music to check out - Asobi Seksu

asobi seksu at empty bottle, 3/5/09

a good video of asobi seksu at the abbey pub a few years ago, playing one of their most delish songs

Early last month, I was happy to go to my first Asobi Seksu show...and yes, it has taken me this long to post about it because I have, once again, been a blog-tease asshole. But, I'm trying OK!? Anyway, the show was just what I'd hoped for - loud, dreamy, a good mix of old songs & new...and Yuki has such a great voice, strong & sweet at the same time. At this show, though, I completely came around to agreeing with Thax Douglas's disdain for audacious photographers who stand smack dab in the front and flash pic after pic after pic of the singer...OK, of course Yuki is super hot. And I am slightly hypocritical because I like to take a few photos at shows. But I try to use flash sparingly, and certainly only take pics during the first few songs. Anyway, I actually left slightly before the end of the show because the music devolved into a shoegaze throwback wall of sound that was almost loud enough to make me shit my pants. I was with them even through the wall for about 10 minutes though...that's really saying something.

SO MANY LEMONS

the new volcano! single and music video are up now....

"If you collect Tracey Emin's work and you have a pool she would like to hear from you."

www.emininternational.com (thinking of calling my new site www.arctanderinternational.net)

Tracey Emin has a new website, and there is nothing on it yet except for this promo pic of her in a pool, with a list of her crazy-ass upcoming shows and the aforequoted message to her collectors at the bottom. i can't help but dig the cheekiness. And the fact that she is a balls-out bona fide art star - famous beyond the edges of the art world. Not that celebrity is so important, but there are so many of them, i am glad the art world can contribute at least a couple of interesting whack-jobs to the fray. I mean, who else is a truly famous artist these days? Matthew Barney? Jeff Koons? Blech. They are not even humans anymore. Check out this video of Tracey cutting a rug in a stuffy, plushy Hollywood hotel room. It feels fun, cute, personal, eerie and creepy all at once. Oh and Tracey looks fab. Sorry no embedded video, they won't let me embed it for some reason.

straight hood.

moments after completing my orange hooded scarf - dig that scalloped edge

I'm so into hoods right now. They are practical and can be weirdly elegant in that delightful Little Edie Beal way. I finally completed the hooded scarf knitting project that you see above about a month ago, after carrying it around with me for ages with barely any progress. The pattern is the "Grown-up Bonnet" from the wonderful Knit 2 Together book by Tracey Ullman & Mel Clark. I've already begun to knit a new black and orange flecked fuzzy hood and I made a pattern to sew up a lined hood from this mangy black fake fur that I have leftover from another project...we will see how that turns out...

Mardi grab-ass.

delish king cakes - Tofutti cream cheese filling on the left, exploding cherry filling on the right.
There was definitely an ugly sibling in this pair. it's my fault, i overfilled him!

even after some surgery and icing, the cherry cake was still the red-headed stepchild. but tasty nonetheless!

vampire chic - erin's classic take & my loretta lynn inspired outfit.
that lacey shrug i am wearing was a thrift store find; original color was cream, i RIT dyed it brown and now it's beautiful!

red red red - sloe gin fizz, rose petals, blood

me and peter. a fitting portrait.

My friends know that I love almost nothing more than playing hostess. I'm particularly into themed parties. In fact, I should really do a belated post on the cocktails and hors d'oeuvres I did for the Madmen-inspired New Year's eve soiree that I put on this year. Anyhows, I visited friends in New York over Mardi Gras this February and helped put on a party called This Ain't No Love-in: Mardi Grab-ass with my dear friends Erin & Margo. The inspiration: vampires in New Orleans. I made veganized king cakes (a favorite recipe from pakupaku.info that I've revisting annually the past few years) and Erin served pitchers of sloe gin fizz, a goblet of blood, and lots of beer.

Tiny Clothing in my Hand

As someone who's always been into dolls (mostly for their clothes) from Barbie to Molly to Blythe, Jon Coffelt's Memory Clothing project struck a chord with me when I heard about it in an email forwarded from the artist. He was looking for commissions for this miniature clothing project - for the price of $250 and surrender of a beloved piece of clothing, Coffelt will make you a tiny, hand-sewn version of the clothing item, using materials from the original article. This simple idea immediately brought up warm, wistful connotations for me - most of all it reminded me of my grandma, how she sewed clothing for both my mom and her Barbie and Troll dolls, and also herself. I now own a couple fab dresses that my grandma made herself in the 70s, and they fit me like a glove. Especially now that my grandma is gone, it makes me happy to be close to something she made during a time before I was even born. To learn more about Memory Clothing, you can contact the artist at joncoffeltart@gmail.com.

Chiogga Beets! Can't be beat.

raw power


after oven


beet buddy. what about "Chioggia" as the name of my first born daughter? One toke over?

Although cooking is one of my absolute favorite things in the world, I've been reluctant to do such posts because I am shit at taking food pics. But, I've decided to just try my best and not worry...it makes sense since I spend so much time working on cooking, veganizing recipes etc. I got these beautiful chioggia beets in my weekly produce box from the rather wonderful local, organic food providers Fresh Picks. I'd had beets on the brain since Kristina's recent beet post. I didn't even know these whimsical (not to mention delicious, particularly sweet) beets even existed! I just roasted them up with olive oil, thyme, salt & pepper (and I also did a little squash that I needed to use). We ate these with a big salad and it was tasty & fun. Now I only wonder where to find these babies on a regular basis....