Hot things: summer, black men, Project Runway

Hey kids. How's it hanging? Had you noticed the lovely weather we're having? Cause it seems like no one else has, nor have they mentioned it every other sentence or as the LEAD freaking story on the news. (How does that discussion go in the news room anyway? "Well, the middle east is blowing itself away and maybe WW 3 is on the way. But it's REALLY hot. Like over 100 degrees." "Yeah, we lead with the heat. No question. That's clearly important news, cause nobody will know it's hot unless we tell them!")

Anyway. Sorry. The heat makes me mean. Pale girls well over their ideal weight do not do well in the summer. At least I don't.

SO! I had a great night last night at dinner and then drinks in Park Slope. And you know what? It lives up to it's reputation. I saw 2 double baby strollers, there was a screaming baby in the restaurant (how long has it been since I heard THAT?!) and a guy walked by with a baby strapped to his chest. I guess that's how they roll in the hood.

But more important than babies, was the plethora of black men at Moe's, the last bar we visited. Having officially sworn off all relations with my booty call forever, my booty is a little lonely. Like 2 months lonely. That's 2 months 2 long. (look, I can pretend I'm a pre-teen messaging somebody on my sidekick! C 2 LTR!) Granted, the men were not particularly attractive, everyone seemed a bit eh, but hey, it was just nice to be in the same room with all that potential action.

See, gay men like to hang out with me and black men like to get with me, if you know what I mean. Straight men, not so much. Granted, if they're already friends of friends or acquaintances or something they will probably hang out and talk to me, but at a bar, random straight men do not usually pay me much attention. Whether this phenomenon is a function of my own insecurities making me send off nasty vibes or the men being stupid assholes is a matter for a therapist somewhere to solve at some point. But for now, fortunately for me, Moe's is a semi-gay bar with a racially mixed crowd. It's like heaven! And when their frozen mojito machine gets fixed, I'm going to drag Nick over there, drink 2 or or 4 or 7 of them, and see if I can get some action. Hooray!

I am also loving Timbaland, a totally adorable black man who also happens to be a musical genius. Granted, he's really overexposed right now, and that means he's using the crappy beats he would usually leave on the demo tape for top 40 stuff, and letting white hippie chicks get a makeover and RAP, for christsakes. However, I'm really digging the first song on her new album, "Afraid." Check it out. Also, people who just had a baby and look that hot immediately afterwards should be severely reprimanded. Just because.


Also, there is a hot black man on Project Runway, which is the absolutely best show ever. Except that they built up the 'somebody getting kicked off' scandal up to a fever pitch and then it turned out to be a snoozefest. Idiot got kicked off for having design books and going AWOL to use the internet for a couple hours. P-lease-ah. I agree with Dan that he was on a drug run.

But the really important fact is that Michael is totally adorable and makes killer clothes (or 'garrrrrr-ments,' as everyone in the industry calls items we civilians refer to as" pants" and "shirts"). He's totally hot, but since he makes clothes and I have a crush on him, also probably gay. Which is a good thing, because that means we would be friends immediately, but I couldn't sleep with him. Oh well. I suppose if he made me a dress and went out drinking with me, I would forgive him and hook him up with one of my friends.

Okay, enough rambling on. I'm sorry to take out my total disillusionment with my job and resulting lackluster motivation out on you all. And also I will do my best to resume regular posting sometime in the future.... Sometime!

Don't Fuck with the Babysitter!

Oh yes, I was one hung over bitch on Saturday. Seriously. So what better to do than try to relive part of the glory that was my mid-80's childhood by watching one of my favorite movies ever--Adventures in Babysitting!

Dude. This is a crazy fun romp of a movie with a kick-ass R&B soundtrack. FULL of crazy 80's fashions and hair to die over. Basically, a very young and super hot Elizabeth Shue is roped into babysitting for these two kids when her (obvious to us, but not to hot but stupid Shue) evil boyfriend Bradley Witford (a VERY young Josh Lyman from West Wing) stands her up for a date.

Everything is fine; the little girl has bad hair and the hots for her imaginary hero Thor and the slightly older boy has the total hots for Shuey. His equally pimply and horny best friend finds out hot Shuey is watching them and drops in to get his fair share of ogling. Just when the 'rents have left for a fantsy-shmantsy party in the city (of Chicago), Shuey gets a call from her crazy and considerably less-hot best friend Brenda who has apparently, at the age of 18, run away from home. And has brought no money with her. So she can't get home. Or call her parents because then they would get mad at her. And she's at the bus terminal with crazy people. Of course this whole set up is sort of stupid--can the brainy sidekick really be so foolish? But I guess this is before the heyday of cell phones, ATMs, and everyone who is able to sign their name having a credit card of some sort. But we have to have a plot device to get the movie going, no?

And so they pile into the station wagon and set off for the big city. Everything's fine till they blow a tire on the expressway. And Shue realizes she "forgot her purse" so she can't write a check to get the tire fixed. (Write a check?!! hahahah! Didn't you love the 80's?) Anyway, as you might expect, craziness then ensues.

Watching the film again was fascinating--I think it must have appealed to me so strongly for two reasons:

1) I strongly identified with Elizabeth Shue. As a teenager, I also drove a huge white woody station wagon, lived in the midwest, and babysat a lot. I also had an incredible desire to be that fresh-faced gorgeous midwestern kind of teen beauty (the braces and skin issues prevented that, unfortunately.) I think I also must have had some sort of urge to go to the big city even then--this is clearly a portrayal of the Urban Metropolis (even just Chicago) as crazy fantasy land where things happen that would NEVER happen in the suburbs! There are black people and truckers with claw hands and bad guys who want their porn magazines back! It's crazy out there! But exciting.

2) This soundtrack kicks ass. It's also all this R&B stuff that my dad raised me with, but you rarely if ever heard it back in the 80's! In a movie with white kids running around! It really sets off the action and helps keep the cheese factor from overwhelming. I think if they had used period 80's stuff, the film would have been awful now. And of course, the BEST SCENE, hands-down is when they sing the babysitting blues with Albert Collins. Cause "Nobody leave this place without singing the blues."

Anyway, all I can say is that you must Netflix this film. It's clearly a classic, up there with Ferris Buhler, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, etc.

Chanel, you're killing me!

Have any of you ANY idea how overwhelming it is to walk into a fabric store chock full of the absolutely most BEAUTIFUL fabrics and pick out THREE? Just three or maybe four to use as the basis for your final designs? Because I didn't till this morning. I have basically approached my final design project completely ass-backwards and it is now coming back to bite me in said ass. I mean, there's nothing WRONG per se, it's just that I want to do the best I can and get an A, and I designed this fantastic long coat and it's making me crazy. Anyway, wish me luck as I attempt to finish up tonight. Coco Chanel, you are one craaaaazy lady!

So how is everyone? I've been obviously totally neglecting my little blog here and for that, I'm sorry. Although it seems all my friends have also more or less gone on summer hiatus, so I guess I'm not the only one. Let's see, I've finished two more books: The Double by Jose Saramago (I don't think I wrote about that one), and The Crimson Petal and the White. The Double is very good--I really like Saramago. As you might guess, the book is about a guy who finds another guy who looks exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, like him. Chaos ensues. Anyway, the strangest thing happened. I always read on the train and one day as I was sitting there reading, another woman sat down next to me, also reading. For some reason, I wanted to look over and see what she was reading and it turns out to be The Double. Spoooooky! So I nudged her and we had a good laugh over it. Although I'm not entirely sure if she got that I thought it was weird not just that we were reading the same book, but that we were reading the same book about DOUBLES.... Anyway, so I go back to reading and at my stop, this woman gets off too. Hmmm. Then as we're getting out of the station I don't notice her till I see her on the stairs immediately in front of me. It was sort of weird because I was taking a set of stairs I don't usually take because I decided I wanted to pick up a bottle of wine on the way home. So down we go and where does she turn into? The WINE STORE! I was seriously weirded out so I stopped to look at some flowers next door for a minute. Strange how life imitates art, huh?

The Crimson Petal and the White is all about Victorian England as shown through the life of this rich guy and this unusually educated prostitute who he decides to "purchase" and have as his kept woman. And then he has this crazy wife. Basically, this novel just made me appreciate how privileged I am to be a fully independent woman who is reliant on no man for money or my position in society. Women really got insanely shafted back then. And the British class system is wickety-whack!

Speaking of wickey-whack, Malan from Taiwan who likes to eat flan in a caftan is movin on! They auf'ed him last night on Project Runway! Granted, his dress did look like a big turd coming down the runway...but they let crazy basket-head man and the greasy lesbian from Minnesota stay over him?!? Inconceivable. I was sure he would get a "Santino Pass," i.e., it's clear he has more talent and certainly more personality than many of the others who are still on the show, but who will certainly be cut before long, so the judges would give him a pass and cut the less talented/interesting people first. But it was not to be. Oh Malan. Well, maybe I'll run into him since he lives in Long Island City. (Oh how the Taiwanese have fallen!)

Anyway, I'm still getting ready for my trip to Paris! Can't wait! I'm practicing important phrases, like "One more bottle of wine, please!" and "Where are the hot men?" Also, my sisters will soon be in town for Sister Convention 2: Electric Boogaloo (Copywrite 2006, Kathryn Musilek.) This will entail my sister Kathryn and step-sister Kate driving cross country from Colorado to NYC to drop off Kathryn and her stuff at my place. Kathryn's moving out to NYC and we're all very excited about that! Then those two and me and our other stepsister Megan will engage in carousing in either or both NYC and BFJ (That's very far away Jersey, FYI.) I have a feeling my French phrases will come in handy then as well.

Anyway, that's about all for now. I have to get to work--although I feel like it must be time for lunch because I was up at 6:15 to go swatching. That's AM people! So have a good day.

God bless my 4 day weekend...

and America, I guess. So howdy ya'll and my sincerest apologies for the total lack of posting lately. To tell you the truth, I'm actually doing you all a favor since all I really had to say this week was a variety of whiny, self-pitying complaints, and nobody really wants to hear that...do you?

So it's the 4th of July weekend and we get a rocking 4.5 day weekend! That's virtually a WHOLE WEEK OFF. God bless corporate America and paid va-cay, no? I plan on getting a facial, finishing my art project for class, going to several parties/picnics and drinking and eating a lot of yummy americano-type foods. Should be nice.

In other news, I have submitted my passport application and should be getting it in about 8 business days from now. Hooray! Get this--I had to make my friend Jonathan come with me to verify that I was, in fact, Ms. Julie Nouveau, since I had only a state ID, and not a driver's license.

Which by the way, Wha?? I was like, let me understand this. The STATE ISSUED ID, that the STATE of NY issued me (after a monumentally long wait in line, submission of every piece of paper I owned with my name on it, and a 4 week wait for the REAL ID to get mailed to me) ISN'T SUFFICIENT ID? Dude, you let me get on a plane with this ID, but I can't apply for a passport with it? What the hell? Does somehow knowing how to drive make you a better applicant for the right to go to another country? Do we want only driving ambassadors of US love and goodwill? Anyway, that one just really boggled my mind, to say the least.

I have also finished several books lately.
20. Oh the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey. So this is a great novel. It's another 'truth is stranger than fiction' real-life memoir about Sean Wilsey's life. His father was a millionaire (from a butter and eggs company! go figure) who ended up divorcing Sean's mother and marrying Dede, the most evil wicked stepmother imaginable. From his perspective, the poor kid never had a chance at a normal life with three insanely selfish and mercurial parental figures in his life. Like Biggie said, Mo Money, Mo Problems. It's a great read--I recommend it highly.

21. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'm a huge fan of Mr. Garcia Marquez's work. Having never read this novel, which most say is his best (and for which I believe he won the Nobel Prize), I picked it up. I was certainly not disappointed. The voice of LITOC is much more restrained and orderly than 100 Years of Solitude, however the amazingly real and human characters still jump off the page, just as in his other work. I really loved this and highly recommend it as well. However, my personal favorite is still the sprawling Magical Realism of 100 Years.

22. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. So I'm really surprised that I am liking this novel tremendously, when I didn't like her other (The Secret History) at ALL. More when I'm finished.

Happy Friday (and Pride!)

Happy Friday! and Happy Pride Weekend to my Gays everywhere! Man oh man is it craaaazy at casa Julie these days. It's great to have real stuff going on. My life is now made up of four parts: School, Work, Going to Paris and Having a Life. This is good, because previously, I had only Work and Having a Life and that really wasn't enough. But sometimes, I just want to watch TV, you know?

Oh and you know what else? It's really freaking hot now. Fortunately, we happen to have a million airconditioners. In fact, right now we have 4 airconditioners installed in our house. How USA is that? Most countries don't even USE airconditioning but we have one more than the total number of people living in our apartment! Good god. But I will say, if it's necessary to sleep well so we are all happy, then fuck it, fuck the energy crisis, I'm gonna enjoy my cooled air till they take it away from me. And that's why the ice caps are melting.

And also, I am getting a bit tired of my roommates beginning some sort of house chore, such as putting up a shelf or putting an airconditioner in a window, that I actually have to complete. I am apparently much handier and more familiar with tools than any of the men in my house, so they usually have to come to me for help, advice, supplies or tools to do whatever it is they started doing. But that means I have to actually DO whatever it is cause they can't do it themselves. Oy veh.

Either that, or I'm just overbearing and jump in cause I want them to do it my way or I know best. Honestly, it's probably a little of both. Oh well, it's good Karma to help and it is a shared space. I guess I'll get over it. (Also, all the airconditioners are in, so I don't think we'll have to deal with it anymore. I hope.)

We're getting ready for Paris. We bought airline tickets and made hotel reservations. We're staying in the Marais, which according to all accounts is the cool neighborhood right now. I just have to go get my passport today. I'm going to do it TODAY. (I'm just trying to convince myself--I've been putting it off.)

Okay, enough about that. Here for your amusement--and do open it, cause it's freaking hilarious--Cats that Look Like Hitler.

Bonjour, Paris!

Hello all, and apologies for the lack of postage lately. It's been super crazy and I've not had the time nor inclination to write it all down. I suppose it's really a good sign that I'm so busy living life, there is less time for navel-gazing introspection.

And on that note, another big life-living announcement today! I'm Going to Paris! For a week in September. Avec ma mere (that's 'with my mom', for you non-froggy speakers.) I can't wait! There's still a whole heck of a lot to do: get a passport, book plane tickets, find a hotel, you know, just little things.... but I'm not worried. We've decided to go and I'm sure we're going to do it. I'm thrilled because I said I was going to do it and I am! That's two major life goals down in like 3 months: School and Paris. I think sucess may just breed success, as they say. And think of all the inspiration I'll have! Oh la la! The Louvre, and all the shopping and the impossibly chic women. I'm hoping to have some sort of Sabrina experience, where I come back transformed into Audrey Hepburn. But I'll settle for learning how to tie a scarf or something similar.

The funny thing is now I feel like I have to buy a whole bunch of stuff like a digital camera, the elusive very comfortable and still stylish shoe or boot for walking miles and miles in, an iPod. But of course I have no money to begin with and should be SAVING to go to Paris... Oh consumerism, let me be!

And I'm starting on the diet and exercising so I can traipse about Paris not feeling like I'm going to die...and also so I'll look good in all those pictures I'm taking with my new (yet to be purchased) camera!

Et je vais apprendre le français! I can't wait to start practicing again. Anybody in the NYC area want to trade French lessons for something? I have many and varied talents!

In other news...I threw a BBQ on Saturday and it was loads of fun. We broke in the backyard good and proper, ate burgers and potato salad, and drank till we were silly. There was much dancing and even some new love connections (okay, generally all hookups, but some other new potentials...) which are certainly signs of a good time. Thanks to all who came and all who helped make it happen. Look for the next really big 3031 par-tay soon. I believe it will probably include costumes.

Also I've finished a couple more books, but I'll have to write about those tomorrow. Au revoir, mes amis! Gros bisoux.

A Prairie Home...

Got more pictures back from my trip to Iowa! Isn't it gorgeous? (And this is in the rain...it's obviously better in the sun!)

Check out the flowers galore at the greenhouse!