I reword this song “you don’t mess with around with Jen” and listen to it on Mondays to get pumped for the week ahead. It’s also fun and catchy and I like that. Good for morale. Continue Reading
i love it!
Dear RefurbDepot.com,
I really enjoyed the deal you gave me on my Canon SD 1000 two and a half years ago. Such a great little machine and such a great price.
Even though I was bummed that it finally kicked the bucket after getting wet on the way to the Prince concert, I knew you would have my back. I checked your prices. They hadn’t budged from the 2009 prices proving what I knew: that the Canon SD 1000 is a solid companion of a digital camera.
I added it to my shopping cart. I snap photos all day long–I can’t be without a camera for long. “Check out”, I tell your website, “check out.” Nothing happens. Again and again. Continue Reading
Tina Tamale – a woman after my own heart
I love (loooove) parties, and once in awhile I meet a party that makes me envious. I met one last November and another one this past Saturday.
Tina Tamale throws herself a big ass birthday party every year. Now, if that wasn’t enough to make us automatically bff (Jenfest anyone?), the name Tina Tamale is actually her alter ego/brand. I’ve always wanted an alter ego, but never had the inspiration to enact one. (Though perhaps my nom de plume Susiejster worked for awhile…)
This year, Tina’s birthday party was held at the gorgeous Disco Volante, and–the part that makes me the most envious–the party was planned by someone who wasn’t her! She just said, I want to dress up and dance to good music. Continue Reading
Terminally Ambivalent Over Howl
We watched Howl last night, the feature film with John Hamm and James Franco about Allen Ginsberg’s controversial poem Howl.
It was okay. James Franco was a fairly convincing Ginsberg, and I thought his reading of Howl was pretty good though a fellow viewer felt it got off to a terrible start.
The movie was punctuated with animation illustrating the poem. The trouble with animating a poem, I realized as I watched, is that it takes a lot of interpretation to get to the point of turning a poem into images. Watching someone’s visual interpretation unfortunately detracts from one’s own experience of interpreting the poem.
The animation struck me as lacking a cohesive vision, though some parts were terribly beautiful and haunting. It was done by an animation house, and I felt that whoever was in charge of all the different animators was perhaps not providing strong enough leadership. The style kept morphing, and though that can be done well, in this case it really distracted from the overall experience. The animation of the poem would have been better as a prequel to the movie rather than being continually interrupted by live action.
On the bright side, the poem really got me appreciating one of my all-time favorite pieces of animation, the music video for Terminally Ambivalent Over You from the Real Tuesday Weld. Animated by Alex Budovsky whose work is continually inspiring, it is the perfect mix of awesome song and awesome animation.
Happy Birthday David Bowie
Yesterday was David Bowie’s birthday. My friend Andrea alerted me to the fact on Facebook, making me so happy (for the millionth time) to have the friends that I have and, it has to be said, social networking. I might never have known if it wasn’t for her! Now, of course, I have his birthday as a repeating event on my Google calendar so I’ll never miss it again.
2010 was a year of nothing but Bowie for me. That’s not true, of course, I listened to a lot of Willie Nelson, Roxy Music, Lee Hazelwood, Mountain Goats and Levon Helm (to name a few), but I really and truly spent the year submerged in David Bowie. I read about this life, his rise to stardom. As we listened to his album Last Dance last night, I realized that it’s more than just a love for his music that makes me love him.
It’s the drama that he so beautifully imparts in every word he says. It’s the way he stopped at nothing to be the success that he became. It’s the way he threw his drink in the face of social norms and wore make up. Men should totally be allowed to wear make up, in my opinion. Encouraged even. And he does it so beautifully, sometimes donning almost a costume, sometimes just the perfect amount of silver eye shadow. An inspiration.
It’s the sincerity of each line of every song. It’s the way he so beautifully and succinctly captures the joy and terror of real life, and emerges optimistic. It’s the way that even if his lyrics make no sense to me, the feeling does. The feeling always does. Yes, David Bowie, I think, yes.
Quick and Easy Gift Tags
Wrapping presents is one of my favorite activities.
I went to my boyfriend’s Christmas last year for the first time ever, and noticed that the tradition in his family is unadorned, simple wrapping jobs–not the masterpieces of curling ribbon and contrasting wrapping papers of my parents’ Christmas.
This year I weighed my options: simplify my wrapping to fit in, or own my family’s tradition. It was an easy choice.
While wrapping I ran into the problem of needing gift tags. I considered various options, and decided to take the easiest route: fold a piece of wrapping paper in half, and write the message inside. Not only is it quick and easy and cheap, but it’s a great way to use the little bits that you wind up throwing away. Continue Reading
Cold Snaps Conquer Colds!
Cold Snaps (actually called Cold Snap) are an herbal supplement composed of 20 herbs to restore righteous chi. I don’t know what the herbs are or how it works, but I do know that it does. I just had to make a video and tell you all about it — especially when Julia came over with a cold.
Buy Cold Snap now at Amazon!
What helps with your cold? Continue Reading
I looove my Lorac Sparkle Eye Pencil!
I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic Thanksgiving for Orphans party my friend Madeleine threw a couple weeks ago, and I met some awesome ladies who wanted to know about my eyeliner. What better way to tell you about it than in a video? When you’re ready, get your LORAC Sparkle Pencil Eye Shadow/Liner here!
Tupperware gets rave reviews, makes great gifts!
Julia Lowenthal says, “My classmates are obsessed with my sandwich keeper! And so am I!”
JenMom says, “I’ve had Tupperware for longer than [Jen’s] been alive, and it’s still going strong. Thirty-five years and it’s still going strong.” Continue Reading
