Calarcá

Cocora was beautiful, but Yipao in Calarcá was such fun!!

Cocora

Marina, Mario, Mateo and I all spent the afternoon in Salento and then Jeeped it to Cocora. The view? Spectacular. Getting stuck in traffic on the way back while sitting in a bus for an hour and a half because either someone was shot or a truck went over the side? Not so spectacular. Star threw a bit of a moody and tried to walk back to Armenia. It wasn't my finest moment. But check out these pics!

I Made It!

Finally arrived in Armenia and got through immigration by 2:45pm-ish. Stepped outside the airport desperately looking for Marina when BLAMMO! - our eyes met and we simultaneously screamed and ran into eachother's arms crying. I haven't seen her since my father's funeral over a year ago, so it was kind of surreal that we were together in Colombia. After a nice cigarette break we headed to Barrio La Castellana. On the way I freaked out when I saw driving next to our taxi was a white Renault Master just like Danny DeVito's in Romancing the Stone. That film is a favourite of mine as well as my two older brothers so I had to text Wayne and tell him. So far, I'm loving Colombia!

More Pulp Fiction from the Loft

About Mrs. Leslie? She sounds like a right trollop - my kinda gal. This one is SO on my summer reading list...

Stuart Little

In third grade Mrs. McCormick introduced us kids to E.B. White. I still remember sitting Indian style on the floor at her feet during story time as she read Charlotte's Web. We all wept at the end and it was all I would talk about when I got home. Then my brilliant mother went out and bought me Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan. I adored Stuart Little and got lost in his world. Still one of the bestest books I've ever read. Ya know, I have that flight to Colombia on Friday morning...maybe I oughta bring Stuart with me...

The Boats By the Sea

I was flipping through the photos on my iPod Touch and came across all the pictures that Nicole took when we were in Italy. I'd completely forgotten that she had been using it for anything other than FaceBook and Skype. This one of the boats in Positano is simply gorgeous.

Egg Cream!

Today Ashlee and I spent the morning and afternoon watching random episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (oh my dear Jesus - I do so adore Charlie Day!) and making old school Brooklyn style Egg Creams. Man, oh, man are those things delicious. My new favourite treat.

Dead Storage

Brutal torture...gentle death...

In many ways, the murder of George Sukely was the strangest Inspector Schmidt had ever investigated. 

The victim's body revealed every refinement of sadistic abuse. Yet it was possible that he had not been intended to die, or that he had died too soon, or that his incredible agonies cloaked a murder method (and motive) so unusual as to be beyond discovery.

The main question was, of course, who did it - and why.

Ya gotta love that vintage pulp fiction, baby!

Must See

I stumbled upon a trailer for this film and as soon as I heard the first few notes of Can the Circle Be Unbroken - one of my favourite Carter Family tunes - I was intrigued. Then came the two leads singing a gorgeous rendition of The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn. Oh how I do so love that song...it instantly takes me back to Thanksgiving Day 2003 when my brothers and I were on the PA turnpike heading to dinner and listening to Alison Krauss & Union Station with Dan Tyminski, Johnny Cash, Nine Inch Nails and Meshuggah. Anyway, I hope they follow through and release this picture in the States, cause I gots to see it! I do so love tattooed ladies and bearded fellas...especially when they speak Flemish...

(photo kidnapped from laperlatattooparlor)

Himalayan Mountains - Nepal

(gorgeous photo kidnapped from culturefocus)

Antwerpen

A whole week in Antwerpen...Ashlee and I seriously cannot wait. Nine months and counting...

The Honeymooners

My brother and his wife are in Alaska for the week and here is their first glimpse:

The Wedding

I'm not a fan of weddings. I don't like getting dressed up, they never have any vegetarian options so I never am able to enjoy the food, I have as much rhythm as a can of tuna fish so I steer clear of the dance floor, I suck at socialising and can usually be seen chain smoking outside of the venue. This afternoon was my lil' brother Xavier's wedding and I have been dreading it for at least six months. Luckily I looked fabulous and that took a bit of the pressure off and the one person I was hoping to never see again wasn't able to make it - so that was a plus. In the end, I actually had a great time. The highlight was when I ran into the girls at the Bat Mitzvah that was happening next door. They flipped out over my moustache dress. What can I say, I'm all the rage with the thirteen year old girls. Mazel Tov!

Getting packages...

...in the mail. That heart shaped box that is filled with all of my favourite things would not be complete without my obsession with getting letters and parcels in the mail. Oh my god, I love it. I have a serious addiction to online ordering because of the great thrill of getting presents delivered right to my doorstep. Yesterday I received my Region 2 DVD player and today I am expecting vintage postcards that I ordered from etsy.

In case any of youse were ever curious as to what the heart shaped box looks like, here it be.

My cousin, Marina, had started to make it for her girlfriend at the time, but they split up so she passed it over to me. It's clearly made with love by a high school girl what with lyrics by No Doubt and Christina Aguliera.

The Town

Met up with Nicole last night in Philly to take our weekly walk and catch eachother up on things. It was still light out, so I decided to snap some photos of the old neighbourhood. After having traveled through Italy, I noticed once I came back to the States that my home town is really kinda hideous. Everywhere one looks it's nothing but Dunkin' Donuts, mechanic shops, fast food joints, and buildings that lack any character or aesthetic value. At first, it was a bit depressing to realise that my home is embarrassingly ugly. Especially where I lived in Philly and the place my family calls home. It's filthy and falling apart with trash in the streets and obnoxious, loud people shouting things that are frankly, a little appalling. A prime example - last night I'm in the back kitchen and I hear the 75 year old lady next door yelling at someone. She's watering her garden, sweet as can be, then all of a sudden she's calling someone an asshole and cursing up a blue streak. Nicole and I go out to start our walk and she informs us that some random guy just threw up in the street. Lovely, right?

Anyway, I've stopped feeling so depressed by how my old neighbourhood is basically a shithole and resembles a war zone and instead I feel a sort of comfort in the ugliness of it all. It may be a sewer, but it's where we grew up and it will always be home. Here are some shots from last night. Sadly, once summer kicks in, we won't be taking any walks since once the heat hits, the cockroaches are all over the sidewalks. Ugh, definitely my least fave thing about Philly. At least in Jersey all I have to worry about are spiders.

BFB

I took this photo of the Ben Franklin Bridge from Penn's Landing in Philly during Pride Fest on Sunday. I'm sure you are asking yourself, "Who photographs a bridge rather than a seven foot tall drag queen, three bears holding hands, sexy butch lesbians, and a nineteen year old wearing a pink jock strap?" But who's to say I didn't snap those pictures...

Airbnb

(photo kidnapped from catherinegacad)

Have you heard of this thing? Double J told me about it when I was planning my trip to Italy but last week I mentioned my latest adventure and he gave me the low-down on Airbnb. Holy cannoli, I am addicted. Addicted I tell you! There are so many fabulous places to go and now there are an even greater number of fabulous places to stay. I was asking Bishop and Pax what I should say in my profile on the site. I'm not on FaceBook or any of those social media sites and frankly, I don't sound all that exciting in print. I'm pretty square and I basically just hang out with friends and family and talk. I don't skydive or spelunk in underground caves in Mexico. I'm just a regular gal from Philly. Pax said, "You should just write what Divine said in Female Trouble." Then, in a spot on Divine impression said, "I'm a thief and a shitkicker, and I'd like to be famous." Somehow I fear that will not put me in good with potential hosts.

Random Talent

So, I have a strange and useless knack for explaining someone's appearance without using visual descriptions. Basically if someone without sight needed to know exactly how someone looks, I can assist with lightning fast speed and agility. However, this talent is of little use. But, I'm a bit of a showoff, so I'm going to tell youse all exactly what it's like to look at the two closest people in my life, and as a bonus, me as well.

Bishop - When someone takes laundry from the dryer and comes to where you are sitting and pours the contents over you, leaving you completely enveloped in warmth and surrounded by that clean, fresh smell. That's Bishop.

Marina - Looking at Marina is like when you are standing on the shore and the water reaches you just to your ankles and then slowly pulls back letting you sink deeper into the sand. That feeling of the sand between your toes and the earth shifting beneath you, leaving you with a strange combination of feelings - fear, exhilaration and comfort. That's what it's like to look at Marina's face.

And me - I look like a Thelonious Monk piece. It's not for everyone and only the rarest of people can appreciate it.

Graffiti Art in Philly

Saw this on Walnut Street in Philly. This gal is like Audrey Hepburn meets Edith Head with a dash of Piaf and Monroe. Love it!

Hôtel de Ville

Road House

Years ago I was watching Clerks with commentary and Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier were talking about Road House - which I had not yet seen - and how they wish fans of films could run commentary on the DVDs. Brilliant idea. Last week, while searching my library's catalog (I think to see if they had a copy of Red State) I discovered that, holy shit, Kevin and Scott actually did commentary on a DVD copy of Road House!

So, last night after a long-ass day at work, followed by spending a few hours walking around Philly with Nicole, I got back home, kicked back in my favourite chair and hit play. No lie, I was in stitches. Kevin and Scott were spot on and actually made the film watchable. I especially enjoyed how they changed up those Chuck Norris lines and made them Dalton, Swayze's character. The best one? Dalton doesn't wash his clothes; he disembowels them. Fucking priceless. Ya know, I may just hafta go back and see it again just to count exactly how many times those fellas said the words "roundhouse kick" cause it was a lot.

Messin' About

This past weekend I had my niece Ashlee over and she discovered my purple wig whilst searching for some perfume in my room. We decided to play a prank on her bf who is stationed in the Pacific Northwest. After texting him this photo we actually had him convinced that she chopped off most of her hair and dyed it a funky shade. Champ that he is, he said it looked great. What a doll. Can't wait til he's home on leave and we can all hang out.