Rooful.

Something Good.

 
Perhaps I had a wicked childhood...

I need a little help.

I want to feel cheery, but my resources are falling a bit short.

So if any of you have any good news,
however inconsequential--
any happy stories or goofy jokes to share--
please post them in the comments, at your leisure.

Julie and I thank you for you support.

A few of my favorite things:

1. potting stones.

2. rice pudding.

3. pastels arranged by hue. or pencils. or yarns.

4. stone walls.

5. lilacs.

6. tools in a case.

7. baby socks.

8. dangly earrings.

9. tents. and kites. and antique flying machines.

10. brown paper. even for non-package use.

#36/365-- I'm being followed by a moonshadow-- or maybe it's just Cat Stevens.

Today, I am grateful for:

1. my two hands, and all the things they can do for me-- from the ordinary, like lifting a teacup, to the extraordinary-- like sculpting a mask.

2. my two eyes, for binocular vision, of course, but also for the things they see that not everyone's eyes seem to.

3. my liberty. As someone who not too long ago wasn't allowed out-of-doors, the ability to go, do, and say what I want still seems pretty amazing.

4. my husband, who watches out for me and gives me love and moral support when the stupidity of the world, or the stupidity of yours truly, starts to really get me down.

5. my kitty-cat, who can go from zero to spazz in the blink of an eye, and does endearing, strange things like licking my toes. she's a sweetheart, mostly-- kind of like me.

#35/365-- Superpowers!

Today I type on behalf of the superpowers exhibited every day by myself and those I love.

1. I have resume-distributing superpowers! I sent out about a gajillion yesterday, and maybe even more today. Keep your fingers crossed that at least one or two of them will find their way.

2. My husband has shown that he not only has moral-support-giving superpowers, but he is also a fearless nemesis of swedish fish. They tremble their red-jellied selves whenever they sense his approach.

3. My new kitty is a champion sleeper. She is also champion at inducing sleep in the people she chooses to rest upon. Maybe we should have named her Morpheus, or Narcolepsia.

4. My husband and I have shown super abilities to make our way through leftover lo mein and scallion pancakes. In the past, there was some sort of Kryptonite in the fridge that kept us from finishing anything we didn't eat the night of delivery. Now we have New Superpowers for Chinese-food Frugality! Huzzah!

5. I'm having a hard time coming up with a final real superpower for the people in my household, so today I salute Lildb as having the Superpower of Rationally but Thoroughly Destroying any hold my evil Occupational Therapist might have had on my mind, after said OT's comments about how I really shouldn't reproduce because of my faulty genes. Thank you, Lildb, for using your mighty superpowers on my behalf.

(and all the rest of you, too-- you know who you are.)

Now I'll see if I can summon the superpower of being able to run around the park, and lose this asylum gut I've put on . ...

To Infinity! And Beyond!

#33/365-- wonder of wonders.

1. My dining room table is clean! Really! There's nothing on it! I don't think that's happened in over a year!

2. I met up with J and his friend for dinner, and had cozy split-pea soup and a grilled cheese-- just the trick for a cold, damp, blustery night.

3. I went for a jog this morning, and finished it just before the weather went bad. Perfect timing!

4. Muffin-making proceeds apace-- I've moved on to banana-nut-chocolate chip. Very tasty.

5. I read some posts this evening that made me feel less alone in my weirdness.
It's always nice to feel less alone-- especially when you're a weirdo.

#32/365-- if you don't acknowledge your location, you could wind up with muddy jean cuffs and 32 ticks in your hair . ...

I don't know what to feel grateful for today--
I feel like a total fuck-up.

Is this true?

Maybe I should write down five ways in which I'm not a total fuck-up.
That seems hard. But I think it's the point of these lists, so I will persevere.

1. My project seems to be moving apace-- maybe soon it will even make sense to someone other than me.

I plan to write a museum plaque of sorts-- a general explanation for those who like to read those things. It's not ready yet. But someday soon, maybe it will be.

2. I made pumpkin muffins out of the leftover pie filling I saved from Thanksgiving-- added nuts and raisins and stuff. They were pretty yummy-- even though they're all gone now (proof of their yumminess, I guess.)

3. I've applied for some more jobs-- maybe some of them will add up to something.
I even have a meeting with a clown today, who might need my crafty skills for her costume.

I hope she's not too scary-- I tend to be afraid of clowns.

4. We're adopting a cat ! She has a bit of a cold, so they're keeping her at the shelter for a while. But soon, I will have a kitty friend to hang out with. Meow!

5. I bought some new blue jeans yesterday, and some flats that actually don't hurt my feet (I figured out the secret-- buy a size up. who knew?)

So there you have it--
five ways I'm not a total fuck-up.

Maybe there are more.

Maybe I should just be grateful for finding as many as I did.

#31/365-- And I love you, Sandy Powell. [updated, morning after]

You were already my favorite film designer, for such gems as Orlando, and Shakespeare in Love, and Velvet Goldmine, and Wings of the Dove, and, well, you seem to work constantly. I don't know how you do it.

But tonight, as you accepted your third Oscar, you had the class and the insight to point out all the designers who work as hard as you, but who do the sort of costume designing that never wins awards.

In your honor, I'm posting my choice of five films that fall in that category--
Perfect Costumes That Will Never Win Awards:

1. The Virgin Suicides
From the home-made flannel nighties to the prim prom dresses, not to mention the pitch-perfect chopped-down wedding dress worn by the youngest ghost girl, it's hard to think of costumes that would more perfectly capture the essence of claustrophobic Christian family fashion in the mid-seventies. The mother's severe skirt suits and the father's beaten-down-by-life science teacher's garb were also excellent. I could go on-- this film is a particular gem-- not too surprising, given director Sofia Coppola's generation and her life-long interest in fashion.

2. Pecker
This is a less-watched Waters film, which is a shame, because it is a rather scathing indictment of the art world of the nineties. The main character takes photographs of characters from his life-- and they all read like real people. Real, strange, and wonderful people. The little girl in particular is a shining example of how far a designer can take everyday clothes without breaking the boundaries of verisimilitude.

3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The transformation of Johnny Depp is reason enough to include this one. It's a great film-- if you don't mind disturbing, you should rent it tomorrow.

4. Reservoir Dogs
This movie single-handedly created the iconic bad man in a black suit, white shirt, and skinny black tie. Think how often this look has been copied/evoked since: Men in Black is just one example that comes to mind

5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
I loved the look of their prison garb, and the creation of the Dapper Dan man was genius. John Goodman as a cream-suited Polyphemus was brilliant, as well.

and I realized this list just isn't complete without

6. Little Miss Sunshine
I could write a whole thesis about the costumes in this film-- from Steve Carell's character's White-Suit-Years button down shirt with sleeves flapping over his bandaged wrists, to Olivia's little red cowgirl boots, to her silent brother's T-shirt (getting the perfect T-shirt for look and fit is much harder that you'd think)-- never mind the brilliant contrast between the creepy child pageant girls and Olivia's dumpy but sweet costumes. She ended up being the only contestant who looked like a real little girl-- never mind the 'Superfreak' strip-tease.

To all of these films, I salute you! Which I hope counts for something, because it's unlikely anyone else will.

#30/365-- the fastest five in the west!

Ready? Here goes.

1. lima beans

2. clement weather

3. luxuriant fake fur

4. cardboard boxes that lend themselves to many alternate uses

5. kitty-cats-- especially the one that might come to live with us.

BONUS ITEM: staple guns!

#29/365-- Taking a bite out of that apple. The big one? The golden one? The knowledgeable one? You choose.

1. Last night, my husband and I went out to Williamsberg to spend the evening with good friends we haven't seen in over a year. A lovely time-- which included Cava, fresh raviolis, and chocolate cheesecake, amongst other lovely treats --was had by all. I even came home with a copy of a CD by Rufus Wainwright (who's been missing from my collection, inexplicably, for years.)

This couple really knows how to make people feel cared for. I hope my husband and I get to return the favor someday.

2. I woke up without too bad of a headache/hangover, even though I'm sure I probably deserved worse. Perhaps having Irish ancestry has given me a small superpower for being able to handle my drink.

I don't think I'm going to try to test that theory, though.

3. Yesterday I got picked from a crowd to do a screen test that could lead to a small, but well-paid, internet commercial about style. Since I had just gone to a Duane Reade to pick up some items to try to change my look, this was a pleasant surprise, as well as a much-needed boost to my self-image. It was also a fun, unusual experience, doing the initial screen test, so I'm happy-- even if I don't get a call-back.

4. The doctors that had blown me off two days ago didn't blow me off yesterday, so I was able to get the prescription refills I needed-- in the nick of time, even, since my old bottles of pills had just hit empty. Gotta love the health-care industry.

You can read that last statement with sarcasm, or earnestly-- I mean it both ways.

5. I'm learning to live with the new me. Walking a lot seems to help. Fortunately, I live in a great city for walking.

Actually, I live in a great city for all kinds of things.
I'm lucky to be a New Yorker.

#28/365-- Food! Glorious Food!

1. Is it racist of me, as a white person, to admit that I really, really love crackers? For some reason, this statement makes me as uncomfortable as the commercial showing a black woman enjoying "the touch, the feel, of cotton-- the fabric of our lives."

Maybe I should get over it, and move on in to the post-racial millennium.
Because we're all through with racism here in America. Aren't we? We should be-- that at least would make up for the lack of flying cars or personal jet-propulsion systems.

2. To even the score, I should admit that I'm also fond of collard greens, and will go a bit nutty for a nice slice of watermelon if the weather is right.

3. Tonight my husband and I enjoyed a healthy meal of corn chips and pico de gallo-- I figure the tomatoes and such cancel out the corn chips. And look! We've managed to work in another ethnic food stereotype (though this one, in my opinion, is about as American as it gets, no matter which side of the Border you run on.)

4. Sometimes there's nothing that can replace a bar of chocolate. Today was one of those times. At least my chocolate had almonds in it-- which should add some nutritional value to the serotonin.

5. Last night I opened up two coconuts I'd been saving-- an undertaking which involved a Dremel, a cutting wheel, a chisel and a hammer, amongst other things.
I waited too long to eat the innards, but I have plans for the shells. One set has already been adapted for fake-horse-galloping-- my newest form of exercise. The second, well. . . it's a secret.

And secrets, unlike coconut innards, can last as long as I want them to.