Communication

Is probably one of the most important things in life. The people closest to me are the ones I communicate best with and who make the effort to return the favor. Communication includes constructive criticism and I think it's a very healthy thing to hear occasionally. The roomie and I had a discussion the other day about how I basically have no patience anymore. She thinks, and I concur, that it's partly because I often take on the responsibility of planning events voluntarily and then when I get additional questions related to the event I sometimes get annoyed and snappy. I think I've adopted the mentality where anything that takes up additional time (that I don't want to give) is a waste. I think the other part of this is from growing up in NY. The pace is so fast and I love it but after taking a month off to travel where I basically lost all concept of time and then to come back...it takes some adjusting and getting used to. My point is, is that I need the roomie to point it out to me. Now I'm aware of it I'll adjust my temper accordingly. Done and done. Isn't that much easier? I told her that I appreciated her taking the time to talk to me because I don't want to be snappy and I don't want her to live with someone like that. It's a good situation all around and I would dare say that this is why we're so close. We're unafraid to analyze and constructively criticize so it works. I think this mentality has infiltrated other relationships in my life as well so I do get frustrated when others don't communicate as efficiently but everyone's different so what can I do. I hope eventually to get to that level with most people I encounter because I find it the way to be. Just know that I'd rather chat then not and would generally rather be aware of shortcomings so that I can work on them. Capiche? Fabulous! I'm off to enjoy the sunshine. Go forth!

hey yo

so it's officially the first weekend of summer. finally! i wait for this every year and i'm never disappointed. the days of wearing flip flops, minimal clothing, and running around outdoors make me very happy. sometimes i wonder why i don't live in a warmer climate but then i remember what a great city this is. well worth suffering through winter. plus it allows me to indulge my coat fetish. let summer begin!!!!!!!!!

Afterglow

Bebel was unbelieveable and her opener, Federico Aubele wasn't too shabby either. She was soulful and energetic even with a broken ankle that's on the mend. I've got MAJOR respect for people who so obviously love what they do so very much. It makes their energy contagious and I think that (and a cup of hazelnut coffee pre-show) was what kept me wide-eyed til the wee hours. Even though I was desperate to fall asleep since I had to get up at 7am I was excited because I was thinking about some things that I want to do and say in the near future. Even though some of it was impractical, it was still fun to think about. Any way, back to Bebel. I highly recommend her to anyone who reads this that is unfamiliar. She just channels visions of beaches and relaxation, how could that possibly be anything but wonderful? And if you want to meet Brazilians in New York I suggest you go to her show tonight. I didn't feel like I was in NY at all between the Spanish fans there for Federico and the Brazilian contingent. I even ran into my tatoo artist there (Brazilian) who let use cut the line with him. Gramercy Theatre is a nice venue that bears some resemblance to Bowery Ballroom in size. It was a good evening and well worth the restless night.

Bebel Gilberto

Today is Bebel day! Going to see her in concert this eve at Gramercy Theatre. Why do I like her? Because I think of all the things on my "simple pleasures" list whenever I hear her music ie., beach, summer, driving, etc. It's all positive music, or perhaps it's because she generally sings in Portuguese and I have no idea what she's saying but it sounds upbeat and positive. Heh. I just downloaded her latest from iTunes called Momento, I highly recommend it and happily disposed of a bunch of songs on my iPod to make room for it. This whole Nano thing makes me a cutthroat biatch! I just willingly dispose of music to load whatever catches my fancy. I'm so fickle. Fickle I tell you.

I'm also thinking about getting the new Bjork too since I liked some of her older stuff (namely Homogenic and Post) but the more recent albums have been a bit weird just like I couldn't get into Dancer in the Dark. We'll see about that one.

Quote of the Day

From one of my fave shows:

'The more it might hurt.
The more I might die doing it.
The more worth doing it must be.'

- Marlee Matlin as Jody Lerner on the L Word

ready?

aren't you happy i gave you the weekend off? had a football double-header yesterday and honestly, at the risk of sounding dumb, i didn't even know we won the second game until much later. yes. yes. yes. believe it. the last time i paid attention we were down so i kept that mentality through the rest of the game. yes i was actually playing. i just didn't keep track. i actually had two really good games but i like to go out and play and not think about scores because then i just get wrapped up in numbers. again i realize i sound retarded but whatever, we won.

the best part of football is actually how it brought me to yet another amazing group of people. i consider myself ridiculously lucky as far as friends go. unbelieveably so. i've got great friends already and i just keep adding on. i call this group on my cell phone 'the easys' and not for any reason other than that they will do anything at any moment. always game. always ready to go. so just because of that we spend a lot of time together. we travel as a pack these days and it's great fun every time. of course, me being me, i'm always mixing people together which i find (when it works) to not only make the "how do you know each other?" question exponentially harder to answer but more importantly it forms a group of like-minded people who truly enjoy each other's company with minimal drama. am i making sense? probably not. but the next time you see a group of people out and about having a good time on a roof, in a bar, or on the football field it's likely us and please do say hi and join in.

oh and it's not a painless sport. i just sneezed and it hurt. we ain't no sissies!

Storm King

Milee and I went to Storm King Art Center (http://www.stormking.org/) yesterday. It didn't take too long to get there, prob less than 1 hr. Way worth it. I've never been to such a huge outdoor space filled with sculptures large and small. At times I'd look around and be like, "ooh there's another one." It's about 300 acres and it's unbelieveably relaxing either to just stroll around or you can hop on one of the tours. The tram tour is pretty cool. We left in a state of lethargy sometime in the late afternoon. Plus you can bring a picnic and camp out a bit to break up the strolling. I'm not a huge museum goer or art lover but there's something to be said about giving your brain a shake by exposing it to something unfamiliar. Funny enough, the last time I was at a museum was also with Milee except it was the Museo Picasso Malaga where I felt the same sense of calm. I recognize that I can appreciate art and interpret it as I like but that's the extent of my interest and that's just dandy.