At the moment. I’m sick of green. A kryptonite river. Harassment by trashy green tourists that walk at a snail’s pace. The burgeoning green grass of the Great Lawn at Millennium Park (YES, I AM A HATER. I have allergies.). Despite these negative green-laced events, green is one of my favorite colors, and frames five things that I am currently obsessed with.
1. Stickers and Donuts loves Maira Kalman. Featured in the NY Times this past Friday, The Robin Hood Foundation has renovated libraries in 62 schools throughout NYC. With the aid of Pentagram, a global design firm, the project commissioned several established artists (Maira Kalman, Cristoph Niemann, Stefan Sagmeister, Yuko Shimizu) to create murals for the libraries. I encourage you to flip through the slide show in the NY Times article, because the murals are amazing! Below is a picture from Cristoph Niemann’s mural. THE DINOSAUR’S TEETH ARE BOOKS!!@#@!#@!:
2. As my last post mentioned, I traded Chicago for NYC a few weeks ago. I had many new experiences (befriended a synthesizer-playing scientologist..which I THOUGHT WAS A NORMAL NYC THING, but after consulting with various natives, apparently it is an anomaly, went to the American Museum of Natural History and Babycakes…), and I notably visited Uniqlo for the first time! Chicago is imperfect in many ways, and here’s another complaint: There is no Uniqlo in Chicago.
Walking into Uniqlo is like sticking your head in a sanitary barrel of Runts. So many colors! All neatly stacked! I am convinced that Uniqlo is the best place to purchase excellent basics (and neat graffic t-shirts). I’m apathetic towards American Apparel: the sub-par quality clothes are overpriced, it often has questionable (borderline-costume-y) clothes, nothing fits me properly, and Don Charney disturbs me. Uniqlo has cheaper, better quality clothes, and they fit me! Also, if you purchase pants, they will tailor them within two hours for FREE! I returned to Chicago with half a suitcase full of Uniqlo purchases. (I reasoned that the sales tax is cheap in NY, and that THERE IS NO UNIQLO IN CHICAGO.)
3. Ira Glass, oh how I love thee. For me, Ira Glass falls in the “older male crushes of Tricia” category; a category which also includes Jarvis Cocker and Anderson Cooper. His voice is so melodious that when I listen to This American Life, I feel like a sorority girl listening to male a capella. I trudge through the voids between new episodes by catching up on the old episodes, which aired when I wasn’t yet cool enough to listen to the show. My current favorites: #328- What I Learned from Television (where Ira Glass gushes about being a die-hard OC fan, and his reaction to Seth and Summer’s conversation on This American Life) and #374- Somewhere Out There (full of unconventional love stories).
4. Whereas seemingly everyone was downtown getting drunk for St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, I went to Knee Deep Vintage, a store that I have wanted to go to since I returned to Chicago. Knee Deep Vintage is the best vintage/thrift store that I have ever been to. Located in wonderful Pilsen (even the manholes are glorious, and you can get both Mexican hot chocolate AND chilli lollipops), Knee Deep Vintage is full of treasures. The store’s great selection is reflective of the owners’ exceptional taste. Apparently, they go on adventures across the country to gather things for the store (source: nice stranger who spoke to me on the train). Everything is priced reasonably, well-organized, and neutral smelling. I bought one navy and white dress (pocket!), AND THE MOST MAGNIFICENT KELLY-GREEN BELT. It’s made of lots of metal plates that are sewn on an elastic band. It’s a little heavy, but if I ever get attacked, the belt will be an effective weapon!!!
5. Yesterday, Kitsune Noir featured the new movie poster for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. I am very excited for the release (I do, after all, own a Where the Wild Things Are journal), however, scary kids movies (Coraline, good grief) traumatize me. I am determined to find someone willing to see the movie with me.
Never expected this set of paintings and sort-of-poem by Maira Kalman to be in the Opinion section of the New York Times, but I am so happy. (I lover her artwork, esp her rendition of the The Elements of Style.) Anyway, check it out, it’s about the inauguration and has tons of lovely pictures.
Some Bolsheviks from from Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty (book found via Pikaland). Maira also worked on the illustrated version of Strunk & White’s classic The Elements of Style.
