Bullhead

Once again, I am behind the proverbial eight ball. How did I not know about this film until recently and more importantly it's lead, the remarkable Matthias Schoenaerts? Bullhead was a difficult movie to get through. After that scene in the field - which I couldn't even watch; I had to fast forward through it - I got up and hit eject. I felt nauseous and had to grab my DVD of Toy Story 3 and watch the short film Day and Night just to come down. Man, what a brutal scene. You know a film is extraordinary when you get a visceral physical response and feel totally uneasy and uncomfortable. I finally gathered up some courage and finished watching it the next day. I doubt I'll ever watch it again, but I also doubt I'll ever forget it. Absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking.

(photo kidnapped from collider)

Anne Sexton

Growing up in middle class suburban Souf Joisey, clearly I was a brooding, somber, melancholy youth. I discovered Ms. Sexton in high school and immediately connected with her dark, mysterious writing. I've since come out of my depression, but Anne's work still amazes me and I'm grateful to have had her through all those shitty years.

Here is a list of the many dog-eared pages:

The Double Image
The Truth the Dead Know
Young
The Starry Night
The Abortion
Sylvia's Death
Wanting to Die
The Addict
The Touch (I absolutely love this)
In Celebration of My Uterus
Again and Again and Again
The Other
Rats Live On No Evil Star
The Fury of Cocks (another favourite)
When Man Enters Woman
Cockroach
Seal
Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women (underlined in this poem are the words: Do I not look in the mirror, these days, and see a drunken rat avert her eyes?)

Café Pal

While sifting through old photo albums I found this shot of me and Skippy from my days in the café. As Fr. Michael said, "You two look like you just got back from Pride Fest. Funny thing is, you're both straight."

June 2nd 1994

Evangeline

Here's Kathryn's adorable little pork chop and just as cute as she can be. Oh that giggle! What an angel food face.

July '79

Here I am rocking out in a bad ass nautical rain coat. Old Navy, take heed, get to makin' some knock offs of this. They'll go like hotcakes, honey.

Center City

 

All About Eden

Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Björk - Hyper-Ballad
Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism
Patti Smith - Land
Tori Amos - Northern Lad
Joan Osborne - Ladder
Fiona Apple - To Your Love
Gladys Knight - I've Got to Use My Imagination
Streisand - Woman in the Moon
Carpenters - I Won't Last a Day Without You
Madonna - Think of Me
Concrete Blonde - Everybody Knows
Cranberries - I Will Always
Joni Mitchell - My Old Man
Kelly Osbourne - Too Much of You
Lizz Wright - I'm Confessin'
Christina Aguilera - Underappreciated
Jennifer Hudson - All Dressed In Love

~February 24, 2009

Tenieya Canyon

Stuck in the House

Made during the Blizzard of '96

Side A

Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2
World in My Eyes - Depeche Mode
Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
Come As You Are - Nirvana
Cannonball - The Breeders
Love - The Sundays
Everything Zen - Bush
Aspray - Kitchens of Distinction
It's the End of the World as We Know It - REM
Sick of Myself - Matthew Sweet

Side B

Car Song - Elastica
Universal Heartbeat - Juliana Hatfield
Love Spreads - Stone Roses
King of the Kerb - Echobelly
Summertime Rolls - Jane's Addiction
Fall On Me - REM
Wonderwall - Oasis
Feel Every Beat - Electronic
Strangelove - Depeche Mode
I'm Sailin' - Mazzy Star
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana

Side Street

Here's yet another gorgeous street from Marina and Julie's visit to Cartagena. I love the chipped paint on the buildings.

O-M-G...

Look what arrived in the post! And just in time, as tomorrow I start yet another two-week fast. Lord a-mighty, these treats are absolutely divine. Okay, gotta jet - Bishop and I are off to PA to see North By Northwest in 35mm!

Sean Loves...

Philly AND my lovely niece, Ashlee. Not necessarily in that order, though.

Pretty in Pink

What a dork. Fakest smile ever. But that floral number is sensational. Eat yer fuckin' heart out, Laura Ingalls.

Happy V-Day!

To Star:

xoxoxox, Marina

Everlasting Love

There is a pizza joint not far from me called Bombay Local Pizza. It is the marriage of my two favourite foods - pizza and Indian cuisine. I went on Sunday with my brother Wayne and no lie, this pizza is divine. Forget West Virgina, honey, this shit is almost heaven. If you live in the tri-state area, get thee to Bombay Local. And FYI - the Paneer Tikka pie was definitely in the top three best pizzas I've ever had in my life. The flavour is second to none.

The Perfect Compliment

I learned that a compliment is a partnership, because the pleasure of giving it lies in its effect upon the person receiving it.

Tom Chiarella
Esquire September 2009

A Piece of Sky

Tell me where
Where is it written
What is it I meant to be?
That I can't dare...
It all began the day I found..
That from my window I could only see
A piece of sky.
I stepped outside and looked around.
I never dreamed it was so wide
Or even half as high.
The time had come
(Papa, can you hear me?)
To try my wings
(Papa, are you near me?)
And even thought it seemed at any moment I could fall,
I felt the most,
(Papa, can you see me?)
Amazing things,
(Can you understand me?)
The things you can't imagine
if you've never flown at all.
Though it's safer to stay on the ground,
Sometimes where danger lies
There the sweetest of pleasures are found.
No matter where I go,
There'll be memories that tug at my sleeve,
But there will also be
More to question, yet more to believe..
Oh tell me where?
Where is the someone who will turn and look at me?
And want to share
My ev'ry sweet-imagined possibility?
The more I live - the more I learn.
The more I learn - the more I realize
The less I know.
Each step I take -
(Papa, I've a voice now!)Each page I turn -
(Papa, I've a choice now!)Each mile I travel only means
The more I have to go.
What's wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
just a piece of sky?
Papa, I can hear you...
Papa, I can see you...
Papa, I can feel you...
Papa, watch me fly!

written by Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman
(lyrics kidnapped from lyricsfreak)

Without question thee best Streisand song of all time. 

I ♥ Philly

I seriously need to own this shirt.

(photo kidnapped from weheartphilly - who doesn't??)

Batgirl, Age Four

Why wear your Batgirl Halloween costume in October when it looks so good in the middle of summer? And you can't see it, but my Grandfather is actually praying the third decade of the rosary in the hopes of saving my immortal soul. He was not successful.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Oh YouTube, how you make the work day bearable. The only thing getting me through this week were reruns of the US version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Good God, my little brother and I used to be obsessed with the UK version, so when Drew Carey started one in the States we clearly watched it religiously. I haven't seen these episodes in forever and I am literally clutching my sides all day. They are absolutely hysterical and 8 hours of non-stop laughter is why I haven't walked out on this job. That and the fact that I have yet to move forward with getting my four books published...

The Chase

My Da was one of those fathers who would make a complete ass out of himself if it made his kids laugh. Usually at the embarrassment of my mother. August 1976 Mum caught him chasing my older brother with a tricycle.

Dance Music '87

Sunday night - before Downton Abbey, of course - Bishop and I went in the music room and started digging through all his old mixes. Among the dusty cassettes we found mixes that Bishop's husband had made when they first started dating. Others were mixes made by close friends and yes! there was even one in there from me. A Depeche Mode mix, of course. My god, have we seriously known each other since before we were able to burn cds??? Crikey, that's depressing.

A Hundred Reasons to Swoon

Looking at the photographs on 100beards I realised that I am clearly living on the wrong continent. If these men are any indication as to the men on the streets of England, I gots to go. It also goes without saying that the book 100 Beards 100 Days is already en route to my doorstep. Her Majesty's post better get a move on.

(photo of Kial: Dean Street, London by the brilliant Jonathan Daniel Pryce kidnapped from 100beards with love and respect)

Funk Soul Disco and R&B in the Mix

Side A

All I Do - Stevie Wonder
365 - Teena Marie
Strawberry Letter 23 - Brothers Johnson
Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players
Flashlight - Parliament
High on Your Love - Rick James
What You See Is What You Get - The Dramatics
Tell Me Something Good - Rufus feat Chaka Khan
Come Get to This - Marvin Gaye

Side B

Lovely Day - Bill Withers
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
Just a Touch of Love - Slave
Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing - Stevie Wonder
Dance to the Music - Sly & the Family Stone
My Forbidden Lover - Chic
Tune in Tomorrow - Teena Marie
Inside My Love - Minnie Ripperton
You Know How to Love Me - Phyllis Hyman

Aunt Blanche

In My Desk Drawer

I tend to keep damn near anything in my desk and today Lolo instructed me to take an inventory. Sky wanted me to note that the green ladybug is actually a mirror.

Pictured above:

Scissors
Eye drops
Q-Tips
Advil (in the Gum Box)
Tampons
Mustard
Ketchup
Highlighters
Pens
Sharpies
Matches
Lighter
Tums
Nail kit
Post-Its
6ft iPhone 4/4s or iPod charger cord
Candy
Floss
Pizza Cutter
Paper clips
Hair ties
Pencil Sharpener
White out
Glue
Nail polish remover
Sewing Kit
Cotton puffs
Gum
Hand held fan
Band Aids
Nail files
Safety pins
Hairspray
Deodorant
Headphones
Crackers
Tissues
Bobby Pins
Liquid peppermint soap
Straws
Yarn
Tea
Cotton rounds
Rubber bands
Lip balm
Razor blade
Batteries
Ladybug Mirror!