Hi, friends.  Like a terrible editor, I got sucked into a hole of moving, traveling, and singing “Just Like Heaven” more times than you can imagine.  ABOVE IS AN ALMOST-COMPLETELY-ENCOMPASSING-AGGLOMERATION OF WHAT I HAVE DONE DURING OUR SEPARATION.

1.  When we last met, I confessed a profound desire to throw a Johnny Weir party.  My adoration has not dissipated, and has unquestionably intensified. Especially since I discovered that we get Sundance channel at home!  Therefore, I can watch as much Be Good Johnny Weir as I want (until a certain roommate wants to watch Say Yes to the Dress).  The show chronicles Johnny’s skating adventures leading up to the Winter Olympics, and will provoke you to shed tears of sorrow over not being best friends with Johnny Weir.  Prancing around in fur hats?! Bubble baths with wigs?!  If I haven’t convinced you yet, below is a teaser:

Oh, and PS.  I am currently watching Pop Star on Ice, an hour and a half documentary on Johnny Weir, AND, I’m going to see him perform Bad Romance live this week.  WIN-WIN.

2. Titus Andronicus recently released an epic second album, The Monitor, a cohesive collection of jangly, danceable punk songs with clever references and battle cries.  I love battle cries, and the album makes me wish I was from Jersey. Furthermore, I have the attention span of a chipmunk.  Despite this, I gleefully consume The Monitor (whose songs mostly exceed 5 minutes).  They’re really nice guys who deserve all the album praise they’ve been getting (an unrelated fact that acknowledges I am biased).  ANOTHER VIDEO:
A More Perfect Union

Titus Andronicus | MySpace Music Videos

3. While in NYC, I ate the most delicious cookie I had ever eaten.  I’ve ingested many cookies, but all of them are now inferior to the magical Levain cookies.  Various fortuitous events led to my introduction to Levain.  My sister and brother in law saw Rocco DiSpirito mention his love for Levain on the Food Network + I was a block away from the bakery.  The cookies are perfection: they are warm and gooey inside, but slightly crispy on the outside.  It’s unfortunate that I don’t live in NYC, and cannot afford to have them FedEx’d to Chicago.  This copycat recipe for the chocolate chocolate peanut butter chip cookies, however, is pretty good.

4. Have you ever eaten a sour patch kid, and thought, “self. I wish this was a vitamin.”  I have trouble remembering to eat my vitamins, but not when I have One-A-Day VitaCraves Sour Gummies.

5.  A couple of weeks ago, She & Him released Volume 2, a breezy follow-up to Volume 1.  I have mostly positive feelings towards She & Him.  Zooey always wears nice frocks, a fact that should have no influence on whether I like She & Him, but…it is a factor.  Beyond the frocks, my greatest criticism regarding Volume 1 is Zooey’s chalkboard screeching voice pings.  Example: the high notes in “Sentimental Heart.”  Not cute Joanna Newsom screeches.  Volume 2 is much stronger, and a great way to herald the arrival of Spring (sort of…it’s still cold in Chicago).  I especially enjoy their cover of “Gonna Get Along Without You Now.”ALSO THERE IS THIS CUTE VIDEO, WHICH MAKES ME EXTRA EXCITED FOR MY FUTURE BALTIMORE BAND AND DANCE NUMBERS:

6. I’ve been watching a few excellent TV dramas, oddly all related to drug trafficking.  Whereas watching The Wire is partly educational for my future move to Baltimore, Breaking Bad satisfies my curiosity regarding what it would be like if an accomplished science teacher cooked meth.  This curiosity stems from college organic chemistry lab, where the teacher schooled us in lab technique, and our fate depended on purity and yield.  Breaking Bad is amazingly engaging and well-written.  It’s intriguing to witness the character progression of Walt, the science teacher who cooks meth (and has lung cancer…and has a son with cerebal paulsy…and he’s poor because he’s a middle school teacher).  His thirst for power consumes his initial apprehension, and meth cooking grants him courage that he had never been bold enough to exercise prior to cooking meth.

1. LADY GAGA’S BAD ROMANCE. I know, I know — and yet, she does write her own songs, and she has her own sense of style (the wheelchair/invalid dance in Paparazzi?!), and you can play this song over and over if you’re caught in a bad roma-roma-ramma… etc. Oh, and the monster dance moves? Go ahead, watch the video now. I’m breaking out my monster claws at the next party.

2. PRESIDENTIAL FLASHCARDS. Go to the “One Spot” at Target where everything is a dollar, and get this set of Presidential Flashcards with a prez portrait on the front and fun facts on the back. I spent yesterday memorizing all of the presidents in order. I’m sure that will come in handy… never. (Whose the dude with the cool hairdo in the pic above? ANSWER BELOW.)

3. BIG LOVE. Rumor has it, the fourth season just began, but, as an HBO-less human, behind on the times, I just finished the first season ($26). There is a voyeuristic thrill in watching this rendition of modern-day polygamy, which, according to this one time I flipped on Oprah, still happens outside of crazy, fundamentalist-Mormon compounds. Oh, and it stars Gennifer Goodwin as one of the wives, and Amanda Seyfried as one of the daughters.

4. PENGUIN DELUXE CLASSICS. The covers of the Penguin Deluxe Classics almost make we want to read books I loath, such as Ethan Frome, which has its very best heartbreaking/hysterical scene immortalized on the cover. Many of the covers instead immortalize scenes in comic strips, including Chris Ware’s (you should know him) cover for Candide:

5. TRUE BLOOD (watch the trailer!). So, I was totally not on the vampire bandwagon until I watched the first season ($45 on amazon.com, but I think it’s on sale at Target!) of True Blood (the second season didn’t do it for me, so I didn’t finish it, but I still recommend the first) about a near-future world in which Vampires have come out of hiding to attempt to peacefully co-exist with humans (and have hot, naked HBO-sex with them). Sookie (Oscar winner Anna Paquin! Love her!), a minding-reading southerner, falls in love with Vampire-Bill (hot, but pale). Best of all, it’s produced — with some episodes written and directed by — Alan Ball, Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty. Finally, the title sequence runs like a music video about redemption and sin (read about it on Wikipedia):

ANSWER: William Henry Harrison! If you can’t remember anything about him, don’t worry, he was only president for thirty-two days!

I have to admit, I’m a big fan of TV series. It all started with Friends, which was a big part of my teenage years, and it got out of control this last few years with That’s 70s Show, Absolutly Fabulous, Spaced, The IT Crowd, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men… The one think I really love about TV shows is that it’s like a almost never ending movie. You get to really know the characters, and they become part of your everyday life. The first time I went to NYC, I kept looking around, half-expecting to spot Phoebe playing guitar somewhere.
So, new year, new series.

Bored to Death is a quite young TV show, seeing that it started last September. There’s 8 episodes as of now, and it has been renewed by HBO for a second season. The pitch is pretty simple : Jonathan Ames is a writer struggling with his second novel who just got dumped by his girlfriend because he drinks too much white wine and smokes too many funny cigarettes. Now alone in his Brooklyn appartement, bored, he posts an ad on Craiglist proposing his services as a non-licensed private detective. The series then follows his cases, along with his pursuit of his ex, his relations with his editor boss and his comics illustrator friend.
Although the dialogues are really good, the characters interesting and the whole show very funny, the thing I like the most about it is it’s incredible inspiring effect on my own creativity. Proof:

1. The intro
The intro is VERY nice. It’s basically text in a book taking life and becoming characters. A picture is worth a thousand words, but this opening sequence is worth WAY more. Enjoy :

After seeing that, I just wanted to get a book and animate it. It reminded me of thoses fantasticboot cuts I saw a while back :

You can see many more inspirating boot cuts on Su Blackwell’s website. There’s also a TON of idead on this OffBeat Earth post.  What was once nearly a sin (cutting a book) is now a very artistic activity. Go cut your books !

2. Comic book fun
In the show, Jonathan’s friend Ray is a comic book artist. He does various stories, mostly about his own life, but in a superhero way. The style is very Marvelish, but it’s so funny to see how Ray interprets his own life to turn it into comics.

After seeing Ray’s drawing, you can’t help but grab a notebook and try to sketch your friends comics-style. I did a drawing of myself actually, clicke HERE to see it. Haha ! You can see more drawings (all by Dean Haspiel) at HBO’s website.

3. Jason Schwartzman !
Jonathan is played by Jason Schwartzman. This is a good opportunity to look back on his carreer. This guy has been around for quite a while. I first saw him in Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore“. He then reappeared in Sofia Coppola’s “Marie-Antoinette” and again in Wes Anderson’s “Darjeeling Limited“.

This three movies are very different, but all are interesting and visually inspiring.
And, as if Jason couldn’t get any cooler, he’s also a musician, with a solo project named Coconut Records. He’s the one who wrote and performed on the opening song of the series. Is that cool, or what ? Go play that video again.

4. Brooklyn and NYC
To finish this post, a quick word on the settings of the show. Most of it is in Brooklyn, and HBO has put up an interactive map of the locations shown on the series (scroll down and click on the map). With every new episode, new places are added on the map. That way, next time you wander around Brooklyn, you can check out Bored To Death‘s settings !

So, I hope you’ll check Bored To Death and use it to fuel your creativity !

A good year. Some favorites…

1. Favorite short story: “My First Fee” by Isaac Babel
Links: The Complete Works of Isaac Babel on amazon.com ($30)
Text of Isaac Babel’s (great) short story “Guy de Maupassant”

2. Favorite album: Up From Below by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Links: Up From Below on amazon.com ($10)
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros on MySpace
Song “40 Day Dream” Live (youtube)
Official Video for “Home” (youtube)

3. Second favorite short story: “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff
Links: T. Coraghessan Boyle reads “Bullet in the Brain” on the New Yorker Fiction podcast
Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff, amazon.com ($11)

4. Favorite gift: Aerial 7 Matador headphones
Link: Aerial 7 Matador Headphones, amazon.com ($50)

5. Favorite novel: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Links: Lolita by Nabokov, amazon.com ($11)
Great Review of the Novel from The Second Pass

6. Second favorite novel: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Link: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, amazon.com ($10)

7. Favorite TV Show: In Treatment
Links: In Treatment Season 1 Trailer (youtube)
HBO’s Offical In Treatment Site
In Treatment: The Complete First Season, amazon.com ($55)
In Treatment- The Complete Second Season, amazon.com (for pre-order, $55)

8. Favorite actor: James Dean
Link: S&D Guide to becoming A Rebel, Without a Cause (including trailer, etc)

9. Favorite song: Skinny Love by Bon Iver
Links: Bon Iver playing Skinny Love live (youtube)
For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, amazon.com ($13)

10. Favorite historical figure: Napoleon (thanks, PBS)
Link: Empires: Napoleon DVD, PBS Documentary w/David McCullough, amazon.com ($17)

11. Favorite (newish) movie: Rachel Getting Married
Links: Rachel Getting Married Trailer (youtube)
Rachel Getting Married DVD, amazon.com $17

Ok, I realise the title of this article might seem a bit obscure for those who don’t watch CBS’s great show “The Big Bang Theory”. But, COME ON. Have you been living in a cave for the past couple of years ? And the “I don’t have a TV” line does NOT work on me, because I didn’t have a TV until very recently, and still managed to catch up on this. I mean, they show you whole episodes on their website. FOR FREE. So, in a nutshell, if you don’t know TBBT, it’s a sitcom featuring a 4 nerdy-but-sweet guys (Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Raj) and their pretty-and-a-bit-dumb neighbourg Penny. The show is packed with geek-references, pop culture gems, and almost every sentence makes you go “Hey, I get it, they’re refering to that thing I saw on youtube/twitter/facebook/my mate’s place/somewhere, that’s funny !”. Makes you feel less of a nerdy loser I guess.
Here they are :

Go watch it. For those who do…

…aren’t you completly crazy about Sheldon ? I mean ok, in real life I would probably end up poking his eyes out after ten minutes of conversation, but this is just such a great character, you can’t help but fall in love. So, here is a little gift list for any sheldon lover out there.

1. Well, quite easy choice, the DVDs. Season 1, and 2 are out, and packed with various bonus stuff.

2. As seen on Season 1, Episode 11 (“The Pancake Batter Anormaly”), a tri-dimensional Star Trek chess set. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to play this, but if you have 329$ to spare, it could be yours ! Although, I guess just sticking a couple of regular chess set on a ladder could work too.

3. You can’t spell geeky without Mario and Luigi ! Alright, that one was a bit far-streched. Especially considering this item doesn’t feature Mario or Luigi. But, still, an original Nintendo 1UP mushroom on your desk, that’s Sheldon-Cooper-Cool, eh ?

4. In the 4th episode of season 1, “The luminous fish effect“, Sheldon finds himself unemployed (join the club !) and this sends him into a downward spiral of weird ideas, such as creating a luminous fish. I couldn’t find one in real life, but this jellyfish night light is pretty close, don’t you think ? And for all you jellies lovers, do not fear, those aren’t real jelly fish, just life-like plastic thingies.

5. Sheldon has actually worn this shirt in various episodes (Season 1, Episode 7 (The Dumpling Paradox) and Season 2, Episodes 7 (The Panty Pinata Polarization) and 16 (The Cushion Saturation)). And now it could be yours ! Only 24$, and remember, computer + retro + KABLAAAM = fashion must have.

6. On season 2, episode 8, “The Lizard-Spock Expansion“, Sheldon comes up with a variation to the old game Rock Paper Scissors. It adds “lizard” and “Spock”, thus making the game more difficult (and geeky). The exact rules are on this button badge, so you have no excuse if you lose !

7. As every TBBT fan knows, the right seat of the couch is Sheldon’s spot. No one is allowed there. N-o-o-n-e.

8. When the guys form a team to compete in a physics bowl (Season 1 Episode 13, the Bat Jar Conjecture), they end up kicking Sheldon out because of… well because it’s Sheldon. In an attempt to soften the blow, Leonard bys him a Batman Cookie Jar. An item both cool and yummy ! Available from Warner Bros store.

9. Ok, I have to admit, I’ve never watched more than 10 minutes of any Star Trek movie, tv or anything actually. And honestly, trekkie stuff usually creeps me out (Remember the 330$ 3D chess set ? I think I made my point clear). But this dress is kinda classy, don’t you think ? Plus, a sure way to score points with Sheldon… !

There’s ton of stuff I could have added to this list, but I’m gonna let you take a look at this funny tumblr dedicated only to Mr. Cooper : http://sheldoncooper.tumblr.com

Sheldon Cooper, For The Win !

Inspired by Maria’s previous “What I Bought” post, and Mindy Ephron’s blog (things i bought that i love) (which is just as funny as the Office episodes she has written), I’ve created a post of things that I have recently purchased.  No, I’m not substantially aiding the economy with 25 cent animal figurines, but they make me happy.

• Mock me all you want, but I love Gossip Girl.  The dialogue is gelastic and completely delightful.  I could be in a foul mood, but then the lovely Veronica Mars will say something ridiculous like, “Hey Upper East Siders. We hear that World War III just broke out. And it’s wearing kneesocks. Choose your side or run and hide. We have a feeling this one’s to the death.” Harhar.  I can even determine if my Monday will be bearable, based on whether or not there will be a new episode.  The blitheness trickles throughout the week.  Tuesday mornings, I dash to NY Mag’s Daily Intel to read their episode recaps (Gossip Girl Reality Index!).  I piss away the rest of the week until Friday, when Daily Intel releases a list of the best viewer assessments OF the recaps.  I’ve been considering purchasing Season One since August, and when a couple of my friends promised to watch the show if I shared Gossip Girl DVDs with them, I concluded that this would be an excellent time to purchase the set.  Gossip Girl- The Complete First Season from Amazon, $24
• “Yo, us bears totally have to stick together to battle vegetarian dinosaurs,” exclaimed Poppy the polar bear.  Uncle Fun, a neat toy/knick-knack store in Lakeview, has card catalog drawers FILLED with magical little toys- perfect for setting up battles.  Plastic Critter Figurines from Uncle Fun, $0.25!
• I went through an entire tub of Trader Joe’s Mini Cafe Twists in less than a week.  And then, I bought a new tub.  Each twist is a puff pastry chunk, coated in cinnamon sugar.  Plus, they’re vegan!  Mini Cafe Twists from Trader Joe’s, $2.29
• THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING CARDS I HAVE EVER SEEN.  Everytime I see a picture of William Shatner, I can’t help but giggle.  A little.  Did you know he has a self-reflective album produced by Ben Folds? (totally a Pitchfork 7.5, yo).  I bought this card from one of my favorite stories in Chicago, Paper Boy, which is a member of the Uncle Fun empire.  Designed by Sara Hernandez (who works at Paper Boy!), this card is part of a glorious Gocco-screenprinted line.  I highly recommend that you take a peek at her Etsy: Give your thanks with T(om) Hanks, In love?, Smitten?  Amor?  Sara’s card line is available for purchase at Paper Boy ($3.00 a card), or HER ETSY- PAPERTIGERCARDS! ($3.50 a card).
• My fridge is spoiled.  There are two new additions to the mess of concert posters and pictures of my friends that hang precariously on my fridge.  Item One- A 1983 postcard that features the Beach Boys singing to their “number one fans,” President and Mrs. Reagan.  Yes, this picture is taken right before Dennis Wilson drowned (the postcard morbidly includes this fact).  Item Two- A silly “telegram” from summer squash.  Tragic vegetable love.  Both from Uncle Fun, $0.75

I have no idea why I felt compelled to construct two sentences with “yo,” but I’M NOT GOING TO DELETE THEM.

1. 50s Silk Blue Swing Dress, indigolace on ebay
2. Adrienne Vittadini Silk Scarf, sarmar04 on ebay
3. Lacina Top, Anthropologie, $39.95
4. Sunglasses, Forever 21, $2.99
5. Chirp and Tweet Dessert Plate, Anthropologie, $14
6. Red Wool Princess Coat, shop blue bird on ebay
7. Cupcake Apron, Boojiboo on etsy, $28.75
8. Painted Rose Hairclips, Forever 21, $2.80

I have to dedicate this post to my co-worker, Patrick, who recently lent me season one of Pushing Daisies. The exchange went somewhat like this.

Patrick: Would you like to borrow my season one Pushing Daisies DVDs? [Read: I would like to have someone to discuss Pushing Daisies with on Thursday mornings. Please watch quickly, and get caught up.]
Tricia: Umm…okay.

He gave me the DVDs, and I watched. In one day, I watched six episodes. Consecutively. Yes, I understand that this fact is a little embarrassing. Which is why, after the sixth episode, I left the apartment to get a cupcake. Then I returned, and resumed watching.

Produced by ABC, Pushing Daisies is the most whimsical, wildly imaginative TV series that I have ever watched. Visually, Pushing Daisies resembles a love child between Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Tim Burton (Ignore the biological impossibility! Imagination!). Since Amelie is my favorite movie, by far, it makes sense that I am utterly smitten with Pushing Daisies. There are even a few parallels between Pushing Daisies and Amelie!: the Pie Hole (Montmartre café), Chuck (English-speaking Amelie!), costume design, and the first episode of Pushing Daisies even features a song from the Amelie soundtrack!

The plot revolves around Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with the touch of his finger. After reawakening the dead, Ned has a minute to retouch the person. If he doesn’t, the dead thing stays alive and someone else dies in exchange. Finally, if he touches anything that he had once revived, the thing stays dead forever. Make sense? I hope so. Ned and Emerson, a Private Investigator, use Ned’s extraordinary gift to solve murder crimes (and cash in on the reward money). Originally, this plan worked well, until Ned had to reawaken his childhood sweetheart, Chuck (!@#!@$%!$!@#!$%!!!!)

Ned can’t bring himself to un-reviving Chuck from the dead. Which is great, because I ADORE CHUCK! She is brilliant! Witty! Quirky! Charming! Adventurous! Oh, Chuck! How I wish I could be you! Chuck is a hybrid of Zooey Deschanel, Rory Gilmore, and AMELIE. Some of my favorite fictional/real people! So many exclamation points! Furthermore, Chuck always wears the most sparkling clothes! She pairs wonderful dresses with perfect little cardigans! Chuck joins Ned and Emerson, and the show chronicles the team’s sleuthing adventures.

So after six straight episodes of Pushing Daisies, what do I think about? How can I be like Chuck?! I subsequently went to this Pushing Daisies fan site (where all the pictures in this post are from!) to oogle at the Pushing Daisies cast (mostly Chuck). Chuck wears a lot of 1950s swing dresses, and ebay is the perfect place to find them. The dress up, up above has a Chuckish silhouette, and is well-tailored too! On trips to the morgue, Chuck frequently wears bold-colored wool coats, sunglasses and scarves so Mr. Coroner doesn’t recognize her. (Her disguises are kind of fruitless, but I enjoy seeing her disguises nonetheless!) I wear nearly as many cardigans as Mr. Rogers, and Chuck seems to be the same way too! I’ve always fawned over Anthropologie’s dainty cardigans. They’re always so cozy and detailed! Chuck also enjoys lovely hair things: Audrey Hepburn-sized hats and flower hair clips! When she isn’t at the morgue, Chuck helps Ned bake pies (and even suggests that the Pie Hole should serve CUP PIES…CUPCAKE-SIZED PIES…panda-precious!), and wraps herself in cute aprons. Lastly, a perfect plate for the Pie Hole’s famous Three Plum pie. Yummy!

Okay, you caught me. I’m addicted to AMC’s original series Mad Men (hint: if you need to catch up on episodes slash the entire series slash you tried to netflix it but so did everyone else, this might help.)

Most of the show takes place at an early 1960s ad agency.

Do you wish you were part of the show? Or is that just me? I know I wish, at the very least, that I could drink that much alcohol at work. Also, it would be nice to be alive when Marilyn Monroe was considered the epitome of hotness (great for those of us who want to continue eating).

Here’s a list of the Mad Men-related products shown at the top of the page:

1. They didn’t really have computers back then, if you can believe it. Olivetti Manual Typewriter $140 at Urban Outfitters
2. In Mad Men they drink at work, out of work, and at home. That’s why I love this article from PaperMag analyzing what each character drinks and what that says about their personality. Apparently, Peggy drinks a befitting Brandy Alexander (Cognac, dark crème de cacao, and heavy cream).
3. Women in the early 1960s were curvy, wearing clothes that accented, rather than hid, their most voluptuous features. I love this Norma Jean Winter Dress from Mod Cloth ($150). It looks more like a Peggy outfit with a Joan curve.
4. These really popular illustrations of scenes from Mad Men have made their way across the blogs. You can buy prints or use them as free desktop wallpaper. My favorite part is that the illustrator provides show-commentary with every new flickr post. (Ex. commentary from the picture above: “Commemorating the scene and outfit that ended Paul’s status as my favorite character.”) NOTE: Stickers & Donuts later did an interview with Dyna Moe, who creates these illustrations!
5. Gosh, those rotary phones must have broken some fingers back in the day! Luckily Linens & Things knew that Generation Whatever-I-Am is a little more used to “push button technology” (er, do they really need the word “technology”?). Crosley Kettle Desk Phone, $60
6. If you are going to be pretty like 1960s Joan you need thick black eyes and red lips. Imagine 1960s makeup technology? Was mascara even waterproof back then?! Could it lift and separate?! Wait, is that a slogan for bras? I’ve confused myself.
7. Since the Mad Men (and women) work at an ad agency (get it, mAD men), I thought I’d include this ad from maidenform (on the show it’s a Sterling Cooper account!). In fact, AdClassix.com, though it does have a questionable-looking web-site, includes tons and tons of ads (many of which you can purchase) from the 1920s-1970s.

Want to see more? I’ve got a picture of all the characters (I wrote on it with my notes). Also, a general trailer if you haven’t seen the show. (more…)