Made me giggle ...

HAPPY FRIDAY :)

Big game this weekend 

GO BLUE!

"HOWL"

I absolutely fell in love with the gems of the Beat Generation in college, so I was psyched to see the new flick

It's definitely artsy and fun, but I'd highly recommend re-reading the poem before you go.

We walked past Allen Ginsberg's old apartment on the way home, and it made me think of these old posts from a couple years ago :)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008

The Neatest Thing Happened this Morning ...

Every morning I walk up Avenue A and make a left onto 2nd Street ... this is my daily route to Gracefully
(a.k.a Home of the bestest muffins in America!)

Today however, I decided to walk on the north side of the street because that was the sunny side of the sidewalk :)
And low-and-behold, as I was looking at all the apartment entrances, my eye caught this plaque:

I was so taken back by how awesome this is/was!!

Holy wow ... Allen Ginsberg, one of the most renowned poets and activists of the Beat Generation, once lived and wrote history, just 2 blocks from my apartment!!! How incredibly cool :)

I'll never look at 170 2nd Street (or my copy of "Howl")
the same way ever again!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008

Thoughts on Art & Poetry

 While we're on the topic of the Beat Generation ...

My favorite poem ever written is “Why I’m not a painter”
by Frank O’Hara.

The first time I read this I was at Michigan. I remember reading it once, and then over and over again ... I still love it to this day :)

Why I Am Not a Painter

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters, "It was too much," Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven't mentioned
orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.

As a result, this is my most favorite painting:

(Sardines, Michael Goldberg, 1955)

That in mind, it comes as no surprise that my second favorite painting in the world is Mark Rothko’s “Orange”:

 

But even though I love both “Sardines” and “Orange” madly, there may be no greater work of art than my third favorite “painting”…

 

Tee hee :)

Thoughts on 'Umpkins

Nothin but love :)

Proud Sister = Me!

My mom and Jamie road tripped from Chicago to Tampa last week because Jamers got a GREAT new job at Raymond James ...
Yahooooo :) 

 Jamie's new apartment complex in Hyde Park (Tampa)

Along the way they stopped in Pensacola, Florida
where Stephen & Kendra will be married next May ...
Yahoooooo times two!

 Stephen & Kendra's wedding venue / beach house

 Where they will get married

Exciting times :)

"Someone should put a tent over this circus" ...

Bummer the Bears forgot how to play football last night. 

But the beer was cold, the tailgate was awesome,
and the company was top notch -- so I can't complain :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

My brother and soon to be sister-in-law are coming to visit this weekend and I couldn't be more excited about it :)
We're headed to da Bears / Giants game this Sunday,
LOOK.OUT.WORLD! 

The last time I was at a Bears game, this happened: 

So I hope nothing but awesomeness shall ensue this time too ;) 

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

Oh the places we've been!

While in San Francisco, I'll be the first to confess that I
had many more than one moment of sincere nostalgia --
feelings that I'll spare for another post, because at this time
it would be more like a book of gushyness given the
insane amount of respect I have for my teammates. 

Looking around the room at all of our matching computer bags,
I got a little choked-up thinking about the last 2.8 years ...
Both personally and professionally, WHAT A WILD RIDE!

With all the excitement surrounding the last few days,
I know I should turn the page to "Oh the places we'll go!"
but I'm still just feeling incredibly overwhelmed with gratitude 
for what we've been through. 

And when I say "we"
(for the purposes of this post)
I mean me and my trusty companion:

Because in the last 2.8 years, there hasn't been a single trip that I haven't brought him on -- the blessing and the curse of an internet start-up ... that being hired as a remote employee I've learned that I can pretty much do work from anywhere ;) And with that,

Oh the places we've been!

Chicago, IL
Michigan City, IN
Ann Arbor & Harbor Springs, MI
Milwaukee, Madison & Lake Geneva, WI
Cleveland, OH
Seattle, Issaquah & Maple Valley, WA
San Diego & San Francisco, CA
Scottsdale, AZ
Boston & Cape Cod, MA
New York City & Long Island, NY
Mystic, Darien & Danbury, CT
Westfield, Orange & Atlantic City, NJ
Okemo, VT
Happy Valley, Pocano & Philadelphia, PA
Washington, DC
Potomac, MD
Miami, FL
Savannah, GA
London & Sussex, England
Paris and the Loire Valley, France
Geneva & Lausanne, Switzerland

There's so much in store for our team at this time -- which is all super great -- but with how fast everything in my life changes, I just feel I owe it some time right now to simply feel great-full :)

LOVE!

The Celebration :)

SOLD!

We built it ... they bought it :) 

Big news from Peanut Labs 

Bittersweet end of an era ...

From a dinky start-up to being part of an acquisition creating
one of the largest Market Research companies in the world.
What a crazy amazing journey it's been!

WAY TO GO NUTS

JFK --> SFO

Quick all-team meeting in San Fran today :) 

Fly back tomorrow 

{insert jet lag here}
and back to bloggin' on Wednesday

Hope you had a great weekend!

Great quote to end the book, "Little Bee"

If your face is swollen from the beatings of life,
smile and pretend to be a fat man.

~Nigerian Proverb

The Candles

Last night we went to see the Candles
at Rockwood Music Hall and holy hot damn,
they did exactly that ... they rocked. 

I got hooked on this band because I've had the absolute pleasure to get to know the ever talented, Josh Lattanzi, over the last few years in NYC. He is a brilliant musician, a warmhearted soul, and a fantastic husband to my friend, Rebekah :)

Recently I was made aware that Brooklyn Decker
also loves the Candles

so I now officially have ONE thing in common with a supermodel. Score!

Confession: I'm positively straight but I'd totes touch a boob over a bikini top for Brooklyn Decker. Just sayin'

Aaaand I digress, per uuuuu'sh ...

Moral of the story, if you haven't checked out the awesomeness that is their album, go do it to it! 

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS!

Harvest Moon

I'm super bummed we weren't able to see the Harvest Moon last night here in New York. The storm clouds blocked it's beauty :( 

But I loved looking at all the pix online this morning
of others who were able to capture the moment, 

and to see Jupiter shinning as well! 

(if you look closely between the two rays, that's Jupiter!)

I guess I'll just have to remain thankful
that I was able to see the last Lunar Eclipse. 

Astrology absolutely fascinates me :)
Bah! I meant to say Astronomy ...
shows how much I know about the ether ;)

Why didn't I write this screenplay?!

3W

Have you checked out the latest videos from 
3rd Wheel Comedy?!

Annie, Kevin and Jeffrey ...

THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS
MAKING ME LAUGH :) 

Confession:

Lately I've been seeing a lot of blog posts/Facebook updates from my girlfriends who are preggers and sharing pix of their growing tummy-tum-tums. 

I'm all, "Ufff, I feel ya!" but then I realize that they actually have babies in their bellies, and I just have a whole lotta beer in mine. Bust.

So I've made a "physically fit" pact to go for a run 3-4 times this week. I've also made a "mentally fit" pact to do something mindful 3-4 times as well. Because at the end of the day, I think the latter of the two is even more important :)

Not-so Top Chef

Instead of going out to eat on Friday night, I offered to host dinner on our balcony to enjoy what's left of the nice weather.  My mom was super excited to hear of this "step in the right direction" ...

Mom: So, what are you cooking?!

Me: Whaaa? I'd like to keep my friends. I ordered in
from Whole Foods and we're all just splitting the bill.

Mom: You make me laugh.

Me: I do my best ;) 

Good meal, GREAT company :)

Hmmmm ...

Now, do we think these ones are used for the petty crimes?