Green bikini and yellow poncho

I had no idea it'd been this long until betsy wrote in with an impassioned, earnest declaration of pita love. i'm sorry for my absence. apparently the people really want to know where i go and what i do and who i see. and so, on to the weekend report! friday night randi and i and leigh ann and her posse attended the late-night ryan adams show at bowery (doors at 12:30). news flash: i am old. and i guess i don't love ryan adams enough, and perhaps i love my bed too much. ryan went on at 1:50 and we stayed for about 40 minutes of the reported hour and a half set. oh well. it was almost 3 a.m.! i needed my beauty rest, you see.

saturday i got up early and journeyed to brooklyn to eat banana pancakes while watching world-cup soccer on high-def TV. then i donned my green bikini, and carl donned his yellow poncho, and we headed out to the mermaid parade in coney island, joined by the two michelles. the rain held out, mostly, till the very end, but it was cold, and so i was unable to fully unfurl my mermaid-ness, since i had to keep my clothes on for warmth (sorry, green bikini). but i did have the tail and the seaweed-esque headpiece. there is a picture of me somewhere in all my half-mermaidy glory. it was my first time at the parade -- i've always wanted to go but never made it for various reasons -- and totally worth it.

then it was reunion time with college friend vinnie (now very gay and still very tan). we had dinner at french bistro bacchus (not recommended due to terrible service) and drinks at kili (half-recommended: nice vibe, and quite cute, but not very generous with the alcohol). vinnie definitely won the award for most touchy-feely gay man of the night.

so, yeah, in case you missed it, because i don't have anything else to do, i launched a new blog with tamar. behold fashion binge! tagline: so much style, you'll want to vom. it's a fashion blog (like, duh) inspired by betsy's wonderful fashion is spinach, where she is posting cute shit like 80 times a day. go, consume, barf, die.

currently in my head: "treat her right, treat your mother right" from this http://www.jasminlive.mobi/ musical ode to your mom by mr. t. my favorite part is the moms dancing backup in their 70s dresses.

My favorite list-spot fairy

So i ended up going to the dungen/witch show at irving plaza on saturday night thanks to my favorite list-spot fairy. yeah, that's the one i was "iffy" about. carl likes the metal, so i thought he might be into seeing witch. and he was. this is j. mascis's stoner-metal band that you're not supposed to call a stoner-metal band. i find it funny that indie boys idolize j. mascis. seriously, how many dudes have you ever heard verbally jizz all over j. mascis and then you see him, and you're like, that guy? that short, fat guy with the long, straight gray hair and big square glasses? uh, okay. carl opined that j. mascis is not actually a very good drummer. i was more into the guitars and didn't really notice the drums. but i liked their hard-edged jams, especially the first couple, the ones i heard before falling down the stairs.

that's right, i was wearing my softest, smoothest-soled sneakers, and immediately after purchasing a tasty vodka-and-diet-coke at the upstairs bar, i executed a spectacular maneuver on the side stairs, my feet going out from under me in classic banana-peel fashion, landing on my back, and sliding down to the landing. carl looked really worried when he turned around, having heard the crashing sounds. i thought he was just wearing his "oh shit, she's gonna cry" face, but apparently he was actually afraid i'd broken my arm, such was the twisted-ragdoll-like position i was lying in. anyway, i started feeling weird after that, so we left a couple songs into dungen. i like them but can't say i'm really that into them. i am really liking the italics tonight.

after that we returned to kurt's going-away party at my apartment (he's off to the former soviet republic of georgia for six weeks). it was not one of our million-man parties, but a smaller gathering of enthusiastic dancers, drinkers, and shit-talkers. unfortunately we were not in much of a partying mood and retired at a relatively early hour, earplugs in, trying to drown out the horrendous sounds of contemporary pop music. "hips don't lie"? not good. that new nelly furtado song? the suck! sorry, kurt. sunday was brunch, shopping, world cup, and a ridiculously fattening dinner made by carlito involving pasta, eggs, cheese, and bacon. the four food groups according to my boyfriend, ladies and gentlemen. (it was really good though, of course.)

in weekday news, i have started my new job! so far, so good. nice people, nice chair. i even inherited a pretty cute floral clipboard. i'm not doing much websurfing during the day, trying to get up to speed on the new place, so there may be fewer links here than usual (if that's even possible), at least for a while. you could send me some fun ones if you wanted to help a girl out.

i got the best piece of mail the other day. how often do you see an envelope and squeal? i squealed, for i knew i had once again won a contest. so save the date of july 22, kids, for i am hosting an ice cream block party sponsored by edy's slow-churned ice cream! i'll get 12 cartons of delicious ice cream and all sorts of accoutrements. i won this prize by writing an "essay" (of about 75 words) on the topic of why my neighborhood deserves a block party. i wrote some crap about hipsters and hardware-store workers coming together in the spirit of chocolate, or something. i'm thinking this neighborhood block party will take place on my roof (so as to serve alcohol along with the ice cream), or maybe we'll set up a card table on the sidewalk (and be all wholesome and shit). fat baby patrons will not be served. but all pita readers are invited! i believe i heard about this contest from my favorite email newsletter, hungry girl, which tirelessly educates the health-conscious about which food products are better for you and how you can make diet-friendly substitutions instead of being such a fatass all the time. they have recipes sometimes, too, for fun things like low-cal smoothies. i totally recommend subscribing.

finally, today is jami's publication day! her book of short stories, instant love, is in bookstores now. hardcover! i haven't read it yet, but i will. it's about "love and loneliness in the city," as she told the copper who pinched her for stickering last week (i got away). it also has a very pretty cover that would look great on you.

VCR are playing this sunday at 8

before moving on, i have a late-breaking update: VCR are playing this sunday at 8! this is tamar's sister's band from richmond, virginia; it'll be a relatively small (i.e. fun) show at cake shop; and they're pretty good, if you like loud, sometimes violent keyboardy punk. they seem to have been coasting on an EP forever, so i'm happy to hear they've just put out a full-length, power destiny, on sideone dummy records. hear some songs on their myspace. i'll be there; will you?

joey's photos of water taxi beach make me wonder: when i have the urge to put on a bathing suit and lie on sand, do i want to go to long island city and hang with hipsters on the east river, or do i want to get on the LIRR and walk far enough down the boardwalk at long beach that i don't have to hang with anybody, and i can also plunge in the ocean when i get too sweaty? or do i just go to water taxi beach for the beer and dogs and sun, and forget about the bathing suit? do i go there at night? i'm so confused.

fyi: winebar on second between 3rd and 4th is a good place to have a nice glass (or three) of wine with your girlfriend, talk about boys and work and other important things (like fashion blogs), and watch a good thunderstorm on a thursday night, should you ever find yourself in that situation. it seems to be run by italians, so the music is pretty morts, but i dig all that dark wood.

another high-quality tip for you: i've been listening to this nyc band called slow learner. it's pretty rare that i like local bands, so this is big. i would describe them as all of the following: dramatic, atmospheric, moody, melodic, complex. kind of a cross between tv on the radio and jay bennett, say. it's one of those that are going to take some time to sink in. their self-released album "in their time they are magnificent" is sort of, well, magnificent. go stream two of their songs on their fine-looking website or at their myspace. god, i love myspace.

i also discovered recently that i quite like bishop allen, another local band. thank you, https://www.chaturbaterooms.com/ bloggers, for yammering on about them and forcing me to download those mp3s from those monthly ep's they're doing. those are sweet. i might just be blinded by the perfection of "things are what you make of them," but right now i am in love with them. they play poppy fun stuff, though sometimes they rough it up a bit (and sound exactly like modest mouse; seriously, "busted heart" is a blatant mm ripoff). i can't wait to see them at pianos june 30th.

speaking of shows, my tiny yellow post-it of shows i want to attend has become inadequate. i need dates for the following; get your applications in right away:

the boy least likely to knitting factory, 6/13 (tricia, perhaps?)

dungen and witch irving plaza, 6/10 (kinda iffy on this one)

travis morrison mercury lounge, 6/25 (don't all jump at once)

the ark and dayliner bowery, 6/28 (i'm looking at you, maura)

bishop allen pianos, 6/30

oneida and dirty faces knitting factory, 7/13

did i miss anything crucial? tell it to the comments. also, you should totally get tickets to this kick-ass night of rock at mccarren pool in williamsburg: sonic youth, the yeah yeah yeahs, blood on the wall. oh yeah. the pita is so there. the new sonic youth, "rather ripped", is streaming, you know.

dudes! k-fed cleans up good! he's still dumb as a rock though: "The day they judge me as an artist, a CEO, as somebody, not Britney Spears' husband, that's the day I am looking forward to." yeah, and the day you're a CEO is the day i pull an octopus out of my ass. [via whitney]

this is pretty cool: a threadless/blik competition. the winning t-shirt design gets incorporated into a wall graphic. i bet the peeps who come up with the cool threadless shirts are going to make some wall stuff i'd totally want to buy...maybe i should wait on buying those heads i've been eyeing for months and see what wins.

kurt is posting from hawaii, while the outside of my front door smells like dog poop. have i mentioned i hate kurt?

so what happened the rest of the weekend? well, i was supposed to be in the rehearsal on friday, but turned out not to be in the rehearsal after all, and spent the time on the deck at the wequassett quaffing wine with carl and getting to know some of the relatives. the dinner, at the wicked oyster, was absolutely delicious and included the most excellent chocolate-bomb dessert i've consumed in a long time. it was here that carl apparently made an impression on the groom's family, as jesse told him the following day that he was "a big hit" with both sets of his parents. it was also here that i shed my first tears of the weekend, during a wilde family a capella performance of "jesse's girl," with altered lyrics. (jesse's friends' own altered version of "jesse's girl," performed shortly thereafter the wilde family's rendition, was only slightly less touching.) we then met up with the rest of the wedding-goers at the local bar, the land ho, and partied and took many, many digital pictures. the day of the wedding we slept in, had brunch at the hearth and kettle, and played an unlikely webcam sex game before heading back to the cove to don our finery. cut to sunday. back to the hearth and kettle (yummy raspberry pancakes for moi), then bike riding for carl and john and me (sitting by the pool for the lazier members of our party). we biked out to the national seashore and lay on the beach, then got ice cream and headed over to the bbq party at the wilde compound in wellfleet. we loaded up on burgers and dogs and salad and beer, then headed to the beach for the bonfire: marshmallows, peeing in the dunes, stumbling back along the beach to the parking lot in the pitch dark. there is nothing more to say but that it was tons of fun and, as always, the next party can't come soon enough. viva la cape!

Congratulations to eileen and jesse

who are currently heading to the greek islands for some serious honeymooning following their splendiforous wedding in cape cod this past weekend. here's how it went down: we hopped on the trolley (aka drunk bus) at our cute motel, the cove, me and carl and holly and nate and john and leanne and some other folks. the ceremony and reception were held at the wequassett inn, featuring a bayside pool that looked like it belonged at a caribbean resort and lots of natural beauty. we hung out for a while in a reception area that was essentially serving as a holding area, until the cyborg wedding planner started "inviting" people to descend via stairs to the lawn "at this time" and be seated for the wedding ceremony. i was fretting about snagging a spot on the aisle as instructed for my reading and also getting nervous for my reading. it was supposed to rain, but thankfully the weather held out, and we got romantic rolling mists for the ceremony. the rabbi was funny (if a bit corny), eileen looked beautiful in her lacy white dress, and i made it through my reading with only mild shakiness. mazel tov. after the man and wife were pronounced as such, we guests returned to the holding pen for drinks and copious appetizers: lobster, sushi, bruschetta, various fried items. that was meal number one. meal number two was buffet style and quite delicious. as for the reception, it contained the always-frightening specter of the hava negila (aka crazy chair-dancing time), a touching serenade of eileen and jesse by her sister elizabeth, and of course pogoing to that wedding classic, "i wanna be sedated." photos of the rest of the weekend will appear tomorrow so as not to overwhelm you (and also so as to increase my entry-per-week count).

the other night i had a dream i pulled an orange crayon out of my nose, was taking physics classes (and of course, looking for the physics building) at some ivy-league university, and very concerned that tamar was ho-ing it up with some well-groomed GQ editor in the woods. poor little matt! cuckolded! worst. what does it all mean? moving on....

dudes, we are scientists kinda suuuuuuck. they're just so generic. just had to get that out there. last night tricia and i went to get our art brut on (and our pbr-and-whiskey-shot-special and bud light on, respectively, as well). they put on a fun show, for sure, fun and funny. i mean, with that mustache and those eyebrows, how could it not be? the singer was pretty hilarious with his banter, a total firecracker cracker. he also threw himself into the audience and jumped around like a crazy person for a while. some other things that happened: a girl emerged from the bathroom with her shirt tucked into the front of her undies, oblivious; the girl in front of me helped her out and then we cackled mercilessly for a long time. a fight broke out right near me and everyone pretty much stood around watching, indie style, until the female bartender jumped on the bar and directed the breaking-up: "you--grab that guy. hold him back." pretty ridiculous. now, tricia asked me why i wasn't taking pictures. hey, maybe because every single other asshole in the audience had a digital camera? taking pictures at shows is totally unnecessary now, what with the blog army and flickr providing all the shots you can possibly stomach, good and bad. see what i mean? these people are nerds! i just don't see why i need to be one of them. at least until the new rhett miller comes along and teaches me how to love again.

been listening a lot to the new york dolls. dig their sloppy, stonesy racket. i think this is my favorite song, and it is definitely your PROTO-PUNK SONG OF THE WEEK!

for your bonus PUNK SONG OF THE WEEK!, or more accurately your UNPUNK SONG OF THE WEEK!, head over to good rockin' tonight, where there is a fantastic guilty-pleasure song by the offspring:::

The Offspring, "Spare Me the Details" i LOVE this song, from the opening drums to the ridiculously catchy melody to the "dumb donut" crack. your mileage may vary, of course: carl removed the earbuds about 40 seconds in, and i think he was being generous. but i also know he was prejudiced against the song from the start. you're more open-minded, right, reader?

Top 9 Best Sentences in Year-End Music Lists

okay, friends. i have some party pics i could post, but they're stuck at home on my stickies (how ironic!), because the internet has stopped working there. i've been cruising all these year-end music lists — don't you love it when they include mp3s? they sort of have to, at this stage of the game. anyway, as a motivator to keep me reading 'em, i started taking notes. and so! here is my first year-end list. enjoy:

Top 9 Best Sentences in Year-End Music Lists

1. From the Onion, on the Black Keys album: "Two aging bluesmen disguised in young white bodies, The Black Keys have conjured in Magic Potion a thunderclap of back-alley blues so dark, wretched, and negatively charged with Mississippi Delta voodoo, it's easy to imagine Beelzebub leaving the Detroit basement in which it was recorded, carrying two bloodstained IOUs."

2. From John Darnielle's list, on the Regina Spektor album: Well, yes, the album does seem to run out of steam at some point, but the high points Ð you already know what they are, right? — are, like, drunken-priest-kung-fu kill-all-the-invaders-and-boil-their-bodies incredible.

3. from pitchfork's list of top 25 worst album covers: "Baseless egotism is by far one of the most entertaining possible traits of the human species, but if you ever realize you just Photoshopped yourself gazing lovingly into the eyes of a duplicate You, it might be time to take it down a notch."

4. from matt at the bm rant's list of favorite songs, on the strokes: "'Heart In A Cage' is just one example on First Impressions of Earth of why most indie bands would be working at Wendy's if it weren't for The Strokes."

5. from rolling stone's list of top 100 songs: "If loving Smashing Pumpkins is wrong, then Silversun Pickups don't wanna be right." (so true, i can't stand it.)

6. from the passion of the weiss's list of the most disappointing albums, on Birdmonster: "Rejoice, finally the indie rock version of the Goo Goo Dolls have arrived."

7. from yeti's sarcastic list of top ten albums for social and peer approval: "If your Top-Ten list doesn't have TVotR as #1, that's just dumb."

8. from marathon packs' well-written list of top 19 albums, on asobi seksu: "And while Citrus is as gossamer, in parts, as the Cocteau Twins, it's also about twice as fast and ten times as hard, letting more of the Blaine/Spector wallpaper show through as the My Bloody Valentine/Blonde Redhead wallpaper peels away from the wall that is Asobi Seksu (italics indicate improperly extended metaphor)."

9. from dan at said the gramophone's list of top 10 albums, on horse feathers: "Eat this album like a sad yellow breakfast." (what's dude got against bananas?)

i got sick of lists, so i stopped at 9. if you see an awesome sentence, stick it in the comments, won't you?

if you're a word lover like me, you will probably like wordie.org, which is "like flickr, but without the photos." it's pretty cool. i have started a small list of recent favorite words at my profile. i imagine i'll put hated words up there too when i run across them. fun for nerds!

soon i will be decamping to new jersey, but not before one last holiday party and subinev's holiday show at union hall, featuring our friends from mussels among other bands, happening friday. hooray, indie rock!

Boy, december is going FAST, huh?

hope you're enjoying the holiday season as much as i am. i went to a bona fide khristmas kegger last weekend, this weekend is SANTACON, and i'm ready with an all-new outfit and accessories. unfortunately my posse is distressingly small, i think, and that's sucky. wanna join in the fun?

it has come to my attention that the old 97s have done a jingle for chili's baby back ribs. i've been known to sing the chili's baby back ribs song on occasion to horrified listeners (i find it very catchy), but rhett and co. have added a new dimension of hilarious awesomeness to it. watch the video, with their trademark twangy guitars. it's short. also, amazingly enough for fans of the chili's baby back ribs song, they are running some sort of contest wherein a bunch of people covered the baby back ribs song, such as it is, and you can vote on the winner. i picked #9, largely because of the "barbecue sauce" bit at the end. love it. you vote too!

did you realize you can get pins featuring the mugs of all the hold steady band members? kind of ridick. kind of awesome. kind of like the hold steady themselves. i still like the hood rat sweatshirt. too bad it doesn't come in girl sizes. some of the hold steady have made comments about the number of girls at their shows being small. while that may be true, girls are cuter than boys and look better in sweatshirts! make girl sizes, dudes! gbv always neglected the female merch consumer, too, and it really burned my ass.

i love this christmas tree made of mountain dew cans. puts my DIY tree to shame.

question: should i get those grado headphones everyone is always raving about? so i can listen to "headphone albums" on the subway while i nod off? i kind of want to be a cool girl with big headphones and awesome sound. (did that sound dorky?)

i just realized that ok go have ANOTHER video where they are doing a tightly choreographed dance. with treadmills, people! omg. so best. it's nominated for a freakin' grammy! and it should win.

albert hammond jr. covers gbv's "postal blowfish" as a b-side. kinda sounds exactly like gbv. whatta fanboy. i think i need to hear the rest of his album. i need to hear SO MUCH, in fact, that i'm going a little big crazy. that's right, a little big crazy. i typed wrong, but you read right. i'm going crazy because i'm reading all these lists, and now they come with mp3s, so i'm also downloading like a madwoman, and it's making me want to go out and buy like ten million albums.

speaking of lists, what the fuck is the liars album doing on anyone's top ten?? why does everyone loooove to suck on joanna newsom's quirky little ears so much? my list is coming, don't worry. it'll be perfect. will sonic youth be on there? built to spill? the hold steady? who will make it? who won't? i know you're dying to know. check back here, uhhhhh, soon. no snickering at that last statement, please.

tonight i'm going to my boyfriend's and watching movies and eating his homecooked deliciousness. unusual? no. but still exciting. bye!