Saturday, September 26, 2009

Recent Weeks


My creation
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
The past few weeks have become the usual school/costume shop/homework rinse/repeat. This always happens around the autumnal equinox, for me- when the length of night outweighs that of day, I find myself coming up from the shop & finding it to be dark. I get home, I make dinner, I do as much homework as I can, I pass out.

I've always prided myself on my ability to stay abreast of my work- I tend to try to complete things the day they are assigned, because I hate having to stay up too late to finish an assignment. Mostly I just hate being tired. I also really enjoy being able to look down on people who stay up until all hours doing homework. It's like "oh? Really? Because last night I read a bit of my magazine, made my lunch for today, & had the lights off by 11."

However, with this show we were playing catch up before we even started. An unusually short work time for a musical (six weeks for 40 characters) wouldn't be so bad if it were my full time job, but as it stands I take my keys to the shop in on weekends & multitask. I'll be excited when it's up not only because I really want to see my work all in one place, but because perhaps that means I'll get to spend daylight hours [if not outside, then] in a room with windows.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Didn't see the VMAs.

I just watched the Taylor Swift Video that won, & really? I wanted to like it, I really did. But I had to turn the sound down after 20 seconds, & the video itself is about as interesting as High School itself.

Granted, Beyonce's video stole most of its dance moves from Bob Fosse, but I don't think anybody is going to argue the point of that woman's dancing talent.

And MTV owes royalties to Kanye West for making them culturally relevant for the first time in ten years.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Scent Quest


My love for perfume sample bottles is as old as my Sephora membership card. Imagine, being able to try on somebody else's personality for a day, for free? I have accumulated many vials I will not open again (such as any of the Gwen Stefani products as they all smell like baby powder), but there are a few I splash on every once in a while: DKNY's Be Delicious, & Clinique's Happy.

I also discovered some of my favorite scents which I went on to purchase this way, which I suppose is the point. I fell in love with Burberry's the Beat the moment I put it on, & am almost out of it now. I really liked Aqualina's Pink Sugar from the sample bottle- I felt like a magical pink bubble princess every time I splashed it on. Unfortunately it never smells as good from the larger bottle as it did from the sample, but if I splash a little on after a bubble bath it smells terrific.

Sadly, the time has come when I am beginning to both a) run out of the Beat, & b) not be able to smell it when I put it on. The quest began in earnest for a new scent, & while I flirted with the idea of buying Be Delicious, I gave it to my sister as a birthday present last year, & don't want to smell the same as her [because everybody would totally notice. Totally.].

Fortunately! I finally managed to get around to ordering a different something that I had been meaning to get from Sephora, & with it came my FREE SAMPLES. I got Tocca's Brigitte, & Versace, which doesn't seem to have a name other than that & was thrown in the trash in a fit of why-won't-you-fucking-open fury.

HOWEVER, I think Tocca may be my new favorite brand. I love their concept: Old-world Paris? Film stars? Fellini's lover? Yes please! Brigitte is totally sexy to me (important! I'm the one wearing it), & not overpowering to others (perhaps even more important). It reminds me of the dust burning on the dressing room lights the first time they are turned on for the season & fresh greasepaint. It's a little bit of sawdust, and a whole lot of the glamour of theatre, darling.

I'm going to keep wearing the sample for a little while before I throw down for a whole bottle, but I think I've already convinced myself I love it.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Perhaps you are confused: We make the rules here.


365-4
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
Yesterday I was in the library, scanning things onto my flash drive to present in our first costume meeting that afternoon (I plugged my scanner in last night & it didn't work. Um). I finished up, checked out the poster sale, called my dad, & went to Kevin's class [a manic, aggressively scandalous man if there ever was one]. In the meeting with Anne, I tried to dig out my flash drive [which I keep on my key chain] to present the work, & found that I had lost my keys at some point.

I've been bugging out ever since: the campus lost & found people know me by sight, and this morning I definitely looked like a girl who had stayed up all night crying. I'm not generally the kind of person who loses things, & I hate that I am more or less powerless as to when they'll show up again.

If they don't show up by tomorrow, then I'll put in a work order for new ones, but since academic institutions enjoy imposing draconian laws upon those in their domain, I'm going to have to pay $120 for a new lock to be put in my room door AND the front door of the apartment. Because it is obviously
a) impossible for them to make a copy of one of my house mate's keys and
b) highly likely that somebody will find my keys and try every single door on campus until they open mine and steal not only my posessions, but everything in the apartment kitchen.

Really? There's a lot that's putting me off school this year, but slap this one right up on top for today.

Friday, August 7, 2009

When it's hot outside....


[Image via Daddy Likey]Yanno, Pam, I know that I'm probably supposed to hate on you here for being a "dumb whore", or being a detriment to the image of women everywhere, or some other New-York-liberal-educated-woman idea. But I just can't, because I am right there with you.

Who among us has not thrown on some underwear, gotten the favorite t-shirt out, + then suddenly run out of inspiration? There we are, in our underwear and dripping shower-hair, and we are not you, Pam. We cannot call it a day and go on to work, because we do not have bodyguards to protect us from that creepy man who lives in the lobby of our building.

Here's to you, Pam. With your bold work, hopefully one day I, and all women, will be able to show our cute underwear to more than just the next person who uses the dryer after us, will be able to survive the hottest of August days, and will no longer be puzzled by our unsatisfactory wardrobe options.

The People's Pants.

I, and my shorts, salute you.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

It's hotter than hell.

Direct sunlight, stagnant air, mind-bending humidity. And all I can say?



Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Closet Cleanout


I just attempted a closet cleanout, a la the one staged about a year ago by my most-mentioned blogger, Gala Darling [I could write a whole post about how much I love her... maybe I will!].

It didn't go too well. I'm very attached to a lot of the clothing that quite frankly doesn't fit me anymore. I had my sister around to help me out, + I was able to foist some stuff off on her, but... I get really sentimental about clothing! Fortunately I was finally in a mood to throw away the things that are just nasty + decaying (other than my favorite jeans... you will have to pry those from my cold, dead hands)... but my closet is still packed.

I think the issue is that I am moving into a somewhat more formal, 'grown-up' style, which leaves a lot of the hippie-vomit stuff I wore at the end of high school [still perfectly good, still fits me] out of the loop, and I haven't the heart to get rid of it... lots of it is handmade, and some of them were super-thrilling Goodwill finds.

The other issue is that my closet is too tiny. I know everybody says that, but my room is smaller than any of the college dormitories I have lived in, + my closet was literally designed for a twelve-year-old. So once you get the two old prom dresses and my shoe collection and the knitting projects in there, it runs out of space.

And, of course, there is the obvious fact that I pack all of my possessions into suitcases and move to school every four months, + I should probably just cheer up and get used to a life in transit, because I looked great the whole time I was in London, + I only had one suitcase worth of clothing.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

No but really you guys


the galabot
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
I love my desk now. LOVE. Widescreen entertainment in front of me, photos hung all around, art supplies/stationery within easy reach. I think I could probably conquer the world from this corner.

I love stickers, I love finishing my Paris scrapbook in one night (!) I love talking about making plans, I love Danielle, I love boyfriends who go on vacation + bring me postcards, I love baking for people. I love the internet, I love big hats, I love white wine + being helpful around the house.

But right now I'm about to go love a long shower.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Happy August!

Millie

August is here, and so it is time for my coworkers and customers to start complaining about the summer being gone. I guess my job is more dependent upon the weather than some.

Although I've been out of school since April 25. And really, I wasn't actually in school last semester, but we won't get into that. So my summer has been nice and long. I haven't been rushing around doing nearly as many things as last summer (I think I was in NY seeing a show at least one a week last year. Fun, but tiring + expensive)- just a lot of relaxing. I'm almost done with my scrapbook, but other than that I've just been saving my money.

And I still have all of August. ALL of it. My birthday is this week, + then I got on vacation, + then I go on some more vacation. In between those I'll make some more money. Pretty sweet.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

my new iPod


In the tradition of Small Reviews, a blog I enjoy reading written by a friend of a friend of mine, I shall now impose my thoughts about something on you. Oh wait! That's the tradition of the internet.

Along with my new computer (you read that post, didn't you?!), I received a "free" iPod touch. I say "free", because they only give you a rebate for the smallest one, and really what am I supposed to do with 8gb of space? I ponied up the extra $100 and got the 32gb one, which doesn't really seem a logical correlation for price (1/3 more money for 3/4 more space? ....okay!), but I am passing my used iPod along to my Dad, so we split the cost of the iPod and you don't really care about this part anyway.

So. I kinda like it, but it's not my new favorite thing. It's not really that easy to operate, since you have to be looking at it the whole time you're using it, + I used to keep my iPod in my pocket and just feel around for the 'next' button when I felt like I wanted it. Having to fuss around with the touch screen also isn't so good while driving, but I guess there's a reason touchscreen computers never really took off for use outside of POS systems. It is a damn efficient way to do things, though, and I guess Apple is all about the sleek design. So neutral points there.

I don't really play any games on it. I guess I grew up not being allowed to have any video games, + so it's not really something I got into the habit of interacting with. I don't really have the patience to sit down + play a game, and get frustrated easily when I lose. So I have maybe three games on it.

I do have a whole lot of organizational apps- a to do list, a grocery list, a countdown clock, an IOU app, and of course my calendar. I really like having all of those different things parsed out into separate spaces on my iPod rather than on different sheets of paper floating around my notebooks. I miss being able to scrawl little notes in my calendar, or put pertinent phone numbers next to things I am doing in my planner. So the tactile aspect of my planner is something I miss, but I'm quite glad to have one less thing in my purse [Calendar + iPod consolidated]. Plus I always carry a tiny sketchbook anyway, so it's not like I have no place to doodle.

Overall? I like it. It reminds me of when I tried to get into using a PDA but failed because I was in 8th grade + had no way to write my homework in it. And it really, really makes me want to bet an iPhone, because that would be yet another thing not stuffing my poor little purse. But my Verizon contract isn't up until october '10, + it's not worth it to pay the early termination fee. So we'll see where I am then.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Bringing Home Baby


My Favorite Corner
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
As some of you may know, I have been saving up all summer to buy a new iMac (after I saved money for the next few semesters, por supuesto). I was starting to get really, really tired of not being able to run Excel, viewer, iTunes, Word, + Safari all at the same time. Seriously, that is only five programs, and most of them aren't doing that well and OH MY GOD I'M JUST TRYING TO DO MY HOMEWORK, WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO END IN TEARS?

Well... the fateful day arrived early last week when I had saved up enough dollars to buy one + be debt-free, so I cajoled M.ton into joining me at driving me to the mac store.

I got the 24", least horse-power model available... I don't really plan on needing anything faster ever in my life, and the Mac Pro is just comically huge anyway. Seriously, playing around with those things in the store made me feel like checking my e-mail is not a significant enough event to warrant the use of that computer. I need to be video-editing live, silver-screen footage of my Oscar-winning PhD thesis or something to warrant use of such a monster.

At the store (in the Danbury mall), once I got somebody's attention everything went well. My advice is walk in there knowing exactly what you want, but then I guess that's kind of obvious advice for anybody trying to get anything done. But seriously, all of you about-to-be-freshmen wandering around with your whole extended family asking really obvious questions need to get with the 21st century and do some research before you show up. Shit's straight aggravating.

I would kind of rather it was white than silver (would go with the aesthetics of my desk better), but we can't have everything, right? At least it's not Dell-blackgrey.

At home, in between house-sitting episodes I set everything up with the power of THE INTERNET. What a great thing. No expensive wires, just tell Migration Assistant what to do + it does it.

But wait I didn't really want to write a Mac commercial. I mean, I don't mind but I'm not getting any promo dollars from this so why would I?

Anyway, the long + the short of it is that I look forward to being able to do my work much more efficiently next semester, with far fewer technologically-generated tears. And for now, my desk is kind of conveniently diagonal from the corner of my bed (the setup of my room is strange... I have a non-square room and a diagonal desk. Try not to think too much about it), so I pile up my pillows in the corner of my bed, lounge out and watch a movie on my BIG SCREEN TV. Oops I meant computer.
___

Oh, + if I'm ever so rich that I need to start in on some Philanthropy, my first move is going to be giving supercomputers to my favorite bloggers. I'm looking at you, Violet Blue + Gala Darling! It is so much more fun to drive a shiny new Mazarati than that beat ole' station wagon you claim is so comfortable to drive. But maybe that's just because I'm kind of an absurd fangirl.

Friday, July 24, 2009

What to do on your Birthday (Inspired by Sarah Von)

No shoes?

The lovely Ms. Sarah Von, of Yes and Yes made a post about things to do on Birthdays (Her 30th is coming up... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!), + at the end asked for suggestions. Well, my answer became so lengthy that I decided to do a post of my own, in honor of my upcoming 21st Birthday. [Interestingly enough, it was my other friend Sarah's Birthday the other day, and my middle name is Sara. Coincidence? I think not.]

Get Your Nails Done: Yes and Yes suggested this one, but it just seems like such a good idea. It's an excuse to get any color you want, with any additions you want- sparkly pink with rhinestones? Sure! Bring a friend or sister along with you for bonus points. [A long-lost-acquaintance of mine is actually getting her nails done for her bridal shower on my birthday, but I won't gate-crash: I like to think of it as a cross-continental, multi-purpose-multi-location party.]

Buy a really tacky, cheap tiara and wear it all day: I did this last year at the beach for Mary + I's birthday. We forgot we had them on as we walked into the water, + wondered why we were getting weird looks all up + down the beach. I still have it, + sometimes I put it on while I'm lying around the house + need to feel a bit more sparkly.

Go to a Museum: Birthdays, like New Year's celebrations, are a good time for contemplating the future, the meaning of life, + the rapid and irreversible rush of time towards our imminent demise. Oops, I'm sorry, what? Anyway, most art is about either sex or death, so what better place to contemplate your future than surrounded by visionary attempts at encapsulating time? I happen to really like going to MoMA [because it's free for SUNY students!], + after touring the exhibits/revisiting my favorites, I sit on the deck that overlooks the courtyard/skyline + treat myself to an insanely expensive ice cream sundae.

Volunteer: I think the best place to volunteer on your birthday is at an old folks home (see: recent meditation on death). Once they find out it's your birthday, get them to tell you interesting stories about what they did when they were your age. Seriously, it works. [I love old people!]

Get Somebody you Love to Make Dinner/Drinks: Admittedly, I am doing this one, and mostly because it's my 21st: I am going to go visit M.ton + demand Strawberry Daiquiris/Mojitos/Something similarly girly + annoying to make. I don't know if we'll watch movies, or put on music and dance, or sit around philosophizing. But I'm looking forward to it being a sillygoodtipsy time.

Make some Resolutions: I think Birthday resolutions are far more relevant than New Year ones, + I'm sure you've forgotten those by now anyway! It doesn't have to be anything huge, but maybe some attitude changes, something new to meditate on, or some style resolutions! Check out Soul Garden(Autoplay warning!) for what would be the most powerful for you to think about right now. And when you've decided what you want to do? Make yourself a new desktop background to help you remember them.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Who doesn't hate their job?

My creation

-Beth Notebook/Bath: journaling in some pink princess bubble bath on Monday night. I was going to do that last Sunday, but I went + had a rager with M.ton instead. [One of my resolutions this summer was to be as drunk as possible. "Never pass up an opportunity?" "More or less." It's been a lot of fun, but it also means I got to experience my first 1.5 day hangover.]

-Thirstea/Ginat Robot: Having fun in NY, I got some bubble tea (which I LOVE) around the corner from Obscura Antiques (Which Gala Darling reccomneded, and was actually kind of lame- like Cold Spring all compressed into one store, + somehow even more expensive), + then went to Giant Robot, which was SO COOL. I really want to go to their new gallery show as soon as I can, and also lust after everything in there simultaneously. I need more shelves to put my books on as it is, though (who doesn't have books stacked around their room?).

-Giant Hat/Conrad: Also while in NYC, I bought a GIANT HAT. It is so huge + happy-making. I must go to a polo game in it, or something. I have plans to make different hat-pins that I can put on it + match to various outfits. I think the first one will have to be hot pink. I stayed at Danielle's house and took pictures of her friends (conrad), + listened to Tom talk until 2 AM [He's one of those people who thinks that only stupid people are happy. He has many, many problems. I don't know him well enough to care about them.].

-Tower: And in the morning, after a nice sleep-in, it was subway->train->M.ton. We ate some delicious, bizarrely filling burgers and hung out at his house for a few hours, but I had to leave early to meet my mom... and hang out for the rest of the week.

I'm liking these three-day work-weeks, but not how tired they make me. The good news is, though, that I've met my savings goal for the summer, so now all of the rest of the money I save can go to off-setting the cost of my new computer (!!!), + saving for

THE FUTURE.

Whatever that is. People seem to be very interested in mine, though (it's all they can ever talk about when they make polite conversation with me), so maybe I should start selling shares in it.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Days of Accomplishing Small Things

Tent Dress

Maybe this is my inner virgo talking, but I love lists + crossing things off of them.

Related, but even better than that, are early mornings of many small accomplishments (which may add up to one or two big accomplishments), and afternoons of lying around and doing nothing, congratulating myself.

Small accomplishments for Thursday last:
-repaired the hooks on a dress I have been meaning to repair/wanting to wear since returning from London
-Scrapbooked 4 more pages
-Planned my trip to see Danielle on Tuesday
-Finished a book and two Magazines (TONY + The New Yorker).

Small accomplishments for Thursdau this:
-painted my fingernails
-Wrote a letter to one of my personal heroes, + invited him to dinner
-Worked more on my style concept for the next two seasons
-Did some emotional weed-pulling + re-planting

Saturday, July 11, 2009

And the Weekend is a Day Away

[written yesterday, Sat. July 11]

Clambered in to work on Thursday, refreshed and ready.

Woke up late yesterday, and, egged on by aggravating customers, my apathy level by the end of dinner was through the roof.

Today I woke up rather early (hello 4:30!) + went in to work, where I will continue to be until I go to an off-site event I am working at this evening (although, they are paying me about twice my normal wage, in cash, for 4 hours of work). Total work hours today: approx. 16.

Now, I could whine and snivel about all of this work I am doing (and certainly my sore body from not getting enough sleep last night calls out for me to do so), but you know what? My weekend starts again the day after tomorrow.

That's right kids. I may work quite hard for four days a week, but it means three days off (in a row, hello overnight trips!), and I STILL make overtime.

Don't you wish you were me?

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Blogged: 7/8

Well, I got the free time that I had been agitating for, + it's great. So great, in fact, that I have pretty much nothing to blog about.

Isn't that weird? I feel like if I blog when I'm feeling totally wonderful + blissed out, I shouldn't blog because it would be like rubbing my fortune in other people's faces. But if I have something to kvetch about, I hop right on here. Odd.

Anyway. I just got done with a long-ish stint of house sitting, + I can't say how happy I am to be done. The dogs were fine, and the money was fine, and everything was just FINE, but it made it so that I was always driving home to eat dinner, + sleeping by myself in a big scary house. I came home today + laid down on my bed and gazed around, happy that I had a place for each thing I needed to put down.

I sorted out my desk, too. Made the post-its easier to get to, put up a framed photo of the lover + I, put all of my postcards in a tin together (I am a collector, but I am starting to run out of space. Anybody want a postcard?). But we all know that I love cleaning and sorting and laundry and re-organizing. That's not news.

M.ton bought a gigantic new computer screen (peep it here: http://twitpic.com/9qb3a ), + it makes me super-duper excited to get MY new computer, in about a month! I'm totally gonna do the free iPod touch, because I've been playing with M.ton's iPhone so much that I am pretty much convinced I need one myself. Maybe I'll actually develop the kinds of fine motor skill required for video games? haha, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

iFish

So at the moment, my life is going pretty much the way that the movies tell us Summer is supposed to. I have a swoon-a-riffic boyfriend, hilarious people to have drinks with, a few craft projects to be involved in, a funny new book to read, a floaty dress (coming in the mail), two bathing suits, and an amazing friend I can call up + impose myself on. I'm just waiting for the film cameras and the dramatic conflict to come ring my doorbell, but until then it's all shoot from the hip and headphones.
___

And now, some links!

I'd like this to be my wedding, or maybe just a party I go to. Tomorrow.

these kinds of things are always good for a laugh. I particularly like the one about feelings + the one about el nino.

I think I should probably have a tumblr. But anyway, this is for anybody who has ever lost something in rock/paper/scissors.

YES I KNOW this show closed, but can y'all just stop making fun of me and enjoy this video? I really wanted to see it. I'm reading some Damon Runyon tonight to console myself.
___

That is all. Time for a bath with the new Lush products. Move along.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Rain, Summer, Money.


Men's Member-Guest
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
It was the first day of summer the other day, which means the end of June is almost here, which means the year is already half over. Have you kept your New Year's Resolutions? Did you make any? Do you even remember them? I think my resolutions this year were significantly less interesting than my ones from 2008, but I wouldn't know. I'd have to check my Livejournal.

Anyway, the summer is really here. I guess I kind of knew that, since I've been home from London for almost two months. But with all of this rain and everything, it certainly doesn't FEEL like summer. [For anybody reading this who doesn't live in my area: it started raining at the beginning of June + hasn't stopped since. This is only a slight exaggeration.] My mother complains about feeling like she lives in Seattle, and certainly the rain isn't good for business at either job # 1 or #2, but I don't really mind the rain. Or I wouldn't if I had time to enjoy it.

I feel like I had a few nice weeks about a month or so ago, when I had time to sit at the gigantic table on my back porch and scrapbook after doodling all morning, or maybe lie still and listen in the morning if it was raining. I thought it was going to be kisses and ice cream sundaes all summer, but then M.ton got a job, + business at jobs #1 and 2 picked up, and then I decided house-sitting was a good idea, and all of a sudden I'm coming home from work at about 10:30 every day + crawling straight into bed so I can get up and do it again the next day. Even today, when I got home early (8:30!), I can't accomplish all of my goals for the night because I am too drained from running around all day and all weekend.

I appreciate the money, I really, really do. I've had spending money each week, and I'm going to be able to save enough so I'll have money at school AND I'll be able to buy a new computer at the end of the summer. I'm a lot better off than some people in this current economic environment. But when you work for millionaires and their little trust-fund babies... well, it's hard not to compare yourself, right? I was reading Jane's blog over at seaofshoes.com, and while I love her, and I think she's great + finds wonderful stuff, I actually think I'm going to have to stop reading her blog because it always makes me really bitter. She's a really lucky person- she had the fortune to be born to a woman who is already in the business she's interested in, and they seem to not want for anything. But seeing a 17-year-old girl have any totally fabulous clothing she wants.... well, it's just sort of annoying for me.

But that's not the point. The point is, I guess, that I'd really like to have some time to myself, some time to relax + develop ideas + exercise my creative brain for a space longer than a few hours in the evening. Maybe when I save up enough money, I'll take the rest of the summer off (ha). I look at all of these country club wives, with their tennis and their free time, and it seems like they have it made, + they're mostly really pleasant people. Really. They get it, and they don't have to be nasty to the help, which is great. But the ones that are nasty to the help? It seems like they're the ones who are feeling trapped. They don't like staying at home all day, they haven't invested themselves in anything other than their children or their garden club or whatever, and maybe they don't feel like they're realizing their full potential as human beings. So I guess, in a way, I'm also glad I'm not them. Because if I were married to some rich guy, the reason I would be home all day certainly wouldn't be children.

I'm already doing my summer funk of being excited to go back to school? Maybe it's all the rain.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Bag Shopping


Bag contents
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
Okay, so I was sick last week, which not only meant totally ignoring the world, but also that I didn't go in to work (Except for six hours on Monday), so now I have zero dollars in my weekly spending budget.

But that doesn't stop me from looking at shit online! I've been kind of wanting a new bag lately. The little pink one I got in London was GREAT for London, really carried just the perfect amount of stuff, but now that I'm home I'm lugging extra clothing to work, a bigger wallet, etc.

[Aside from which, the part where I broke my point and shoot means that my extremely generous boyfriend lent me his SLR which is AMAZING (I cannot take a bad picture with that thing, srsly), but gigantic. BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW].

So I want a bigger bag. I'd actually just really like to be able to get my hands on the next largest size of the cute hot pink Carpisa bag I bought in London, but apparently they don't sell online, + I can't find a distributor in NY anywhere,which is really too bad because it was pretty cheap and seems to be durable. I found this really exciting bagin my very favorite color, but it is a) sold out for 3 weeks, and b) far more money than I am willing to spend (I am willing to spend about $0 on things right now). And of course, in a dream world I would have been able to afford a coach bag I fell in love with two seasons ago. Not because of the name, mind you, but because it was the perfect size, shape, lots of pockets, really gorgeous navy blue leather... of course it was great. If the company ONLY makes bags, I would hope they would make them well, right?

I was checking out the website for the super grimy bag I am using right now (which was actually a 1 1/2 year old lost + found find), and apparently it's kind of fucking expensive, and Angelina Jolie has it. So at least I can be hip in my cheapness, but I hope that doesn't mean I have to start popping out Brad Pitt's babies, because I don't really like kids.

Monday, June 1, 2009

This is where I blog from.


Pretty Pretty phone
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
What the fuck is a fucking Blogger follow list? Goddamn. This is why I'm not a computer programmer, or a hawt haXOr like Violet Blue: if something involving the internet needs more more than like three steps, I'm not doing it.

THIS IS WEB 2.0 PEOPLE, I am getting far too much stimulation from everything else, if I can't figure you out I'm leaving. Web Attention Defect Disorder, that's us. This is also why I don't add any RSS feeds, AND why I don't have a tumblr. Oh, and why I never post twitter updates as entries (like some). Just read them on the sidebar. Or add me on Twitter.

Twitter. Fuckin' speaking of web 2.0 ADD. I only follow 15 people on Twitter. You know why? Because I want to actually READ everything that the people I follow write. I had to un-follow some people, because they were updating too much, or they were too fucking boring to be worth the page space. SORRY KIDS, MOM'S BUSY LOOKING AT ETSY RIGHT NOW. PESTER ME LATER.
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Anyway. I was sick for a week, it was the opposite of fun. My camera's still broken-stein, but I'm getting used to it. My boyfriend visited me today, and we were so disgustingly happy I thought I might be the mean character with the perfect life in some Disney tween-age movie. I have the next few days off so I'm going to lie around the house reading and drawing and working on my scrapbook.

You know what a scrapbook is? It's a book full of pictures of things that I did and that you didn't do, and I show it off to you and you have to pretend to be freakin' interested for an hour, AND not be jealous. Just thank God it's not a scrapbook of all of my kids or something, because those ones are fucking boring as hell. 'Oh look, here's little Johnny when he was two weeks old.' You know what? All two week olds look like little pink bug monsters from space. Sorry 'bout it, but it's true. They're not people yet. How about documenting them when they do something real, like go to London on a four month vacation? Aw hell yeah.
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I don't know what's gotten into me. But I think it's time to work off some of this energy by cleaning my room + listening to the campiest showtunes I have.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Rain Holidays


man dives off boat
Originally uploaded by 4eva.
Hello Kids, I hope you're all enjoying your holiday weekend.

I was talking to my father the other day, and we concluded that it seems like people who only work 9-5, Monday thru Friday must have a lot of free time. Of course, it's probably not as much as it seems, what with commuting and all, but really. My Dad did point out, however, that when those people try to get stuff done on weekends, everybody else is too.

The Country Club (of course) means working nights, weekends and holidays, which is actually not what I'm here to complain about today, considering I am extremely used to that.

No my friends, what I am here to complain about today is (of all things) the weather.

I used to aggressively Not Care about the weather- I lived by that Fall Out Boy song lyric "you know it's sad that I never gave a damn about the weather, but the weather never gave a damn about me." There was no use in complaining about the clouds, or the heat, since there was nothing I could do about it, and I had to work whether it was raining or not. In fact, if it WAS raining, I usually had a calmer day at work and so really didn't mind.

That was all well and good last summer, but NOW I'm bitter. It's been a (reasonably) nice Memorial Day Weekend- hardly any rain, lots of sun, really pretty good temperatures. The kind of days that make me want to lie down with a book in the grass. My father and I had planned to borrow his friends boat on our day off tomorrow and go out on Lake Mahopac. I was really looking forward to lying down in the boat and soaking up some warmth in the sun. I had this whole mental picture of standing up on the edge of the boat, arcing my back and doing a perfect jackknife dive down into the cold depths of the lake. We would drive by and wave to the Frank Lloyd Wright house, and maybe get a little bit of color on my wintry looking legs.

It seems all of that must now be abandoned, as the weather has chosen to crap on those in the service industry tomorrow and chase us all inside with a high of 57* and mostly cloudy skies. That leaves my father and I with nothing to do after we finish our house chores.

This is a recurring problem, but can anybody think of something to do with your dad on a cool-ish day? He recently had knee surgery, otherwise we'd take the dog to the park, or go walk around the beachfront in Rye. There isn't really anything to see in the theaters, and I'd like to do something that doesn't involve spending too much money. We'll probably wind up just going out for lunch, but it would be great if somebody could think of a better option.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Scrapbooking, links + Sweaters


Scrapbooking...Purple Style
Originally uploaded by Nicki_2004.
I was thinking, about a week ago, that I don't really have any goals for the summer. So I settled down with a movie (Company!), some snacks + a pen and waited for the ideas to come rolling in.

I could be completely impossible, and decide I want to read a book a week, but really all that's going to be is a source of stress, since I just don't have free time or patience like that. I think a more realistic number is about four, depending on density.

I have decided that I want to finish my scrapbook from London by the end of the summer. I have given myself until June to collect all of the supplies (print the photos, buy a book and stickers, etc...), and I think that'll be a really good project for me, especially considering I want to make it a fun, attractive layout, not just photos stuck into an album. I could get a shitty book printed online if I wanted that.

Other than that, I have a few activity-related goals- go to the beach, see certain plays, but this summer is going to be all about working so that I can buy a NEW DESKTOP COMPUTER by the end of the summer! Hooray!
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OMG, this sweater!

When I was at work today, I was looking at Etsy, and I remembered that I owned this piece of hideousness, and got really excited about coming home and putting it on! Of course none of the guys in the shop understood, but I got home and went straight through my sweater chest + found it. It was kind of dusty-smelling, + was making me itch, so I'll have to wash it before I can really wear it again, but I LOVE that sweater.

Have I talked about this sweater before? Because I definitely should have. M.ton + I were watching "Step Brothers" (which is actually MUCH funnier than I thought it was going to be, I recommend it for the sake of seeing two funny guys given full license to just PLAY), + it got to the scene where they're opening Christmas presents, + M.ton grabbed my arm and went

"oooh, can I have a sweater like that?!"
"I'll get you one, but you have to actually wear it."
"Can I wear it ironically?"
"Of course!"

Well, the very next day I was in a secondhand store, and I didn't find a Christmas sweater (it was the beginning of December, they had probably all been snapped up already), but I DID find one with cheesy alpacas marching around it, with alpaca buttons, + this ugly herringbone sweater. I bought them both for less than $5, + M.ton got a big kick out of his sweater, + I wore mine like a sweatshirt every day for a week.
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And now, a few links:

the Hype Machine is a wonderful little thing to discover new music on. I like to run it in the background when I get tired of my iTunes library. It helped me discover this post, which is really well phrased, even if I don't like the song that much.

This group on Flickr, which was pretty much made for freaks like me.

And Nubby Twiglet who pretty much always wears something that complements her complexion AND looks good on her, has a job she loves, and remembers to update her blog every day. She's living the dream, basically.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

List Addicts: Party Drinks

One of the blogs I frequent, listaddicts.blogspot.com, recently opened up for submissions from their readers, and this is mine!
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That's right, you have 15 people showing up at your house in two hours, and you just remembered that you haven't got anything for them to drink. What to do when you need to mass-produce beverages for party friends? Never fear! My list is here!

-Mom's Punch: Totally PG, it's made with a few types of fruit juice, sparking water and floating globs of Sherbet. This is SO GOOD on a hot summer night, or at a teenage birthday party. It feels very decadent, and you can still see straight.
-Apple Cider: Get some from the Farm stand in October, heat it up + throw in some cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Show up at a party, dish it up (with shots of rum, if you please), become everybody's best friend. It's totally happened to me before.
-Egg Nog: This stuff is sooooo good! I mean, you really, really shouldn't be planning on getting in a car afterward, since the drunk sort of hits you like a sandbag, but seriously. Who doesn't want to drink their daily calorie intake in one little glass?
-Mint Julips: Anybody who makes Julip that is worth anything mass-produces it, making it the perfect party drink. If you do it right, with shaved ice, proper rum, and silver cups, you're all set to sit around the backyard in your big derby hats and discuss where you and your husband are going to vacation now that he has quit the financial industry.
-Mojitos: This may just be because my pretend secret crush makes really really good ones, but they're really good and summery. Although, they're not really quite as easy to mass-produce.
-Plum Wine: Specifically, Plum wine mixers. Wine + sparkling water= another summer drink that is distinctly easier to make than a Mojito that is equally refreshing.
-Champagne: I mean, come on. It is THE party drink, isn't it?

What about the rest of you? What are favorite drinks to produce in five-gallon bucket quantities? Anything you think I should try out?

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My lovely new job


A variation of ensembles.
Originally uploaded by chlorinebeach.
This year, for a change of scenery on weekends I work in the Golf shop, instead of the clubhouse. It seems pretty okay so far, although it's Mother's Day so the place is pretty dead.

If I'll be here a whole lot, I'm thinking I need to subscribe to Google Books, since I'm not allowed to sit with a book open, but I am allowed to play on the computer (I guess it looks like I maybe might be accomplishing something). The only problem is that a computer screen, after a while, really starts to hurt my eyes.

Lights

But the main point of this entry actually has little or nothing to do with my job- I have poorly directed rage at the Box Office (or whoever is in charge of ticket pricing structure) for West Side Story.

As a college student, and particularly as a college student coming home from London, I like to do everything REALLY cheaply, so the fact that they have no student rush, and the cheapest ticket is $45 REALLY annoys me.

"But Bef!" you cry "They have a lottery, and the tickets are only $26! If you go on a not so busy day, you're guaranteed to get a seat! I really don't see what the problem is."

The problem IS, that the tickets which are being lotteried are in the front row. And for a production that looks as amazingly danced as it does (I'll put a video at the bottom of the page), which kept the original Jerome Robbins choreography, I'd really like to be able to see their feet. Actually, not their feet might be okay, but I sat in the front row to see Merwin in 'The Little Mermaid', + I couldn't really see them below the knee. NOT interesting.

So I guess the solution is to wait a little while into the summer and see if the tickets go on sale, or to beg for tickets for my birthday. Or to just cough up the 45 bucks, and then not do anything fun for the rest of the week. Which is beginning to look like the solution.




[This actually isn't even a good example of the dancing. If you are clicking through the theater section of the NY times ( http://theater2.nytimes.com/gst/theater/tdetails.html?id=1194827556329&scp=1&sq=west%20side%20story&st=cse ), you might come across one of their advertisements which has a pretty good selection of clips from the whole show, and it looks PRETTY HOT. Just sayin']

Thursday, May 7, 2009

things I Love Thursday


Yes, we're back, and it's time for another Things I Like Thursday, inspired by the lovely Ms. Gala Darling!!!

So, what do I love this week?

TiLT: 5/7/09

-Danielle: I am visiting my oldest friend today! There has been a lot that we haven't discussed, because I haven't seen her in positively AGES. And now I get to sleep on her floor! What could be better?

-Laptops: I love them. They are convenient. Yesterday I was super bummed because I had to drive my sister to her ballet class, and I was worried I wasn't going to be able to accomplish everything on the to-do list. BUT THEN! I realized they probably had wi-fi at the studio, so I brought along my computer and was able to be helpful and productive AT THE SAME TIME. What is better than that? I'm not really sure.

-Trains: Trains are pretty much the best method of transportation I can possibly think of. You're going somewhere, but you can stretch out or get up and walk around, all at the same time! I just wish they had a more convenient train network in this country. Because I went ALL OVER the UK last semester, and I did most of it by train. Aww, tea cart hellz yeah!

Ugly faces

-A Job for my Boyfriend!: Not only is it fun to be able to go out and do money-type things guiltlessly again, he's feeling much better. Because being funemployed kind of runs out of novelty after the first few interviews. He's working somewhere where he likes the boss, and guess what's even better?! We'll have a similar work schedule, so I'll be able to see him more than occasionally.

-Honorable Mentions: iPods (can we just say convenient technology in general for this one?), FINALLY finishing uploading all of my Europe Pictures, Paychecks, fresh fruit, inspiring podcasts, not having to change my major, Wardrobe Mistressing for '3 Penny Opera', The Michael Jackson Estate Auction, Twitter [Why don't you all have one yet?!], and this video.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

What you should REALLY do.

While I was filling out my evaluation from the London program, one of the questions I came across was

If you were to advise students going on this program, what would you tell them?

I had been planning on doing a blog post along those lines, so I took it as a nudge from the universe to update my damn blog already!

-BUY A CAMERA CASE. BUY ONE. It doesn't have to be fancy, but (including myself) FIVE people broke their cameras over the course of the trip. You know what sucks a lot? To be at the beginning of a great weekend trip and smash your camera. BUY A CAMERA CASE.

-Bring a canvas bag with you on vacation that you can roll up and shove in your backpack. You will buy things while you are out walking around, and you will not want to carry around multiple shopping bags. I brought a bag, and all of my friends were jealous of me. :)

-Bring a few different pairs of good, decent-looking, comfortable shoes. But don't bring too many pairs (GIRLS!!!), because you will buy more. I'm not even a serial shoe-buyer and I bought like three pairs.

-Go see stuff. Walk past a play you think you want to see? Walk straight into the box office and buy a ticket. There is so much stimulation in a city that if you see a poster + think "I'd like to do that", and don't immediately do something about it, chances are you will forget about it and then have big time regret!

-Don't wear that ugly sweatshirt in public! Seriously, you guys are what gives America the ugly tourist reputation. And stop yelling while you're on the street. Calm down, nobody is going to die.

-Take pictures. Upload them regularly.

-No fears. It all works out in the end.

What would you say are some of the less obvious tips you would give somebody going abroad?

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Oh, My God, I'm Back.

Somebody buy me a memory card reader?

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In the interest of full disclosure...

I am going away to London for a semester abroad this Friday.

I've started a new blog that I'm giving the address of out to my family/school friends so that I don't have to deal with a thousand "what are you doing?!" e-mails, which I will try + update at least weekly.

But that means I'll be abandoning this for several months.

Want to follow my adventure in London? The address is

www.binghamton-in-london.blogspot.com