Thursday, December 18, 2008

Can Christmas Be Postponed?

I've really let Christmas get away from me this year. Part of it is the shortened time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the fact that I'm still not done with finals even though it's only a week until the 25th. But still, I can't remember being this ill-prepared for the season. I don't have the time or the money to shop for the perfect presents for my parents or friends. And I can't even get it together to give the presents that I've *already* made to people. EPIC FAIL. So, of course, I'm shopping for myself (like you do). Here's the modern edition of What I Want for a (Consumerist) Christmas:

1. Who doesn't need a beautiful teapot? Not I.

2. I love this watch.

3. And after four years of political theory at Berkeley, all I got is this necklace.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

How Zeitgeisty are you?

I'm ambivalent about "year in review" features, as they serve primarily to remind me 1) how little I've gotten done this year and 2) how much I've already forgotten. On the love side of the love-hate coin, however, is their attraction to me as annual pop culture pop quizzes (and I do love me some of those). So let's start with New York magazine (that hipster* bible) and their culture awards:

First, their movie wrap-up: I'm afraid that I score a bit fat zero here, as the number of movies I've seen in theaters this year can be counted on one hand. But I plan to go on an Oscar binge this Christmas when I'm at home. Bring on the Nazi movies!

Ah, television, a medium I'm (unfortunately) more familiar with: I'm up to date on my Mad Men, 30 Rock, Dr. Horrible, The Office (Jim + Pam 4EVER), and Ugly Betty (though its sophomore slump is extending into its junior year). I'm surprised that Pushing Daisies isn't on the list, but it's probably for the best; I'd just start crying about its cancellation all over again. As for the rest, I plead the Netflix defense. Plus, I totally devoured all of Skins via the interwebs.

As for architecture, I object to this list on the basis of its omission of Renzo Piano's work for the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Penultimately, I've been living in a hole on Mars with regards to music this year, although Gossip Girl has actually been responsible for introducing me to Santogold and The Fratellis, so I'm not completely musically illiterate. I also have Vampire Weekend, but I'm not crazy about them. Elliott scores huge points in this category, as he actually saw both Radiohead at the All Points West festival (with Lady Liberty in the background) AND The Walkmen this year.

And finally, on the subject of books, purportedly the subject of this blog: I have read none of the ones on New York magazine's list or on the New York Times's 100 Notable Books list, but I definitely plan to. Especially the new translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Unaccustomed Earth, and Fanon. Oh, and I should probably finish Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman before it disintegrates in my purse.

And how "2008" are you?


* I promise to retire this word in 2009. It's way past its sell-by date, no?

Friday, December 05, 2008

What I Want for Christmas*

1. Every single necklace on this page. I can picture this in yellow with a lovely sundress.

2. All the lovely yarn here.

3. A t-shirt proclaiming my crafty bent.

4. One of these.


* The ultra-materialistic version.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

I need a new craft like I need a hole in my head

And yet I want to make a draft stopper for my bedroom door (like this). Now I can't stop browsing IKEA fabrics online. Wouldn't this, this, this, this, this and this make a lovely quilt? I particularly like this pattern , which reminds of looking at spores under a microscope.

Of course, I also have a sweater on the needles and several more Christmas gifts to knit, plus that whole law school finals thing, so I should probably stop here now.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Restaurant Nostalgia

So one of the contestants on Top Chef this season is the current executive chef from Absinthe in San Francisco, Jaime Lauren. Since I'd eaten there before, I wondered if she was the executive chef then (she wasn't; Ross Brown was), which sent me on a trip down nostalgia lane.

Elliott and I went there on our second date. I ordered the cassoulet (which doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore). I wore a black, silk BCBG dress with side cut-outs and a tiny pearl necklace from a boutique on College Avenue. It was the most expensive dress I'd ever bought at the time; I had to call my friend Emily from the dressing room to justify the purchase. I remember being flushed from all the wine and going to the bathroom to powder my nose, something that Elliott commented on when I got back to the table. We went to the symphony afterward, but I don't remember what we heard though I still have the program somewhere. What I do remember is getting the heel of one of my shoes stuck in a sidewalk grate and having to hop back to get it. I remember walking hand-in-hand with Elliott over the wet pavement of the U.N. Plaza. And I remember the salty richness of the cassoulet.