a dark day

someone recently quoted one of those empty, if a little frightening statistics to me, saying, "did you know that 51% of the women in the world are single?" i was unconvinced. what does it mean, this 51%? does that count children? the elderly? lesbians in relationships? i wanted to know more. then i forgot all about it. then my friend lis brought me this map and i'll never be the same.
this map of the US from national geographic is based on US census data. my questions about the age and sexual orientation included in the data remain unanswered, but just take a looksee. the big orange dots represent areas where there are more single women than men. the bigger the dot, the bigger the difference in numbers of single men and women. (Blue dots are places with more single men)
a closer look reveals that the "Largest female plurality" exists in the NYC area with single women outnumbering single men by 185,000. in a city of what, 8 million?, maybe that shouldn't be so startling...but it sure sounds bleak to me. i do see some nice blue dots around my homestate...

andrew bird

andres and i saw andrew bird play last night at bowery ballroom. it was so amazing. he played mostly new stuff from his upcoming album, but the three old songs he played were some of my favorites: glass figurine, nervous tic motion of the head to the left, & tables and chairs. if his new cd is anything like his show, we're in for a treat come march. dres got a couple of good pictures and even a video, which i'll share soon.

best christmas break ever

it's back to school for me. before i drop off the face of the earth, here's an update of my christmas break. starting with, um, eggs.
i love hard boiled eggs and these were especially beautiful. most people know that i have the unfortunate and revolting habit of carrying one around with me and forgetting i have it in my bag for a few days.

andres picked up some ugly, but good quality chairs for our dining area. we decided to recover them with some nicer looking fabric. i marked off the measurements and cut the fabric.

andres did... everything else.

voila! much better. i forgot to take a "before" shot, but just trust me on this one.

i went and saw the brakemen play downtown. those loveable whittets were there.

left to right: brakemen frontman loren francis, nate (of salazar, playing this sat. at baggott inn) and his wife raquel hanging after the show

this was the best shot i could get of the concert. at least you can see loren's crazy striped pants

this adorable kitten was in the petshop window that i love. she looks just like my family's cat, oscar!

i made christmas cookies after the christmas craziness was over, of course. these chocolate hazelnut shortbread cookies are THE BEST.

these are a close second.

jim beam and cool runnings. good times.

back in new york

when i got back in the city christmas decorations were still up, which made me happy. at 5th & 57th there's a big light-up star hanging in the middle of the intersection. it's pretty amazing to see. my friend megan came to town for a visit and we walked around the city all day. it was the most crowded i'd ever seen it. it was nice to come home to quiet little astoria and have a little breathing space.
close up

this merits conversation

even though when i was in high school my parents found pot in my bedroom and took me to the sonic drive-in WHILE it was open (i'm fairly certian we had raspberry-lime rickeys) and lectured me about the dangers of drugs, somehow i've managed to develop a love and appreciation for the establishment that transcends blatant parental incompetence and developmental trauma. i think "the sonic" is one of those places, much like chik fil'a (seriously, that's how it's spelled?), where absence TRULY makes the heart grow fonder. the more i can't have it, the more i love it. let's go ahead and throw arby's in there as well (don't worry arby's...you'll get your post someday). so here's how it went down at sonic:
the sign. it beckons. i did not try their new strawberry cheesecake bites, however. cheesecake is one of the few foods i kind of hate. (others: raisins and...i don't know what else.)

mary orders so authoritatively!

the obligatory corn dog. you ALWAYS order a corn dog at sonic.

i went out on a limb and ordered something new (to me) on the menu. i think it was called the "chili frito wrap". true to its name, it was filled with: 1) chili, and 2) fritos.

frito-licious!

a trip to sonic isn't complete without tots!

part two! mostly vertical christmas.

oh man. i think sweet potatoes might be my favorite winston-salem restaurant spot. SO GOOD. i had trout stuffed with crab meat, wrapped in bacon, all that goodness. side of fried okra and some spicy collards, mashed potatoes... come on. wrapped in bacon?! wrapped in bacon! that's all i really ask of any main course.

how could i forget to include this horizontal picture? a night out with two johns. actually there were three johns, the third isn't in this shot. the guy on the left is in a pretty cool band. check it out and if you're one of those "myspace" people, make a new friend! everybody wins! good music. good friends. good times.

the three pizzas we ate at the most rockingest awesome new pizza joint in all of NC.

i got a new driver's license! (note 16 year old beth in picture). we celebrated at sonic, conveniently located next door to the DMV. to be chronicled later, it deserves its own post.

seriously? no, seriously?

these figurines played a crucial role in my childhood. every visit to grandma and grandpa griff's always involved mary and i playing with these animals while the grownups talked about boring stuff. usually the plotline went something like this: other animals - "let's play". snooty goose - "no, i am so stuck up. i am too snobby to hang out with you. see how my nose is in the air? how can i play any other part?" other animals - "we'll play by ourselves". goose - "i am so lonely". other animals - "you can play with us". happy ending, roll credits, etc. etc.

at grandma and grandpa griff's house we drink beer out of a glass!

mary, playing with her food.

a rare smile from the patriarch!

my resolution

happy new year, everyone! it's truly one of my favorite holidays. a lot of champagne and kissing followed by a day devoted to hopeful thinking and lazing about. who doesn't like that? so far i'm kicking off 2007 by sitting in bed watching movies and reading, which is GREAT. but it's time to get busy with my resolution: more and better blogging. get ready for a bunch of pictures.

christmas was in north carolina. i made sure to get my sonic fix. message ingrid left when i didn't answer the phone: "oh you are knee-deep in sonic right now. i know it. you're cheeks are packed full and one is bigger than the other. i wish i was there." she was right.

mary and i had white russians. yum.

maggie: still fat and annoying. but a little bit cute.

mom and dad hard at work on the traditional christmas puzzle.

a visit to grandma and grandpa griff in chapel hill. we gave them our old dog, sadie, several years ago. she loves living at carol woods.

christmas dinner at our grandparents' dining hall is actually pretty decent. lobster tails, filet, mashed potatoes...

before i left i spent some quality time with my roommate catching up on season 2 of lost and stuffing our face with mexican food. something was cracking us up, a burp or something? i don't remember, but it must have been HILARIOUS. i was shaking with laughter when i took this one.

a less sunny time of my life: exams. one night i was studying and there was so much yelling and whooping in the street, which is usually pretty quiet (yeah, astoria!). it was 9 or so on a sunday night, but it sounded exactly like a field trip was going on out there. sure enough, i went to the window and there were a bunch of kids loading onto a bus. ?

beverly, ma has nancy st. laurent, but astoria has jose 2000, home of the best fade.

on the left we have the "magic chef". worst oven ever. one day, after many weeks of false promises i found a strange box outside of our door... the new oven! there she is, on the right. what a beaut. my biscuits come out just right!

the first day after finals i had such a great day. the perfect weather made it even better. i started the day out with a morning movie, the science of sleep. then i walked around soho and had a celebrity sighting. some new yorkers find nothing awesome about seeing famous people, but they're crazy. it's always fun. i went and saw a weird installation, a loft filled with dirt. i expected more of an earthy smell, but it just smelled like a gross basement. BO-ring. i shopped. i went to see john currin's new show at gagosian and it was amazing. provocative and american. then i went to andres's office party, which was so fun. i later found out i had flirted with the former chairman of viacom. best first day of vacation ever. oh yeah, and i passed this weird little dog park where there were a ton of dogs playing. it was hard to take a good picture because they were running everywhere!

that's all the news i can post today until i figure out how to flip vertical photos properly.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

our super, jose, put up TONS of lights in the lobby and outside on the front of our building. i got quite the shock when i stepped out of the elevator and saw all this cheer strewn around. i've heard some people poking fun at jose's work, but i happen to like it. coming up soon i'll post some good pictures of the lights downtown around 5th avenue... a sight to see, but they've got nothing on jose.

andres won't admit it, but he likes it, too. see how it made him dance?