Want.

Paint by number dishes from Anthropologie. I saw them in the flesh today and thought, "What would I do with dishes that cost $8 each?" But then I realized: it doesn't matter. Having them would be fun enough.

Tell your story walking.

Deb Talan, inspired by the brilliant Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. "tell your story walking" is my next tattoo, by the way.

My shoes, they seem to be my only home.

From Julian Casablancas' (the Strokes) Phrazes for the Young. Sonically, this reminds me a little of another love of mine, Rufus Wainwright ala his debut album, albeit electronica-ed. Phrazes for the Young is not what I expected for the Strokes' frontman's solo project but it's a great listen, very bounce-around-the-room-ish. Go listen.

the New York post.

No, not that post. My post! I took a trip to the Big Apple last weekend and wanted to catalogue some of the sights here.

First up: the windows at Bergdorf-Goodman. They came in 1st place in the arbitrary holiday window contest in the city, followed by Macy's and Barney's. It was really no competition at all. The winning windows were like the glory of Anthropologie on a massive scale, and I photographed all of them (and got screamed at by a man on the sidewalk while doing so, meh).






Another great spot was the Chelsea Market (hard to find, since any signage on the building is completely obscured by scaffolding, but well worth the expedition). It's a former Nabisco factory turned foodie market--think little bakeries and wine shops--not to mention a great spot for buying gifts, thanks to the indie Christmas market.


And what would a Christmas post be without a tree? I saw the tree at Rockefeller Center but I thought it was nothing compared to this--

--which gets its magical sparkle from broken compact discs. It's part of the market's eco-art display for the holidays (which also includes chandeliers made from disposable plastic cups). Here's a close-up of the CDs.


In tomorrow's post: Brighton Beach and Coney Island.

::peers around corner::

So, I sort of deserted my good intentions to return to blogging full-force, because of the previously described NaNoWriMo adventure. But. I did it! 50,000 words in 30 days. The novel isn't finished yet, but it's definitely getting there.

In other news: my mother & I cut apart a pomegranate the other day. Just to see. It was...weird. And after the cutting took place, we had a "now what?" sort of movement because, it turns out, dealing with a pomegranate is not exactly intuitive. In the end we decided to freeze the seeds and make ice cream with them later but I'm open to suggestions. Go!

Get out the map.

As evidenced by the image in the sidebar, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo. I'm writing a mystery, because writing a mystery novel is a blast and I recommend it to everyone I know. Hey, you: try writing a mystery novel. Too much fun, I tell you. Anyway, my mystery is once again set in Brooklyn, always a favorite place of mine to visit. No matter how many times I visit, though, I still occasionally need to refer to a map so that my orientation of neighborhoods is correct. I usually just Google "map of Brooklyn neighborhoods" and use the first result that pops up, until I found this animal. So cute and suitable for framing that I might just need to buy it and put it on the wall instead of relying on Google Maps for my authentication purposes.

Well, hello there.

I want to share this lovely image, which I find hopeful and compelling. By Jocelyn Nevel, whom Claire & I met last night at a Wild Goose wine tasting.

But anyway: I'm not all that thrilled about the way 2009 has turned out. There, I said it. But, it's now November and after a month or so of sulking about recent loss of job and other displeasing life circumstances, I'm determined to eek out the rest of the year with as much positivity as I can muster. And to that end, out of my half-lit apartment and back to observing the world.