on: the girl

About a Girl: New Shoes

on: the girl

“hello new shoes, bye bye blues.”
– paolo nutini, “new shoes”

So many exciting things to write about this week! There’s been a lot going on in my life – though the weather in Evanston is still pretty treacherous (if warm) – and a lot of joy and thrills, but I’m making an actual effort to regularly blog this time around.

Some tidbits on me/life in general:

  • Red Sox sweep their series against the Yankees earlier this week! And the Bravesare holding strong at just above .500, especially after a win tonight against the Phillies. Gotta love that sort of success, even if the Phillies are whooping us in the NL East.

    San Francisco, CA

  • I found out Wednesday I will be placed in beautiful San Francisco, California, for my JR this fall! I’ll be working at San Francisco magazine for three months beginning in mid-September, and I’m truly thrilled to begin. There’s so much to do in SF, and I’m hoping to hit up AT&T Park, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (y’know, the one at the Embarcadero), Haight, the sea lions, etc. It’s surely going to be a whirlwind experience, and I’ll be damned if I waste a single second of it.
  • I’ve become a serious fashionista in the last few weeks or so, cleaning my closet a bit (throwing out some still-gross pukey flats and donating some beloved and still fashionable Gap T-shirts) and repopulating it with some pretty exceptional (if secondhand) designer threads. I’ve picked up a little Vera Neumann, some Kate Spade and, of course, Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson. I’ve been doing a good bit of clearance rack diving at Anthropologie, Gap, J. Crew and even Macy’s, where I picked up a gorgeous pair of navy Marc Fisher pumps. I’ve given my wallet a brand new policy – I only purchase clothes which I will want to wear to the office in the future. That means no more Threadless tees, no matter how hilarious, and a depleted Converse collection, though I like to believe that I can still wear Chuck Taylors in the real world. All in all, I think I’m really becoming a clothes horse – and I love it.
  • I chopped off all of my hair. Reinvention. It hasn’t been this short since…well, ever.
  • It’s formal season here at Northwestern, and, though I’ve all but removed myself from my chapter to claim allegiance to a particular fraternity, I attended both my sorority formal and my favorite fraternity’s formal this weekend. The latter was at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the 66th floor, and it was a truly gorgeous venue. I had a blast, and the view was absolutely exceptional. I do love college, Asher.
  • Northwestern’s Dillo Day is next weekend. B.O.B. was announced as the night headliner months ago, while both the New Pornographers  and Chiddy Bang were announced last week as the early and late afternoon performers.

    The Mighty Ducks' Charlie Conway

  • And, finally, my brand new (birthday) bicycle is here and built and totally perfect. It’s a smokin’ hot Bianchi hybrid, and I just want to keep it in my bed and cherish it always. It’s got a built-in bike light in the seat and a sweet streamlined style. I’m calling in Charlie Conway after my reignited passion for the Mighty Ducks trilogy. I’m rewatching D2 as I type this, and I’d forgotten how great (slash terrible slash slightly racist slash totally jingoistic) this film is. But I seriously do love this movie. All of ’em. Even 3.

    The Bianchi Milano Citta, my brand new baby

  • I took my bike for a nice ride along the lake tonight. There was a storm a-brewin’, and it was a bit eerie. The waves were lapping, and there were birds flying really low at the shore. It was indescribably beautiful.

Okay, that was a heck of a lot. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new mix (I promise!), and some other fun stuff, so check back then. Happy living!

xoxococo

About a Girl: Juggling

on: the girl

This may be a post far more worthy for, say, The Girl With the Hasidic Strap, but there’s a definite air of Dunce Cap here, too. Regardless, I’ll make it short.

Image courtesy of devianart

I’m starting to feel like myself again. Y’know, the old me? The one-time popular girl, the rock n’ roll aficionado, the brazen smarty-pants. It’s all starting to feel, I don’t know, natural again. The interview today helped, certainly, the one with a certain music journalist and amateur documentarian (or professional drinker – it’s anyone’s call) that will hopefully go up here late this week or early next. And it was more, too. It was driving along wet suburban streets with the radio blasting, hand to wheel, Atlanta all steamy from early evening rainstorms. And it was this song, too, a little.


Shawn Mullins, “Lullabye”

This may not seem like a terribly momentous occasion, feeling like I used to. But it is. It’s something big and real and, well, extraordinary.

Happy listening.

kind observations on the girl (1-5)

on: the girl

I like to think I’m an interesting individual, and, in an effort to introduce me a bit more, I present five kind observations on the girl.

Observations 1-5:

I use too much toilet paper.

This ought to be self-explanatory, and any explanation further may be a bit too … graphic for publication on this site. But, seriously – I am a teepee sheet waster. I’m single-handedly destroying the environment. Whoops.

(editor’s note – this has nothing to do with any of my bathroom habits. it’s just a statement that I am a non-essential toilet paper consumer.)

I have a visceral reaction to art.

Particularly, it seems, television (and music, but television provides more concrete examples). “Bones” is perhaps the best example of this. I love and adore this T.V. series and each of its characters, and I appreciate the use of scientific evidence to solve crimes. More importantly, though, I am a ‘shipper. I watch, week in and week out, for the will-they-won’t-they romantic tension between primary characters Booth and Brennan. The most recent episode of the series, “The Parts in the Sum of the Whole,” aired April 8 and featured an earth shattering (and heartwrenching)  conclusion that left ‘shippers, like me, distressed.

I respond to the criminal aspect of the show in a normal manner, I expect, for the show’s audience. I, in fact, often find myself repulsed by the physicality of the program, but I respond in an intense but simplistic emotional manner. I want to give Booth and Bones their happily ever after more than I want them, even, to solve these homicide cases. Sure, it’s a lame and infantile way to approach the viewing of good primetime television, but I’m affected by “Bones” (and similar programs) viscerally.

I love commercials with dogs.

I become unnervingly giddy when a dog appears in a television commercial, or even in the 30 second ads before and during Hulu viewings. I’m sure it’s quite the sight for anyone located in the vicinity – I become like a small child, skirmish and highly excitable. Check out these neat videos of dogs being all adorable on the small screen!

Cesar Dog Food

Iams Dog Food

I still like television shows that “jumped the shark.”

I watch “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons” – still.

“The Simpsons” is consistently funny to me, and there were two episodes in seasons 20 and 21 which I I highly recommend. “Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D’oh” and “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed” are two remarkably hilarious episodes. “The Simpsons” may not fulfill the fantasies of the real-life culture arbiters (see: Comic Book Guy in reality),  but the series still brings me untold laughter.

And “Saturday Night Live” has hit its stride again in recent seasons with strong host-musical guest pairs. My favorites in this season include Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Dave Matthews Band; James Franco/Muse; Zach Galifianakis/Vampire Weekend; and, most recently, Tina Fey/Justin Bieber. Sure, there have been missteps (the awful Sigourney Weaver/Ting Tings and Taylor Lautner/Bon Jovi episodes truly stand out), but the series still has its funny sketches and talented cast members. There may be no Gildas or Belushis, but Samberg, Hader and Wiig are strong comedic forces.

For examples of humorous skits, watch “The Mellow Show” with host Joseph Gordon-Levitt and musical guest Dave Matthews (35.7), or check out this gem of script from boytoy musical guest Justin Bieber (35.18) in a sketch called “Teacher.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.
“Let us go, jump on my skateboard, eat some cake, oh… we’ll check out Filene’s and get chunky jewelry at Chico’s, I’ll buy you a panini and some Spanx to make you teeny…”

I’m nostalgic. For everything.

My Facebook profile photo is Stick Stickly. And I wrote a final paper last quarter on “Rocko’s Modern Life.” I also occasionally scour the Internet for quasi-dangerous Sky Dancers. So, yes. I’m nostalgic for my childhood and generations prior (“Chico and the Man” and “Charles in Charge”).

Keep checking in for more bizarre-o factoids on The Girl. Or not.

about me.

on: the girl

Dear blogosphere (particularly the students of Criticism in the Digital Age),

This is my second WordPress blog (see the first one, “The Girl With the Hasidic Strap” here), and it’s the purpose, primarily, of this one to compile all of my deepest musings on popular culture.

I am fascinated by popular culture. From the most inane to the highest brow, I hoover all kinds’a culture phenomena. I read “McSweeney’s” and “The National Enquirer,” and my iTunes runs the gamut from Miley to Bon Iver (yummy) – the buck, though, stops at Justin Bieber. I adore Zooey Deschanel for all the right reasons and Zac Efron for all the wrong. I’m a music connoisseur and an obnoxious font of useless musical knowledge, and I plan to write about all this and more here.

The box at the top right is a dropdown menu which can direct you to my posts, divided by subject matter (this is subject to change).

Comments are greatly appreciated.

For links to published clips and personal musings, visit The Girl With the Hasidic Strap, as mentioned previously.

Best,
The Girl