all gone

i'll never grow my hair out this long, or cut it this short again :)

before

after! all gone

sort of random, but wanted to share photos
from this tennis thing we went to with a bunch
of old school tennis pros: this here is
michael chang and pete sampras. chang won!

agassi!

Friday Fun: Bomblardy

here are some weird but brilliant (according to me) ideas i've had in the last 24 hours:

1. i would like to get one of those mortar and pestal contraptions that people use to make tableside guacamole at restaurants ... you know what i'm talking about?
2. i am going to write a poem entitled, "I am a Liberal ... Sort Of"
3. i would like to start a tumblr entitled "Free Bag Fetish" in which I take surreptitious photos of all the free conference bags I see people carrying around on the metro
4. i should just send terry gross and email and be like, hey terry, i am your biggest fan, want to hang out?
5. i'm going to get a minicouper zipcar just to ride around in it! I want to know what it feels like to drive one of those cutie pies!

what do you guys think? am i a) insane; b) brilliant; c) in need of counseling?

I don't have a full links round up for you because I have only one link to share, but I think this link might change your life. I admit, I am prone to hyperbole. But this ... I am not exaggerating the importance of listening to this beautiful, heartbreaking interview with Maurice Sendak, the children's author who most famously wrote Where the Wild Things Are. This interview is astounding.

I hope you will listen.

the big chop

i did it you guys. I cut off all my hair. Usually I'm not that disturbed by drastic haircuts, but this time I am a little shocked every time i look in a mirror. it's shorter than I thought it would be ... I guess I thought I'd grown it out more than I had, so I was sort of expecting this mid-neck bob. Also, I asked for "not an a-line" but I think my hairdresser thought I said, "an a-line" ....

it's not ... TERRIBLE. but it's not what I pictured.

I'll post a photo soon enough, but for now, let's just think happy thoughts about other things.

i tried these on in new york and they were awesome,
but so was their price. awesomely inflated. 

this is the best nail polish color ever.

the office premiers tonight!

Lastly, I got the best email today from my friend Joanna. When we met up in New York, I gave her a satchel of lavendar that I'd picked up at a random farmer's market on my way to meet her for brunch. today she wrote:

That's what it's all about, folks :)

mister rogers

when mister rogers died, i was a student in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- which was, literally, mister rogers' neighborhood. He was often seen walking around shadyside, or on campus, and it was not unusual to hear of mister rogers sightings from classmates.

the day he died, i couldn't stop crying. In fact, i met up with Chris for a game of squash (we were just friends at the time) and i couldn't stop crying, even though i was really embarrassed to be crying in front of him. i think a lot of us who grew up watching mister rogers didn't realize how much he mattered.

andrew sullivan linked to this profile of mister rogers today. the writing is a little bizarre and disjointed, but this story stood out to me.

"He had already won his third Daytime Emmy, and now he went onstage to accept Emmy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and there, in front of all the soap-opera stars and talk-show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, 'All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are ... Ten seconds of silence.' And then he lifted his wrist, and looked at the audience, and looked at his watch, and said softly, 'I'll watch the time,' and there was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn't kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked … and so they did. One second, two seconds, three seconds … and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier, and Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said, 'May God be with you' to all his vanquished children."

watch the video of the speech here.

Friday Fun: Reading Rainbow. Robots. Rain Jackets.

Thank the good lord it's Friday, am I right? I missed my Friday links round up last week -- so sorry folks. Here it is a little early today so you can enjoy it while you are NOT working :) (everyone knows friday at work is a wash anyways.)

• Can it really be? Reading Rainbow is coming back!

• I really loved this NYTimes  story and video about a reporter who moved his family from New York to Russia. Makes you appreciate what immigrants (my parents!) go through.

• This video really broke my heart for the church. There is no love here.

• Terry Gross does it again in this compelling interview with Ali Soufan, former FBI agent and interrogator.

• Robot wallpaper? Yes, please :)

• These photos are helping fan the flames of my love for Seattle.

• so many conversations with friends about work has convinced me that conan o'brien was right all along.

• makeup psa: get this product for your face right now. it makes everything prettier. (pretti-ER because you are pretty already)

• tonight i will dine with friends on lobster!

• this rain jacket has changed my life (on sale, of course). did you know it is possible to walk through a rainstorm without an umbrella and stay dry? i do now!

• it would please me immensely if you read some of my work at the Bread Blog.

missing these ladies today

a belated post: new york

these photos are long overdue. truth be told, my life has been a little hectic these days while trying to get settled into my new job. It's like getting a new pair of shoes: really uncomfortable at first, but exciting, takes a while to get used to, etc. i've almost broken in my new job, so i'm getting there folks. soon, everything will be hunky dory, but until then, the posts might be sporadic.

labor day weekend was spent in new york -- we planned on going to the us open, but that actually didn't work out (sad!). here's some of what we did instead :)

ate a lot of awesome gelato! at this place,
each flavor is a flower petal, and you can
get as many petals as you want!

visited the freedom tower

ate delicious soup dumplings!

went to the beach

ate pizza and chicken parmesan subs by the sea :)

Peace

Peace is not the product of terror or fear.
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.
Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all
to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity.
It is right and it is duty. 

-Oscar Romero

fire island feet

chris and i went to fire island in new york this past weekend. it was just for a few hours, but it was a lot of fun. being from california, i don't have much experience with east coast beaches. the sand was crazy soft, much softer than i can ever remember california beaches having, so i liked to dig my feet into the sand a lot. here's video proving this fact.

(susan, don't watch!) (<-- my friend susan is disgusted by feet)

best part of the video is at 0:09

gaby moreno

Friday Fun: Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Rings. Animals.

Lots of fun stuff for you this Friday. Hope you enjoy :)

• Are you a manic pixie dreamgirl?

• Just received these beautiful rings from elephantine. Love them! (Uno, which one do you want? silver or gold? i got them as sister rings!)

• Really fascinating essay written by a chinese-american woman about falling for a white guy.

• Remember my obsession with Mr. Bittman? Apparently he likes me back!

• Ever wonder where the Windows XP wallpaper comes from? (HT: Chris)

• Got 2 weddings coming up ... thinking of going to both with a messy chignon.

• TED Talk: education ruins creativity. Not sure I agree, quite frankly.

• How did animals at the national zoo react to the earthquake last week in D.C.? (The best is the account of the pandas: "According to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake.")

• Speaking of hair, the big cut is coming up soon, my friends! I think I'm leaning this way.

grant and I say have a good weekend!

sara bareilles

i'd never gotten too excited by sara bareilles before, but this single is so lush, substantial, heartbreaking. i'm going to have to get her new record. enjoy!

Basket Case --- Sara Bareilles by justatitch

feisty feistyness

the new album drops Oct. 4! here's the first single, "how come you never go there."

How Come You Never Go There by Feist