March 29, 2005
Today was a traveling day ...
I feel good
It’s a fine day
The way the sun hits off the runway
A cloud shifts
The plane lifts
She moves on
- Paul Simon
Posted by lk at 08:49 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2005
Peepin' it Real on Easter Sunday
Peeps chicks and bunnies were my favorite Easter treat when I was a kid. I just loved em. Nowadays I'm more of a chocolate bunny kind of gal but I still like to see a Peep on Easter, so I went to the official website and got an eyeful! Lots of strange and interesting facts to be learned. For example:
This Easter, Just Born estimated that more than 700
million MARSHMALLOW PEEPS® and Bunnies were consumed
by people throughout the U.S. and abroad. (That's a lot a Peeps!)
During their early years, MARSHMALLOW PEEPS® were
squeezed one at a time out of a pastry tube and the
eyes were painted on by hand. Now, technology can
create 3,800 Peeps® eyes per minute. (That's a lot a eyes!)
People like to do curious things with PEEPS®- eat them
stale, microwave them, freeze them, roast them, and
use them as a pizza topping... (OK, That's just gross, but I guess it's a free country)
Here's my favorite thing on the website:
PEEPS® Pastel Sombrero
Posted by lk at 12:38 PM | Comments (1)
March 25, 2005
Having a "Good Friday"?
I'm not going to get into a big religious thing here but I'm Catholic, or really a lapsed Catholic at this point ... Anyway, I'm getting a bit reflective now that Easter is right up on us. Today I was reminded of somthing John Irving wrote in A Prayer for Owen Meany, " any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you're not a believer".
Well, yes. Christmas is about presents but Easter is about ... Faith. I suppose I agree, even though it's been over 8 months since I've been to church. I was raised to be a believer but I've had many moments of doubt...
Posted by lk at 08:05 PM | Comments (1)
March 24, 2005
Been spending a lot of time downtown these past few weeks. I know most people think downtown LA is either a headache or kind of a joke, but I like it. Being from New York, I dig seeing tall buildings every now and again. But unlike NYC, downtown LaLa always feels completely manageable to me. And there is always plenty of sky...
Posted by lk at 07:23 PM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2005
Bubble Tea
Over the weekend I gave myself a treat . I went to my favorite Lollicup and had a cool refreshing Boba Tea. Boba Tea - or Bubble Tea as EM likes to call it - is cold milk tea with a generous helping of tapioca pearls at the bottom. It might sound odd if you've never tried it, but it's really tasty and the pearls are fun to eat.
The tea is served in a plastic cup sealed with a clear cellophane cover emblazoned with a smiling sunflower:
It's quite a cheerful drink. Part of the fun of ordering it is grabbing an oversized straw from the counter and punching it through the cellophane seal, although I always try not to punch out the face of the flower!
It's a bit too cold for a Bubble Tea tonight but maybe tomorrow....
Posted by lk at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2005
Top 5 Words for March
1. Glamazon - I read about the "glamazon look" in the New Yorker last week. It refers to pleats, brazen bare legs, toga-style draping, laced sandals and all those silly clothes inspired by recent Hollywood movies like "Gladiator" and "Troy".
2. Finko's - Shipping/copy shops once known as either Fed Ex or Kinko's. Now that the companies have merged, the name has changed but the copy machines still don't work.
3. Compeauty - To upgrade your computer or give it a computer "day of beauty ", ie this Saturday I am finally going to buy OSX and then proceed to have a compeauty.
4. Palias - Any time after 9pm on Wednesday night (or Post-Alias).
5. Sucklyn - The home city of things that suck, ie that broken down heap of a car of yours - It's straight outa Sucklyn! See also, Sucklyn Heights - residents mistakenly believe they are a respectable distance from Downtown Sucklyn and Sucklyn Adjacent ... well, you get the idea.
*Many thanks to my muses-you know who you are- for teaching me that language is a living thing that changes everyday.
Posted by lk at 08:40 PM | Comments (4)
March 20, 2005
Sorry about the problem with the photos on the last two posts. I'm not that savvy on the tech side yet, but I'm getting better each and every day. Hang in there with me!
Posted by lk at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
First Day Of Spring
Hope everyone got a chance to go outside and enjoy the day!
Posted by lk at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2005
I'm Coming Out
Think: less L Word, more Miss Ross, her hot 80's single and her FABULOUS HAIR! That's right folks, we're gonna talk hair for a minute, and also weaves.
Now, the full Toastkitten hair story is a bit too long to summarize on the blog. Let's just say that I tried just about every process during high school and college including a Jheri Curl, which was (not surprisingly) a complete disaster. With all the relaxers and hot combs I've used in the past, I'm lucky to still have any hair at all! I've been sporting a pretty conservative style for a while but now I'm feelin' the need for a new look. Maybe it's the beginning of a mid-life crisis, I don't know, but I'm seriously considering a weave. I want me some long sexy hair! and mine just ain't growing fast enough. So I'm just going to have to go out and buy some.
If anyone wants to talk hair, let me know.
Posted by lk at 10:06 AM | Comments (3)
March 18, 2005
The Met's Dream Comes True
After 15 yrs of courting, the Met has finally acquired the Gilman Paper Company Collection of photographs. According to TNYT this trove of over 8,500 photographs, (some purchased by the Met and others donated by the Gilman foundation) "will greatly strengthen the museum's photography holdings and make it, along with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, one of the world's pre-eminent institutions for 19th-century photographs." ... It always boils down to LA vs. New York, right...
I never saw The Waking Dream when it was on view back in '93, but I have the catalogue and the images in this collection are gorgeous! These days I spend most of my time thinking and writing about photographers that are actually, well, still alive. But as far as the 19th c goes, Gilman and his curator knew what the hell they were doing. Props to the Met for finally closing the deal.
Posted by lk at 12:22 AM | Comments (3)
March 17, 2005
TV Times
OK, so last night's installment of L/Alias was disappointing, to say the least. LOST was a repeat - AGAIN - and Alias, well... Let's just say that watching Syd drag around some oafish civilian in faux Salzburg, while trying to disable a deadly toy helicopter, really made me question my allegiance to JJ. I should have known the whole thing was doomed when she showed up in the first scene with a ridiculous fake nose a reddish hair! Seriously, she looked like some freakish cross between Julia Roberts (whom I loathe) and Nicole Kidman from The Hours! Fun to see Jack and Vaughn having individual story lines, but in general, Kitty was not impressed. Let's hope next week we get more on evil Daddy Vaughn and more flirting between Dix and Angela... Meh, meh, meh. Check out Erin's recaplet if you want the full blow by blow, or if you just need a laugh - like I did after this dismal ep.
Needless to say, by 10 pm I was in no mood for L&O's investigation of two college students who were participants in a secret testing program on a new anti-depressant - and who subsequently committed suicide because of the drugs! Man, talk about depressing!
Posted by lk at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2005
Top 5 Favorite Songs (c. 1995)
I was listening to the radio this morning while catching up on my email. I'm not sure if this happens to other people, but it seems that whenever I tune into KROQ they're always playing some song from 10 years ago! It always turns into a flashback lunch for me - even if it's not lunchtime. I mean jeeze-louise, when will they ever have time to play more than two new songs in a row if they're always throwing on "Give It Away" and " and "All Mixed Up"? ... But today listening to these tunes put me in kind of a wistful mood. Then I started thinking about what I was doing 10 years ago ... the ways in which my life was so different but how in some cases it's exactly the same... 1995 was the year I moved to LA from New York (without a car but with a sickening amount of hope). Back then I shared an apt with my cousin, lived mostly on coffee and Campbell's soup and commuted to the South Bay everyday on the bus to this crazy job at Nash Editions. It's almost inexplicable how I managed to meet some of the most interesting people in the world, right here, while simultaneously spending 40hrs a week doing the most mindless job (i.e. checking ink jet prints for flaws)! 1995, a time when being able to listen to the radio (loud) at work was arguably the best part of my professional life.
5 Faves c. 1995:
Interstate Love Song (STP)
Self Esteem (Offspring)
Give Me one Reason (Tracy Chapman)
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Brain Stew (Green Day)
Bonus: The Sweater Song (Weezer)
Posted by lk at 03:44 PM | Comments (1)
Zen and the Art of Quesadillas
I have a serious quandary whenever I go to Baja Fresh. I like the Steak Quesadilla and the Chicken Quesadilla equally. I would like to have both. But two quesdillas would be way too much food. My simple solution is to have them make one Quesadilla with one half chicken and one half steak. But here's the rub:
If I just ask for that, they mix them together. Then I can't distinguish between the two flavors. It becomes steak and chicken as one, or sticken. Not good. However, if I stand in line and wait long enough I'll see El Jefe- the manager. I can tell he's the manager because he's wearing a tie. Even if the tie has little chile peppers on it, he's El Jefe.
If I time it perfectly, I'll get up to the front of the line and El Jefe takes my order for half and half and all is well. If not, I get the regular employee who looks at me as if I'm asking for a Martian Quesadilla. And then the folks behind me in line are wondering whether I am ready to order yet. I am, but only from El Jefe. That's Zen and the Art of Quesadillas. Comprendes?
Posted by at 01:26 AM | Comments (1)
March 12, 2005
Oh Snap! Mash-Ups '80s-style.
Ever wonder how Eurythmics and Depeche Mode would sound together as a duet? Here's your chance. How about Kelis together with Duran Duran? Here. More trippy musical mash-ups from San Francisco's DJ Ear Worm here.
Posted by at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2005
Top 5 Exhibitions I Would See If I Could Afford Airfare ...
1. Thomas Demand, at MoMA
Organized by Roxana Marcoci, Assistant Curator, Department of Photography. While there was a time (not too long ago) when I HATED big, color, German photography, I have to admit that I have grown to really like Demand’s work. Kind of seductive and sad, too. Saw "Clearing" last year at 303 and had to rethink my grumpiness towards the Germans.
2. Ellen Gallagher: DeLuxe, at The Whitney
I saw her last show at Gagosian and it was a knockout. So intricate and kind of hypnotic. Serialization, variation and kind of fun with all those wonderful repros of women from Jet and Sepia (but with yellow hair). I spent long moments looking at the individual faces. After about an hour I realized that a part of me was hoping to spot a picture of my mom.
3. Uta Barth: nowhere near, …and of time, white blind (bright red), 1999-2002,
Site Santa Fe Organized by SITE Santa Fe. Quiet pictures about light and looking/seeing. Have liked Barth's photos for a long time but have mostly seen them in reproduction.
4. African Queen, Studio Museum in Harlem
Organized by the Studio Museum in Harlem Curatorial Team; Rashida Bumbray, Ali Evans, Sandra D. Jackson and Christine Y. Kim. As stated on the SMH website, “With works by twenty contemporary artists working in painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media, African Queen will present numerous images and notions of blackness as defined through the influence of women”. Right. Whatever.
Kind of vague. Granted, shows at the Studio Museum are mixed, but with work by Dawood Bey, Mark Bradford, Chakaia Booker, Rico Gaston, Wangechi Mutu, Kori Newkirk, Tracey Rose, Lorna Simpson, Malick Sidibe, Carrie Mae Weems and my friend Deborah Willis, this would qualify as a must see (if I had the cash).
5. Turner, Whistler and Monet, Tate Britain
Love Monet. Love Whistler. Turner is overwhelming! Amazing painters and beautiful landscapes. Plus, I think it's cool to see paintings of a city when you are in that city - all 3 did such great paintings of London.
Posted by lk at 03:38 PM | Comments (3)
Song About a Sandwich
I want to sing the praises of a singular sandwich from San Diego. Something like Queen's "I Want to Break Free" or "ABC" by The Jackson 5. The Cheese Shop down in the Gaslamp in San Diego serves a sandwich The Sandwich. You really must go there, right now if possible:
The chicken salad sandwich is so tasty I'm constantly attempting to recreate it here at toastkitten labs. I always fail miserably and then question my own humanity. Can a sandwich really be so good? Every time I get back down to The Cheese Shop my faith is redoubled. Fresh flame-broiled chicken, perfectly grilled sourdough bread, zesty dijon mustard, dairy-fresh cheese and cracked pepper. I hope you'll make the pilgrimage some day to this gastronomical oasis.
Visit: The Cheese Shop
Posted by at 10:03 AM | Comments (3)
March 09, 2005
Brother from Another Series
Chung!
Chung!
That's right, tonight is a big TV night for Toastkitten. First we have LOST and Alias, or what I like to call JJBC (J.J. Abrams meets ABC TV) and then we switch to the Dick Wolf Network (NBC) for a little L&O!
Now while I have been a loyal fan of the Law and Order since the beginning, I have to admit that lately the show has only been a shadow if its former self. I mean let's face it; Farina is a good actor but come on! Fontana is no Briscoe, if you know what I mean, and I think that you do....
But tonight I am excited. Guest staring on this ep, entitled The Brotherhood, is none other than Giancarlo Esposito - the totally underrated actor who was so great on Homicide. Giancarlo was also a member of the Spike Lee Players back in the day (remember "Buggin Out" from Do The Right Thing?!). Also guesting tonight is Candice Bergen. She is cast as "the case's valiant judge"! Candie gets points from me, too. Not so much for Murphy Brown, as for a little known movie called Rich and Famous (1981), which I LOVED. That's right, obscure 80s movies are another one of my guilty pleasures. We'll talk more about that another time. Now it's time to get ready for a full night of TV DRAMA!
Posted by lk at 05:56 PM | Comments (5)
March 08, 2005
We Are Happy to Serve You
If you watch Law and Order on any kind of regular basis you'll see coffee being enjoyed from one of these ubiquitous Greek-themed coffee cups. They're paper and just might remind you of Brad in a skirt (always a delight):
Anywho, New York artist George Skelcher seized on this design for a one-of-a-kind coin purse. It won't hold coffee but definitely accomodates two bits. The proceeds benefit NYC's homeless. There's some intriguing irony wrapped up in there somewhere. And maybe Brad too.
Snag one here: NYC Coffee Cup Coin Purse
Posted by at 12:28 AM | Comments (1)
March 06, 2005
On the way...
Can you guess how Law and Order and New York City greek coffee cups relate to a delightful change purse? Coming Soon.
Posted by at 02:06 PM | Comments (2)