Sunday Afternoon with Bishop

Spent most of today with Bishop in Bryn Mawr, one of my all time fave places. We had lunch at Tiffin (Vgë was closed for the holiday weekend - boo-hiss) then walked down to Gold Million Records (formerly Plastic Fantastic) to snap yet another photo of the Debbie Harry pictures and score some fab vinyl. Next it was off to Showcase Comics, Peace a Pizza for a couple slices (and some yummy and refreshing New Hope Pennsylvania Red Birch Beer - so gooooood!!), and finally to browse at a local book shop. The day was that perfect cool autumn weather with a cloudy sky and was ideal for walking up and down Lancaster Ave. So much fun!!

 

 

 

 

(btw - I have never EVER been disappointed at Peace a Pizza. Regardless of the locations (Abington and Ardmore are now closed) I have always been charmed by the staff, the place is always clean, and the slices are divine!)

Downton Abbey at Winterthur

I have loved Downton Abbey from the beginning. When the opportunity arose for Anne, myself, and our mums to visit Winterthur and view the costumes, I couldn't wait! The quality of the pix below is less than ideal, but I didn't wanna lug my big ass Nikon and focus more on getting a great shot, rather than enjoy seeing the costumes in person. And yes, they had Sybil's Harem Pants and they are even more beautiful in person!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word of Wisdom from Fr. Jack

Heard this on an episode of Six Feet Under and just loved it.

Truth and relationships don't make life better, they make life possible...I think you should do whatever brings you deeper into the reality of your life...But not the life you think you can have. The life you've got.

Episode written by Craig Wright.

Thanksgiving for One!

This Thanksgiving I am staying home. No stress, no family and no being surrounded by the smells of food I can't have and don't want. I plan on sleeping hella late (mission accomplished!), watching Miracle on 34th Street (the Dylan McDermott/Mara Wilson remake that is SO much better than the original. Richard Attenborough as St. Nick? Perfection.), and stuffing my piehole with yummy grub.

I am complete crap in the kitchen and can't cook worth a damn, but I'm gonna have boxed mashed potatoes (christ, that sounds depressing), vegan stuffing (hooray!!), cranberry sauce in a can (totally a throwback to my childhood), single-malt scotch (cuz I'm a bad-ass), hot cocoa (since my house is an ice box, this'll keep me warm), coconut milk egg nog (a seasonal must-have), and vegan pumpkin pie (for m'sweet tooth!). If I ruin the "dinner" portion of this meal, there's a back up plan - frozen pizza (ha!!), fries with veganaise, and lentil soup.

This is probably everyone's nightmare Thanksgiving, but for me, a dream come true. Hope y'all have a fantastically fabulous holiday! I know I will.

ps - yesterday I sent Anne (my favourite Brit) an email which read: Just wanted to wish you and your family a very, very happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy basking in the holiday that celebrates the rape of the Native American's way of life by my people. All that aside, I wish you a sincerely fabulous day. Stuff your gobs til you burst! Anne responded, as only a well bred lady of Lincolnshire could, with: Thank you, and I wish you and your family the same. Let's keep on celebrating injustice :)

Marry Me

Ken Marino and Casey Wilson are so freakin' good together and this show is hi-larious! Bishop and I are currently obsessed with Marry Me and are crossing fingers and toes that (god forbid) it doesn't get cancelled like our previous fave show, Happy Endings.

(photo kidnapped from musicmonet)

I ♥ Lee Pace

Who doesn't love Lee Pace? He's just the most super dooper, double terrific über fab fella on the planet. This picture by Tyler Feder of etsy's Roaring Softly captured Mr. Pace, in all his cuteness, to perfection.

(photo kidnapped from roaringsoftly)

Liv Tyler

If memory serves,the first time I saw Liv Tyler was in a very old issue of YM Magazine. She was fifteen years old and I immediately thought that she was thee most beautiful girl alive. Flawless features. She was tall and thin, but not skinny, gorgeous eyes and mouth, perfect smile, and the most fantastic hair ever. I think that if I could choose to look like anyone else that I would choose Liv. She's serenely beautiful in the most unique way.

Two Boots Pizza

One of the best vegan pizza slices I've had was at Two Boots in Baltimore a few weeks back. It had artichokes, shiitake mushrooms, red onions, and stripes of basil and red pepper pestos - delish!! The place was super cute with funky chairs and bold colours. The only downfall was that the bathroom was kinda gross. But the staff was nice and so were the other customers. Between my experience at Atomic Books and Two Boots, I gotta say, Baltimore has kinda stolen my heart.

 

 

 

 

(i wish i was braver about taking photos in public. i would like to have taken more pics of this place - it was so cool! i'm always so concerned with people thinking i'm weird or creepy or a tourist. the only place i don't worry about this is philly.)

Nessun Dorma

Luciano Pavarotti's performance of this song transcends all other forms of music. It is a work of art as moving as Picasso's Guernica. It's beauty may never be matched.

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun saprà!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
vincerò, vincerò!

Skunks!!!

I know this is a completely random post, but when I'm at home and feeling like everything sucks I usually buy stuff online. Not healthy, I know, but it could be worse. The other night I was super depressed and for some inexplicable reason I Google Imaged "baby skunks" and it totally made me so stinkin' happy. (pun totally intended.) Look at these faces!!!!

 

 

Six Feet Under

Now that this show is available to stream on Amazon, I am going back and re-watching the entire series, probably for the fourth or fifth time. It's just as incredible now as it was all those years ago, sitting on Pax and Bishop's couch on Sunday night, surrounded with cigarette smoke and fabulous friends. All of the characters are so easy to love and identify with and that is what makes the last episode so unbelievably hard to watch. Best series finale of all time. Never to be topped.

(photo kidnapped from snakkle)

The Howard Street Bridge

 

 

 

Karen

I miss this lady. We worked together years ago at the café and began a friendship outside the workplace. She was in her late fifties when we met and was in the midst of a divorce from her dipshit, abusive husband. Her self esteem was in the toilet and she never seemed to believe that everyone at work genuinely adored her. As a young person, it's tough to know how to act around older co-workers. You never know if it's okay to curse or if they'll understand when we use slang. We all seemed to feel this way around Karen for the first week or so. Then one day, Justin told me that Karen came into the music cage and said, "You know, I'm a people person. I truly like people. I like helping the customers, walking them to the book they are looking for and putting it in their hand and seeing how pleased they are. I really like people. But that last customer was a real asshole." We all let out a collective sigh of relief - she was one of us!

When I was on unemployment (the most blissful time of my life!), Karen had a lot of doctor appointments in the city. Her vision was not great and getting worse and she was uncomfortable driving into Philly. I told her I had all the time in the world and would love to take her! That first month turned into a year and a half of visits, sometimes twice a month, sometimes a full day when she had surgery. We would have lunch after and in that time we became super close. In recent years, Karen seems to have retreated back to her solitude, back to ignoring her mail, phone calls, and not logging on to check her email. I am torn between continuing to reach out to her and letting her have her space. I hope she's healthy and happy and knows that she is loved. And I hope that her ungrateful sons have finally recognised the strong, beautiful, exceptional woman that is their mother and that they are finally treating her with real love and kindness. No one deserves it more.

Ms. Jackson!

Got a sweet text from Kristin the other day. Haven't seen her in forever but she is still such a sweetie and remembered that I wear a ring with the word Esperanza.