(Disclaimer: I wrote this on a much colder day, before my Internet went down... now that it's back up, of course it's 60 degrees in January in NYC. Oh well, I'm going to post it anyway.)
Living in the northeast gives me an opportunity to remember some of the most exciting winter days of my youth... snow days. Growing up in the deep south, these wondrous days occurred once a year, on average. And they always included a complicated dance... from the weather person braving the cold as he/she reported from main street, to the scroll across the bottom of the television screen announcing school closings, to the rush to buy bread and milk before the storm set in and in effect, stranded everyone at home. Snow days were a true event.
I like playing with people's minds. I like observing their reactions to the stimuli I put before them. It makes me feel more alive. Lately a question hatched in my brain: How do you know when you are in love? Surprisingly, most people questioned came up with the answer: "I don't know, I have never been." Adult people, married people, unmarried people; it wouldn't matter. Most of them would admit to not having been in love. So I have begun a quest, to define what love is really about but since love, as we think we know it, has become so hard to define. I am looking for a definition of a new set of feelings that I call "loBe," as a chunk of rational decisions performed at the nerve and brain cells level. So, how do you know when you are in loBe?
I am not a proponent of gratuitous email forwarding or link broadcasting. But I have found two online items that have given me a chuckle for the last couple of weeks. The first is probably only funny if you have a little specific knowledge of the two people involved. It is entitled A Selection from George W. Bush's Eavesdropping Tapes: Matthew Barney and Björk Place an IKEA Phone Order and is courtesy of Chris McCoy and McSweeney's. The second is the aptly titled SuperSizedMeals.com which requires little knowledge of anything.
Thanks to Rebar for the image.
Rebar, a creative collective based in San Franciso has completed their first PARK(ing) intervention: an experiment in "reprogramming a typical unit of private vehicular space by leasing a metered parking spot for public recreational activity." Basically, they load up a truck, find an empty parking space, roll out some sod and a bench and "rent" a sunny spot in downtown San Francisco for two hours and $1.50.
I'll admit it: I watched Fox's new reality show Skating with Celebrities. And I have been looking forward to its debut. Never a huge fan of figure skating, I was enticed less by the potential for surprising grace from decidedly ungraceful people than by the real chance of injury and dismemberment.
A belated Happy New Year to you from your friends at GUTSY. Thanks for making our first six months a rousing success and we look forward to hearing from you in 2006. With that here are the latest articles from our contributors.
Paul Pereira found synergy between orange and pear while Bob Holling had haiku delivered to his inbox. Sandie Maxa ate her very first Cracker Barrel meal in 2005 while Heather Manske showed she knows how to enjoy brunch. Mark Sanders smelled a skunk in New York City and got another haircut. Ann Whitehurst tried to get rid of her 800lb. beast. Finally, Guido Alvarez either thought corporations are good for or not good for infants.
Have a great weekend and tell a friend about GUTSY.
Last Haircut: 9 weeks ago
Day of Week: Friday
Time of Day: Late Afternoon
Salon Bustle: Extreme
Stylist Demeanor: Exhausted, preoccupied
Physical Contact: Low (aggressive hair pulling)
Quotes from Stylist: "Does that burn?" "Everyone is sick." "I don't have anyone new for the rest of the day which means I won't have to talk anymore."
Tip: $5.00
*actual haircut took place a week ago.
Several months ago I agreed to accept a 1902 piano that belonged to my grandmother, who passed away over 10 years ago.
At the end of the year, I like to flip through my old calendar and review my daily activities. Among the notes reminding me to pay rent and go to doctor's appointments are excitable scribbles (usually in red) that remind me it was a good year. Here are my favorites.