It's Because We Don't Matter...

I love this picture!
Check out more work from Marc Johns at his website!

More later, promise, babies...

Protect Me From What I Want

The next morning was Up and At 'Em...
But we started at Cinco de Mayo!

This delish b-fast burrito was perfect...
And their spicy tomatillo sauce was an ideal fresh addition!

We bee lined it through Brooklyn and then deep into the city!
It was like summer everywhere!

We made a stop at the Whitney for the Jenny Holzer exhibit called Protect Protect.
I have to say...I didn't really know what I was in for. I know Holzer's work from her Truisms and was always wooed by her use of language as a medium.

But this exhibit was different. It started out with these really grand LED displays with statements...powerful statements...
I was in awe of it's scope - it was cloying and overstated and I loved it.

However, when we moved to another part of the exhibit I realized that it was far more complex and difficult than I had anticipated. Holzer had gained access to materials from the government pertaining to the insurgence of Iraq. I was stunned seeing large reproductions of reports, accounts, and stories written on government forms that detailed horrors and injustices that we've all simply brushed against in our heads, but not fully engaged.

I'm not using hyperbole when I say I broke down crying.
I literally had to leave the room and catch my breath...adjust my clothes...turn my attention to other things - the imagery coupled with the handwriting, the text, the meaning...
It kicked me straight in the ass.

Please have a look at the exhibit online, as the installation's time at the Whitney ends at the end of the month.
PROTECT PROTECT
It's worth it, I promise...even just a short meander through the online pictures will effect you.

They were selling some t-shirts by Jenny Holzer and I wish I would have bought one.

Good Deeds Eventually Are Rewarded...well, we can only hope...

Spencer and I parted ways after the Whitney...
He had an appointment at NYU and I had a appointment with E-RY!

This girl right here, my dear friend Emily, is someone I've known forever...but have only met a handful of times.
She's an internet friend. And yes, I know that sounds strange, but somehow, over the years, E-Ry and I have managed to stay connected.
She is funny, cute, talented, and so very dear to me!

I could gush all day about her!

Anyway, she met me at the MOMA and finagled my ass through the doors through her finesse and connections.

We dined on overpriced, but decadent, pasta dishes, drank lemonade, and shot the shit...
It was so great to catch up! I think we hugged a thousand times!

And...she ditched me, but in the most perfect way! Emily had to go back to work and suggested that I hang in the MOMA while she finished up at D.C. Comics where she works.
This was an arrangement I could get down with.

So, I wandered! And I have to thank Emily for giving me this opportunity...
I told her, "I've been to the MOMA in San Francisco"...to which she replied something along the lines of, "That place doesn't even count". And she was right!
The NYC MOMA is great!




Jackson Pollock - Abstract Expressionist...WYOMINGITE!














The Smiths!




The MOMA was a nice way to use my time while waiting for E-Ry to finish up her business at work.

When we were finally reunited, we did an unusually girl thing and went shopping.
We hit H&M, UNIQLO, and Top Shop...

I didn't take a single picture during the whole time Em and I spent together! We were so busy laughing, talking, and hugging that I straight forgot.

Which in actuality, is probably a good thing.
We thought it would be a good idea to pick out over the top outfits for each other at Top Shop.
Em picked out some insane ruffled shirt and ruffled denim mini that I told her reminded me of a 14 year old mother in Cheyenne, WY.
I got her a Lohan-esque backless tunic and Karen O. leggings with reflective rainbow animal print. The mental images burned in our minds provided us with hilarious fodder for the remainder of the evening.

Later, we met up with Spencer, Adrienne, Lenora, and Ross for dinner at Cornershop for a goodbye dinner...
AND...I had the fine opportunity to meet Emily's totally handsome dreamboat of a husband, Evan.
It was a wonderful time and I'm bummed that I didn't capture more of it, but I was lucky enough to be with people that made me forget about taking pictures. I was immersed in the moment and not documenting it.

I did take one picture at the end:

And it was a pic of these two sweet faces.

The rest of the trip is a blur...Gay bar called 'Nowhere', early morning car service to JFK, sub par Eggs Benedict, uncomfortable sleep on the plane, and then back to DIA where it all started.

I'm a lucky person in so many ways.
And I'm thankful...thankful for people and opportunities that come in and out of my life.

Super special thanks to Spencer, Adrienne, Lenora, Throbbing Gristle, Brooklyn, Emily (E-Ry), Evan, and all the other peeps that made my trip so important!

Three Cheers For Adventures!

The Qualified Technician - SUPER POST!

Baby S and I got to DIA at about midnight...
We were catching the red eye to New York.

This is a brutal travel arrangement...and it becomes clearer, the older I get, how painful time changes are and how inflexible body clocks can be.

We boarded Jet Blue, hunkered down and tried to sleep away the tedious plane trip.
Thankfully, there weren't many passengers and I moved to another row and had a decent lay down.
I woke up with one of those annoying air blowers pointed straight at my face and felt as if perhaps a Swine Flu had infected me.

Spencer is an old pro at getting around and I was thankful for that...I sort of went on auto-pilot and let him lead me.

Oh, also...in this pic...Spencer is Twittering about a pigeon getting run over my the subway train car.
Morbid little bunny.

We arrived at about 6 in the morning.
A little Dunkin' Donuts decaf with sugar set me straight momentarily...

My first MetroCard.

I want to briefly state that I'm not really NYC material. Don't get me wrong...I LOVED the city, but I also felt a panic and anxiety that intrinsically exists there.
On the subway with my luggage, packed with commuters...I started to think - "What if I get diarrhea, a bloody nose, vomit?" "What if that starts happening to someone else?"...
There are conveniences to every place and I see the draw of a place like New York. And it's not that I'm just a girl that lived most of her life in Montana and Wyoming...some hick that can't hang.

Or maybe that IS what it is...

We stayed in Brooklyn right off the Cortelyou Rd. stop.




Spencer's hilarious and totally amazing friend Adrienne put us up at her sweet two bedroom apartment in Ditmas Park. The neighborhood was amazing!
I meant to get a pic of Adrienne before she scooted away, but missed opportunity after opportunity because I was too busy listening to her awesome stories about visiting India!

THANK YOU, by the way, Adrienne!
Come to Denver and let us treat you!

After a much needed nap, Spencer and I met his lovely friend Lenora for Thai at their fave place.

Curry often fixes a lot of things.


See, I told you Lenora was lovely? Spencer and Lenora mostly talked shop while I gazed about in a daze of wonder and exhaustion.
They're both brilliant PhD students!

After lunch, we started walking...and didn't ever really stop. Not that I'm opposed. I really believe that walking is the best way to know a place.





But, when the walking finally stopped, we were at The Strand.

18 Miles of Books!
And what is more appealing to my cohorts and I than piles, tons, and gobs of books.
I overspent. I'll admit it.

But...being a bibliophile/bookworm...it's hard to resist.

I've been deep, deep, deep into a Gossip Girl Season 1 marathon...
So, seeing this endorsement of sweet Dan Humphrey rockin' a Strand tee was divine!

Union Square.

Sadly, we had limited time for exploration because we had a date with Throbbing Gristle.
I know, right?
I was shitting my pants - figuratively, i.e. not on the subway.

When we got back to Adrienne's, we each had little power naps before we ate something and hit the show in Fort Greene.

We shared a bottle of Mondavi - My mother would have been so thrilled.


And ate some wicked good pizza.

This one's for Ian Bruce.

Brooklyn Masonic Temple - Fort Greene

Emeralds...
This band, for better or worse, reminded me of a show my mother took me to when I was a wee babe.

That show was called Manheim Steamroller.
Unfortch, for the Emerald dudes...the crowd wasn't that into it...I suppose opening for Throbbing Gristle is a blessing and a curse.

Decorative swastikas.

The crowd.
Holy shit, the crowd. It was so strange to be at a show where everyone came off as dark, intellecutal, and mature.
No randy moshing, no fist pumping...

And handsome boys...Oh! Spencer and I were in 7th heaven.


The temple was a truly beautiful place.

Unlike any other show I've ever been to before, when TG stepped on stage, the house lights went up.
No need for dramatic light shows and tension building spotlights.
Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, Chris Carter, and Genesis P. Orridge simply stepped on stage and got to work.

G.P.O and Chris Carter.

Balcony.


Cosey playing a horn...it was beautiful.

This guy with his creative TG hair art.

Peter Christopherson wore a cow print robe. It wasn't a Snuggie, but it look comfy.

When it was over, everyone just stood there looking at each other.
Like, "What the fuck do you do when your life changes?"...

I'm so lucky.
This is the 2nd show that TG has played in New York in the last 32 years or something.
Who knows when that will happen again?

On the way out, after spilling more of Spencer's wine than he was able to slurp...we caught sight of the secrets of the Masonic Temple.



It was pretty neat in there.

If you have a chance to go to this place for a show, as I've heard that a lot of shows are happening there...GO!

It's worth it.

DO WASH, PLAY LOTTO!


After we made it back to Ditmas Park, we stopped in at George's to grab some diner food and rest our feetsies.

This place was amazing.

Weird, empty, and perfect.

George's Gyro Platter, at 1 AM, was probably not the best choice, but it was delicious.

I slept like a stone...dark, cold, and heavy in the guest room of Adrienne's apartment.
And good thing too - another big day ahead...