About three years ago I bought a second-hand Champion hooded sweatshirt at Alice Underground on lower Broadway. Champion sweatshirts have been a "guilty pleasure" since college. You can have the ability to discuss the merits of the Antwerp Six or Junya Watanabe's real role at Comme des Garcons all you want...but the 24 year old F.I.T. fag you are trying to seduce at Charm School is going to question your fashion forwardness if you wearing a run-of-the-mill Champion sweatshirt. (A hypothetical scenario...of course)
Anyway, the ridiculously gorgeous blue color and inherent "Reverse Weave" warmth of the sweatshirt renders all other considerations obsolete.
Lately I have had to come to terms with the fact that due to over wear my beloved sweatshirt has some pretty major wear-and-tear. Specifically a part of the collar is torn in such a way that the sweatshirt now has a "V-neck". I thought about retiring this piece of clothing...but like most dilemmas in my life, I eventually said "fuck it"...I am going to continue to wear it until it fully disintegrates.
On Wednesday I went shopping/looking at Famous Friends. Amidst the pretty boring T-shirt selection and the overpriced Nudie jeans that I uncharacteristically covet there was an artificially distressed Rogan hooded sweatshirt of the exact same color as my beloved Champion. Upon closer examination I discover that the sweatshirt comes with a complimentary tear at the collar giving it a V-neck...I swear to Jesus I am not making this up. Needless to say I scoffed at the 250 dollar pricetag and demanded some answers from the slightly shocked store clerk. Come on, this is the most egregious biting of my style since Dolce and/or Gabbana personally ripped off my idea for accessorizing one's neck with colored rosary beads.
Why won't these biters leave me alone, or at least put me on the payroll as a consultant.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
Subtle
I kind of had a flashback earlier today.
Out of the blue I began thinking about playing basketball on my junior high school team. I was not the best player on the team, but the combination of pretty average talent and slightly above average height put me in the mix.
Other than designing the team uniform (i.e. convincing our coach Dan that a 13 year old that spent a little too much time thinking about the "look" of professional team uniforms knew what to have as "iron-on" lettering for our yellow tank tops and shorts), my major contribution was as the team pep squad. Any time spent on the bench (more frequent than I would have liked) I devoted myself to shouting encouragement to my teammates on the court. Part of it was just my passion for the game in general, but also I felt that my verbal support of the other players translated into better performance from them and therefore, more points on the board.
Needless to say after having this flashback I made an immediate connection to my current job situation. A great deal of my frustration is that I am not in an environment where my skills as a cheerleader are valued. I make my attempts to create a positive environment, but there is so much negativity emanating from a certain business owner, that I feel my attempts are futile.
I need a job situation where my natural tendency to want the best for my co-workers is actively supported.
Out of the blue I began thinking about playing basketball on my junior high school team. I was not the best player on the team, but the combination of pretty average talent and slightly above average height put me in the mix.
Other than designing the team uniform (i.e. convincing our coach Dan that a 13 year old that spent a little too much time thinking about the "look" of professional team uniforms knew what to have as "iron-on" lettering for our yellow tank tops and shorts), my major contribution was as the team pep squad. Any time spent on the bench (more frequent than I would have liked) I devoted myself to shouting encouragement to my teammates on the court. Part of it was just my passion for the game in general, but also I felt that my verbal support of the other players translated into better performance from them and therefore, more points on the board.
Needless to say after having this flashback I made an immediate connection to my current job situation. A great deal of my frustration is that I am not in an environment where my skills as a cheerleader are valued. I make my attempts to create a positive environment, but there is so much negativity emanating from a certain business owner, that I feel my attempts are futile.
I need a job situation where my natural tendency to want the best for my co-workers is actively supported.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Optimistic Social Theory
Now I might just be writing this because I need a dose of optimism, but that does not mean that the following social theory is not true...
When I was at the gym this morning I noticed a man in his 40s also working out. He looked like a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy, in other words an "average joe". What caught my eye was that he had shaved his legs. I have noticed the straight man shaving his legs thing more and more lately. Yes, I am aware of the media-generated phenomenom known as "metrosexuality", but if that exists at all, it can probably be assumed that it is occurring amongst 20 and 30somethings. For a straight man in his 40s to have caught this trend says something to me....It says to me that you cannot stop the influence of homosexuals.
Despite the fact that a very very small percentage of Americans want to turn back the clock on gay rights, you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. We are approaching the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots which, in addition to the fact that there are two full generations of non-homosexuals "used to" the concept of homosexuality being out in the open, but you will soon have an entire new generation of gays who have NEVER been in the closet. Try telling them about the rightness of antiquated sodomy laws...
When I was at the gym this morning I noticed a man in his 40s also working out. He looked like a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy, in other words an "average joe". What caught my eye was that he had shaved his legs. I have noticed the straight man shaving his legs thing more and more lately. Yes, I am aware of the media-generated phenomenom known as "metrosexuality", but if that exists at all, it can probably be assumed that it is occurring amongst 20 and 30somethings. For a straight man in his 40s to have caught this trend says something to me....It says to me that you cannot stop the influence of homosexuals.
Despite the fact that a very very small percentage of Americans want to turn back the clock on gay rights, you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. We are approaching the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots which, in addition to the fact that there are two full generations of non-homosexuals "used to" the concept of homosexuality being out in the open, but you will soon have an entire new generation of gays who have NEVER been in the closet. Try telling them about the rightness of antiquated sodomy laws...
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
I Realize...
It is lame to mention TV shows, but what an awesome day for those of us who literally (yes, literally not figuratively) worship Amy Sedaris.
First she was the star of a sketch on Oprah with guest Jon Stewart. Her Starbucks employee character, although only on screen for a couple of minutes, had me in tears.
Then she appears on my new favorite show Wonder Showzen as "Miss Amy" and again destroys me. I love her screaming "baby killer" at a group of children gathered for story time.
She is soooo awesome and inspirational. I think her skill is a sincere down-to-earth persona crashing head on into a craziness that the rest of us can only aspire to.
First she was the star of a sketch on Oprah with guest Jon Stewart. Her Starbucks employee character, although only on screen for a couple of minutes, had me in tears.
Then she appears on my new favorite show Wonder Showzen as "Miss Amy" and again destroys me. I love her screaming "baby killer" at a group of children gathered for story time.
She is soooo awesome and inspirational. I think her skill is a sincere down-to-earth persona crashing head on into a craziness that the rest of us can only aspire to.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Bipolarity
Although I usually lack the necessary energy, I get a perverse pleasure from going out and dancing after a day of work. When I leave work I am full of cynicism and hatred and when I get on the dancefloor I completely release all of that negative energy and an irreplaceable smile comes over my face.
Despite still being sick, last night with Steve Travolta and Frankie Knuckles was awesome. Highlights for me were "I Get Lifted" , "Took My Life", "Strings Of Life", "Back To Basics" and "Can You See The Light?"...plus Frankie diggin' in the crates for "Mighty Real" was ridiculous.
Despite still being sick, last night with Steve Travolta and Frankie Knuckles was awesome. Highlights for me were "I Get Lifted" , "Took My Life", "Strings Of Life", "Back To Basics" and "Can You See The Light?"...plus Frankie diggin' in the crates for "Mighty Real" was ridiculous.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Deitch
As a treat for not dying last night (see previous post) I decided to venture to Deitch Projects for Michael Bevilacqua's latest. The press release describes the new stuff as "painterly" which I take as code word for "sloppy".
While there is a certain sloppiness to some of the paintings...it is really well balanced with some highly detailed imagery. The familiar pop cultural icons are there but there is also further abstraction of some of those references into something pleasantly indecipherable. Perhaps they are not as "over the top" in beating you over the head with references as the last show (which is not an insult), but the subtlety adds a bit of mystery to the paintings.
All in all, very awesome and I will be stealing many ideas from Mr. Bevilacqua...the highest form of praise, indeed.
While there is a certain sloppiness to some of the paintings...it is really well balanced with some highly detailed imagery. The familiar pop cultural icons are there but there is also further abstraction of some of those references into something pleasantly indecipherable. Perhaps they are not as "over the top" in beating you over the head with references as the last show (which is not an insult), but the subtlety adds a bit of mystery to the paintings.
All in all, very awesome and I will be stealing many ideas from Mr. Bevilacqua...the highest form of praise, indeed.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Six Days
Apparently it has been six days since my last entry. This is due to the fact that I have been sick, which I fucking hate. This cold, or whatever it is, is amazingly annoying. I am doing all the positive visualization of my white blood cells destroying the virus and praying that it takes hold.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Reason #816 Why I Love New York
The past few weeks I have seen ads in TimeOut that one of my favorite comedians, Patton Oswalt was going to be at Caroline's this weekend. I knew there was no way I could justify an outrageous cover charge and two (overpriced) drink minimum.
On Wednesday, while thinking about how I was not going to go to Caroline's, I decided to check Patton's website. On the site I learned that he was going to be at Cinema Classics performing Wednesday night. Within the hour I was at the show which cost a mere $5. As icing on the cake, after Patton's set, Yo La Tengo came on and did about five songs and they were totally great.
On Wednesday, while thinking about how I was not going to go to Caroline's, I decided to check Patton's website. On the site I learned that he was going to be at Cinema Classics performing Wednesday night. Within the hour I was at the show which cost a mere $5. As icing on the cake, after Patton's set, Yo La Tengo came on and did about five songs and they were totally great.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
"On Hold"
You know how sometimes you will phone a business and will be put "on hold". You know how sometimes when put "on hold" the music in the background may be a song that you really really like and even though you hate being placed "on hold" you really enjoy listening to that particular song and almost kind of want to hear the rest of the song instead of having your call responded to in a timely fashion.
That scenario is the perfect analogy for how my life has been for the past year or so. Over this time period I have been working less than at any time in my adult life. This has been rewarding in the aspect that I have had a great deal of free time to relax, and for lack of a better term, breathe. The free time has allowed me to read more, to entertain myself more, to get into a solid routine of gym-going which have all been tremendously positive. However, there is an overarching sense that I have been "wasting time".
Part of this may be that our culture puts "workaholism" on a pedestal. To admit to not having your job as priority one in your life is tantamount to treason. This is definitely a factor in my sense of time wasting, but also there is my own personal sense that I have not been motivating myself in a career direction.
That scenario is the perfect analogy for how my life has been for the past year or so. Over this time period I have been working less than at any time in my adult life. This has been rewarding in the aspect that I have had a great deal of free time to relax, and for lack of a better term, breathe. The free time has allowed me to read more, to entertain myself more, to get into a solid routine of gym-going which have all been tremendously positive. However, there is an overarching sense that I have been "wasting time".
Part of this may be that our culture puts "workaholism" on a pedestal. To admit to not having your job as priority one in your life is tantamount to treason. This is definitely a factor in my sense of time wasting, but also there is my own personal sense that I have not been motivating myself in a career direction.
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