Sunday, May 29, 2011

GOOD vs. WELL

So. As you may or may not know, I'm obsessed with grammar.

While I don't write in grammatically correct form all the time, I do try to adhere to most conventional rules. That being said, one of my biggest pet peeves (and, admittedly, confusions) is the thin line between good and well.

In my junior year of high school, my nun AP English teacher impressed upon the class that we could be "good in bed," yet it was grammatically impossible to just be "good." Instead, the proper answer to a question as simple as, "How are you?" would always be, "I'm well."

Recently, there was debate between my friends and me as to whether this was fact or merely fiction. Having a solid grasp on the difference between adjectives and adverbs, I felt (and feel) that this is an inalienable truth. For me, good will always be an adjective, while well will always be an adverb. I dislike using good as an adverb, though I understand at times it can be used as one. Still, I fell that while you can be "good" at something, it is grammatically impossible to just be "good."

On the other hand, you cannot be "well" at something. You can be well, and well is appropriate in many circumstances. I personally dislike the response of, "I'm good," following the question of, "How are you?"... but then again, I HATE the question of, "How are you?"

In German, that question does not exist.


But I digress.

If "How are you?" must be asked, I believe there is only one appropriate answer in the realm of good/well. That answer for me, obviously, would be, "I'm well." Theoretically, it's grammatically impossible to just be "good." You can be "good" at something (ie, "good in bed"), but you cannot just be "good." Good is an adjective, by definition. Well is an adverb. Case in point, as stated.

Argue all you want, but if you truly stop to think about it... I'm correct.

Just this once.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

sunglasses.

Aviator sunglasses either make you look like a badass or a douchebag. 95% of the time it is the latter.

Friday, May 27, 2011

really?


This is what something that is equal parts adorable and evil (aka, Jack Russell Terrorist) looks like while it sleeps:

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Let's hear it for New York...

During my past week spent galavanting around New York City, I was lucky enough to see some amazing art, shop at some amazing stores, and visit some amazing friends (many of which I hadn't seen in quite awhile). In an effort to remember everything that happened during this action-packed wild week, I'm going to detail as much as I can, because it was truly a trip for the books.

After bidding adieu to my pup, I boarded a red eye Wednesday night bound for JFK. Someone please remind me never to take a red eye again. I thought it would be no big deal, as I sleep very little anyway... but it was awful. Enough said. I arrived on the other side of the country at 7am and booked it to my aunt's Upper East Side apartment, where I would stay until my friend Hannah arrived the next afternoon. My first order of business, needless to say, was marching straight to MoMA to see the German Expressionist exhibit.

As there is no photography allowed in the special exhibits, I will share a few of my favorite pieces, all from the MoMA website where a full archive can also be found. Below are a few of the many that had in awe:

Max Pechstein
Dancer in the Mirror (1923)
Woodcut

Franz Marc
Blue Horse with Rainbow (1913)
Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper

Ernst Kirchner
Evening Patrol (1915)
Lithograph

Franz Marc
Riding School After Ridinger (1913)
Woodcut

Oskar Kokoschka
Pieta, poster for the play Murderer, Hope of Women (1909)
Lithograph

Otto Dix
The Nun (1914)
Oil on cardboard

Emil Nolde
Young Couple (1913)
Lithograph
Edition of 112 in 68 color variations

George Grosz
Circe (1927)
Watercolor and ink on paper

Ernst Kirchner
Street, Berlin (1913)
Oil on canvas

Lyonel Feininger
Uprising (1910)
Oil on canvas

Ernst Kirchner

Max Beckmann
Descent from the Cross (1917)
Oil on canvas

Kathe Kollwitz
The Last Thing (1924)
Woodcut

Spent the rest of the afternoon sketching in Central Park then caught up over dinner with my aunt, but was too tired to do much else. The next morning I met my friend Elizabeth, who has recently relocated from Portland to Brooklyn, at Grand Central Station where we caught up over coffee before heading back to the MoMA to (surprise, surprise) see the Expressionist exhibit again as well as wander through some of the other galleries.


Elizabeth took this picture of me outside the entrance to the special exhibit. I look awkward, as usual.

She also told me that Yoko Ono left little notes all around one of the exhibit areas in the museum, so following our stroll through the land of Expressionism, I went on a scavenger hunt to find all of the aforementioned phrases.

On my Yoko Ono search, I also came across this. Being incredibly immature (as I am), I found it quite amusing, and had to take a photo.

After spending close to an hour playing with fascinating gadgets in the gift shop, I hugged my friend (hadn't seen her in 3 years! Love her!) goodbye and hopped on the subway to meet another friend, Megan, at the Blind Tiger (a beer bar in SoHo). Megan and I went to high school together, and she is one of my favorite people because she is funny and down to earth; one of those friends you can just pick up conversation with after barely any communication for 2 years. She opted for a beer called No Regrets, while I chose the aptly titled Prankster. It was Friday afternoon, otherwise known as The Eve Before the Rapture, and we had an animated discussion about our lives and potential end of the world. Also, a man in clown makeup strolled into the bar and began to juggle scarves. It was awesome.

I met up with Hannah after she flew in from LA that night, and we headed to Nobu to get some sushi. After visiting that cattle station, we headed to 1 Oak then Avenue, then met our friends Clementine and Alexis at Southside. After a late night party-party, Alexis & I found a diner... then proceeded to a park to watch the sun rise.

Hannah being Hannah.

Alexis being Alexis.

Sunrise being the sunrise.

Saturday was... a wash. Hannah and I ended up shopping a bit in the afternoon, then heading back downtown to Cipriani for dinner. We hid in our beds early, as was necessary to ensure the rest of a fun weekend.

Sunday I headed off to see Jim Dine speak at the Morgan Museum and Library... and what an amazing talk he gave. He was speaking in conjunction with his exhibit at the Morgan, a show titled "Drawings from the Glypototek" in a conversational setting with Ruth Fine, a curator from DC. After the talk, I marched right down to meet him. It went well. I'm kind of insistent about the things I decide upon, and this was on of them. I have a lot more on the Dine topic, for a later time. Anyway, I met up with Hannah later, and we decided to head back to Cipriani for a late dinner & to check out the bar.


Heels in the bag, flats on my feet. My typical party song/MOTTO, and an insight into how our Sunday night ended.


Monday morning came... and went. Hannah and I shopped in SoHo, then I met my friend Emily (whom I went to high school with), who'd also just graduated with her masters (!) from Columbia. After a short hang with Em and a dinner with another aunt, Hannah and I went to meet my long-lost friend Meghan (cool, cool girl and excellent jewelry designer) in the East Village where she was DJ-ing. She DJs at the most rad bar, Cabin, hidden below a pizza parlor in an epic place that is totally small but very Portland-ish in style.

Tuesday, I hopped (more like limped) out of bed to make an appearance at the McQueen exhibit at the Met. The show was TO. DIE. FOR. It was equal parts depressing and inspiring, and I have to admit... I'm a huge McQueen fanatic.


After McQueen, I returned to my stomping grounds at Barney's and Bergdorf, followed by a quick third romp through to the MoMA for one last trip through the German Expressionist exhibit.


After a quick pack-up, I was once again on a plane... this time bound for the rain-soaked state of Oregon. All-in-all, a truly successful trip. More pictures (and maybe stories?) to come.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

elevators.

Next time I'm on an elevator with four or more strangers, I'm going to turn around and say, "I'm sure you're wondering why I've gathered you all here today."

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

random conversations, "You've just been Warhol-ed!," & NYC

The following is an actual conversation that happened today:

Guy at Whole Foods, (puzzled): Does your bracelet say "suck it?"
Me, (deadpan): Yes, yes it does. I'm very mature.
(awkward silence)
Guy at Whole Foods, (amused): You always seem to be buying dog food and wine.
Me, (deadpan): Well, yes, of course. The dog food is for me and the wine is for my dog.
Guy at Whole Foods, (leary): Oh. I see.

In other news, my friend Kate is a model and designer who goes to AI. Her face is currently ALL over the school, and I acquired 4 posters to give her the Andy Warhol treatment in the style of Marilyn Monroe. Or the Marilyn Monroe treatment in the style of Andy Warhol. Whatever, you know what I mean. Hence, "You've just been Warhol-ed!"

And last but not least, I leave for NYC tomorrow night. It's going to be rad. Bye.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

stuff I've been up to, + best song ever.

I decorated a cast:

I worked on my Last Supper puzzle:
And I booked tickets with Hannah for NYC. Seeya soon, gurls and guyz. Redeye Weds PM from Portland, home the following Tues. Will see the German expressionist show, Alexander McQueen (!!!!!!), and Jim Dine exhibit... as well as Dine's artist talk at the Morgan! Other things too, but I'm so stoked for these I can't even describe.

Other than that... new fave song: B.S.E. by Young Galaxy. Here's why:

"You & I
We mess up and survive
When we feel like we're falling
Let's dive"

And... that's all.

Friday, May 13, 2011

artist statements.

Artist statements are IMPOSSIBLE to write.


Case in point- here's a rough draft:
"I am inspired by clouds, imaginary animals, wine, fashion magazines, and your mom. My favorite media is watercolor crayon (sometimes also acrylics, but only if finger painted on). Basically, I make art and stuff because I'm not great at anything else. I'm not saying I'm great at art, but you should see me try to do long division. In other words: suck it. The end."

An excellent start, if you ask me.

Friday the 13th. & stuff.

While by most accounts I am an incredibly superstitious person, I personally have nothing against Friday the 13th. In fact, I am a huge fan of the number 13... I like all numbers that include, add to, or can be divided into 3, as 3 is my lucky number. I have an OCD-esque affinity for odd numbers, and 3 is my favorite one of all.

Now, let me tell you why this particular Friday the 13th is particularly wondrous. Tonight, the Moon, the star Spica, and SATURN will form a triangle in the sky, and for anyone with binoculars and/or a telescope, Saturn's rings will be easily viewable. I leapt eagerly out of bed this morning when I saw the sun and bright blue sky, crossing my fingers in hopes that this blessed spell of weather will last into the evening, allowing me to view my favorite planet. Seriously, it's worth it. I remember the only other time I saw Saturn's rings, when my dad woke me at 3:30 am in 4th grade to peer on my tip-toes through our telescope. It's an image that has stuck with me so intensely that I can still picture it like it was yesterday.

In other night-sky-news (just in case you are not oddly space-obsessed as I am), in the early morning about 30 minutes before sunrise, you can see 4 planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, respectively) rise over the eastern horizon before the sun appears. It's a truly remarkable spectacle, one that will not occur again until the year 2056. If you have an unobstructed eastern view and the desire to see something especially rad, I highly recommend waking up (or, if you're like me, staying up) to see this at least once.

And in unrelated news, here's what I've been up to lately:
I went to visit my sister in Seattle. This is a life-size chess set on the roof of her building. Needless to say, I was incredibly jealous.


My fried Jay came down to visit for our birthdays. I was obsessed with finding an Etch-A-Sketch, so we went on an adventure to Target in search of one. When we couldn't find it, we settled on a Lite Brite instead. The above was our first lighted work of art... if you can't tell, it's an UN-birthday cake.


Jay, me, Brittany and Shae out celebrating how old we are. We got Shae to wear a dress, which was unprecedented and amazing. Everyone in this picture is wearing clothing of mine, which is also awesome. Dress up is so fun!


Also while at Target, Jay and I picked out a Last Supper jigsaw puzzle. The above is what we finished the first night... I haven't gotten much further since she left. Please note Jesus to the right side of this photo. I talked about this puzzle so much that my friends Brittany and Kate burst out laughing when their prof showed a slide of this painting in their Dress & Society class at AI. I received pictures and messages describing the situation, and let me just say that I am incredibly proud that while I no longer go to the school, I am still able to create harmless disruption as I enjoyed doing so many times before. Here is the picture Kate sent to me:



I tie-dyed this saddle pad for my horse, Jimmy. He likes it.


ALSO, I am proud to say I finally came up with a formula for water-resistant sidewalk chalk. I have tested it, and I think I finally got it right. Above you can see part of the process, where I make a mold out of tinfoil to hold the chalk while I bake it. Don't ask me how I eventually came up with this method, it took many test runs as well as both an advanced level of stupidity and an incredibly easily-amused disposition. While I will not divulge my top-secret method, I will give you this hint: I used honey as part of my binder. I am sharing that because I came up with it thanks to PRINTMAKING! The water-soluble ink we used has a honey binder, and while it IS water-soluble... anyone who experienced this special ink will understand that it takes a little more than the equivalent of a light rain to get it off of ANYTHING.


I also painted a lot. This is what I found when I went to look at the time. It made me laugh.


Also, a blanket fort was made in my apartment consisting of horse show blankets and my bed comforter. Don't even try to pretend that you're not jealous.


And last, but certainly not least, my dog was again dressed up as a shark. Also, I painted his toe nails blue. His expression pretty much sums up his feelings on the situation.


In conclusion, here is something that I recently realized and which I think is pretty funny: HECK is a combination of HELL and FUCK. It's officially my new favorite word.