Wristbands Are Making A Comeback? Why, dear God, why?!

I’ve noticed that wristbands--not leather gauntlets a la Judas Priest, though those are pretty bad too--but wristbands (the ones that are supposed to be worn when working out or running or whatever) are making a comeback, and I can’t help but ask why? I’ve noticed them in lots of places--on male models, 12 year old boys, and cheesy pseudo 80s/emo bands (I think the singer or guitarist from Taking Back My Chemical All-American Fall-out At the Disco or something wears them). Who said wristbands are cool? Can I ask those same people if they’ve ever seen the video for “Let’s Get Physical” from Olivia-Newton John--only the most wristband-laden video ever made? I cannot fathom how someone could look at a wristband and think to themselves, “Gee, this is a nifty accessory, I think I’ll put it on and sport it like it’s 1983!” Wristbands are not cool. They have never been cool. They made an appearance in the 80s, God help us all, and for some reason, people have been thinking that 80s fashion was a good idea again. I know that these people that made this decision never actually wore the bad 80s fashion themselves, or they wouldn’t keep trying to shove it down our throats now. I mean, come on--leggings? Rubber bracelets? Bubble-skirts??? Next thing you know, girls are going to be wearing those annoying chain-link plastic necklaces and attaching large tacky plastic charms that look like a lipstick or a high-heeled shoe and guys are going to bust out the Skidz. And if that is going to happen, well will someone just shoot me now, please? I don’t think I can live through another decade of that.

So, if you really care about your loved ones, friends, coworkers, hell, even someone you find mildly interesting or entertaining, beseech them to abandon their wristbands, discard the leggings, banish all neon clothing in sight--because God help them (and you, for having to look at the atrocities) the pictures they take today will come back to haunt them later in life.

Best Weekend Ever...

A rundown of this past Memorial Day weekend:
Friday: X-men in the afternoon (summer Fridays started! Whoo-hoo!); Dinner at Press in Park Slope
Saturday: Tanger Outlets in Riverhead, Long Island; Trader Joe's in Plainview; Yummy Greek food for dinner; Saw Next Tribe at Knitting Factory and read a poem with them
Sunday: Six Flags Great Adventure baby! Whoo-hoo!
Monday: Sleepy day...I washed our apartment windows, we bought a little mini-grill and BBQ'd on the fire escape
You don't get a better Memorial Day weekend without going away :-)

Low-flying planes...

The Memorial Day weekend is always a big deal in NYC--and as has been shown on Sex and the City episodes, Fleet Week means the entire city is filled with young U.S. officers--mostly from the Navy, but you see a few from the Army, National Guard, Coast Guard, etc. It's disturbing to me. First and foremost because this morning I completely forgot it was Fleet Week and there are lots and lots of low-flying planes and helicopters in the area. The first one I heard made my stomach drop, especially when it was followed by the sounds of sirens. Then there was another. And another. Finally it dawned on me that the city wasn't under attack by anyone more than a bunch of horny military men, and my anxiety went away. But still--it's disturbing. I hate talking about it, hate even bringing it up, but 9/11 completely changed the world for me and millions of other people. I always keep 2 pairs of comfortable shoes at my job now--one for winter, one for summer--just in case I have to ever make a long walk home to Brooklyn, I'm prepared with shoes other than the stilletos I'm usually in. Brad and I have an "emergency meeting spot"; in case of disaster, we know to go there, but first try to get in touch with one another via land lines and if that doesn't work, to do our best to get in touch with our mothers who are in the boroughs. I always carry cash on me--because lets face it, if you can't get to a cash machine, what are you going to do?

While Brad and I sat in the movie theater last week, waiting for The DaVinci Code to come on screen, we saw the preview for the movie World Trade Center. The reaction was instant and felt by the entire audience. You could already tell the movie was going to do an excellent job at portraying the visual chaos we all went through on 9/11/01. For me though--and for most New Yorkers I've spoken to about this--it's still too soon. Too soon to make those horrible moments of pure panic, terror, and fear a mere entertainment. I know that film is an art form, and people are free to express their views however they please, and I fully support that--but that doesn't mean I need those images in my head again, or that I have any desire to vicariously live through it all over again.

I remember that day--I was teaching at Brooklyn College when the first plane hit--and when someone came into the adjunct office not long after, I didn't believe them when they said that a plane crashed into the WTC. There was no way that could actually happen, but it did. It did. I took the bus to Kingsborough Community College soon after because I had the first day of classes to think about. I went to my English 93 class (remedial writing) and I had no idea what to say to my students. The students that showed up and I just talked about how we felt--who we were able to get in touch with, why we came to class, what we were feeling. I cried with them that day. It changed me. After that class, I cancelled my next one, and I was able to get in touch with my mother and brother, who picked me up from the Kingsborough campus shortly after. I managed to get in touch with a few of my other friends: Jenn--whose mom worked right down there, Ingrid, Claudia, and Steven, whose Manhattan apartment many people (including Jenn & her mom, thank goodness) managed to get to. My friend Amy came to my house and stayed with me. Amy and I just sat there--watching television, trying to reach people by phone, and crying.

I don't need a movie to help me relive those events. They are with me forever--I couldn't forget them if I wanted to. I think a lot of people feel the way I do, and know that movies will be made, and should be made, and all that. But I also know that it is too soon for me personally, when low-flying planes and sirens still reduce me to a shell-shocked mess.

Open-toed shoes and Kava

Hooray! Today is the first day of open-toed shoes! I busted out the new Michael Kors sandals I bought over the weekend and am sporting those along with my new pedicure. They're adorable.
I've also begun drinking a cup of Kava Stress Relief tea in the morning instead of coffee because, truth be told, I am so stressed from work that all the coffee I've been drinking has been giving me heart palpitations. Not good. So yeah--cute shoes, no stress. That's the name of the game.

Production Editor Work-a-holic

I know that I'm working too hard when extra-large rubberbands are constantly around my wrist and have become a staple fashion accessory. I continually forget to take off my building pass when I get home. This morning, I woke up and noticed that I had a pink page flag (of the Post-it plastic tacky variety) stuck slightly above my belly button and I have no recollection of how it got there. Oy vey.

G is for Goth

My friend Melissa posted about this store Sugar Baby in LA, where their motto is "Rocker Moms Not Soccer Moms." Do I need to tell you that I love this store? My favorite item (thus far) are these adorable G is for Goth t-shirts. I want one right now!

Guns N' Roses! I'm not ashamed!

Yes, I used to be a metal chick. I had the hair, metal t-shirts, ripped jeans, MC jacket and everything. Since the late 80s/early 90s the sun-in has grown out, I switched to designer jeans with holes in them, and I've given the MC away, but I still have metal roots. I don't care. Make fun if you so desire. But I am not ashamed!

A few weeks ago, Brad and I were talking about the possiblity of going to see Guns N' Roses--or the skeleton crew of Axl Rose and Dizzy that has become G N'R--but we couldn't get tickets. None were available anywhere, unless you wanted to pay $200 a seat on e-bay. Since I've seen them before (several times--including giving up my seats for a show during high school because I had to take a damned Regent the next day and my mom wouldn't let me go--grrrrr, I'm still pissed about it), it didn't seem worth it to pay that much for seats especially when it wasn't even the original band--just Axl really.

However, I just got an e-mail from Live Nation (basically, that's ticketmaster) saying that there were tickets available for this Sunday's show (probably because it's Mother's Day) so we're going! We're going! Yes, it's cheesy! And yes, Axl Rose is a money-grubbing fuck! But I don't care! We're going! And Izzy Stradlin is supposed to be playing these shows, so it's more like the original Guns (there have even been rumors circulating that Duff--my first bass-player lust--is playing with them too; I'm not sure I really believe that, but it would be awesome if he was). I'm really glad that I got to see them when it was really the whole band back in '91 at MSG (Soundgarden opened for them) when Steven Adler was still the drummer (is he even alive anymore? I thought he OD'd or something). I also saw them at Nassau and Giant's Statidum when they toured with Faith No More and Metallica, but I'm so excited that we're going to see them. Ahhhh, metal memories! I'm going. I'm going!!!

Displaying my metal roots at our wedding:

Swamped

Too busy to blog...what with me actually having to do a ton of work and all...I'll be back one day...I hope :-(

Die Die My Darling...

I got a hoodie! I got a hoodie! Brad ordered this Misfits hoodie that I saw in Hot Topic a couple of weeks ago and he ordered it for me as a surprise. He is the bestest ever. (Yes, before you say one single thing, I am 30 years old and still occasionally purchase clothing at Hot Topic. I am more punk than you and that will always be true [and if you are into punk you will get the song reference, and if you don't get the song reference and you are contemplating making fun of me because I occasionally shop at Hot Topic then you can really freaking kiss my ass because you're a lame-ass loser who has never heard of decent music unless you got forcefully hit over the head with it and even then your musical taste couldn't have improved all that much because like I said--you're a loser who probably listens to emo ::gag::]). Anyway, I love my hoodie!

Pimp My Snack!

Yet another hilarious blog--and this one is a doosy...

Here's the deal: Just started on April 3rd, 2006 by a couple of guys over in England (they really do have too much time on their hands over there) who basically take a common every day snack like cookies, burgers, and chocolate, and make then huge and pimping! I love this site. They offer pictures of the inspiration of the pimped snack, the things needed to make the pimped snack, the process of making the snack, and then the finished product. Then, to top it all off, you get to rate the pimped snack and leave comments. My favorite (so far) is the giant pop tart. Other things look sort of right, but not exactly and have a little fine tuning that need to be worked on (like the giant toblerone--which was a little too pointy and not wide enough). F-ing hilarious! Love it.

Go fug yourself...

My latest blog obsession...I read this one religiously and constantly kick myself because I didn't think of it first--what with my obsession with fashion and whatnot. I don't, however, usually give a flying fug (to paraphrase the GFY girl's use of the word) about celebrities, except for when the GFY girls are making me laugh about them. Scathingly funny bitches. I love it.

I really need...

A pink razr. And I want to pimp/kitty it out with a white rhinestone kitty on it.

The razr:


The kitty:


Or this one: