tiny hand, holding mortal frame to eternal spirit, or something

what i wore:  uniqlo house dress, h&m lace up HIGH boots, bicycle chain necklace, earrings from harmony, vintage cameo ring from antoinette's. mac russian red lipstick.  ralph lauren men's cologne.  don't know what it's called.

i wore clothes and shoes and jewelry today.  and lipstick.  AND SHOES.  that i wore to the mailbox.

i ate my current daily lunch--open face cheese sandwich in broiler (so it gets those beautiful brown bubbles in the cheese) with sliced tomatoes, mayonnaise, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, a diet coke & pecan sandies with dark chocolate chips.  sometimes i eat the same thing for lunch every day for months.  and then i hate it and never eat it again.

i read:

**nathaniel hawthorne's "the birthmark" which is as awesome a story as you might ever read.

**zadie smith's essay "some notes on attunement," which also kind of blew me away, especially the section on abraham and isaac.

**marcia aldrich's essay "the art of being born," enjoyable, and sad.  where was her doula?  where was my doula, way back when?

**chapter 33 "the specksynder" and chapter 34 "the cabin-table" from moby dick.

i wrote:

** the poem "poor & butterless," and the poem "remove your shoes"

i submitted:

**three poems to a journal who encouraged me to resubmit once, but has nonetheless rejected my work seven times now.

i would write so much better in this kimono & peach mules.

i thought about proposing a performance art project wherein i enact a year of proustian living. the first item in my budget would be this emerald kimono, followed by these kitten slides, which i would only wear to the kitchen to get beverages & snacks.  

Showing Up

1.  Turned on our recently acquired TV (purchased for special occasions and disassembled and put away after the conclusion of each one) and watched the inauguration.  I've pointed this out before and I'll point it out again:  Michelle O. and I were born in the same year and our respective female offspring were born in the same years--thus, it follows, Michelle O. and I have a deep connection.  Plus, I want to switch closets with her--but she'd have to be down with my tight-place wardrobe of pleather and tights.

I made this freakishly large so you can see how beautiful it is.

2.  Traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and saw several exhibits, including the performance art of Eiko & Koma, two Japanese artists who have been making art for over 40 years, and in this piece The Caravan Project, they entwine themselves in nest of twigs and grass in a box car, move around slowly within it, move over each other's bodies, and at times, slowly, slowly leave the container, climb on top and around, get close to the viewers, while never breaking the 4th wall.  Photographs were forbidden, unforch.  Eiko and Koma did this all day, and it was stunningly, stunningly beautiful.

3.  Decided to see the final "performance" of The Clock.  Stood in line for 45 minutes to watch for about 35 minutes.  Time flies in The Clock.
4. I've been trying to show up at my novel every single day. It seems to be helping. I now think about it all the time, when I can't write it.
Words: 22,073

Art Before Death: Girls in Thai Places

1.  Began the night by trying to catch the opening of the Moby Dick marathon reading and discovered that it had started at Word in Greenpoint, not Housing Works in Soho.  Moby Dick moves to Soho tomorrow.  At Housing Works tonight was a Granta-sponsored reading.

Banana leaf!  This is the vegan version, the only version not rendered in pork fat.

2.  My family and I ate at Pok Pok Thai--where the menu is basically pad thai, three different ways.  The music was Thai versions of '70s hits like "Funkytown" and "Boogie Nights."  Pink Floyd's "The Wall."  Amazing.

2.  Did not want to go home so we headed to the reopening of the Clemente Soto Velez center--a hundred-year-old recently restored public school.  It's a hive of a place with a million rooms and theaters:  there were two gallery openings, a theatrical performance, video screenings, and on the main floor the most brilliant salsa band, performing as part of the Borimix Puerto Rican fest.  Women older than my 70-something mother had joined the band of their own accord onstage and were sexy salsa dancing, making the most of their bodies, dancing until they drop dead.  This music is more than just party music--something about the drumming and percussion, the slave origins of it, I find incredibly moving, especially live.  No one could stay in their seats.

At CULTUREfix, refusing to go to bed.

3.  Still didn't want to go home.  Ended up at performance art night at CULTUREfix.  A man in kabuki-inspired drag divided the audience in half.  One hummed "E;" the other hummed "C."  He arranged us around the piano and played through our humming.  That, too, was moving.

4.  All the lights are on; the art is on.  After six straight days of work, it was a good night for me.

Subway Tights (6 pm); Plus, a To-Do LIst in Tribute to Lara's Awesome To-Do Lists

Tights spotted on the L Train last Friday during rush hour.

The owner of the tights wore a Sgt. Pepper-inspired jacket.

Something about the tights wearer's face reminded me of this Lucien Freud painting.

Lara's "To-Do" lists are little works of art.  I don't know how she does it.  Mine below is wholly practical, born out of the anxiety that I will something if I'm not careful.  (And it also cracks me up that the things on my list that are there for pleasure and edification become anxiety inducing.)  This week I need to: 

1.  See the Ungovernables at the New Museum with kids this Thursday.  Closes on Sunday!
2.  See the Whitney Biennial, which a parent described this morning as underwhelming, but I don't care.
3.   See friend's boyfriend's band Pak at The Stone on Tuesday night.
4.  Finish midterm grading.  This has stretched on and on.  And there's more grading to be done after.
5.  First week back at work:  Finish my Crime Fiction LibGuide!
6.  Check in on the current performance artist in the Abrons Art Center main gallery.
6.  Gather recipes for spring cooking.  (Although I threw together a stir fry--broccoli, pineapple, cashews, tofu, ginger on white rice--for my kids last night and they hated it.)

What's on your "need-to-do" list this week?

annoyance=performance art

my co-teacher josh g. connected me to this video (not family friendly, as julie t. says), and i was laughing so hard that the "ha ha ha's" turned to water, aka tears, and i was crying.  me and josh g. taught performance art to high schoolers last semester, & they were seriously rad and completely off the hook as only teenagers can be.

still, one must always retain a sense of humor about art.  it can be funny and serious, ridiculous and profound, frivilous and essential all at the same time.

that's why we love you, art.

that's why we love hennessy youngman & art thoughtz so very, very much.

enjoy.