Hibakusha

Tonight I went to hear two survivors from the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima speak. While they had vastly different approaches to calling for peace; one called herself "Grandma" and ended with a call to action for peace chorus style, and the other was clearly speaking out of a place of rage and academic critique, both moved me and made me hope that the word "Hibakusha," or survivor of the atomic bomb, becomes a word we no longer need in any language.

Since I always seem to connect everything to books, I will mention that tonight I thought about a book that I have not thought about in a long time. When I was in grade school, I remember reading a book called Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Sitting at this talk tonight, the vivid memory returned to me of the young girl's struggle to fold the thousand paper cranes and to be granted her one wish, which was to live.

Narrative, in my mind, is the most powerful of all art forms...

Paying Homage to Tim Hetherington

Tim Hetherington, co-director of the amazing documentary about the war in Afghanistan, Restrepo, but also the inspiring photojournalist, was killed in Libya on April 20th of this year by mortar shells fired by Gaddafi's forces. Exactly six months later, Gaddafi lost his own life this week, on October 20th. While I am by no means pointing to prodigiousness of dates and the like, it is an irony that two days later, on October 22nd, an exhibit paying homage to Tim Hetherington's life work and documentation of the photographs of life during war and violence opened at the Bronx Documentary Center.

From a short film he created in 2010, which was projected on the wall of a neighboring building, to the intensely emotional and evocative photographs in the exhibit, this is a not-to-be-missed display. The Bronx Documentary Center is a new art space in the South Bronx and, judging by this first opening, this is a place that is a real gem. I can't wait to see what else they curate.

We attended the opening and, while this picture doesn't come close to capturing the vibe of this place, you can at least get a sense of the projected film. The outdoor patio had wine, beer, and food for the opening and an unobstructed view of the moving images of Hetherington's personal video diary of and his experiences. Truly moving. Be sure to check it out! For more on this, check this and this out.

It's Howl-een

With Halloween just around the corner...I have been thinking a lot about my costume. I have known what I am going to be since last year and have slowly accumulated materials over the past few months. While I have given a lot of thought to my costume, my pet's costume has received considerably less attention. What's your take on pet costumes? Are they a form of animal cruelty, or are they a fun way to include your pet in the excitement of the holiday?

This weekend, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (of course), Carl Schurz Park held the annual Halloween Howl. It is Frenchie's least favorite day of the year. It is also the day of the year that the boyfriend and I are most aware of Frenchie's weight. Seeing as we couldn't even velcro his costume across his stomach, with this year's Halloween Howl came the resolution that it is time for Frenchie to go on a diet.

Every year I am always impressed with people's costume creativity. While Frenchie just wore a standard Target turtle costume, people tend to go all out at the Howl and I am always in awe of the creativity present in the costume parade. Two of my favorite costumes this year were the "Taxi driver and his cab"

And the weathermen and their barometer--the picture didn't capture the full effect--it was such an orchestrated ensemble!

Awesomeness abounds...

Friday Footnotes

Here is what I am loving on this much appreciated Friday:
I have been looking for a bar cart for about a year now and, let me tell you, I have found the perfect one!
The super cute company Society Social has been reviving the bar cart as a prominent piece of coveted furniture. Personally, I am in LOVE with "The Stanton," which is named after a bar that I love on the Lower East Side.

From Society Social 

The movie 50/50 that I just can't wait to see! While the movie looks totally amazing, I must admit that it was the dog cameo that got me!

One Step Beyond: After a field trip to the Museum of Natural History this week, I found myself staring up at the giant blue whale under which there is a dance floor where I am pretty sure that AMNH hosts it's monthly "One Step Beyond" parties. Can't wait to see the boyfriend dance; it is simultaneously endearing and eh hem...fascinating. 

A book that can help me realize, find, or, who am I kidding, develop, my inner stylishness...

Happy, happy Friday!

Halloween Hit List

Yesterday, after a visit to the Museum of Natural History, I was walking home alongside Central Park and passed this amazing, Tim Burton-esque tree.

One look at this tree had me completely nostalgic for some good, old-fashioned Halloween movies! What are your favorite Halloween movies? When I was in high school, my friends and I would get together and watch all of the scariest movies. My sister, who is also a huge fan of the really scary movie, would also always get me to watch something that would inevitably leave me up all night staring at the ceiling. Now, I really can't watch scary movies. Perhaps it is with adulthood that the realization arrives that the real world is scary enough, but, for some reason, my scary movies days are over.That said, here are some of my best-loved Halloween hits, in no particular order...
Well, since I mentioned it: The Nightmare Before Christmas really is a Tim Burton fave...

Moving on... and I am well-aware that this is not actually a "good" film (yet I can't help but want to watch it at this time of year): Hocus Pocus. Like, I said, I am already aware of this films mediocrity.

For those days that I am missing the excitement of being a kid readying for a night of neighborhood trick-or-treating, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, almost always does the trick...

Sleepy Hollow is about as scary as I'll go. Though, I really like the Disney version as well...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Hey, I said nostalgia influences me...

Oh how I adore October!

Fall Fare

Tonight, after some heavy, academic reading for my class, I came home and well...I just wanted to curl up under my "Yay! It's Fall" blanket and read something light that I could easily enter and easily exit. Martha Stewart Living provided just that niche. Problem is, I was just coming off a class focusing on gender analysis. Though I tried to enjoy the amazing pumpkin carving ideas, the oh-so-adorable ice cream sundaes in carved out apples, and the lovely fall entertaining concepts, all I could think about was how much the magazine was problematizing gender. I found the article "State of Play" especially gender binary. From the notion of colors connected to gender, to ideas about childhood activities connected to gender, the premise of this article that, on the surface, was about decorating children's rooms was really selling a much larger message about gendered behavior. As I enter my prime childbearing years, I can't help but wonder how I will raise my own child. How do you raise a child in an "ungendered" way amidst a world with so many direct and uncompromising messages about gender? 

Image via Pinterest 

 

Indian Summer

While I adore the fall, that does not mean that I harbor any aversion whatsoever to the meteorological phenomenon of the "indian summer." This weekend, well into October, the temperature hovered in the 80s. It was the perfect weekend to be outside. Fall Festivities, our annual "holiday," was a success. We carved pumpkins, meandered through a corn maze, and caught up on one another's lives.

At the end of the night, I returned to NYC with my carved pumpkin. My friends did standard Charlie Brown pumpkins; triangle eyes, geometric mouths with teeth, inverted triangle nose.  I am apparently not very good at picking pumpkins, so as a result of the rotting spots scattered across my orange canvas, I was forced to be creative in my carving. This need to creatively conceal the rot resulted in a swiss cheese pumpkin with hand drawn mice. Walking through Grand Central with this pumpkin in my arms late Saturday night as the "going out crowd" headed into the city was ummm...quite the experience.

It seems that the temperatures are forecasted to return to their average October fare tomorrow, so I am glad for that one last fling this weekend with summer.

Currently Reading: William Dean Howell's Indian Summer. Apparently, "indian summers" are best appreciated in Florence, Italy...

Happy Reading!

Friday Footnotes

Happy Friday! Here are some fabulous things that I am loving on this crisp, cool, fall Friday...

Rifle Paper's Christmas Cards Have Arrived!! 

I love Christmas cards; sending, receiving, and browsing! Rifle Paper cards are absolutely adorable and I can't wait to order some for my Christmas correspondence! 

Fall Festivities!!!! This is a "holiday," which, for me, is right up there with Christmas...Each year, in the month of October, three of my friends and I get together for a day that we have dubbed "fall festivities." We meet in the morning and race (in competing teams of two) through a country corn maze, get pumpkins that we return home to carve and roast pumpkin seeds from, stuff our faces with candy corn and taco dip (strange, yes, but a unique tradition all our own), and spend some good old time catching up and laughing. It is definitely one of my favorite days of the year and I can't wait to celebrate tomorrow!

via Pinterest 

Those last few days of outdoor dining...

After work, I had a beautiful glass of red wine, clinging to those last few days of al fresco dining. I feel like, before I know it, winter will be here, so I need to savor the perfect outdoors while I can...

The Night Circus: OMG. I am (finally!) done. It always takes me longer to read during the beginning of the school year. It was sooooooo good and I completely recommend that you read it! 

Happy Friday!!

All Hallows Eve

Part of the reason that I love the month of October so much is because Halloween is one of my absolute favorite holidays. In New York City, between the village Halloween Parade, the Halloween Howl at Carl Schurz Park, and the endless bars, walking tours, and haunted houses that crop up all over the city as the day gets closer, this is surely a place where people can and do enjoy Halloween.

Personally, I am in love with the costumes that people come up with for this entertaining holiday. I love deciding on my costume each year and, if I do say so myself, I have come up with some great ones over the years! I am almost always last minute; you can find me out running around in the fashion district right before I go out. Last year, I was pretty proud of my political costume: I was SB1070. The year before, I think I pulled off a pretty great Operation Man. My point is: I really love Halloween!

Coming from this city that I feel takes Halloween pretty seriously, I was shocked to find a place that not only takes Halloween to a whole new level than New York City, but has managed to craft an entire industry around all things ghoulish and ghostly. Salem, Massachusetts has to be the most Halloween-obsessed place I have ever visited.

We stopped in Salem on our way back from Maine this past weekend and my-oh-my were we in for a strange experience.  Countless people were dressed up like witches and vampires, there were more Halloween stores than I have ever seen in my life, oh and I stopped counting how many tarot card/psychic reading stores I saw after number twelve...

While we went to take pictures of all things related to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 for my students (since I am teaching Arthur Miller's The Crucible), this is definitely a place that is an entertaining stop if you are ever in the area...Here's a glimpse at this odd, historical, entertaining, literary town...

Happy Reading!

Daytrippin'

I could make a thousand arguments for why New York City is one of the greatest places in the world to live.  By the same token, I could make a thousand arguments for why it is critical to leave New York City frequently.  In the interest of balance and sanity, the daytrip, or, even better, the weekend getaway, is a crucial necessity for people who live in this thriving, busy, bustling metropolis.

On Wednesday, the boyfriend and I headed up to Maine for a quintessential New England fall weekend. Our first stop was Portland, Maine. If you are someone who likes to eat, wander cobblestone streets, and shop quaint little stores, Portland is the perfect getaway.  We both marveled at why we had possibly not been there more times.  The restaurant selection was divine.  I have decided that my mark of a city that I could live in is how much diversity there is in the food selection...Portland won high marks in that regard. Despite fog and intermittent relentless rain, we both loved Portland and will definitely be going back. Some favorite stops were:

DuckFat: A small lunch place with great food and character. Thoughtful and adorable details abounded like poetry magnets, fresh flowers, glass water bottles, and food served on wooden cutting boards.  All of their food is locally sourced and they have an awesome beer assortment.  

I tried my hand at magnet poetry...

Standard Baking Company: Apart from the too cute patisserie setting, there was a pink bike with a basket parked outside that just added to its charm.

Ferdinand: Such a great store...In addition to some kick-ass vintage earrings and postcards I picked up, I also bought vintage air mail paper/envelopes which reminded me of sending letters to India when I was young. 

Mornings in Paris: I could definitely deal with getting my coffee here each morning...
Rabelais: I don't/can't cook, but even I felt inspired by this bookstore completely filled with an awesome selection of food themed books.

Other places to check out...Hugos, Five-fifty-five, Street and Co, and many more...

From Portland we headed back down south to Kennebunkport, Maine where we stayed at the adorable Captain Jefferd's Inn. I was seriously in love with this place! We have stayed in a lot of bed and breakfasts, but this one was just too cute in all of the details. Plus, the breakfast was delicious! First of all, I adored the Federalist Period house with modern updates and decorating style, with, of course, a nod to the past.  Secondly, the location was perfect for people like us who wanted to get out of the city while still feeling like we could walk to restaurants and cafes. We fully enjoyed the quaintness of Kennebunkport and felt like we were really away.

From here we were off to Wells, Maine where we spent the day hiking at the Wells Reserve and the Laudholm Farm, which were both recommended to me by a co-worker who grew up in Maine.  This just fulfilled every Maine fantasy that I was harboring. From the barns, the pumpkins, the apple trees, the hike through the beautifully colored fall woodlands to the ocean that met the woods at the end of the trail...I was in heaven! The blue skies and 60 degree weather wasn't bad either. All in all, Maine was amazing and I recommend it completely.

On the way home, we took a detour through Salem, Massachusetts since I am teaching The Crucible and wanted to take some pictures to show my students.  If you are looking for one of the strangest places in America, this is your town...A definite stop for Halloween entertainment!  More to follow tomorrow on this odd, historic, and fascinating town...

I am still reading (and loving!) The Night Circus--be sure to pick it up as it is the perfect fit for this time of year! If you can read it in front of a fireplace--even better...Don't you just love the fall?

Happy, happy October!