When I was in New York I got to visit my friends Shannon and James, who moved to that big ole town a few months ago. They told me that on their first night they were standing outside their new apartment.. admiring the New York skyline.. and looking for what they believed to be fireworks.. (I´m sure you can tell where this is going) The clerk came out and told them they should probably go inside as those recent noises were in fact gunshots. A traditional welcome to NY...
On my first day/ night in Oaxaca I heard what I believed to be gunshots.. they seemed far from me so I wasn´t worried. So continues all through the next night and the next.. and guess what they weren´t gunshots, but FIREWORKS!!
Every night there is one celebration or another.. and from what I can tell every hombre and his perro has a pyrotechnics licence.. I love that I experienced the contrast first-night-loud-noise scenario!! Viva Mexico!!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Hola desde bonita Mexico!!
Here I am! I did not get kidnapped or mugged.. I made it through Mexico City Airport unscathed, got a transfer flight on the smallest plane they could find and found my way to my little home in the city of Oaxaca.. Phew! It was all very exciting and a little scary until I was greeted by my Oaxacan Mama and Grandmama. When I walked into the living room and saw a table full of crocheting I knew that the Mexican gods had taken pity on me!!
My Grandma is the cutest thing I have seen and perhaps my favourite new person so far.. she is 92! holds my hand when she talks to me, refers to me exclusively as bonita, cooks traditional Mexican meals con mucho chili, and the only english she knows is "thankyouverymuch" an Elvis reference!
The city is so beautiful y muy antiqua.. there is arte EVERYWHERE. As Dias del los muertos is in two weeks there are skeletons and altars popping up as far as the eye can see..
I must say hasta pronto as I am popping off to el mercado..
My Grandma is the cutest thing I have seen and perhaps my favourite new person so far.. she is 92! holds my hand when she talks to me, refers to me exclusively as bonita, cooks traditional Mexican meals con mucho chili, and the only english she knows is "thankyouverymuch" an Elvis reference!
The city is so beautiful y muy antiqua.. there is arte EVERYWHERE. As Dias del los muertos is in two weeks there are skeletons and altars popping up as far as the eye can see..
I must say hasta pronto as I am popping off to el mercado..
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Much much fun and much much more
Well well my time in Grand Old New York is drawing to a close - tear - but Arriba Me-hi-co!! As you might have deducted from the few (well one) NY entries.. I have been a busy little beaver.. Where to begin? Here I go in non chronological order..
Coney Island, it was deserted and creepy and like HEAVEN. With old peely hand painted signs everywhere, covered in icecreams, clowns and ghouls. Honourable mention.. Shoot The Freak.. a game which boasts a 'live target'? And almost as good as Coney Island itself.. on the return train trip a group of school kids got on and began a dance war!! They were displaying some of the most crazy, amazing moves I have seen in some time. Hoorah! Long live subway dance-offs!!
Flea Markets!! Oh dear the flea markets here are excruciating (not quite as excruciating as trying to get a good coffee though). I found my fair share of treasures including a 1920's linen pantaloon - bathing suit, a 1895 copy of Aesop's Fables filled with beautiful illustrations, more 'gald' costume jewelery than I care to mention.. AND vintage, traditional black and white Chanel heels for $30..
Galleries and museums.. there are so many of all shapes and sizes.. Big big Guggenheim lit up by projection art at night, four blocks in Chelsea containing more than a hundred little galleries, I had my Goldy Locks moment with the American Folk Art Museum.. just right. A most beautiful collection of folky, crafty wonders and the Henry Darger illustrations blew my tiny mind.. recluse janitor who spent his life working on a 15145 page illustrated novel called.. The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.. all of this beauty was discovered locked up in his apartment after he died!
Piano accompanied Karaoke.. so fun! I had a little musical moment with Angel of the Morning.. and some random middle aged man told me that I sounded like Nico and that he would pay me to sing White Rabbit? Bizarro.. I politely declined and headed back to my favourite dive bar to watch the metal heads headbanging to Slayer by the juke box. Double Hoorah!!
Sugar skulls!! As you surely know I am making my pilgrimage to Mexico for Dias del los Muertos, 3 days of folk art filled celebration for loved ones who are in the grave.. Skeletons, flowers and love hearts.. Oh my! And today I had those three elements immortalised in my skin.. in other words I got a friggin mother of a tattoo full of sugar skulls, roses and love hearts. The first few hours have been swell and I'm sure we will be very happy together...
Coney Island, it was deserted and creepy and like HEAVEN. With old peely hand painted signs everywhere, covered in icecreams, clowns and ghouls. Honourable mention.. Shoot The Freak.. a game which boasts a 'live target'? And almost as good as Coney Island itself.. on the return train trip a group of school kids got on and began a dance war!! They were displaying some of the most crazy, amazing moves I have seen in some time. Hoorah! Long live subway dance-offs!!
Flea Markets!! Oh dear the flea markets here are excruciating (not quite as excruciating as trying to get a good coffee though). I found my fair share of treasures including a 1920's linen pantaloon - bathing suit, a 1895 copy of Aesop's Fables filled with beautiful illustrations, more 'gald' costume jewelery than I care to mention.. AND vintage, traditional black and white Chanel heels for $30..
Galleries and museums.. there are so many of all shapes and sizes.. Big big Guggenheim lit up by projection art at night, four blocks in Chelsea containing more than a hundred little galleries, I had my Goldy Locks moment with the American Folk Art Museum.. just right. A most beautiful collection of folky, crafty wonders and the Henry Darger illustrations blew my tiny mind.. recluse janitor who spent his life working on a 15145 page illustrated novel called.. The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.. all of this beauty was discovered locked up in his apartment after he died!
Piano accompanied Karaoke.. so fun! I had a little musical moment with Angel of the Morning.. and some random middle aged man told me that I sounded like Nico and that he would pay me to sing White Rabbit? Bizarro.. I politely declined and headed back to my favourite dive bar to watch the metal heads headbanging to Slayer by the juke box. Double Hoorah!!
Sugar skulls!! As you surely know I am making my pilgrimage to Mexico for Dias del los Muertos, 3 days of folk art filled celebration for loved ones who are in the grave.. Skeletons, flowers and love hearts.. Oh my! And today I had those three elements immortalised in my skin.. in other words I got a friggin mother of a tattoo full of sugar skulls, roses and love hearts. The first few hours have been swell and I'm sure we will be very happy together...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
New York! New York!
Well I've been munching on the big apple for about a week now.. as well as munching on huge slices of pizza, cup cakes, brownies, bagels, perogis (delicious polish dumplings), pumpkin pie, borscht, hot dogs.. the list goes on! And luckily to counter balance all of the face stuffing I have also been walking, walking, walking...
For hours every day I have been roaming the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn.. I found, and sat on, the Huxtable stoop - a small, satisfying accomplishment.. did some high kicks on Broadway & 42nd Street - at the request of my Mama Bette xx.. lounged around Central Park and fell in love with a squirrel.. found vintage 1930's Valentines Day cards.. tried to stalk Donald Trump - well just went up the escalators in Trump Tower as far as I could go.. had too many cups of BAD coffee for one girl.. and finally sniffed out a few little treasures that serve good coffee - with cup cake accompaniment!
... and my FAVOURITE FAVOURITE FAVOURITE discovery of all is the cages in Washington Square.. Heck yes!! Cages full of boys from the hood playing basketball and talking trash.. I heard some one today say 'who's got the voodoo'.. and ' you should play more like you were in a tournament and less like you were in jail'.. the atmosphere is amazing, some of the guys look like they have been going there every day since 1974.. Love it! I'm going to stand at that chicken wire fence as many times as I can before I leave..
Oh also, the neighbourhoods in Brooklyn are amazing.. In Williamsburg - my hood - there are bizarre, kitsch shrines at every turn.. ceramic doves and eagles.. plastic flowers and foliage.. and usually incorporating religious icons or soft toys or both. Today I passed a whole vacant lot filled with a soft toy display - a life-sized gorilla riding a push bike?! Apparently it changes every couple of weeks..
Phew!! Next stop for me.. the deserted Coney Island.. and stay tuned for tales from the land of the Hasidic Jews..
Love to you my precious peeps xxx
For hours every day I have been roaming the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn.. I found, and sat on, the Huxtable stoop - a small, satisfying accomplishment.. did some high kicks on Broadway & 42nd Street - at the request of my Mama Bette xx.. lounged around Central Park and fell in love with a squirrel.. found vintage 1930's Valentines Day cards.. tried to stalk Donald Trump - well just went up the escalators in Trump Tower as far as I could go.. had too many cups of BAD coffee for one girl.. and finally sniffed out a few little treasures that serve good coffee - with cup cake accompaniment!
... and my FAVOURITE FAVOURITE FAVOURITE discovery of all is the cages in Washington Square.. Heck yes!! Cages full of boys from the hood playing basketball and talking trash.. I heard some one today say 'who's got the voodoo'.. and ' you should play more like you were in a tournament and less like you were in jail'.. the atmosphere is amazing, some of the guys look like they have been going there every day since 1974.. Love it! I'm going to stand at that chicken wire fence as many times as I can before I leave..
Oh also, the neighbourhoods in Brooklyn are amazing.. In Williamsburg - my hood - there are bizarre, kitsch shrines at every turn.. ceramic doves and eagles.. plastic flowers and foliage.. and usually incorporating religious icons or soft toys or both. Today I passed a whole vacant lot filled with a soft toy display - a life-sized gorilla riding a push bike?! Apparently it changes every couple of weeks..
Phew!! Next stop for me.. the deserted Coney Island.. and stay tuned for tales from the land of the Hasidic Jews..
Love to you my precious peeps xxx
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