Model Citizens

Last week was Fashion Week in New York, a time for 99.99% of the city to go on with life as usual, while the other .01% (possibly less than that; I'm still waiting on a final statistic from the, uh, Fashion... Board) crams under tents in Bryant Park to watch the brilliant works of sartorial art head down very long runways. This weekend, I (very briefly) joined this tiny cross-section of New York culture and I went to a fashion show. The artiste was an Israeli lingerie designer, who went with a Bollywood theme, and whose show included four models and as many looks, and was over in maybe twice as many minutes. Now, this was my first fashion show, so I could be wrong here, but I always thought that these things were supposed to last as least as long as it takes to finish a cocktail, and include maybe 8-12 looks (because, come on, how else are we supposed to know what to wear), but perhaps minimalism is in this year. It was at least fun to get dressed up for it, and my companions and I capped off the night with milkshakes and onion rings at a nearby diner. Just like Yves Saint Laurent!
Models.
Me. I am very different from models.

Hello, Dalai!

I've been a theatre geek my entire life, and I sometimes think I've seen it all: Nudity, scenery mishaps, drag shows, old-lady dancing, awards shows, theatre in the round, aerial stuntwork, improvised Shakespeare, one-person plays, tv show tapings, a 6-year-old playing Nixon, Broadway, Off-Broadway, So Very Very NOT Broadway, and a play starring a cat. But this is New York, and there's always something new to see. So leave it to a troupe from Minnesota to introduce me to yet another totally new theatre experince: An outdoor walking play. Friend Alan, who lives here but makes a pilgrimage to Minneapolis every few years to star as the Dalai Lama in the utterly enchanting The Buddha Prince, has the lead role as spiritual leader/narrator in this show, which meets its audience on a sidewalk outside Central Park, then guides them through the park from stage to stage while they reenact the life of the 14th Dalai Lama through song, dance, puppetry, poetry, physical comedy and mime. The formula of outdoor stages+a super talented cast+themes of peace, love and compassion-pretension and a stifling theatre was an absolutely winning one. Can we make all shows be like this? Outdoor walking Glengarry Glen Ross, anyone?
Resolute Tibetans defend their sacred land

K and I met up with the Dalai Lama who, in some interpretations of the story, is a white dude.

Batgirl!

Back in March, I signed up for the 92nd Street Y Tribeca Softball League. In April, I completely forgot about it. In May, K reminded me that we'd done this, and we went shopping for gloves. At the end of May, our season began and I found myself ensconced in "Deep Right," playing "Extra Outfielder," the position I played most often, with "Uh, Don't Worry About it This Inning" running a close second. In June, I decided not to play the next season, but to stick out the current one. In July, I finally began making regular contact with the ball, and (very) occasionally getting on base. In August, I started getting fewer comments like "way to keep your eyes open" or "way to let Joe catch the ball" and more comments like "way to make contact" and "way to hustle," and once or twice, "nice real hit!" or "good job not swinging at absolutely everything long enough to get walked!" In short, it was a rough season for nonathletic, female minority me. Our team did, however, make it to the playoffs and win our first game, and at the end of August, I had officially played a complete season of softball. I'm now only 98% sure (as opposed to in June, when I was 100% sure) that I won't be playing next year, but I will be helping K work on his pitching (which will be stellar by then) and I'll find a blanket with our team colors to crash on under a tree while I watch K pitch, and the rest of our team win more games. But it was overall a positive experience, and I have an adorable red 92Y Tribeca Softball jersey (and by jersey I mean "t-shirt with the neck crudely cut out") to remind me of my simultaneous rookie and senior season as a real league softball player.

Compute Adorable

New thing 2 of 32 New Things
Instead of settling for a machine that had some of the stuff he wanted, or a bunch of stuff he didn't want, K just ordered the specific components he was looking for, and decided to build it himself. I got to help! I installed the motherboard and the memory card (both of which look like a Google Map of a planet in Star Wars), and my bony fingers came in handy when he needed help tightening some screws and snapping things into small places. K took over most of the attaching of wires, and testing of networks, and cursing of stuff that wasn't working, and re-ordering of replacement parts. I was just happy neither one of us electrocuted ourselves. He had to constantly remind me to discharge my hands before touching anything, which was very nice of him. I don't look good with big hair.
Also, something else new I did this week, but which I'm not counting as my 32nd b-day countdown: I joined Twitter! Follow on!

In the New, 32!

I turn 32 in 32 weeks from today. I think it would be fun to try 32 new things in those weeks. Unlike the time I did this every day for a year, where at 11:55 I ended up doing random stuff like brushing my teeth in an elevator or dyeing my foot purple, these New Things will all be thought out and planned in advance, and as many of them as possible will be things I've wanted to do for a while.
To kick it off, this week I posed for an old-timey photo shoot, complete with a handmade cloche hat, my favorite coat, and a ready-made "set" in Greenwich Village. Drama geek that I am, I have a thing for costumes, old Hollywood, old New York, glamour and retro fashion. This shoot combined them all, and genius photog Anya Garrett was awesomely supportive and did such a great job capturing the exact essence I had in mind.

MidSummer New Things

It's been a while! While the blog has been silent, my summer has been full and crazy, with plenty of New Things to fill my sunny days, and many more to come. Below, some of the highlights, complete with beaches, weddings, diving helmets, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
May:
Went to St. Pete Beach, FL and saw, sat near and stood in the Gulf of Mexico. It was my very first Gulf! My foot really enjoyed it, especially since this particular gulf is framed by the whitest, finest sand it's ever had the pleasure to walk on. I have yet to see for myself whether the Persian Gulf or the Gulf of Aden are surrounded by such loveliness. Now the word gulf sounds weird. Gulf gulf gulf.

Went to Tarpan Springs, FL, home of the world's largest population of natural sea sponges. Those, as well as super cheesy tourist tochochkes, are the main trade in this charming Greek fishing village. It is the site of childhood memories for both Kevin and my dad, and thanks to the area's timeless charm, their memories aren't all that different!

June:
Gave a speech at a wedding.
Somehow, though I've been in six weddings and served as MOH twice, I'd only ever given very brief toasts about how the couple "is perfect for each other, and um, yeah, I hope you two are very happy, and ... cake. Yeah!" but at my sister's lavish, extremely structured wedding, I was actually given a time slot, a microphone, and the center of the dance floor. So I had to make it good. I spent a few days beforehand compiling a list of words, phrases, grunts and inflections which make up Kathleenese, a rare language spoken by an extremely small percent of the world's population. But in hopes of doubling the speakership, I gave her husband a crash-course so he'd know what the heck his beloved is saying on any given occasion. (Sampler: "Boodoo" is 3-year-old Kathleen's version of insults like "meanie" or "poopyhead." At the time, she thought it was a terribly vile thing to say. She still says it to be retro.)


Rowed boats on the Lake in Central Park. Well, not so much "rowed" as "was rowed by lovely friend Keyren's cool boyfriend" as part of what turned out to be a completely heartwarming reunion with dear old friend Meghan, who was in town from Chicago. The boat rowing was plan B after we tried and failed to get tickets for Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, as was a trip to the zoo and afternoon snacks with yet another wonderful old friend, who brought along her baby and husband.


July:

In what was perhaps the most out-of-left field New Thing I've done since the year-long project, I went to a taping of Regis and Kelly, with fill-in host Jerry O'Connell and guests The Real Housewives of New Jersey But Not Danielle. I was in the company of three very rabid RHONJ fans, Katina, Michael and Margot, who waved at the ladies during commercial breaks and wordlessly adored them from our front-and-center VIP seats. Michael, especially, has a unique bond with the H-wives, as he keeps a video blog where he dramatically reads excerpts of Cop Without a Badge, which is apparently so hard to find that after the show, Jerry O came tearing down the hall after us to ask us to take a photo of him reading it, so he could send it to his wife, Rebecca Romijn. It seemed perfectly natural to me, as fill-in hosts seem to be my thing. Plus, with friends like mine, nothing ever seems all that weird.

In the New: The Movie! Sort of!

More than a year after the year of New Things ended, ten months after the August of New Things ended, and two months after the 31 New Things I did before I turned 31, a super talented filmmaker/editor/artist/graphic designer/professor friend sent an email asking if I'd be interested in being the subject of a multi-media video project detailing every New Thing I did before I turned 30.
Um...
YES!?
So in preparation for my New Things to be drawn, animated, videoized and generally made a whole lot cooler, I met Filmmaker Lady and two of her crazy-talented students in New Jersey for a six-hour photo shoot. We re-created a lot of stuff, and I got to run around FL's fancy apartment building wearing, among other things, a full ballerina costume, yoga clothes and a bikini. It was an exhausting blast, and I can't wait to see the finished project. Release date is TBA, but below are some exclusive photos: