And now for something completely different!

Here's a man playing a cello in exchange for a burrito. Viva New York City!

Lady, you are never dull.

I'll always love you, New York.

I swore I wouldn't.

I was planning to hate you.

But somewhere between 5th ave and Queens Blvd I fell in love.

You challenge me. As a Christian. As an artist. As a person.

I don't want to stay with you forever, but I'm glad to be with you now.

100 POSTS!!!! High time for a giveaway!

comments have been closed.

Can you believe it? 100 posts!

I know it might not seem like much of an accomplishment, but for equilibrium's sake I think we ought to celebrate the small stuff (since we sweat it, anyway).

If I weren't so opposed to superfluous cleaning I might throw confetti in the air or something.

Maybe a little happy dance would be more appropriate.

Can anyone see me? No? Good- let the jig commence!

I want you to be happy too, so in order to encourage the sentiment I'm giving away this little bound book I just made.

Peter mentioned needing a blank book, so I made one for him.

This is kind of a mini version.

It measures 4.5X5 inches and contains 30 pages. And, yes, that IS part of a New York City map.

If you want to win it, simply leave me a comment (here on this blog post) before midnight on Sunday April 5. Say anything, anything at all, like perhaps which post is your favorite. (Not mandatory, but encouraged).

The winner will be chosen at random.

Summary: Speak up, leave me a comment, get picked at random, I'll e-mail ya to let you know you won (I'll probably post about the winner too on the blog Sunday). Reply with your address, and a handmade book will be zipping to you at the speed of the United States Postal Service!

an ambiguous ocean

"I sell furniture imported from France, Italy, and Spain. Could you design a scenic mural that could be any of those places? I want to be able to change the furniture around a lot without it clashing so it needs to be pretty neutral."

Want to see what I came up with?

BAM!

If there's one thing I like more than a client is an extremely happy client!

the OTHER green people

There's a parade for almost everything in NYC.

I'd never been to a St Patrick's day parade, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself on a train full of revelers. Since I wasn't really going anywhere important anyway, I decided to follow the already-drunk-at-noon-painted-green crowd to the parade route.

The parade itself was actually fairly bland- It was almost nothing but hours of various military and civil servant factions (who most definitely DO deserve a parade, but I don't know what The Marines have to do with Ireland). The most entertaining part of the parade was the bagpipe playing kilt wearing celtic bands. Not actually being Irish myself I have no idea what these big banner flag things were that some groups were carrying. I bet its a noun though. Yep, its got to be a person, place... or thing.

After the parade I thought it would be fitting to take a stroll over to St Patrick's Cathedral, which is plain on the outside, but insanely gorgeous on the inside. I've never put much stock in church decor. (The J man didn't need a fancy pulpit to get his point across. His style was pretty barebones when you think about it- mountain tops, a fisherman's boat, etc... sometimes using a stick to draw in the dirt). So it just seems excessive. Beautiful... but unneccesary.

whichever one applies

Dear Strange Men of New York,

Thank you for pointing out to me that I have paint on my (pants/shoes/face/hair). That's normal for me. No, I don't (go to art school with you/ teach art to kids/ work for a contractor). I paint murals. What kind? The kind made of paint... on walls. No thanks, I do not want to see your (mostly empty sketchbook/ pictures of your car/ tattoo). What's that? You are not interested in having a mural in your home or business. That's ok, but in that case you may not have (my card/ phone number/ e-mail). Yes, you probably will see me around because I go to this (quickie-mart/bus stop/ dunkin donuts) all the time, but I will probably avoid you in the future because you (smell/ shake like a druggie/ scare me).

Sincerily, La Sha

Who ordered the randomness?

Oh hai!

I been gone lately cause of massive work stuffs, but I thought a post nap Saturday night blog update would be good.

Ya?

OK.

I went to the St Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan.

I had more fun watching the funny drunks than the parade.

Erin go bragh!

I'm painting a window display this week.

LOVING me some income!

Three cheers for being able to pay bills!

Did a little shopping... mostly window shopping

as the amount of clothes that I own that AREN'T paint stained is rapidly dwindling.

The best painter I personally know is Roland Richardson... and though he is an extraordinarily successful man by any and all standards (not to mention internationally famous) he always has the look of a hobo who's been eating messy food with a toddler.

presumably because he gave up the fight that all professional artists wage.

In this corner a carefully pieced together wardrobe, and in the other corner an overwhelming desire to create.

Only one can win...

I try to make both sides reconcile but its a struggle that leaves many a good pair of blue jeans ruined.

Made a fantastic new friend who took me to a fantastic new lounge/ restaurant... It reminds me a lot of Bliss.

AUCers, you know what I'm talking about.

Peter and I like to read books together... looking for the next one- any suggestions? Can't be too girly OR too manly.

Our current read is Ken Follet's World Without End, the semi sequel to Pillars of the Earth (Which is a GREAT read by the way) I recommend pretty much anything by Ken Follet.

I saw a girl wearing flip-flops today... AND A PARKA.

Seems to me that if she thought it would be cold enough to wear a down parka, that she would also wear... you know, shoes.

I've had the same Russian electronica song stuck in my head for two weeks.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

engrish is funny

I love going to Chinatown.

(Who doesn't?)

One of my favorite things is finding signs that are funny... unintentionally. Wah me?! MMMM... Wing Fat

new in oh-nine

Here's what's coming your way from the old blogaroo in the new year-

a weekly (ok, probably bi-weekly) featurette about artists I love (newnew ladies this means you!)

"Broke In The Big Apple" - I was going to start a new blog for this idea, but decided I'd rather incorporate all my cash saving creativity into my trusty rusty old blog here!

"Things I Love About..." will be brought back in oh-nine, with a VENGEANCE

'cause there are lots of things I love.

and of course you can expect continued exercises in my unabashed narcissism which automatically tells me you'd be interested to know what I did over the weekend, what I cooked for supper, what hilarious thing someone I know said, and of course, lots of pics of my paintings.

That is all.

Did I mention my in-laws were just here?

Well, they were. They came on Christmas day, and left this morning.

Peter and I haven't had much time to do any touristy things since we moved here, so it was fun to kind of play tour guide and also check out some of the tourist attractions we hadn't made it to yet.

Like visiting Ground Zero... It was foggy at dusk, and gave everything a ghostly look.

and touring Canal Street. We'd already been there once, but we had to go to M&M World again!

I think the highlight was touring NBC Studios, where we got to visit the Saturday Night Live set and also Late Night With Conan O'Brian. (Which was especially special because both my hubby and his sis are big Conan fans). Pale Force! Jamie in front of 30 Rock Jamie Et Moi

Do you know what I love?

Getting commissioned to do paintings, that's what. With my hours at the flower shop dwindling I couldn't be happier to have people want my art. I haven't done many commissioned pieces in the past, so I always get very nervous because I want what the customer wants, and what I imagine (and am capable of) to match up so SO so badly.

Lucky me... I've had nothing but happy customers!

Homeless in New York

I can't tell you how bothered I am by all the homeless people here in New York. Not actually the people, themselves, but by the fact that they have no home.and it is very cold.

We ran out to get some fast food the other day, and a guy came in off the street. He was elderly-late sixties, early seventies

rail thin, clearly mentally deficient

(perhaps a stroke, maybe parkinsons, posibly schizo?)

sweatshirt jacket instead of a coat, old socks as gloves.

He wasn't bothering anyone- he just came in and hunkered down in the corner near the heat vent talking to himself in a repetitive stutter-a combination of religious and political banter.

I wanted to call someone, but didn't know who.

The police would have escorted him out of the restaurant, but probably wouldn't do much more than that.

Who do you call in that situation?

I still had half my weekly lunch budget in my pocket, so I gave it to him. He called me an angel and trudged up to the counter.

I don't know what else I could have done.

Thanksgiving Adventures '08

Hi! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I couldn't be with my family this year, but it wasn't all bad.

In fact, it was pretty darn fun.

We left the house, and caught a train to Manhattan, but then I realized I had forgotten the XD card to my camera.

No problem!

We stopped in at a camera shop to buy a new one, and even though the camera guy was disgusted by how old and gnarly my camera is, he did have an XD card that would fit. So now I have 650 remaining photos on my camera! Before, the best I could ever get was 32! I was always having to delete photos before they made their way onto my computer, but no more!

It was a good thing I had a card in my camera, too, or else I wouldn't have been able to take pictures of Pikachu terrorizing the city.

It was terrible! It took a team of twenty highly skilled poke trainers to wrangle him back into his poke-ball.

After the the pikachu had been taken care of we all thought everything was safe and that we could relax, but then a giant ogre came along to grind our bones into bread and other such ogre-y activities. He and his Smash Mouth loving minions spread destruction and chaos with the help of a giant clover-bearing elephant.

Fortunately a space man and Zack Ephron came along to save the day. I wouldn't have been able to recognize this brave young man if it weren't for the dozens of young female narrators near by jumping and screaming,

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh- IT'S ZACK EPHRON!"

We needed to recover from all the excitement, so we found a little place to have some soup,

then we went and explored the city some.

In keeping with the day's madness, we accidentally wandered into an enchanted forest. This was a magical forest where every bridge came with it's own saxophone player, and where, despite the barely being freezing temperature, a pond had frozen over. Some of the strange inhabitants of the forest had blades attached to their feet, and I could only assume that they were under some terrible curse, because they continually went around and around in circles on the frozen water. Perhaps someday Zack Ephron will come and free them from their icy domain.

When we got back home I got to work preparing a small feast, and we decided to give thanks for surviving all the giant creatures and other chicanery that we ran into. That's why we call it Thanksgiving.

Once upon a time...

It's been a very long day, and I believe a bedtime story is in order.

(I know it's not that late, but I'm knackered out.)

Once Upon a Time ...

There was a girl

Who met a boy. They got married and moved to the Caribbean and got a dog. He studied medicine, and she worked at a resort. But she got sick of the monkies messing up her table settings, so she went to work for a camp for undocumented kids. Eventually they had to leave the island. It was very sad. She still misses her friends and the kids there. (Especially that kid, Helene)!

Now they live in New York, where he "works" at a very nice hospital and she is a florist 60 hrs per week, but still makes dinner, does class work and blogs.

The End.

Good night!

Things I love about New York #3

I love where I live.

Finally, we were able to find a decent apartment in a new city on the first try. Our last big move landed us in a shoebox apartment that had a hole in the floor in lieu of a tub and a gargantuan generator sounding like a Harley gang permanently parked outside our bedroom window. This big move, however, landed us in a cushy Queens high rise that's as dog friendly as can be. True, we may not have furniture like normal people. But somehow, the whole utilitarian desks-instead-of-a-couch thing works for us.

White Female Seeking Short Term Relationship Furniture

I've been checking out the prices on "disposable" furniture at Ikea and Wal-Mart, and I'm not thrilled. There's a ninety percent chance that whatever furniture we buy in New York will STAY in New York long after we've moved back south of the Mason Dixon, so I don't want to spend a fortune on a bed/ sofa/ table that we'll only be using for one year, 2 years max. If you, dear reader, or anyone you know (that lives in NYC/ Queens) has any cheap used (infestation free) furniture please let me know.

Dude, that's like sooo nineties.

It's been several years since I experienced cool weather, and I've never spent a winter someplace as cold as New York. To prepare I've been rounding up all the warm clothes I can find. I had several boxes of sweatshirts and other stuff of the sort from high school that I stuck in my mom's basement, so I rolled up my sleeves and dug into the mountain of boxes down there. I found a bunch of old stuff I hadn't thought about in years, like 11 years worth of church camp t-shirts, and a box full of Lisa Frank stationary. My favorite box of all though was the box full of the most ridiculously ninetiesish stuff ever. It had my Mario Bro's "Duck Hunt" gun, a couple Spice Girls cds, a rainbow's spectrum of over worn w.w.j.d. bracelets, and several Blossom-style hats. (That's a woven fiber hat that looks kind of like raffia, with some kind of giant flower glued onto the front). You would not believe how cool I thought I was in a hat with a huge sunflower glued on. (That's Blossom, not me- just in case you weren't a fan of the show).