New York: Day 1

Fair White and I caught a 6am flight to NYC.

Ice on Lake Michigan

Plate of meat (and cheese) at Carnegie Deli.

We spent the afternoon browsing the Frick Collection.

Times Square waiting for Janet.

Momofuku Noodle Bar.

The steamed pork buns were delicious.

More reasons to like Russia

From the site: "People of this small Russian town Borovsk are fond of painting their houses with different kinds of stories". What a great way to cultivate community.

Be sure to check out the rest.

I love it when philosophers get angry.

Read this if you enjoy the company of philosophers.

Read this if you don't.

Andrew was in town.

One of my roommates from college came to visit and he made a delicious dinner of lamb, lentils, and fennel. We had a feast.

Then we went bowling.
(I won once)
(He won the rest)

It was good to see Andrew again.

More mural pictures

Pie 'n Burger Party

Last night was the Banana Cream Pie and Cheeseburger Party and it went perfectly. The pies were great, the burgers were juicy, and the company was wonderful. It was a night of pie eating, laughing, and Taboo.





I had a great time.

more Trader Joes signs

The signs are coming along nicely.

Carson's is going out of business

Carson Pierre Scott is going out of business. Located at 1 South State Street in Chicago, IL, it was once known as the busiest street corner in the world. Everything is for sale including the creepy teen-boy mannequins that I loved.

Photo of the Week

Winter.

More art.

The Endless Fifteen Minutes -

Andy’s more alive than ever. The press loves him, young artists discuss him reverently, foreigners consider him essential. The filmmaker Ric Burns recently made a two-part documentary about him. A show of his late work was one of the most discussed exhibitions last year. Phaidon just published a giant book called Andy Warhol: “Giant” Size. A trendy downtown club on Chrystie Street is dolling itself up to look like the Factory, the name of Warhol’s tinfoil-wrapped studio.

Everyday I try to be as generous as I can be - This is a pretty great article from LA Weekly about Koons. Here's an excerpt:

At one point a questioner in the audience addressed the result of Koons’ own self-acceptance, suggesting that his work is “cynical.” Koons seemed to take a slightly deeper breath; he’s heard this before. “I’m not cynical,” he said with deliberation. “My definition of cynicality is when you have more information than you reveal. I try to reveal everything I know. Every day I try to be as generous as I can be.”

What a great definition of "cynical".

Can Photographers be Plagiarists - This is excellent. I just wish these photographers would stop whining about plagiarism. Stop making me angry.

Speaking of Painting - Not all painters are great.

More than 80,000 sound and video recordings of animals now available to public online - Cool.

Love

The first lovers? - They died embracing eachother. My first thought: awwwwwwwwwww...I want that to be me! My second thought: Wait, what horrible thing happened to them that allowed them to die embracing?

Divide and conquer - Rulers should be printed onto everything.

Ingredient in male sweat raises women's hormone levels - Goodbye deodorant.

Links

White Castle V-Day! - If you were considering this, stop.

"I bang my wife" - Buzzfeed says it best: "This trend needs to die immediately."

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else" - Good week for NY politics.

The HPV vaccine isn't just for chicks anymore - So penis cancer is real? Does this mean Republicans will start endorsing HPV vaccination and stop calling women who do, sluts? It always comes back to the rich white man's penis--always!

Men and women often misunderstand each other's flirtation signals - Ya think? From the article: ""One of the surprising facts in this study was that women do not send clear rejection signals. A woman sends sexually explicit signals without having much interest in the man." That is surprising.

Boredom comes from not knowing ourselves - I think that's right.

After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshiping the ancient gods again - "To the astonishment of onlookers, Peppa also began babbling Orphic hymns, before thrusting her arms upwards into the Attic skies and proceeding, somewhat deliriously, to warble her love for the gods of Mount Olympus."

How Iraq Trillion Could Have Been Spent - Sad, sad, sad.

How can I make this clear: people are terrible predictors - "The best strategy for career planning is this: make your best guess, try it out and don't be surprised if you don't like it." Most people don't even try.

fuckerdeen

I was feeling blue this morning, I think was a pre-menstrual blue, but
I was cheered when I got to work. My co-worker and I talked in British
accents all day. I pretend to be a frail old woman who bosses him
around and he pretends to be an overly polite landlord he once had. We
sang the songs from The Sound of Music duet-style and he sang a few
show tunes solo. We did some fine paintings of searchlights with a
bold 80's color palette, during which time he told me a wonderful
story that goes like this.

When he was a little boy he and his sister
over heard his aunt and mother having a conversation. The aunt said "I
bet it was that fucker, Dean, " but to him and his sister it sounded
like a unique and cute swear word, "fuckerdeen". So the two of them
started to use that word and still do. Recently that aunt was in the
hospital with cancer. He was able to tell her about the story
before she died and she really enjoyed it. She even remembered who
that fucker Dean was.

Super Bowl Party

Last Sunday was the Super Bowl. Although the outcome was disappointing, the company was great and the food was excellent. I hope my screaming didn't offend anyone. (And I'm apologize for the things I said about your shirt Peter)

What could have been.

All those "Super Bowl Champions" hats and shirts you see after the game are made well in advance of the Super Bowl. So what happens to the shirts and hats for the team that lost didn't win the Super Bowl?

Apparently they're shipped to Africa. At least the Bears are champions somewhere...

My Favorite Realtors

I receive quite few business cards while at work. Starting now, every week I'll share some of my favorites.

Enjoy.

Back of Joe's card.

Centralia

My friend Matt visited Centralia, PA last week. More to come.

Art has never been made while thinking about art...

So those famous lions outside the Art Institute have been fitted for football helmets. Haven't decided how I feel about this. At least it's interesting.

What happens when artists talk to the media?

Two artists were arrested in Boston yesterday for installing Aqua Teen Hunger Force advertising around the city. The whole thing is ridiculous. Though not as ridiculous as the artists themselves.



You aren't clever.

People like sex apparently.

Flapper dresses are back! - And so is the Charleston! I need a flapper--I really do.

On-line dating works - Hmmm...

It's better to wait - Women who keep their men waiting longer end up having better, more fulfilling sex. Not all that surprising.

Posing as a family, sex offenders stun town -

In nearby Surprise, where Casey was enrolled as a 12-year-old in a public school for four months, he was regarded as a shy, average student with chronic attendance problems. A man identified as his uncle had registered him, attended curriculum night and e-mailed his teachers about homework assignments.

Now Casey is in jail, and his former neighbors and classmates have learned the unthinkable: Not only is Casey not Casey — his real name is Neil H. Rodreick II — but he is also a 29-year-old convicted sex offender who kept a youthful appearance with the aid of razors and makeup. [via Minidick]

Love in Warcraft - Losers.

My goal was to see how many "boyfriends", for lack of a more demeaning term, I could maintain at one time. The rules I set for myself were not to spend any gold at all on the loves of my life, and never implicitly ask them for gold or items. No real cybersex either - I save that for the Something Awful forums. I would, however, depend on the kindness of these strangers. [via Minidick]

Dating is competitive manipulation - What a great article. I love this girl.

Yeah, the logical part of my mind can hardly believe garbage like that works, either. But dating isn’t about logic. It’s all maneuverings and subtle manipulations.

But had he not had a girlfriend, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to get to know him enough to like him in the first place.

More David Lynch

David Lynch responds (amazingly well) to questions about a possible 9/11 conspiracy.

My Favorite Yard

I walk past this yard everyday . Is this the work of children, a genius, or a crazy old lady?