Peaceful, Positive, and Pink

As part of my personal day today, I went to Union Square to attend a hip hop rally in protest of Hot 97's tsunami song. I don't know if this made national news, but basically what happend is the unintelligent hosts of Hot 97's morning show (Hot 97 is the station where 50 Cent recently spoke and where someone from his entourage was shot outside) wrote and aired an ignorant, disrespectful, distasteful, and utterly racist song about the tsunami victims shortly after the tragedy.

These were the lyrics: (these are very insensitive and offensive, so don't read if you're not willing to deal with this)

There was a time
When the sun was shining bright
So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan
Then the next thing I knew
A wave 20 feet high came and washed your whole country away
And all at once you could hear all the screaming Chinks
And no one was safe from the wave
There were Africans drowning
Little Chinamen swept way
You could hear God laughing "Swim You bitches, swim"
[Chorus]
So now you're screwed, it's a tsunami
You better run and better kiss your ass away
Go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree right through her head, and now your children will be sold child slavery
[Repeat chorus]

Heinous. Completely and utterly heinous. I could go off, but I won't. You know how I feel.

Obviously New Yorkers have been up in arms, demanding that Miss Jones (the host of the morning show) and the remaining morning staff be terminated. It's tough, though, because of freedom of speech.

A rally was held today in order to stress the positive and peaceful qualities of hip hop, and to dismiss the violence and hatred associated with the culture.

Here's the link:

http://www.hiphopliveshere.com/

Here is what the rally looked like from the Filene's Basement in Union Square, which clearly isn't in the basement:



And here is another shot:



As you can see, it wasn't very crowded. It wasn't that good of a rally. The sound system was on very low, so you couldn't tell a rally was happening unless you were right on top of it.



People had signs. This woman's baby was awesome.



Suchin Pak from MTV was there. I kept following her around, semi-hoping she'd ask to interview me so I could say "No thanks, Suchin, and you look much cuter with glasses." I have a suspicion that I'll be hovering in the background of every interview that airs on MTV.



The best thing about Suchin Pak was that she was being followed around by her cameraman and this nerdy early-20's PA (and me) who had a notebook that said "Why are you here?" and "What did you think of the tsunami song?" in case Suchin forgot what to say. I desperately tried to get a photo of it over his shoulder but couldn't get the right angle. Curse my shortness.



Here's another dude with a sign.



There was more interviewing going on than actual rallying.



There was music, but you couldn't really hear it.



And rapping, which you could hear. Very socially aware and very good, but sadly the crowd never got into it.



I never really got into it either, and it was cold and I couldn't hear what was going on, so I went up to Filene's Basement to photograph things from above and happened upon the annual bridal gown madness insanity event. Unfortunately it wasn't crazy when I got there.



I decided to shop, since it was a personal day and I could do whatever I want! I need a spring coat. I've never had a good spring coat, mainly because I can never find coats that fit me. They are always too big. I found one - its very very hot pink - and while trying it on in the store I was torturing myself. It fit so nicely - it seemed slightly too big - and was so pink. I asked a woman who worked there, who was like 400 pounds, what she thought. She told me it was "too small" and that I should really try a larger size. I wanted to yell "Dude, I just wanted to know if you thought it was TOO PINK!" She kept rolling her eyes and huffing "Honey, move your arms around - see? It's TOO SMALL."

Hmph.

I took it into the dressing room with me along with all sorts of other lovely pink items for future spring and summer weddings, and found myself becoming Joe-Pesci-on-Saturday-Night-Live about the whole thing. Have you seen that sketch where he's buying a ring and looking at himself in the mirror and doing all of the poses he might do in real life that would showcase the ring? That was me with the coat. I blame that large woman. Here I am being out of control with various poses I might make while wearing the coat.



I bought the coat, as well as two of the dresses. To be determined. I have 30 days to decide. Roommate thinks the coat fits beautifully but is unsure about its pinkness. I am going to have to ask D and M, who's visiting this weekend. Yipee!

On my way home, there were a dozen red roses on some trash cans on N. 3rd St. I tried to get a picture of them with Brooklyn and the Brooklyn sky in the background, but it didn't work. I took 15 of them and this is, regrettably, the best one.



Ah, personal day.

And now, the weekend.

Personal

I am taking a personal day today.

I haven't been by myself for more than an hour in weeks.

I am using today to do things like pick up the mystery package that's been sitting at the post office for weeks, to clean and do laundry and put things on my Ipod, to download some Brit Pop, to perhaps make copies of the CD's I've been promising people for over a month, to attend and photograph a rally in Union Square at 3 pm.

I don't know how much of this will happen, but I don't care, because I am in my pajamas listening to classical music while staring at my still-unfinished 401k paperwork that is so getting dealt with today!

When I called my boss to inform him that I'd be taking a personal day, it was hard for me not to explain what I was doing.

The point of a personal day is that its personal. It's ironic that I usually keep to myself at work and don't let anyone know me. But the second I am taking a personal day, I feel the need to explain that last week was very stressful with D's being sick and that I've so many visitors and that I am on the verge of a meltdown and that because I have very little work to do today, it makes sense for me to rejuvenate.

But I just said "N, it's Leah, I am taking a personal day" and then quickly hung up before I told my boss my life story.

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Last night a bunch of us went to a place called Cafe Vivaldi, which is coincidentally around the corner from D's apartment and is my new favorite place on the planet.

It's a restaurant/bar with a fireplace and Yamaha grand piano and someone playing classical music while you drink cosmopolitans or beers. A friend of Bench Buddy's roommate was playing and he was fantastic. He played Chopin and Beethoven and Debussy. He said "I heard you are quite the little pianist" and I said "Well, I am the little pianist, but that's about it." He said I could play there whenever I wanted, and that if I wanted to play in between his sets on Sunday I could. Not that I am going to, but how lovely of him to offer. I think I need to become friends with him.

I think this will be the place I go when I need to unwind, or to be introspective, or to meet people, or to get drunk while listening to classical music, which I think is a lovely prospect.

My only complaint is that my "friends" were being loud. I realize it is a bar so people should talk, but I wanted to hear everything. There was debate about whether you clap between movements when you're at a bar and not at the symphony. Sometimes I found myself playing air piano. Sometimes I found myself actually being happy.

Sigh. Classical music and personal days. Life feels good today.

Louis Vuitton

I so have nothing to say.

So here are 10 things about nothing:

1. I slept from 10pm to 8am and got into work at 10:30am. Delightful!

2. On the train this morning there was a woman wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf. It was hideous. It made me sad, because what if this poor woman paid Louis Vuitton caliber money for a horrid dark brown / light brown scarf with L's and V's on it?

3. This past weekend, as part of our car-tour-de-New-York, D stopped us somewhere on the southern tip of Manhattan to look at the Statue of Liberty. While my father took photos, I looked at contraband handbags, and saw the most adorable pink argyle Prada bag. Just as I was about to ask the dude how much he wanted for it, all of the contraband handbag vendors hid their merchandise within three seconds. It was bizarre - they wrapped everything up immediately in sheets, and it seriously took three seconds for millions of bags to become none. They've got this down to a science. We waited for a bit to ask about the bag, but tha police kept driving by.

4. Later that day, D asked me if I wanted it because it was Prada. I was like "What do you think?" and he said "You'd probably rip the label off." "Yes, darling, you are getting to know me." Pink argyle!!! Shit. Fuck tha police.

5. I had a dream last night that LBF and I were having babies. This was a very realistic dream, in that it was a dream about actual pregnancy instead of the usual dreams I have in which I suddenly have a baby and am confused. Normally I'm like "Did I steal this child? Does this child belong to me? Where did this come from?!?!" In the dream, I was showing and mainly concerned about where/when my water would break and what that would be like. I was also trying to organize an outing to go dancing and various friends of mine - old school friends from like years ago - were trying to tell me that dancing and drinking are not good ideas when one is pregnant. And I kept being like "You're right - what if my water breaks IN THE CLUB!?" Later in the dream, I was building a hammock for the baby to sleep in and D wanted nothing to do with it. I kept saying "Where do you expect our child to sleep?" and he kept trying to tell me he didn't care because he didn't want it.

6. D and I had a fight this morning - well, not really a fight, more of an issue - that we didn't resolve. This is another reason why one should not date one's coworker, because you're both feeling terrible and sad and you have to smile and be normal and not awkward when you get to work. We cleared things up at lunch, but morning was brutal.

7. You may have already seen this, but it's awesome:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050225/ap_on_fe_st/somervi
lle_gates_1

8. And also:

http://www.futurebird.com/buckets/

9. Bench Buddy and I are going to construct and post an Emo Scale tomorrow, on which we and our coworkers will indicate our moods as represented by the works of various bands/musicians. It will involve velcro and lamination and pictures of Ben Folds! We are way too excited about it.

10. I guess maybe I had only nine things to say.

Until tomorrow...

Pricing Games and Hot Flashes and Pointlessness

I went to see a charming little film called Schultze Gets The Blues last night. It is a German movie with an idealistic love for America and Americans.

It was slow but endearing.

And it had yodeling, which made me happy.

Since the movie was slow, I had time to contemplate yodeling without missing out on anything in the movie. I was thinking "Why does yodeling make me so happy?" and finally I determined that it's nostalgia for The Price Is Right and not The Sound of Music.

If you don't suffer from the same nostalgia, I am referring to a pricing game on TPIR in which a contestant has to guess the price of a prize and then this small dude climbs up a mountain while yodeling. He climbs for the amount of notches that the contestant is away from the actual retail price of the prize. It's agony because you don't know if he's going to stop or fall over the side the mountain.

This is a really stressful game. Probably one of the more stressful games on TPIR, but it still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

I spent a good portion of the movie last night trying to think of what that game was called. I came up with some theories:

1. Climb Every Mountain
2. Rise To the Top
3. The Lonely Goatheard
4. The Yodeler
5. Weird Little Man Who Yodels
6. Don't Fall Over the Edge
7. The Mountain Game
8. The Climbing Game

I was trying to think like the brilliant minds behind The Price Is Right, about things like The Race Game and Three Strikes and The Golf Game and PLINKO!!!

Needless to say I've been looking forward to this moment... I've been waiting since last night for this... I've been in agony... I've been waiting for the moment when I could look up the actual name of The Game With The Little Yodeling Dude...

Oh. Cliff Hangers. I'm not sure if I actually ever knew that. Hmmm.

http://gscentral.net/cliff.htm

Heh. I guess its funny that determining the name of this game from last night to just now was sort of a, well, yeah, a cliffhanger.

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I am also thinking about menopause today. It was something I've been looking forward to, up until last night. In New York, landlords are responsible for heating tenants' apartments, so we have no control over the heat level.

A few weeks ago, D caved in and bought a space heater because his apartment was just too damn cold. He complained to the landlord, but things never got better.

Starting yesterday, somebody must have put the smack down on the landlord because his apartment was 90 degrees. For those of you who know me, you know I prefer things warm. I'd have the heat on 80 at all times if given my way. D set up two fans, but they didn't do much. I rolled over in the middle of the night and put my hand on my pillow and I'm not kidding when I say I winced because the pillow was so freaking hot (my pillow - and therefore my head - is right near the radiator when I sleep). I got up and melodramatically declared that we needed to switch sides because I was dying from heat stroke.

This is what menopause must be like. I can't even imagine. I can't imagine being that hot at random and being expected to function. How awful.

It's also awful that people in NYC are either forced to freeze or to put their air conditioners on in the middle of the winter.

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I am feeling pointless lately. I am not consuming anything artistic or worthy. I haven't had an original thought in quite some time. I am too busy comparing myself to other people.

Do other people compare themselves to other people?

I need hobbies. I need to be good at something. I don't feel like I have "a thing" right now. Pointless. I found these old science songs online from the 60s and thought I'd write and record some of my own, but that is derivative. I'm entirely derivative. I thought "I should paint again," but then I thought "What would I paint?" and came up with nothing. I feel barren. I thought "Maybe I should take a class on philosophy," but then thought "I might then feel more stupid and wouldn't be able to take it."

Dance lessons could be cool.

Career change.

Jewelry making.

Painting.

Photography.

I don't feel good enough lately, but I can't quite figure out what I'm not good enough for. Me? Him? New York?

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D just sent me the word-of-the-day, and it's "misanthrope."

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More optimistic entries for the rest of the week, I promise.

The Curtains

My parents visited this weekend and now, more than ever, I am convinced that I need to start smoking.

Lovely to see them, and now that they are gone, I can tend to my ulcer.

I wish parents would just say "We just want to be in your presence and don't actually want to do anything so as not to feel empty-nested" instead of saying "We don't care what we do" and then cowering in the corners of a contemporary art museum.

I wish we weren't so different.

I wish I didn't miss them as much as I do.

I wish their visit didn't coincide with other stressful things.

Mom brought chocolate chip cookies and apple pies and other rations that will be useful during the upcoming snowstorm, which will be pounding us any second. We are hopeful for a snow day.

Dad took photos, but only a mere 75! He only talked about taxes for about a minute. He is learning.

It was lovely to see Sister, but I wish I didn't have to see her while playing the roles of Daughters. I am hoping that she and her boyfriend will visit soon on their own, so that we can be ourselves.

My parents, of course, adored D, who rallied and charmed them despite having been hospitalized. He adored them, too. It went far better than I could have imagined, ulcer aside. Their meeting makes me feel serious. It's all real now. D becomes less and less fictional with each friend and family member he meets.

I keep looking out the window for snowflakes. This could be the sort of storm that allows us to go home early! I need to decompress. Please, please, please let there be snow and lots of it followed by freezing rain and other treacherous natural phenomenon that prohibit my commuting. PLEASE!

Still no snow. Actually, it would be best if it didn't start snowing until around 5:00, because I do not have a scarf or mittens because when I left the loft this morning I was still feeling insane from the weekend and could not do things like dress myself appropriately.

I am going to work now.

Hope you are all having a joyous Monday.

p.s. Since I was feeling emo and ulcer-y and fatalistic on Friday night while D was in the hospital I, gasp, wrote a song!!! This means that there actually migh be A SONG on My Mundane Life In Song within a week! Don't get too excited. I am still in love with the chorus and bridge-to-chorus after two days, but I loathe the verse. We'll see what happens.