May 2011
5 posts
Seriously
The other night, while acting as wing-woman for a blonder, cuter friend (not that she needed me, her blue eyes were doing quite good work for her), the boy she was working on suddenly turned to me. “You’re so serious!” he said, knotting his eyebrows, maybe in genuine concern or perhaps mocking my own furrowed brow. I had not meant to or known that I was acting or looking serious, and I...
Recycling is Sexy
Recycling is sexy. Those of you who know me at all understand just how hot I think it is when I see someone tossing their empty Odwalla bottle in the right bin. You know the way I drool when someone has a reusable coffee cup. And you know how I feel about boys in tee shirts with the recycling symbol on them. Those three little arrows, following each other around in a circle, holding onto each...
On Coffee & Kentridge
I am obsessed with William Kentridge — because William Kentridge is obsessed with coffee. He hasn’t told me this directly, but it comes through in his art work. His espresso cup is his telescope, for example, and then his mocha machine his rocket ship. His saucer is his moon. He uses the word percolate to talk about the formation of ideas. Then he called the blank page an antagonist,...
Italy, Revisted
I knew a real Italian once. He was “real” in my book because he embodied all of the things I had heard about Italians: his hair was a slick tarmac of black waves, his hand gestures were violent, his name was Gastone, he cheated on his wife and had a baby with his mistress. I felt proud to have known him; it is rare that one gets to know a figure who so perfectly personifies a stereotype. It...
Ropa Tipica
In Guatemala, traditional clothing is still worn by most of the local women. These standard outfits, called Ropa Tipica, consist of an insanely intricate, embroidered blouse, tucked uncomfortably into a thick, high-waisted skirt, constructed by wrapping a piece of patterned fabric around the waist like a roll of paper towels. This is cinched tightly at the top with a colorfully embroidered...