you are living match up with where you pictured yourself being when you were a little kid? I know I’m continually surprised at how my life has turned out so far.

Q: How do you generally spend your days?

Q: If you could do write a soundtrack for any film, what would that be?

RANDOM FACT ABOUT ME: in the past i have made a living designing handbags, accessories, t-shirts, and clothing. i don't know how to use a sewing machine, so i do everything by hand. it generally falls apart, and i feel guilty. so, i've stopped.

girlish

things are lookin' pretty sweet today. it's sunny enough to wear a tube top, my pile of dirty dishes is small (er than normal), the diet coke addiction rages on, and i'm just about to shower and change into a pretty dress for a pretend date with a hot man. (this is something i do-- making my hot male friends accompany me to dinner at fine places for lovely food and wine). and right now i'm drinking a hoegaarden after a long day of work.

today, i actually feel like a girl ;)

the best thing

the best thing about being single is that it is likely i will get to experience the deliciousness of falling in love at least one more time.

i would rather be

At the Tomatina Tomato Throwing Festival in Spain, or ice skating across the frozen canals of Holland. And you?

you never know

you just never know how life is going to turn out. spent today in my bikini at this trashy pool/ poolside bar near my loft. had some french fries and a corona. 2 of my oldest friends, who met through me, are getting married, and have a 5 week old baby boy together. so. they get into funny wedding clothes we bought in a nearby thrift store. my girl friend wears this terrible, 70's, white gauze number with yellow flowers. my guy friend wears a brown poly suit. i put on my goggles, grab the waterproof camera, and we all dive in. we laughed the afternoon away attempting to all stay underwater at the same time, while i shot pics for their wedding invites. at one point my girl friend had to get out, dripping wet, peel back her wedding dress and breast feed their baby admist the seasoned poolside drinkers. i looked at her and said, "when you were a little girl, did you ever picture yourself wearing a wedding dress, sopping wet, at a bar like this, breastfeeding?" uh, no.

sometimes things turn out even better than you ever imagined they would. :)

here's to you, mrs robinson

i just bought the most amazing strawberries at the grocery store. they reminded me of the ones in my backyard when i was a little girl: mishapen, small, but bright red and pungent. so pungent that their smell filled up my car with foreshadowings of summer. so pungent that they may not have survived the ride home. forgive me, they were delicious, so sweet and so cold. but no one was saving them for breakfast, so why apologize? sometimes the little things remind me that being an adult is not all bad. like not having a mom telling you you can only eat 5 strawberries, the rest being saved for some lame salad with spinach!!! or something.

so i'm doing a collage in commemoration of anne bancroft, with a particular focus on her mrs. robinson years. i went looking for a leopard print bra and underwear. what else (oh, besides maybe stockings) do you think of when you think of her? (that's not rhetorical, answer it dummy). anyway, i couldn't find the perfect leopard print. i took a pretty lame poloroid in a department store changeroom. but the colors were all washed out. and fuck it! unfortunately i ended up spending WAY too much money on lingerie for myself, which was not the purpose of the exercise. i'm not even a lingerie girl. and who will see it? i got home, left the tags on, and stuffed it in my drawer. good one. and i STILL need a picture.

i'd tell you a sad story about how the woman in front of me in the department store restaurant told the clerk she treats herself to one week a year eating there (her birthday week). and that this was the last day of that week, so she'd see her next year. and that her purchase came to $8.59. and that she said of course she couldn't afford to eat that way all year. that would be ridiculous. and that her birthday lunch was chicken wings, mashed potatoes with no gravy, and tri-colored frozen vegetables. but telling you would make me sad.

random fact ABOUT ME: i live above a chinese restaurant and invest in a steady string of crisp breeze air wicks to keep my clothes from smelling of bok choy.

someone called me a

whip-smart hot Canadian cherry bomb.

that most excellent compliment is sure to put a smile on my face for days.

thank you.

your good intentions

i read this today, and found it to be wonderful. in fact, the whole blog (miranda july) was lovely. i will link it on the side.



"My friend Khaela in Portland made this cake for me. What is worth noting is how she was determined to write Congratulations Miranda even though it must have been immediately clear that it wouldn't fit. This is the kind of "fuck it, I'm just going to keep on going anyway" energy that is really required to do anything at all these days. The next time your plans start disintegrating, think of this cake and remember that what matters is finishing the job and your good intentions."
miranda july.