Portland
Flew out on Thursday after work. I will add EWR to my list of acceptable airports in the NYC region from now on. Arrived around 10pm Pacific time. Took the train into Portland and went to a couple bars. Ran into this dude Joe that I’d met a few weeks earlier in NY. Stayed the night in some person’s apartment. Woke up and moved to some other person’s apartment. Well, a friend of Jeff’s friend. It was a swank bachelor pad in SW Portland near the University where the the conference we were attending was. It made our lives and trip extremely more pleasant. The posh style living made me consider getting my shit together and working harder in order to have a nice fancy apartment too. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we were either running around Portland dancing and taking pictures, or doing art conference stuff. I kind of came to the conclusion I didn’t really know much about the stuff people were talking about at the conference. I most enjoyed the first session we attended, which was about ping pong. After the talk, we played ping pong and I got a lesson. So I’m kinda stoked on ping pong now. The main event for our crew was on Monday night to close the conference down. The whole trip we were taking pictures that we could edit into a video to create dance moves. Then we projected the video and danced along. Then invited other people to dance with us. It was a big hit I think and it felt good. I am exhausted now though. Overall Portland is a nice pleasant place. I don’t think I’ll be going back too soon though — it’s too far away.

Went up to Dia Beacon for I duno how many-th time. There was day drinking for KR’s bday. Things have been fairly relaxed. Went to this thing on a Tuesday evening, No Lights No Lycra. Just dancing in a dark church basement for 1.5 hours. Locked myself out of my apartment last weekend for a couple days, missed a day of P90X on account of that. Had drinks and snacks on Sarah G’s rooftop Friday. Emily fed me lunch on Saturday, went to a BBQ of Mike K’s friend that night for more free food. Had a windy, cold bike ride home. Trying to ride my bike and put off buying a metrocard until my second pay period of the month.

Film
We Live in Public — Doc about one of the first internet entrepreneurs. Crazy times in NYC in the late 90s.
Death at a Funeral — Nothing special.
A Serious Man — I seriously don’t know where this movie was going.
Gran Torino — Clint Eastwood is an old racist who at heart is only kind of a racist.
Internet has returned to my apartment, so I’ve been watching Treme and Season 3 of Breaking Bad.

Click for movie

Last weekend there was a birthday party on Friday. I wore a suit. Saturday was another successful FEAST. No chaos, great food, raised lots of $. Went for beers after, but didn’t last long as we’d been drinking all afternoon while we worked.

Yesterday KR and I went to the movies, then to get ramen, then to a fancy tour of the NYPL, then I got snuck in to the Patti Smith talk. She talked about literature and Robert Mapplethorpe and sang a few songs. Not your average everday typical work day right?

I put my vegetable plants outside on my fire escape today. Hopefully they will turn into food someday. Also I’ve been doing my exercise videos pretty regular. Brock made a video to prove it.

Film
The Edge of Heaven — German. One of those movies with parallel stories where everything connects in the end. Pretty good.

The Fireman’s Ball — A madcap comedy romp … in Russian!

Dillinger is Dead — popped it in and realized I’d already seen it. FFW’d to the end.

Extract — some funny moments, but not what I was hoping for.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape — I think maybe I’d seen this on TBS in the past. Was okay. Mostly lies.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men — Movie based on a DFW book. Was okay.

Rear Window — Old Hitchcock classic with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.

Glengarry Glen Ross — A movie based on a play about salesmen. No women.

Jerry Baker’s Gardening Tips — This old kook mixes up all kinds of tonics for his garden. The only info I really took from it was to soak seeds in a weak solution of tea.

Brilliantlove — saw this at the Tribeca Film Fest. Didn’t like it. Sick of the bohemian artist dude in saggy white briefs walking around scratching himself pretending to be oblivious to the rest of the world cause he’s so eccentric.

Earth Days — the history of Earth Day. Caught it on PBS. Enjoyed it.

Washington Square Park. Around 2 in the afternoon on a weekday. Totally packed!

KR and I did a little research trip to various toy stores around the city. Toys—they’re all junk.

A few of us from work went to this warehouse in NJ last week where they have all this vintage plates and stuff from restaurants, diners, and hotels. Lots of great type. Why don’t restaurants have personalized plates anymore?

The other weekend, Sandman, Willow, Aug and I took the train up to Brewster and rode our bikes back towards NYC on this long trail. The first half was really pleasant. Then it more hairy the closer you get to Gotham. Pretty fun and I sure was tired at the end of the day. 60 miles in all. I wore my special shorts. The night before that I went to a party with Dan. It was at a semi-famous artist’s studio. There was free food.

Last Tuesday I went to an opening with Aug at MoMA. We skipped the art and had cocktails in the garden. On Friday I went to E River Bar to see Ryan C off to California. Saturday there was a potluck. I brought cornbread. Sunday was real nice and Aug and I went to this comic zine thing.

I bought some exercise DVDs and have been jumping around in my apartment most every night.

Film
For All Mankind — really incredible doc using NASA footage of the Apollo program.
Happy Go Lucky — okay. I was hoping it’d be amazing.
Revolutionary Road — the actors from Titanic. But not on a boat, and fighting a lot.

In March I went to several birthday parties. One in Atlantic City, the rest in Brooklyn. I bought a TV too.

Film
The Garden — Doc about an urban garden in South Central. Compelling and frustrating.

Down Terrace — British contemporary mafia movie. Good for the Dialogue. But not great.

The Long Goodbye — Very 70s. Not great.

Once Upon a Time in America — Pretty good if you like real long mafia movies like I do.

The Informant! — I heard the real story on TAL 2x and found that more engaging than the movie. Aren’t I sophisticated!?

American Experience: Nixon — He meant well.

2001: A Space Odyssey — Fell asleep every time I attempted to watch it.

Oyster Farmer — Mediocre Australian movie.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream — 4 hours of Tom Petty. This guy is a straight forward rock and roller.

Sleeping Dogs Lie — Strange, dark rom-com.

Best Boy — Depressing documentary.

The Passenger — Jack Nicholson goes to Morrocco and gets all mixed up.

Went to Philadelphia the weekend before last. It’s a cinch to get down there and we had a real nice time doing practically the same kinds of things we do here in New York. Went to see Kate at UO HQ. Ate some mexican foods. Went to various bars. Watched movies. Cracked jokes. Watched Dave fall down. Everything you could wish for.

Last Wednesday August gave me tickets to a play starring celebrities like Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell. It was live action humor.

This weekend I ate tacos. Went to various bars. Saw Yoni play. Watched movies. Went to parties.

Film
The Long Goodbye — Robert Altman movie I didn’t get much out of.

Theodore Roosevelt: American Experience — This guy kept himself busy by being president. Liked war, and shooting tons of animals.

Truman: American Experience — He was kind of a wet noodle at first. Really into his wife, who seemed like a killjoy for the most part.

Time Out — French movie about a guy who doesn’t really have a job, but says he does.

His Girl Friday — Old movie that is supposed to be one of the best ever. It was okay.

Big Fan — Patton Oswalt in a serious role.

Tyson — Mike Tyson is insane.

The Godfather — The Godfather.

2 weekends ago was FEAST. It may have been our most attended yet. I took a couple days off work on account of working too hard in Jan. Bought some running shoes. That’s something I am going to be into now. I been a few times and can for about 20 minutes before I’m too winded.

Last weekend I had some friends over for dinner on Fri. Sat I pickled at A&W’s. Then partied at Em’s. Sun I ran and saw Rain Machine at Glasslands.

Film
Paper Heart — The documentary part was more better than the fiction part.

Digital Nation — Frontline documentary. Embrace the internet!

The Yes Men Fix the World — These guys are the best.

Malcom — Australian movie about a shy guy that is good at tinkering.

She Hate Me — Spike Lee! You suck!

Trilogy of Terror — Top Quality B Movie starring Karen Black.

FDR: American Experience — This guy was born rich and president 4 times and he got polio!

Semi-Tough — Burt Renyolds and Kris Kristopherson in a football movie that was really a send up of that “est” seminars that I saw the documentary on a while ago. Not a good movie.

Last week we wrapped up another crazy deadline. Working late nights and weekends. But we did it. They can’t take that away from us at least. Anyhow, be on the look out for a book about rock and roller Joan Jett sometime in March. The Friday before last Sandman had a Logan’s Run themed birthday party. It was real fun. Saturday I went to a movie in 3D. This last Friday I went out and got dangerously drunk on account of working so hard. You work on this book and read all about partying rockers and you think you gotta go out and be a partying rocker. But then you realize you’re not a rocker — you’re a book maker. Take it easy man. That’s what you should do.

Film
Avatar 3D — Cliché story and characters. Cool visuals.

Broken Embraces — Pedro Alvomor movie with Penelope Cruz. She is pretty.

Benjamin Franklin — 3 hr PBS special. Pretty good.

Breaking Bad Season 2 — Man this show is depressing. I mean it is really a downer.

Logan’s Run — Watched the first half in order to get the gist.

Shane — I kept seeing this on a lot of people’s favorite movie ever list… I thought it was only okay.

Fritz the Cat — 70s cartoon. Lots of filth and stuff. Even though Fritz came first, I think Dirty Duck was better.

Dreams on Spec — Follows 4 screenwriters in Hollyweird. It’s a tough business.

A Farm for the Future — Kind of a cool notion that talks about bad plowing and fertilizing are and how much food you can harvest from dense, forest gardens.

Brock made this video for FEAST. We’re trying to raise a little money to cover the operating costs for the year. I hope we reach the goal. If we don’t we don’t get any of the $ pledged.

So the weekend before last, Liana had a party. It was fun. Sunday I went to Kristen & Yoni‘s for a pizza festival. It tasted good and was fun.

I was stuffed up all last week, but I nipped it pretty good using sleep and various pills.

Friday I went to a party in Williamsburg. It was full of cool people that were almost too cool to have fun. They liked getting their picture taken. It was okay though. Saturday night I went to an opening at Artist’s Space. (Wow that triangle on their site is obnoxious!) Saw some cool stuff like Ray Johnson letters and a photo mural of Burrough’s bunker apartment. Sunday I had a few people over for lasagna. It was good and I hope to continue the practice of hosting guests.

Film
The Lady Eve — Rented this cause I like Henry Fonda. Was okay.
The Apartment — Jack Lemmon & Shirley MacLaine in what was advertised as a funny version of Mad Men. Good movie.
Together — Non stop action in a Swedish commune. Recommend.
Alice’s Restaurant — Pretty good movie about that long ass Arlo Guthrie song.
Weeds Season 5 — This show is a waste of time. I do like depictions of gang culture though.
This Emotional Life — Watched online. Episodes 1 & 3 were the best. Overall pretty interesting. The big takeaway: you need social interactions.
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln — Watched online. Terrorism way back when.

Groceries Purchased — 2009
48.15 lbs Bananas
46.95 lbs Apples
3.81 lbs Pears
.45 lb Green Beans
3.9 lbs Tomatoes
1 package Cherry Tomatoes
1 bunch Celery
1 Grapefruit
4 Red Peppers
.9 lb Grapes
1 Butternut Squash
1 Acorn Squash
19 heads Lettuce
16 Avocados
7 Lemons
1 Carrot
21 loaves Bread
15 packages Parmesan Cheese
28 packages Cheddar Cheese
3 tubs Cottage Cheese
2 packages Mozzarella Cheese
2 packages Ricotta Cheese
9 tubs Yogurt
1 can Cream Corn
2 packages Cornbread Mix
20 boxes Veggie Burger
1 box Veggie Chicken
3 bottles Dish Soap
1 can Generic Comet
4 boxes Crackers
1 gallon Cranberry Juice
1 gallon Milk
2 cans Tomato Sauce
4 jars Mustard
2 boxes Lasagna Noodles
5 Dozen Eggs
4 boxes Pasta
2 cans Cannelli Beans
17.81 lbs Popcorn
3 jars Cous Cous
1.84 lbs Olives
3 bottles Canola Oil
9 jars Peanut Butter
Bay Leaves
Oregano
4 jars Jelly
10 rolls Toilet Paper
4 boxes Spaghetti
3.55 lbs Onions
12 bulbs Garlic
3 jars Mayonnaise
2 packages Frozen Peas
1 package Frozen Lima Beans
1 package Frozen Peas & Carrots
4 boxes Butter
3.03 lbs Granola
5 packages walnuts
Cashews
4 jars Olive Oil
2 boxes Tea
2 pkgs Lentils
1 bunch Spinach
1 package Frozen Spinach
12 Cucumbers
24 cans Beer
Pita Bread

Cashier Names
Ramona
Abel
Betzy
Shakia
Margaret
Paloma
Karen
Dwanye
Archana
Titi
Tysha
Aisha
Dan
Jonathan
Olga
Joann
Rajesh
Honny
Siekena
Rick
Jeje
Julissa
Narida

I also participated in 1/2 of a farm share this summer.