My golden ticket

Actually, it's a little plastic card with a photo of the statue of David on it, but just go with it, k?

This story actually starts about a year ago, but I'll be quick. Last January, MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) was having an exhibit Scott and I really wanted to go see. For whatever reason, we didn't make it to the museum until the last day of the exhibit, and when we got there, it was sold out. We were about to leave when we found out we could still see it if we bought a year-long membership, and since museums are something we like to do together, we did it. (Hence the little plastic card.) And the exhibit was great. It was a Van Gogh exhibit with Starry Night as the centerpiece. Although for us, Starry Night over the Rhone is even more amazing in person than Starry Night. And it always amazes me to think these are the originals. Like, he actually put the brush to that actual canvas. But I digress...

Right now, MoMA is having a members only preview for a Tim Burton exhibit (you know, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc.) This time, we decided to go while only members are allowed, before it's opened to everyone. Figured it would cut back on the crowd. And it was probably good we did, because it was crowded enough as it was. The exhibit is probably the most fun thing we've seen at a museum. Lots of interesting and neat drawings from Tim Burton, and even props and costumes used in some of his movies. But for me, the highlight of the exhibit was a few of the puppets from the welcome scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (yes, the one with Johnny Depp). I LOVE this movie. I can't really explain it. It just tickles me every time. Scott gave it to me for Christmas last year. But I digress again... So they have a couple of these "puppets" on display and it was just really neat to see them in person. They're bigger than I thought they'd be. Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos in the exhibit, but I highly recommend you watch this clip of what I'm talking about.


In the lobby of the museum

Overall, it's a really neat experience, and if you're in New York, definitely recommended. We'll be going back sometime soon to see the Monet Water Lillies exhibit.

Other shots from just wandering around for a while...


Oh hello there.


Look, New York has one too!

Wicked, oh so Wicked

Oh wait, wrong musical.

Anyway, I'm going to see Wicked on Broadway! And my best friend Meaghan is going to come up from Atlanta and see it with me! She'll only be here for a day, but I'll take what I can get. I bought tickets today, and the seats really couldn't get much better. They're in the front balcony, second row, dead center.

Now all I have to do is wait till February.

LOLdogs: Home edition

The box

I'm not usually one who walks through stores and makes impulse buys, especially if it's trinket-type stuff. But for a while now I've been looking for a small decorative box and hadn't found anything that fit the bill. Till now.

On Friday night, I took Scott out to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill for his birthday. We were a little bit early for our dinner reservations, and decided to walk through Pier 1 Imports across the street to kill a little time. We weren't actually looking for anything, not even this box. But it jumped out at me from a back shelf, and I had to have it. Thankfully it wasn't cost prohibitive.

Between our backgrounds as readers, editors, grammarians, journalists — it has words, you name it, we got it — you'll see why this box was definitely coming home with us.

The rules

At the train station I walk to work from, there's a long escalator from where the trains are up to the top where the exit is. If you're really ambitious, there are even regular steps. (I'm not that ambitious.)

As I was riding up the escalator the other day, I heard a woman on the escalator next to me: "UGH! These people don't know the rules!" I looked over and it made me smile because I knew exactly what she was talking about.

What are the rules? Well, it's really just one rule. Which is to stand to the right if you're going to stand. Some people climb the escalator stairs, and it's an unwritten "rule" that you don't block their way.

Now you know. Next time you're on an escalator in New York, follow the rules.

Eat, sleep, baseball

The last few weeks have been just chock full o' playoffs and World Series funness that have pretty much meant I was either at work or sleeping. As a result, I haven't had much exciting to blog about. I still don't. But I thought you might like to know I haven't given up LPBA. Once the World Series has worn off, I'm sure I'll be back with much more exciting things to share.

Although I have to say, I'm kinda pulling for the Phillies. I don't really have a baseball allegiance outside a half-hearted attempt for the Braves or the Mets (by marriage). But I kinda had to root for them last year, since I was in Philly and all, and I really just don't like the Yankees' arrogant attitude. So, even if that means two more games, I hope the Phillies can pull it out.

And speaking of work or sleeping, I've done a lot more of one today than the other. I think it's about time.

Music weekend

When I started hearing about this music-filled week/weekend deal in the city, I wasn't too keen on it. Scott was bummed he didn't find out about it sooner so he could have gone to more shows. But I figured it was all music I wouldn't like. It's called CMJ — which apparently stands for College Music Journal. It's basically 40-minute shows by unsigned and indie bands. LOTS of them. All across the city. A lot of industry people check it out to see if they can find new talent. But anyway, I wasn't too interested. And I couldn't even remember the name of it. I kept wanting to call it CMYK. (*snicker*) Finally I was nearly able to remember it by thinking, TMJ, only with a C. CMJ. So yeah, every time I actually said it, there was a slight pause while I thought "Like TMJ, only with a C. CMJ!"

Anyway, Scott really wanted to see some bands this weekend. I wasn't really into it, but I figured what the heck. I've spent plenty of weekends sitting here staring at the computer, so why not go try something essentially New York. Last night, Scott found a band he wanted to go see, so we went. We stayed for them and two more bands after them. IT. WAS. LOUD. And if I ever go to another one of his shows (and I'm sure I will), I am totally investing in earplugs. I honestly didn't hate the music, it was just SO loud that I felt like my ears were going to start bleeding. The first band, the band we went for, they were ok. Four out of about six songs all sounded the same to me. I guess the other two were slightly different. The next band was decent, they weren't quite as painful, and were probably my personal favorite act of the night. The last band was from Sweden. They weren't quite as loud as the other two, but I found myself zoning out while they were playing, so I guess their music wasn't that captivating. At least not for me.

Here's who we saw, in order of appearance:
http://www.myspace.com/cruelblackdove
http://www.myspace.com/bridgesandpowerlines
http://www.myspace.com/moonbabies

The venue, Crash Mountain, was pretty cool. It was kinda like, I dunno, a swanky castle bar. Stone on the walls and stuff. There were long leather sofas lining the walls and and one in the middle of the space. There are some pictures of it here.

There were more bands on till like 3 a.m., but we had only planned to stay for three sets, so we left. But after we got home, Scott said maybe we could find some bands that *I* might like to see today. I didn't think anything like that existed at this event, but I guess I was wrong. We found three acts I was interested in. Unfortunately, they all pretty much played on top of each other but at different venus across Manhattan. So I had to pick one. Tonight we saw Katie Costello, and I really enjoyed it. She plays piano and sings, and she had two guys with her, one playing the cello and one doing percussion.

Here's the link to hear some of Katie's stuff:
http://www.myspace.com/katiecostellosongs

We liked the venue for this show. It was only a few blocks from last night's sets. It's actually two venues in one. The Living Room is downstairs, and seats about 150 people. There were other bands down there tonight. But upstairs is Googie's Lounge, where we were tonight, which is a small space with seating for about 50 people, so it was really nice and intimate. Here's their website, but all their pics seem to be of the downstairs space. Oh well.

The other two people I didn't get to see tonight can be found here:
http://www.myspace.com/paulavalstein
www.junumusic.com (Go to videos and watch Build Me Up Buttercup, it'll make you laugh.)

Next year, when...(CMYK, no that's not it, like TMJ, with a C) CMJ rolls around, Scott will be ready with a game plan for who he wants to see and when. And so will I.