tavie.com

Last night: Wrote a response paper on Jean Baudrillard's "Simulation and Simulacra".

Today: Before leaving for school, asked my sister if I needed a jacket. She said, yes, it was raining out. I went downstairs-- it was, indeed, drizzling-- and saw a big machine sitting in the middle of Main Street in front of my building, creating sheets of fake rain in front of the buildings directly across (as a film crew, curious onlookers and many big cameras looked on.) The fake supersedes the real! Triumph, simulacrum, triumph! It was already raining out!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:44 PM | shower me with attention

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

I was a good girl. I got up at 11 am even though my sleeping schedule barely deviated from the norm, and took my dad to the eye doctor in White Plains. I gave mom relatively little grief about it. (We must break away from the perception that because I sleep at different hours than the rest of mainstream society, that I laze around in bed all day: I get as much sleep as, and sometimes less than, "normal" night-sleepers do. It's just that I can only get it during the day. Take it up with my biorhythms. It's not a personality disorder, and it's not lazy to get 6-7 hours a night if I'm lucky.)

That rant aside, I am now at school, penniless and peckish, but must stay on to do evil Latin things until almost 9.

Note to self: ruminate on newsgroup later. Things to say about that. Now: Sex & Gender. (Today: the social construction of the AIDS patient.)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:25 PM | shower me with attention

Monday, March 29, 2004

They closed Rafaella's! Kirsten called today and said she was on Bleecker and there was a STORE where our favourite Italian restaurant used to be!

The timing! The crap of it! We were gonna take Linn there for her birthday this week!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:24 PM | shower me with attention

POP QUIZ:

a. The Right Thing to Do: Take a bath, go to bed before 2 am.

b. The Wrong Thing to Do: Take a bath, do my nails, read six pages of Bonfire of the Vanities, watch The American President on tv for the seven billionth time (every time it's on-- every time), eat 2.5 oz havarti and 1 oz dry cajun salami, watch Roseanne, sign on and blog, watch the sun come up, still not be in bed.

Which one did Tavie do?

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:48 AM | shower me with attention

Tonight we went to a bar in Williamsburg that regularly shows (classic) episodes of Degrassi. It was mucho funno. Tonight was, unfortunately, the last night in their Degrassi series for awhile, but we plan to return.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 12:25 AM | shower me with attention

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Happy LINN day!!!!!

And she's coming HERE in THREE DAYS to celebrate!!! Grattis på födelsedag, syster!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 2:58 PM | shower me with attention

Saturday, March 27, 2004

So the computer went to the shop today and the Mac Guy doesn't come in until Monday. They don't even have a full-time in-house Mac Guy. I wish we coulda gone Tekserve this time but since Apple's paying for it they get to decide where it goes.

I'd better get that computer back soon. Its loss is making me crazy.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 8:30 PM | shower me with attention

Guess what time of year it is: ...stoop and feel it
stop and hear it...

Balance this equation: The ritual listening to of that song from The Secret Garden + drive up to Bear Mountain + no jacket = ???

I fell asleep on the drive back and when I woke up we were in a strange driveway. We went into a house which turned out to belong to some beloved former employers of the Huggy Thuggy and there we stayed in the foyer the whole time playing with the most lovable golden retriever I've ever met. Who wouldn't let me stand up because there was too much love to be given and had.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 8:22 PM | shower me with attention

We went to see a band called Television, who were, according to my History of Rock professor, well-known proto-punk CBGB regulars way back in the when. I enjoyed their music, which was heavily instrumental and surprisingly accessible*, although they tended to milk out the finales to hilarious lengths.

After, we wandered in the growing chill, found a place to eat cheese of the goat and bleu variety, and returned on the PATH. Kitana did not throw up this time, as we were not full of liquor this time. There was a frightening moment when we were followed by a group of rowdy guys on the way to the car, who shouted disturbing and threatening taunts at us to the point where I was actually reaching into my knitting bag for needles or scissors, anything sharp and dangerous. We made it home safely and discussed scary things like men who make women feel like prey.

At home, she fell asleep on the couch while she introduced me to the magic of Bollywood!

*I seem overuse this word when describing new music, only because I normally find it so difficult to access anything.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:22 AM | shower me with attention

Friday, March 26, 2004

Happy birthday, my kittoons! You're 1 today! (You came to live with us 10.5 months ago!)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:49 AM | shower me with attention

Did you ever discover that you've been making a weird face in the midst of still making it?

I've been pursing my lips the whole time I was flipping through the digital cable menu.

Do I always purse my lips whilst channel-surfing?

Computer goes into the shop on Saturday.

I got a B+ on the paper I wrote while drunk. Perhaps I'll revise it for next week's assignment.

I really like the movie The Anniversary Party, but I don't know why. It doesn't seem particularly likable. But I like it. Maybe because of the degree of separation. How stupid.

The only role I've ever really liked Carol Burnett in is Miss Hannigan.

Lower back pain today. No explanation. Knee as well. Always on the right side. The joints on the right side of my body are unhappy. The right side of my body is so queer. Eye is weaker. Joints ache. Cup size is larger. Foot is bigger. All the grey hairs on my head grow on that side. Everything that's weird about me is weird about the right side. I wonder if my half a wit lives there, too.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:45 AM | shower me with attention

Thursday, March 25, 2004

This movie will be filming around my neighbourhood for the next month. No exciting celebrities (to me, anyway); John C. Reilly is the best of the bunch, but not particularly stalkable. Still, they'll be creating a lot of fake rain, some of it in front of my old junior high, so that should be fun.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:58 PM | shower me with attention

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Good news: I managed to back up my files today before the iBook crapped out! Woo! No music or apps, but I saved the important stuff, like old pictures of Dave Foley that I have online anyway. Hahaha.

Bad news: Slept through Satire today. It's okay. We were slated to watch Wag the Dog. I've seen it.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:39 PM | shower me with attention

THIS is encouraging. I got my 14" ibook in August 2002. I THINK that it's covered under this program.

Please please. Need my computer.

Addendum: For which computers is the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program available?
The program is available for iBooks with serial numbers in the following range(s):

UV220XXXXXX to UV318XXXXXX

Yup. That's me!

Calling AppleCare.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:51 AM | shower me with attention

Evil vertical lines on my iBook screen. Craps out again and again. This is new. After searching online for answers (on sis's computer-- sorry, Kirsten), the verdict seems to be bad logic board. Which would explain the computer's clock resetting, and maybe the spazzy airport stuff as well.

So I have no working computer, hurrah. I hope Kirsten is more generous with hers than I was with mine when hers was broken. Hoist on my own petard? (I'd rather be hoist on my own Picard, but someone pointed out to me the other day that this is very dirty.)

And just as I was backing up a year's worth of files, too. So maybe I'll lose those in the process of getting the logic board replaced. If that ever happens. Who knows. I don't even know what a logic board is. And my unemployment ran out this week.

It gets better and better, dunnit?

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:47 AM | shower me with attention

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

~~The passive voice is killing me.~~ I am being killed by the passive voice.

Fucking Latin.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:45 PM | shower me with attention

Have you heard TMBG's cover of "The Main Street Electrical Parade Theme Song"?

It's... really something. Really, really something. I can't stop smiling.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:46 AM | shower me with attention

I think "Miracle of Miracles" is the best song in Fiddler.

I'm not too into Fiddler. But that's a good song.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:41 AM | shower me with attention

Took ridiculous Satire midterm today. (Ridiculous on many levels. Never ask me to relate Derrida to The Onion again.) Then went to see God perform at Luna Lounge. Once again he compared Della Reese to a mudslide. That will never not make me laugh. He was also amazed that Kit moved to New York. Don't encourage her homesickness, Scott.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 12:47 AM | shower me with attention

Monday, March 22, 2004

It's just dawned on me what "Stinka" stands for. It means "Stupid Inca". I'm writing a song:

Stupid Inca's got a death wish,
Stupid Inca's got a death wish,
Stupid Inca's got a death wish,
Why else would he tip a glass of seltzer
onto a live power strip?

I've got to work out the meter a little bit.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 2:00 AM | shower me with attention

Sunday, March 21, 2004

I was sleepy for like five minutes earlier but it went away.

Last night I was sleepy early (before 2!) and I actually fell asleep and slept and woke up in the morningtime. It was so good.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:31 AM | shower me with attention

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Tonight Gina and Steph and I got lost driving through several boroughs to get to Roosevelt Island (just because I live there doesn't mean I know how to drive there, as several people know very well), where my friend from junior high, Amanda, was having her baby shower.

We really only stayed long enough to eat free Puerto Rican food, but I did get to give her my gift. Four months in the making, and the baby will be able to wear it for about four minutes. But it went over really well. No one could believe I knitted it. It was amazing. Amanda's reaction was so perfect that I'm already planning several more projects for her baby, which is due to arrive in 2 weeks.

Washrag. (Someone just yelled for me to write down that word, so I did. I don't know why. Washrag. Washrag. Weird.)

Anyway. And I touched a pregnant belly for the first time. It was really weird. And my dad almost cried because "Little A is having a little baby". Which was really touching. I can't wait until her kid is old enough for us to take it to Disney World. I used to love going to Disney World with Amanda.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:52 PM | shower me with attention

I bought a sweater for $7.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:38 PM | shower me with attention

Friday, March 19, 2004

I must be mad at myself. Usually I get songs in my head that I at least remotely like. Yesterday my inner radio tortured me with a song I loathe (Kiss today goodbye... and point me towards tomorrow..., a.k.a. The Worst Song in the Already Terribly Mediocre Score that is A Chorus Line) and today, I have The Worst Song from Wicked (a little number no one who reads this knows, called "Dancing Through Life", which is just as trite as it sounds.)

Dammit, you'd think, if I have showtunes--which is my favourite genre of music-- in my head, that they'd be good ones. You'd think.

WON'T FORGET CAN'T REGRET WHAT I DIIIIIID FOR

[blog ended prematurely as poster rushes off to vomit]

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:10 PM | shower me with attention

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Best Sex and Gender class ever tonight. We discussed the relationship (or lack thereof) between hip-hop and feminism, and the end of the class was just one long rant by a girl on the subject of Lil Kim, her weave, and her propensity for publicly discussing her passion for giving head. Even the usually serious, earnest Prof couldn't stop laughing.

Came to Mint Manor tonight, like I used to on Thursday nights. Time to soak up as much Mint Manor time as possible before it is gone forever. I wonder which one of the stages of grief this is. (I think I'm still on "anger".)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 11:53 PM | shower me with attention

Tonight I met some of The Goils and we went to Beauty Bar and then we went to Movieoke where, properly tipsy, Kitana and I performed a scene from that greatest of unappreciated cult comedies, Brain Candy:

Kitana: Get your finger out of my face, Don.
Tavie: Don't you touch my finger.
Kitana: Get your finger out of my face!
Tavie: Don't you touch my finger!

When we tussled, there were big laughs. I was especially proud of my delivery of "Ow, my fucking finger."

None of this would have been possible without the whiskey I consumed at Beauty Bar, but I'm very glad we did it. Wow, I can't believe I got up in front of a bunch of strangers and said stuff, all perform-y-like. It was really fun. Are performers always drunk?

(I've been drunk unusually often this week. Probably the most often I've ever been drunk-- twice in one week. Don't be alarmed. It was fun. Now I must study and write a paper.)

(Oh, oh: I had a pleasantly stupid conversation with an equally tipsy young man walking home from the subway. The best part was, there was no penis visible at any time during the conversation. Therefore I'm back to not hating men!)

(I wonder what we talked about.)

(I hope we never meet again.)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:17 AM | shower me with attention

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Have a lot of work to do tonight and tomorrow night. Was planning to get started soon as I got home at 9, but They Who Spawned Me decided to gang up on me shortly after I walked in. Put me in a very Bobby Terrence sort of place, which I resent. So I decided to go to the movies. Without a word to them, since I don't believe people who treat me like that deserve to be privvy to my plans. (I did text message Sis from the theatre so that she could, if she so chose, prevent the heart attack my mother was giving herself worrying about where I was on such a dark and snowy night. Maybe family therapy was a good idea.)

So I'm several hours behind on all the crap I have to do. So be it. Starsky and Hutch was surprisingly entertaining. Only a little boring at times. Some funny moments in there. That stupid Wilson boy is charming. And I'd never eaten sausages and celery (what dinner I could grab before I left) in a movie theatre before. Novel.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 12:49 AM | shower me with attention

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

My new breakfast of choice is Flax Pancakes with bacon (or sausage or just butter and fake syrup. The fake syrup really fucking sucks though.)

It's amazing to eat pancakes again even if they're not really like real pancakes. And these aren't the Atkins-style pancakes, so there's no sneaky hidden carbs in them. They're made with seeds and eggs. Yes, seeds and eggs. Apparently, seeds + eggs = pancakelike result.

Here is my recipe:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons milled flax seeds
crapkins fake maple water-- I mean syrup
butter
bacon (optional)

Butter frying pan.
Beat eggs. Add seeds. Add a healthy squirt of Crapkins fake maple syrup to make the pancakes sweet.
Pour half of mixture into pan. When edges are firm, flip. When it seems like it's fully cooked, take it off and repeat.

The result is a couple of fat pancakes similar in texture to buckwheat pancakes. Total carbs = 17, minus 8 for fiber equals 9 net carbs. Very nice for second-stage Atkins. (Calories = 300, if you're counting, which you should. This is a good number of calories for an Atkins breakfast. You can drive the calorie count WAY up by wrapping the pancakes around bacon. Which is nice if you're trying to get the bulk of your calories at breakfast, which you should.)

I don't recommend that you pour the syrup over the pancakes and try to eat them as if they're actually pancakes. It's very disappointing. Instead, think of them as a vehicle for bacon, or some other type of breakfast sandwich. I even had them once, minus the syrup flavoring, as a base for a faux-quesadilla. The strangest things start tasting good for you when you've been eating this way for awhile...

That concludes Tavie's Recipe Funhouse for the day. In other news... it appears to be snowing. Hard. Yesterday I was broiling. Now it is snowing.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:27 PM | shower me with attention

My Airport connection isn't working (even though the status bars say I'm connected) so I'm stuck with dial-up.

Can that be related to the dead battery, or the fact that the date keeps switching to January 1, 1970?

Piece of crap.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:29 AM | shower me with attention

Monday, March 15, 2004

I need to live alone.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:01 PM | shower me with attention

My woodprint workshop class thingie started five minutes ago. I guess I should go to it instead of reading email in the computer lab.

Can I just say that the month of May has always been historically rotten for me and now the trend will continue unabated. It's nice when traditions can be upheld.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:41 PM | shower me with attention

ANOTHER book of mine has been caught!

This is so exciting!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 12:27 AM | shower me with attention

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Woo! Someone caught one of my books! My first wild catch!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 8:36 PM | shower me with attention

Gina and Stephanie got that stupid apartment in Jersey City and they're moving in May or something.

Fuck that shit.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:44 PM | shower me with attention

Woah, there are 474 calories in three martinis. I wonder if that includes the olives. Fitday says so anyway. I wonder if that includes Vodka martinis, or just gin. I had Vodka. Me and mister Wodka don't hang around where we're not wanted.

I owe Kitana fifty-fourdollars now. But I had a fun night.

I owe Erin sixteen dollars.

I like to keep track.

Kitana and I shared several olives by passing them to one another using only our mouths, it was awesome.

I'm going to bed now. I can type perfectly in this state but I don't think what I say makes much sense.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:41 AM | shower me with attention

Friday, March 12, 2004

Do you know what? I really do like the Elvis Presley song "Burning Love".

It's really very good.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 6:36 AM | shower me with attention

Steve Martin's script notes for "The Passion" (via Boing Boing via LawGeek via The New Yorker)

Hilarity.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:43 AM | shower me with attention

Thursday, March 11, 2004

My dad's doctor wants him to spend a few days in the hospital next week to get his blood sugar under control. I think we've finally convinced him that it is a really good idea to follow his doctor's advice. (Erin's suggestion that I give him the silent treatment until he agreed to go seemed to do the trick! Silence works better than tears!)

If he would only start eating the way that I eat, his blood sugar (AND his cholesterol!) would cease to be a problem.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 11:23 PM | shower me with attention

Your non-sequitur of the day:

Oh my god! I forgot Tom Skerrit at a traffic light in a pickup truck!

(Add your own.)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 11:02 PM | shower me with attention

I released 8 more books into the wild today. I left two on the big bell in front of the church on the island, and one on a park bench across from Blackwell House. That one I did right out in front of people walking by, very purposely set it down and then walked a few feet away. Then I turned around and the book was gone! One of the people had watched me put it down, and then took it! I hope they write a journal entry for it.

I put two in the recess on the subway platform at Roosevelt Island (the Star Trek book I'd left yesterday was gone!), one in the Gotham Writer's box on 64th street, and 2 in the Village Voice box in front of the armory. The books I had put in the Voice box yesterday were gone! But, sadly, The Castle of Llyr that I put in the Gotham Writer's box yesterday is still there. That's a great book. I hope someone finds it and takes it home.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 6:50 PM | shower me with attention

Great Ginger Experiment #3: Ginger/Soy Dolphinfish:

Slize 2 oz ginger, 5 oz onion (or approximations thereof; curse your newly broken food scale, which you dearly loved and used every day.) Put in blender. Add 1.5 cups soy sauce, .5 cup vinegar, a healthy squirt of lime juice. Blend until all is liquid. Marinate mahi-mahi steaks in it for some period of time or another. Put fish in oiled baking dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over them. Realize you made too much sauce. Throw the rest out. Bake fish for half an hour at 400 to make sure there isn't the slightest bit of uncooked fish to give you an allergic reaction. Eat with buttered green beans, which for some reason taste really great with Mrs Dash. Decide next time to get fresh fish, for the frozen steaks are kind of tough and fibrous.

Now I a nearly out of ginger. I have ordered more. I really like ginger.

Look at all the books I just registered at Bookcrossing.com. I made my first wild releases today. I left one in the subway station and the rest in various free-periodical boxes on the way to school. My mom and sister left some on the F train. I hope they remember to take more tomorrow. I hope people actually take them home and report them. Want any before I release them to the great wide world? I haven't read most of them so they might be truly awful, but you can look anyway.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 2:43 AM | shower me with attention

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

I reserve bragging rights: My Kitana has just been granted admission and a full scholarship to pursue her graduate studies at Columbia University. This means:

1) She's officially living in NYC for the next few years.

2) She is a genius.

I knew both of these things, but now they have been confirmed by Official Word.

Party in the treefort!*

*Sherman, get my Wayback Machine!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 11:05 PM | shower me with attention

Spurred on by Ade's enthusiasm, I have become so into this Bookcrossing thing, I can't believe it. I've put a big pile of books by the front door with instructions to my family to take some whenever they leave and drop them off somewhere (and report to me where so I can make release notes for it.)

Bookcrossing, by the way, is where you take books and release them into the wild to have adventures of their own. You label each one with a note and a special code, hoping that whoever finds it will go to the website and make a journal entry about it, but really it's just about the coolness of letting books be free and hoping someone else will find and enjog them. It's pretty amazing-- in this family of packrats it's extremely difficult to get rid of anything. The idea of getting rid of books is so painful to me, but there are just too many crappy old things sitting around, or doubles, or just things that I'll never feel the need to read again. I've registered 16 so far. Out of a library of thousands, but still, not too shabby, for me.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:56 AM | shower me with attention

Yesterday I brought home my first print of my woodcut of Inca. It was light, a test print, on newsprint. I brought it home and stuck it on the fridge with magnets.

Later I came into the kitchen and found the Stinka on two legs, ATTACKING it with both paws. It wasn't damaged, but I must say I was a bit offended. It's not that bad a likeness.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:38 AM | shower me with attention

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Spalding Gray I expected. It's so sad. I really liked his monologue-films, especially Monster in a Box. What an awful thing. Ironic that they found his body because of the spring thaw, on the very day that winter decides to slap us in the face with a lot of freezing, wet snow. (Everyone was ready for spring here. I slept with air conditioning the other night.)

But then, Drake Sather? Where did that come from? And why is only one place apparently reporting it?

These suicides, these suicides of talented people, they're very depressing.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:17 AM | shower me with attention

Monday, March 08, 2004

The Great Ginger Experiment: Part II: Tavie's Ginger-Chicken Stir Fry:

Slice ginger, celery, onions, chicken. Sautée chicken in oil. Add onions and ginger. Add celery. Add 1-2 cups frozen broccoli. Add soy sauce and, on a whim, Emeril's Asian Blend. Stir. Cover. Stir. Cover. Put in bowl. Eat with a glass of homemade limeade (water, lime juice, Splenda.) Muse that this dish is rather too low in fat for you. Chuckle.

Tomorrow: Lay off the ginger. Don't want to burn a hole in your stomach.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 9:12 PM | shower me with attention

I bought a piece of ginger root serendipitously last night. The first day of The Great Ginger Experiment: Tavie's Fresh Ginger Tea (actually, "tisane"):

Boil water.
Grate a small piece of ginger root into a large latte mug*. (Should amount to about 1/2 tsp when all is said and done.)
Pour boiling water into mug.
Walk away and check email.
Come back, drain liquid through strainer and pour unfettered tea back into mug.
Add liberal amounts of Splenda. (Or sweetener of choice.)
Drink and be warrrrrrrm.

*Recommended: cobalt-blue Fiestaware™ oversized latte mug.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:26 PM | shower me with attention

Miserable trip home tonight. Not only was I wear terrible shoes that force me to clomp around like a Clydesdale and give me big blisters, but a horrible man approached me on the platform at 34th, asked me where to get an A train, and then proceeded to whip out his penis and attempt to masturbate on me. I never clomped away so fast.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 1:33 AM | shower me with attention

Sunday, March 07, 2004

I swear to drunk I'm not god!

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:12 AM | shower me with attention

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Did you ever see the word "Osama" and misread it as "Ozma"?

Me neither.

The Bright Young People tricked me into agreeing to go with them to some bar tonight in midtown. No one is letting me back down, but Gina gets to stay home because she's apparently very Old and Withered. Gotta stay home and take care of the ole rheumatiz, Granny does.

I'm feeling surly. Also paranoid and vaguely threatened. So this is what it's like to be my dad.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 7:38 PM | shower me with attention

Gina and Steph and Kitana have been apartment-hunting. They want to move from Mint Manor into a smaller apartment where I don't get to have my own room anymore. They can do it too because The New Tavie is nicer, more fun and has a job (read: can pay rent). They're going to get a dog. They're going to name it "We Hate Tavie".

(I'm being a shit. Don't worry.)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:09 PM | shower me with attention

Two solid hours of sleep before dawn. What more could a girl hope for?

So, the great thing about Sweeney Todd was that I am now a grownup. The show itself was okay. The production was fine, almost unchanged, I think, from the original. The first act moves terribly slowly, the second act seems rushed, but is more exciting. The music is immensely unhummable. This must be the musical where Sondheim got his reputation for that. And, oh, way too operatic. Horribly operatic. I really do hate opera. The only songs I felt at all stirring were "Pretty Women" and the second incarnation of "Johanna" (Act II). Not that I remember them, but I'm sure I enjoyed them at the time. Elaine Paige was very good. Everyone else was just too opera-singer-y.

No, the great part came at the end, where I was able to applaud honestly (thinking, I'm applauding for _Sweeney Todd_) and, as the final door slammed and the spotlight dropped, I thought, There's one demon put to bed. Because I can't really be afraid of high melodrama like that anymore. It was very creepy and gross, to be sure, but this was something like Mom snapping on the light to reveal that the monsters are just heaps of clothes.

Although I can totally see why I was afraid of it as a 16-year-old. There's this whole subplot having to do with asylums, and anything remotely mental-institutiony used to utterly traumatize me. Plus, I don't like it when people are shoved into ovens. So there was the whole Hansel-and-Gretel element. Furthermore, I'm scared enough of people who cut hair for a living without them having to go make a big production out of it. It played on all my worst fears-- perishing in fire, mental asylums, haircutting, complex carbohydrates-- certainly I was terrified!

It was lots of fun having the whole Night Out at the Theatre thing with Andrew. Most excitingly, he was compelled to come out and spend the night at Mint Manor-- he's asleep on the BRAND NEW COUCH right now! It was either that or spend the night the sole and captive audience of my father. I believe he made the wise choice. A smart boy, my Andrew.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 6:15 AM | shower me with attention

Friday, March 05, 2004

So, my sister has backed out of seeing Sweeney Todd at the last minute. Leaving just me and Andrew and an extra ticket.

If anyone wants to get down to Lincoln Center (except my stalker, please) in the next hour and a half, free ticket to scary musical!

If not, extra seat for us to put our coats on!

Kirsten, you suck.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 6:31 PM | shower me with attention

Marijuanalogues, directed by Jim Millan, comes to NYC!

I'm there, baby.

It's just so damn fitting.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 6:24 PM | shower me with attention

In lieu of anything interesting to say, I'm going to play The Game again:

(The Rules are:
Step 1: Open your Winamp or other MP3 player.
Step 2: Put all of your music on random.
Step 3: Write down the first ten songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing.)

1. Fifteen Birds - The Hobbit (Soundtrack)
2. Grass (Home Demo) - XTC
3. If We Can Dream It (Theme from "Horizons") - EPCOT
4. Sharkey's Day - Laurie Anderson
5. Sit Down, John - 1776 Original Broadway Cast
6. You Could Drive a Person Crazy - Company Original Broadway Cast
7. Losing My Mind - Tim Curry
8. Midnight Radio - Hedwig and the Angry Inch Original Off-Broadway Cast
9. Moon Shadow - Cat Stevens
10. Friends of Mine - Zombies

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:53 AM | shower me with attention

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Finally finished that girly sweater last night. (It's for a boy due in April. I've already nicknamed the boy Oz. I hope his mother, my friend-from-junior-high Amanda, doesn't mind.) Poor Oz is going to have to wear a very girly little sweater. That's what they get for not finding out the sex until late! To make up for it, I'm knitting him a very simple cap (no hearts!) in matching yarn, and some very simple booties to go with it.

I must say, it's a very cute little sweater. Perhaps we should stop ascribing gender stereotypes to clothing, hmmmmmmm? Boys can wear feather-and-fan-lace if they want to...

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:54 PM | shower me with attention

Tomorrow is the Big Day. By the Big Day, I mean it is the day that I finally see Sweeney Todd at City Opera. Which I'm afraid of. I've been afraid of this musical since I saw the 1979 version with ~~George Hearn~~ Len Cariou* and Angela Lansbury on PBS years ago and taped it sight unseen.

I taped it on the same tape as The Purple Rose of Cairo and I haven't been able to watch that movie since then because I'm too scared of that tape. I had them hide that tape. Like when Joey has to put The Shining in the freezer.

It scared me so much I couldn't eat meat for at least a week afterwards. And I'm a big meat-eater.

I'm talking major trauma. You couldn't even say the words "Sweeney Todd" around me for years. It still makes me cringe. Ask anyone in my family what's meant by "the scary musical". They'll know.

Why am I going to see this thing again?

Oh yeah. It's Sondheim, and it's free (from Tante Joan.) That's all it takes with me, apparently.

I'm scared.

*Proof that no one who reads my blog knows or cares what I'm talking about. ;)

Why are you in Tavie's head? 10:45 PM | shower me with attention

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Can't stop thinking about The Triplets of Belleville. I want to own it and watch it over and over.

I liked the little jabs at Disney, although the Mickey turds were over-the-top.

And the Fleischer-esque beginning terrified me as Fleischer-esque things always do. (I can't take that kind of grotesquerie. It's a waking nightmare for me.) But still I loved this movie. It can't all be the timing-- the throwback stuff in the age of the Tyranny of CGI. The computer effects were perfect accents, the way computer animation should be. Michael Eisner (or his successor, hmm? ;) needs to take note of this. (Hint: Rescuers Down Under: gooooooood; Dinosaur: baaaaaaaad.) Movies that rely on the fluidity-- the gracefulness-- of hand-drawn while still allowing computer animation to add to the atmosphere, that brings in touches of technical perfection to offset the real stuff-- that's what they need to go for. More Iron Giants. More Triplets of Belleville.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 11:11 PM | shower me with attention

Someone remind me to buy In Touch Weekly tomorrow. Please.

I went to see The Triplets of Belleville tonight with Steph and Kitana. It blew me away. I adored it. It was like a big gulp of Swedish country air. (The film isn't Swedish, of course, but that's my favourite kind of country air.) Oh, see what traditional animation can be?

What the fuck what the fuck, is that Big Bird on The West Wing? What the fuck???

Why are you in Tavie's head? 9:47 PM | shower me with attention

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Oh crap!

President Jennifer J. Raab and the MFA Program in Creative Writing invite you to the launch of the Hunter College Distinguished Writers Series with a reading of The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn.

REUNITED: Wallace Shawn with his longtime friends and collaborators Larry Pine, Deborah Eisenberg, and André Gregory (director) for a rare public reading of The Designated Mourner.

Please join us for an evening that will make you laugh, squirm, and keep you at the edge of your seat. You will wonder how Shawn could have known, years before, what it might be like to live in 2004.

Tuesday, March 9, 7-10 P.M. (with one intermission)

The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
(East 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues)

Tickets: $10. Free for Hunter College students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Valid I.D. required.
To purchase tickets, please call 212.772.4448.

The Hunter College MFA in Creative Writing, directed by Peter Carey, is a highly competitive program that offers promising writers the opportunity to study and practice the art of writing in small, intensive workshops and seminars in literature.

Goddammit, I love Wallace Shawn. Although I've never read any of his plays. But I really WANT to. Anyway, I love him on film and in interviews.

Dammit, why does it have to be during my Latin class??

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:36 PM | shower me with attention

Yesterday would have been my grandma's 98th birthday. I reminded my parents, because I am cursed to remember dates like that. We joked that we should all boil a chicken to death in her honour, and make 3 cups of tea with one tea bag amongst us. Then we realized that we never had her tombstone engraved, and felt bad. I think we should do that already. It's been 8 years. Miss you, Grandma.

On March 17th my other grandma will have been... I don't know how old. She died 14 years ago. I like to celebrate each year by having a delicious meal of corned beef and cabbage, although she wasn't remotely Irish. I just found out that her name was actually Regina. Everyone always called her Eva, so I had no idea. I said, "Where the heck they'd get Eva from then?" and apparently they just pulled it out of nowhere. Well, damn. That's cool. I said, "So it doesn't have, like, a cool story behind it, like 'Goose' or anything." I think that's the first time I ever compared my grandma to Goose.

I'm glad I had grandmas, as it was a very nice experience. I've always regretted not having experienced a grandpa. I think it would've been quite excellent. Also, cousins. Never had any of those. (Except for that jerk who's a cousin of my father's, who doesn't at all count.) Sometimes I like to ask about my dad's father, and hear stories about his old hardware store in Chinatown (the building where Pearl Paints is now) and what life was like in the Bronx in the 40's. I don't like ask about my mom's father very much, because he died when she was just ten, so it's a little too sad. All I know about him, really, is that he liked to catch and fry his own eels, and that he looked a lot like John Goodman.

I wonder if John Goodman would like to be my adopted grandpa. Probably very insulted, as he's way too young.

I have just fixed myself a meal of parmesan-crusted chicken strips and fried jicama, julienne, with lime juice and chili powder. I am quite the cook now, thanks to Dr. Atkins. Also I have a waist.

Tango, tangere, tetigi, tactus-a-um. To touch.
Facio, facere, feci, factus-a-um. To make, to do.
Pervideo, pervidére, pervidi, pervisus-a-um. To realize.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:57 AM | shower me with attention

Nope. Four hours, still. And not in time for Roseanne.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 2:56 AM | shower me with attention

Monday, March 01, 2004

The misery of my insomnia. I was so exhausted last night coming home from Mint Manor at 2 am that I fell asleep on the subway. That was after days of no more than 4 hours of sleep a night, you understand.

But when I got home, nothing. Nada. Exhausted but unable to sleep. Just a lot of coughing and it being too hot in here.

I finally nodded off around 8 am this morning, six hours before I had to be up for school. The pain when I did manage to wake up and get to school on time-- this was a Valiant Triumph of the Human Spirit. I made it to Satire, handed in my paper, skipped Woodcutting, came home.

Now I feel myself crashing. I could crash hard any second. I can barely type this. And this is very dangerous because I have a Latin test tomorrow night that I absolutely have to study for. I will not pass it if I don't do some serious studying.

Furthermore, all I've had to eat today were 2 string cheeses and a small piece of jicama. If I crash now, I'll wake up nauseous from lack of food.

So, when I desperately need to sleep, I'm not tired. And when I'm desperately tired, I'm not allowed to sleep.

It's fucking misery. I'm sure you've all experienced it. Hold me. Learn my Latin for me, eat my dinner for me. Let me sleep.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 8:13 PM | shower me with attention

And now it works again. The fuck?

Why are you in Tavie's head? 8:12 PM | shower me with attention

I can't get connected to any Airport network. I'm using dial-up. Someone please fix this for me.

This is urgent.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 7:04 PM | shower me with attention

Wow, Aimee's version of "Observatory"-- featuring backup by Glenn Tilbrook-- from the extended Lost in Space (ALBUM) (WHICH I STILL DON'T OWN) is so much better than Glenn Tilbrook's (solo) version from The Compleat Glenn Tilbrook (which I do own.)
Much better.

Appropriate amount of production can do so much for a song.

Goddammit I need that album. Also, I need the DVD of A Mighty Wind.

Poll: Best part of the Oscars:

a) Mitch & Mickey singing "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow".
b) Jack Black and Will Ferrell singing about how people's speeches are boring.
("STING!")
c) When Bill Murray stood up and clocked Billy Crystal for drawing attention to his extremely offensive loss for Best Actor.*
d) Obligatory choice: LOTR being declared best movie in the universe, which it is, taken as a whole. (Don't pick this one.)

*Didn't actually happen, consarnit.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 3:42 AM | shower me with attention

Bill Murray not winning best actor was the worst bullshit I've seen in a long time.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 12:16 AM | shower me with attention