2009: Hil and the Year of Exclamation Points/Expletives

well! it's been 2010 for two weeks now, and the year has kicked off to an incredible start: my birthday was great, band practices have been great, writing for the dig has been great, my apartment's cleaner than usual and i've thoroughly enjoyed traipsing all over town in my new (WARM!) snowboots.  as happy as i am to leave 2009 in the dust, it deserves a look back, even in the form of a silly blog post.  i grew more than i thought possible in 2009.  i went through a lot of nasty firsts (first heartbreak, first layoff, first time i ever ran myself ragged etc) but the year had its high points, too.  found this rundown somewhere and decided i should give it a try.  if anything, it helps put the past 12 months in perspective and i feel more confident than ever that this year will be better than the last.  and the last year, overall, was a damn good year. if anything, the lows not only justified the highs, they made me appreciate 'em so much more.

also, 2010 is already the year in which i got a song written for me for my birthday, i saw my first fellini film (AND LOVED IT) and it's the year in which i'll venture out to texas with a rowdy crew of rockstars and one of my best friends.  that's not a bad start, seeing as we haven't hit the 20th day of the year yet...

X H

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
flew off to another country completely on a whim; got my heart real broke; got laid off; road a bike on city streets; attended a bunch of big name music festivals as a member of the press;  met, interviewed wrote stories on and even befriended some of my favorite musicians of all time (liiiiiiiiike the avett brothers. le sigh.)

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
the only resolution i ever make is to try to eat healthier and work out more.  throughout unemployment i was pretty good about getting to the gym every other day and kept that schedule up for a good five months... and then i found a job and my life turned chaotic and i had no more time for fitness.  as i'm currently a bit... softer than i'd like to be (i'm trying to avoid "fat" but 'cmon) as a result, i'll be making the same resolution.  vanity counts/kills.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
nope. no new babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
yes.

5. What countries did you visit?
jolly old england.  i had a stopover in reykjavik for a good few hours in between logan and heathrow, so does iceland count?

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
a time machine.  there simply aren't enough hours in the day, period.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory?
january 23rd.  it's the day i got my nose pierced.   i have no idea why i'll remember it other than i distinctly remember writing in my planner "NOSE PIERCIIIIIIIING APT 8PM PINO BROS!!!" on the day of january 23rd.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
making my mom proud throughout a pretty painful, humiliating ordeal.  it may seem juvenile or silly, but i always (try to) do the "what would my mother think?" thing before i let loose on someone who's crossed a line.  i did this time around.  my mom's a resilient person who's been to hell and back so many times that she could draw the map to the route in her sleep, so to aim for her level of calm and class amidst the most tawdry of motives isn't an easy feat.  she says i made her proud; that's probably my biggest achievement.

9. What was your biggest failure?
letting my feelings get the best of me, generally speaking.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
i got a naaaaasty case of food poisoning that put me out of commision for a week.  other than that, my pride took a brusin'. (haha.) that's it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
my first cashmere sweater ever; a plane ticket to london

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
my friends are the most hilarious, loving, beautiful and fiercely loyal people i've ever met.  their behavior always merits celebration!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
it's really, really not worth getting into. take my word for it.

14. Where did most of your money go?
sadly, to material things.  having a full-time gig and money in the bank is dangerous for a girl with a newfound love for cashmere, hand-tooled leather boots and vintage goods.  my cashmere sweater count for 2009 is now up to 5, thanks for the sale package i just got from j.crew today.  [granted, i got  those sweaters at an average of 50% apiece, but still.]

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
spring and summer in the city.  i wouldn't take anything back about the bike rides, lake house trips, rooftop barbeques and sweat-soaked dance party adventures that took place in the spring and summer months.  and the UNION SQUARE FARMER'S MARKET. OH MY GODDDD.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
2009 will forever be the year of GAGA. [i was hesitant and late to the bandwagon, but i have arrived.]

17. Compared to this time last year, are you
i. happier or sadder? happier.  last year around this time i was in an interesting spot. haaa.
ii. thinner or fatter? softer. i'm SOFTER. (in the belly/butt region.  ok so i'm fatter.)
iii. richer or poorer? richer. in friends, in life, in wisdom, in cash, whatever, i'm richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
taking care of myself, honestly, be it sleeping more or making sure i've got my own back covered.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
i wish that i'd put WAY less energy into resenting and loathing the existence of people who hurt me, even if they were terrible and even if their transgressions were severe. i absolutely could've handled myself better in those situations and i'm not proud of how i dealt with disappointment, heartbreak and humiliation in that regard.  2010 is the year of turning the other cheek and cutting hurtful people out of my life.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
christmas eve at dad's, christmas eve at mom's.  pretty great at both houses.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
noooo no no no.  i started 2009 in a bit of a haze falling for someone who had absolutely no business being in a relationship with a girl like me and it was the first time i had ever really opened myself up to the possibility of being a real girlfriend.  as awful as it sounds, i was waaaay too busy throughout 2009 to even THINK about love, let alone search for it or allow it to find its way into my life in a romantic sense.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
MAD MEN.  Joan Holloway, you're an inspiration to us all.  (i've never wanted to be a redhead so badly before in my life.)

24. What was the best book you read?
crime and punishment. yup.  dostoevsky and i get along famously.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
i'd go out on a limb and say lake street dive.  i love their music so much, and rachael, bridget, mike and mike are great people, to boot.

26. What did you want and get?
a week in london with some of my favorite people on the planet; a year full of fantastic music; the opportunity to work with and chronicle the works of great artists and musicians living in/passing through boston on the regular; absolutely incredible nights dancing and reveling and loving my life with my very, very best friends.

27. What did you want and not get?
looking back on it, i guess i really wanted my relationship with dan to work at the time.  that's changed.  i also really wanted to salvage some friendships that pretty much self-imploded.  that's changed, too.  either way, i'm starting 2010 with the attitude that i've left those relationships in 2009 and that's where they'll stay. i feel infinitely better as a result.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
pirate radio.  good god that movie was brilliant.

29. What did you do on your birthday?
it was pretty chaotic and frenzied and glorious - ten or so of us went to dali for dinner, and then we went back to my apartment, where boyfriend of the moment had made an AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS red velvet cake from scratch.  i blew out my candles surrounded by about 25 of my closest friends, and then we went to the inman bukowski.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
i dont know if it would've made 2009 more satisfying, but i wish that i had invested in a camera and dabbled with photography more.  i take decent pictures and spent a good half of the year hanging out with people snapping photos all the time wherever we were, so i regret not using that as a learning experience to gain some insight as an intro to photography.  with that said, i do plan on buying a new fancy camera before austin, portland and spain this year so that i can document my trips as i've never been able to do before.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
i think i threw out "urban bohemian" once and it stuck, so that.  i also like "that cambridge asshole": too put together/intellectual for allston, too hipster for back bay/beacon hill, a little more formal than your run-of-the-mill davis/union sq attire.

32. What kept you sane?
hours of conversation over dinner, subway rides, movies, albums, packs of cloves and bottles of wine with lianne.  afternoons on the couch with indian food, bad tv, cookie dough rolls and introspectives with marcy.  grounded, perspective-changing chats with maya. and the occasional "we love you, honey" from mom/dad/stepdad/grampa/broskie.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
this question is silly! i have no idea.  not robert pattinson.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii have absolutely no idea.

35. Who did you miss?
everyone i left back in new york.  visiting in october was such a painful/lovely reminder that i had a great life there and that i'm eager to return to it sooner rather than later.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
tall order!  i was so fortunate in the friendships i made in 2009.  that list is miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles long.  you're all the best.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
don't let the bastards get you down. 

38. Quote a lyric that sums up your year.
"every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."  i could've gone with the whole "one door closes/another opens" thing, but semisonic is so much more badass than julie andrews, let's be honest.

39. What are your plans for 2010?
world domination, one snappy interview at a time.  i also plan on using my kitchenaid mixer more as that sucker is a culinary dream come true for me.

hil's social calendar.

i'm just a social lil' butterfly this weekend, aren't i?

friday:

+it was too gorgeous out to go to the gym.  i met up with los for a lovely lunch at crema cafe in harvard square and i had quite possibly the most delicious grilled chicken/cotija/avocado sandwich of my life.  we walked over to utrecht, where i picked up a few canvases and some more paint, because i have presents to make for a couple of boys.  we moseyed back to my place and i got my first sunburn of the season in the process, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon drinkin' beers and listening to lykke li with every single window in my apartment open.   love. ly.

+my mom came down for a visit to drop off my bike (!!!) and we had a nice dinner at the independent.  i just got a cheeseburger, nothin' fancy.  and of course the deviled eggs.  ohhhh the deviled eggs.

+i met up with james in coolidge corner last night and we went to the brookline booksmith, which is something i've been meaning to do for AGES.  a leisurely stroll through the bookshelves made me realize a few things: 1) i have entirely too many books in a stack on my bedside table that i've been meaning to read for ages, including infinite jest [still haven't started gah], crime and punishment, and el coronel no tiene quien le escriba [no one writes to the colonel 2) i have entirely too many books that i want to add to that list, including more stuff by chabon, brautigan and bukowski 3) i cannot be stopped around used books that have anything to do with picasso.  while poking through the booksmith's used section, i stumbled upon portrait of picasso as a young man by NORMAN MAILER.  i love norman mailer. i love picasso.  i had NO IDEA that this book existed until last night. so good.  other used books i've procured regarding pablo picasso are picasso's war by russel martin, picasso on art: a selection of views, edited by dore ashton, and life with picasso, which is a memoir written by francoise gilot, one of picasso's companions and the mother of his two youngest children.  here's a shot of my growing collection.

anyways, after the brookline booksmith, james and i moseyed up beacon street for beers at the publick house, only to shy away from the place because it was PAAACKED.  for a laugh, we continued on a beer at mary ann's, the infamous BC watering hole where my father and his best friend in college got into a massive fight that resulted in 23 paddy wagons hauling up outside the cleveland circle dive.  not much has changed: the place was chock full of BC underclassmen who probably got in with their older brother/sister's expired license so we booked it outta there fast.  eventually, we wound up meeting up with marcy and we settled for beers at the road house before calling it a night.  low key and pretty great evening out, if i do say so myself.

saturday:

+caught up on some reno 911 episodes while scarfing down a delicious breakfast of tomate frito, manchego and french bread.

+going to work on my fitness as soon as i finish this post.

+and, finally, getting all gussied up for the double-header i have in store tonight: wine riot takes place tonight, and after my very first wine tasting, i'm heading back over to my neck of the woods, where mcalister drive is headlining a show at precinct.  my smokin' date tonight is the one and only jessie and we've been counting down to this all week.  no pressure. haha.

sunday:

+brunch with los, jessie and maya at deep ellum

+BIKE RIIIIDES!

+and, duh, the sea monsters at precinct. 

i'm not even gonna touch on what's going down monday because iiiii am too excited.

the night that funfetti devoured my kitchen/we devoured funfetti: Los' 23rd.

get ready for some surrrrrious cupcake porn.

SO DOMESTIC.  jessie is so vogue.

kevin felt the need to document our frosting/sprinkles process because we were kiiind of into it.

to quote marcy: "these cupcakes look like fairies pooped all over 'em."

if los was a cupcake she would look like this.

i missed the "be sexy!" memo.  ah well. kj's into it.

sadly, there aren't many photos of the birthday girl - there was a pretty massive turnout and she was bouncing around to say hi to all the party goers, but i was able to snag a quality shot of the four of us before the night ended:

and a shot of me and the newest member of the 23 club.

happy birthday los :)

what's on tabs this weekend: bishop allen tonight at the middle east, brunch at deep ellum at some point, the sea monsters, of course, and a long, bloody, drawn-out battle between me and my frosting-covered kitchen floor. I WILL CLEAN THIS APARTMENT! I WILL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIFEY!

LOS TURNS 23 TODAAAAAAY!

expect a photo-heavy post chronicling the celebrations sometime tomorrow.

¡QUE LOS CUMPLAS FELIZ, MI ESPOSITA!  i'm so lucky to have you as a best friend and my #1 partner in crime. i love you!

we found nemo.

hahahahaha.

gummy clown fish courtesy of a drunk jessie's cravings and the gourmet market on mass. ave. in porter. (these have been sitting on my coffee table for a week or so.)

it's dreary outside, but i'd rather it be dreary and warmish than snowing and pretty.  it's almost april and i can honestly say that i've never, eeever been so happy to put a winter behind me as i am this spring.  winter of '09, you are officially going down in the record books as the worst three months i've experienced consecutively, ever.  as a result, this spring is going to be phenomenal. i can feel it.

anyways! april is so soon, which means that the wifey's birthday is so soon (cough thursday).  i got her an awesome birthday gift. (she does read this little blurb occasionally, however, so i'll wait until after she gets her present to talk about the gift and the ridiculous place where i found it.)

today is all about figuring out unemployment stuff (which never seems to end, ugh), eating a sandwich, going to the gym and returning my sad minnetonka's to nordstrom.  tomorrow i'm getting a much-anticipated haircut at marc harris with my girl rogue.  i can't decide if i should do something drastic or just get a trim.  we'll see.

oh, also! speaking of hair! los recently went to shag in south boston to be a hair model and came home with a gorgeous, newly red-hued head of hair.  (she was blonde/dirty blonde before and wanted a change.)  the deal is you go in and you have to be open with color options and the stylist literally has a field day making your hair look pretty in different colors.  los' hair looks so good that i was seriously considering doing it myself (i've been wanting to dye my hair for awhile now) but my locks are fiiinally back to their natural color and i feel like i should be kind to them for a bit.  so, to anyone who's looking for a change on the cheap, head over to shag and offer your scalp up for hair model services.  it's fun, free, and you'll look pretty bangin'.

...and now i have to go be a productive grown-up.  on a rainy day.  lame. 

um.

a couple of things:

#1. anyone else in boston watching "the office" right now?  because they definitely had a commercial for the massachusetts tourism bureau (www.massvacations.com/) playing in ... uh, massachusetts.  what?  that's dumb. they should be playing that shit in florida or texas or somewhere else.  who FROM massachusetts is going to book a vacation TO massachusetts? stupid. [i do understand that this could be a national advertisement, but i highly doubt it. c'mon people.]

#2. i was just pokin' through apartment therapy, which i make a point to browse through every couple of days, and found this:

and promptly swooned.  what i wouldn't GIVE for my apartment walls to just be bookcases filled with books assorted by color.  brilliant.

anyways, that's all.  tomorrow is friday, meaning i've got another three days in store that'll consist of dance parties, fantastic live music and brunch with my three favorite people on saturday.  jessie, los, maya and i, together at laaaast! 

the happy list, march 23rd edition.

1.  apparently my alma mater got a mention on tonight's episode of gossip girl.  i didn't see it because i was too busy enjoying the company of los and claudia while scarfing a delectable bowl of mac n' cheez at redbones.  (it's actually "mac n' cheez" on the menu.  love.)

2.  tomorrow night, i'm going to see "i love you man" with marcy, jessie and potentially los. we're having a mexican feast at on the border beforehand.  guacamole and the glorious pairing of paul rudd and jason segel? good GOD yes.

3.  so that this list doesn't primarily consist of food, therefore negating the fact that i am a fatty-fatty-no-friends: one of my best friends from granada, nico, is celebrating his birthday on the 17th of april, and i may fly out to chicago for the festivities.  chicago is one of my all-time favorite places to be, and i'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to score a party dress for the occasion and buy one of my favorite fellas a round of man's ruin to ring in his 23rd at probably the coolest speak easy in existence. 

4.  despite splinter making an appearance in my kitchen yesterday afternoon, my weekend was glorious and included surprise visits from dear friends heading up from providence, two great shows (the rex complex at toad and, as always, the sea monsters at precinct), ignoring the alarm clock each morning and hosting impromptu burrito/makeshift screwdriver (read: rubinoff and orange fanta cocktails) parties until 4 am.  oh, the life i lead.

5.  there are still tickets available for the cold war kids' show at the wilbur on april 2nd, so i'm trying to figure out if it'd be ok to go and then head to los' birthday shindig immediately after.  asdjfadfs SO HARD why does one of my favorite bands have to play a show on my best friend's birthdaaay?!?!

it's been a long day and tomorrow i have to get up and do grown-up things (pay bills, deposit cheques, go to the gym, straighten out dental insurance, etc...) 

no words.

los in this is just pure gold.

this is what happens when you're bored on a monday night.

happy things.

hi!

i just posted this on los' fbook wall.  i figured i'd share the love with you, too.

as much as i want to write about how spontaneous and awesome it was to run to the back of the somerville theatre last night to greet U2 after their super secret surprise show, i'm too tired right now. i have no idea why, either, seeing as i got plenty of sleep last night. (ok not really but i got more than 7 hours, i think, so i shouldn't complain.)  in lieu of talking about how much i love bono and how genuinely happy he seemed to see the crowd who had come out just to say hi, i'm going to write a happy list.

THINGS THAT MAKE HIL A HAPPY CAMPER! (in no particular order):

+coffee and ginormous chocolate chip cookies from 1369.  mikey and i hit up 1369 after a fantastic visit to the ICA (see below) and the cappuccino i had was one of the best caffeinated concoctions i've downed in awhile.  (i usually consume between 4-6 shots of espresso a day, so this is big.) 

+the interlock mini skirt from american apparel.  i have it in black and eggplant and i wish it were springier outside so that i could wear either one with leggings and cute little flats and not have to worry about getting said cute little flats all muddy and gross.

+"back to the future": i own the complete trilogy and watched the first installment while awaiting the arrival of marcy, chris and andrew before our bono sighting.  los and i are thinking of going as marty and doc next year for halloween, but only if this brilliant plan falls through.  (jessie i know what you're thinking but I ALREADY HAVE THE PURPLE SKIRT AND THE GLASSES OK!)

+shepard fairey.  i went to his show at the ICA today and found it to be inspiring and humbling and it made me wanna go home and create something.  the arrangement of the exhibit was exquisite, the presentation was superb, and i absolutely plan on taking advantage of the free ticket i scored sometime next week.  his guns and roses poster is now prominently displayed in my kitchen.

+i love the sartorialist and it's one of the first blogs i check when i wake up in the morning, and i've bookmarked this photo since its original posting on february 13th.  i want a bright blue scarf!  i want a grey blazer with colorful, almost unnoticeable details! (i want the girl version, however, seeing as i am not an extremely tan italian man...)

+buenos aires.  this time last year los and i were prepping and packing for a weeklong stay in my second home.  to say that it was incredible, that whole returning-to-my-favorite-city-for-the-first-time-since-leaving-it-with-my-best-friend-in-tow thing, would be a gross understatement.  some favorite shots from our trip to buenos aires in march of 2008:

los hanging out in the hammock at our hostel in palermo.

we got to catch up with tony, one of my good friends who i had studied with while living in buenos aires in 2006, and this was the view from the roof of his apartment building on charcas.

the graffiti and street art that plasters the walls of capital federal is amazing, and this was one of the many murals we spotted on the entrance to a restaurant in palermo.

i stayed out with a bunch of newfound friends 'til dawn my last night in BsAs and was able to snap this shot while walking home that morning.  sunrise on rio de la plata? this doesn't even begin to do it justice.

so, anyways!  that's the march 12th edition of the happy list.  what's making you smile today, ladies and gents?

-H!L.

recipe for a dance party, brought to you by maya.

background: los, maya and jessie are my three partners in crime when it comes to most of my adventures in the Bean and in life in general, actually.  more often than not, we tend to dance around like crazy people wherever we are and whenever we're at my place you can bet that maya's playing dj and making some ridiculous, adrenaline-pumping playlist on my itunes.  

while cleaning my desk yesterday i FINALLY found the cd that maya made for los, jessie and i.  i knew it was in my desk somewhere but couldn't find it the night of my birthday when about 30 people piled into my tiny one-bedroom apartment and we were in desperate need of danceable tunes, and los keeps the disc playing on heavy rotation in her car.  so, without further ado, here's what we listen to before we go out, when we're en route to going out, when we're already out... you get the idea.

architecture in helsinki, heart it races. (this is also one of the most absurd cockamamie things i have ever seen.  that should mean something.)

hot chip, ready for the floor. (my neighbors are probably real sick of hearing this when they walk by my apartment after 5pm.)

new order, temptation. (side note: the sea monsters do a fantastic cover of this. well done, friends!)

passion pit, better things. (we saw them at the middle east a couple of weeks ago.  pretty boss.  also, the intro makes me giggle.)

beyoncé, single ladies (put a ring on it). (you do not know ridiculous until you're at phoenix landing with us on a friday night and you watch hil and jessie and company try to do the choreography to this while jessie spills her beer and hil breaks stuff.  it's absurd.)

that's it, for now.  what do YOU listen to when you're getting all gussied up for a big night out and you're dancing like a cool kid in front of the mirror in your bedroom?

ps: this is us. taken at the brazilian girls show at the paradise this past october; from left, jessie, hil, maya, los.

aw.

(also: somebody make me go to the gym. seriously.  my couch is way, way too comfortable and i can't spend another afternoon on it and still like myself.)

wintry mix? wintry HELL.

like everyone else in this slushy mushy gross city, los and i are sick. to. death. of. this. snowy slushy nasty substance we fondly refer to as a "wintry mix".

anyways, we're here learning the choreography to michael jackson's "thriller" because los has to teach her hip hop club class at the winter hill school this afternoon and needs something for the kiddos to do.  i am her guinea pig.  i am not the most mj-inclined dancer, we've discovered.

in other news: the cold war kids' hospital beds is song of the moment for me.  they're coming to town on april 2nd; seriously considering getting tickets because i'm obsessed with them, but alas it's los' birthday!  they're playing terminal 5 in new york the following night, so maybe i'll just suck it up and head down to my former stompin' ground to see the show and hang out with some favorites.  here's an acoustic version of hospital beds for your listening pleasure.  so hauntingly gorgeous.  so perfect on a day like today.

so did anyone wake up with a splitting gin and dance party induced headache this morning? because i know that jessie and i did.  to quote jessietron, blergh.

also, i give you baby on a roomba.

love, hil.

to quote kj: "whoever decided on the soundtrack to 'WATCHMEN' needs to be drawn and quartered."

one of the best things about this movie: 

jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian. (image courtesy of http://meatbun.us/)

so! last night, i piled into the balcony at the somerville theatre in davis square with 15 of my favorite people to take in the 11:45pm showing of "WATCHMEN".  we got to the theatre at 11 to be safe, seeing as we had a slew of seats to hold onto, but it was no use, really: the lobby was packed with excited movie goers, comic book gurus (i don't want to say geeks, that's mean) and even a reeeeally devoted fan who went all out and donned a Rorschach getup complete with eerie inkblot mask, fedora and trench coat:

photo snapped by the lovely and talented miss g.

needless to say, we were stoked.  here's me, stoked:

once again, photo courtesy of the lovely g.

we booked it upstairs, grabbed our seats, and the whole theatre roared when the previews ended and the massive screen in the 800+ seat theatre went yellow.  

i didn't have any expectations of the movie going into it, so i can't say that i was disappointed in this incredibly hyped-up release that's been gossiped about by avid readers of moore's comic book series and hollywood insiders alike... but a large percentage of the folks i attended the showing with were definitely of the opinion that "watchmen" is mediocre at best. 

without giving up any spoilers, a few things i loved and loathed about "watchmen":

LOVED:

+jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian: i LOVE jeffrey dean morgan in general and find him to be a refreshing, confident presence in whatever television show/movie he's involved with, and "watchmen" was no exception.  his character was probably one of the least likable in the film, but his depiction of the comedian was PERFECTION in my book. (granted, i know next to nothing about "watchmen" as a series and haven't picked up one of the comics, but i can't see anyone else doing this part justice the way morgan did.)  his smirk, swagger, saunter and cigar were all perfect and i wanted so much more of him throughout the movie.  "watchmen" is worth the price of admission for his performance alone.

+the opening title montage/sequence: "watchmen" is based on a twelve part series of graphic novels by alan moore, so the fact that they were able to edit, cut, rearrange and smush alllll of that material into a feature film is impressive.  the opening sequence, set to bob dylan's "the times they are a-changin'", is a beautifully shot, vintage-feeling montage of powerful clips that piece together the background information we need in order to appreciate and understand the plot and overarching themes of the movie.  the first five minutes still stand out to me as the most enjoyable part of the movie... i don't know why i was so into it, but it got me excited about the three-hour action epic i'd signed up for, and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

LOATHED:

+the soundtrack: ok fancy mr. director man, i understand that you want to play up the fact that the movie takes place in 1985 and you draw on nixon and vietnam and a few other historical events that you signify with musical choices relevant to that time period, but C'MON.  the random hendrix/ccr/bad eighties pop tracks interspaced throughout the most pivotal ploty points were SOOO DISTRACTING and it completely snapped me out of the story.  boo on your part, person in charge of music choices.  boo.

+the length: going back to the fact that this was a 12-part series, i get that it has to be a long flick for artistic integrity, but this was just too long. TOO LONG.  it was good and fine and everything, but 163 minutes and previews? too long.

+the ending: felt INCREDIBLY rushed.  that's all you get.  no spoilers, because i'm still trying to figure out what the hell happened, really, myself, but yeah.  wasn't crazy about it.

THE VERDICT ON "WATCHMEN":  it was ok. i would consider seeing it again, if anything for jeffrey dean morgan, but only at the somerville theatre (or MAYBE imax) because it is grrreat.

things that make me smile like this:

(this would be jessie and i ringing in the new year. do excuse her devil eye/my vivid slash of guns n' roses/velvet revolver impression.)

+ impromptu hookah parties in my apartment with fantastic, lovely people and fantastic, lovely conversation.  extra points for rose, jasmine and pomegranate flavored shisha.

+ sunny days after snow days: yeah, it sucks that it's cold and yeah, it sucks that i need to leap over a mound of snow half my size in order to get into and out of my apartment every day, but you can't deny that today wasn't a beautiful one in suffolk county.

+ celebrating los' return to the dark side (read: she gave up being a vegetarian) with a massive feast at redbones.  steak tips and mac n' cheese? yes yes and good god yes.

+ FINALLY FINDING A COPY OF RUSSIAN VOGUE.  i have a collection of vogues from around the world and want a copy of vogue in every language/region it's in print. i've been looking for the russian edition for ages and i can't stomach spending the $300+ for a yearly, imported subscription to it.  there are 19 editions of the magazine released across the globe, and the international editions i've got so far hail from the us, uk, italy, australia, spain, portugal, brazil, germany, greece, japan and now russia.  vogues left to obtain: india, mexico, china, canada, switzerland, korea, taiwan and france.  (france and canada i can totally pick up at the borders in downtown crossing.  india and korea?  not so much.)

+ "watchmen" is playing at the somerville theatre on its opening night (which is next thursday, for those of you who have been living underneath a massive, massive rock.)  i'm buying a whole chunk o' tickets tomorrow and making an event of it next week with some wonderful people.  check back for a review later (of the movie, not the people.  oh, i'm so witty, yuck yuck.  facepalm.) 

+ the novelty of the gigantic map of south america currently shackin' up in my living room hasn't worn off yet.  i don't know if it ever well.  le sigh.

+ i finally picked up a copy of david foster wallace's infinite jest and i can't wait to start reading it.   i plan on spending a hefty chunk of my day tomorrow downing lattes at bloc 11 and picking few the first hundred pages or so of this whopper.  (the book is a behemoth at 981 pages.) 

the long and short of it: today was a great tuesday.  how was yours?

vicky cristina barcelona: a big fat ¡GRACIAS! to mr. allen.

i saw "vicky cristina barcelona" last summer with Los and the latest Woody Allen flick quickly registered on the list of my favorite movies of all time.  yeah, i love spain, and yeah, i think that penelope cruz is an incredibly vibrant talent, but the film themes of romantic escapism and the temperal, transient nature of love really hit home for me.  seeing as i'm currently snowed in and have yet to leave my apartment today, i opted to watch "vicky cristina barcelona" while getting ready for a sledding date and brookline and now i can't stop thinking about cristina (played by the boticelli-esque scarlett johannson) and her search for love.  the narrator's initial description of cristina is as follows:

"she had reluctantly accepted suffering as an inevitable component of passion, and was resigned to putting her feelings at risk.  if you asked her what it was she was gambling her emotions on to win, she would not have been able to say."

sooo yeah.  if there's any block of text already written that could describe me and how i would sum up my feelings on the past few months of my life, it would be the quote above.  i guess it's a conclusion i've come to a little too late and i wish that things could be different, but what's done is done and it's kind of silly that it took a snowed in screening of woody allen's oscar winning blockbuster to show me that.

and now, cruz as maria elena in all her glory:

(image ganked from boston.com.)

¡vete pa'ca, primavera!

I.  WANT.  SPRING.  I want to trade in my bruised and beaten boots for pretty flats that don't have to fear the grimy salty, slushy mixture that's currently plastering the sidewalks of Somerville!  I want to be able to wear dresses without wooly tights and thick socks only to curse the blustery winds that keep my legs popsicle-like!  I want new galoshes that fit and a big red umbrella to combat April showers I plan on welcoming with open arms!  I want flowers and Marathon Monday and lighter jackets and outdoor markets and Easter candy and brunch outside! I. WANT. SPRIIIIIIIING!

phew. I feel better.  well, until I can have Spring in all it's blooming, busting-out-all-over glory, I'll settle for the following:

-Mozi's new collection of Casablanca candles.  I found my Gardenia-scented ones at Anthropologie a week or so ago and they've been burning ever since.  They throw great light and they smell amaaazing and kind of make me want to fill my apartment with bouquets of flowers and throw a makeshift garden party.  So girly, so sue me.

-That new Gabriella Cilmi song, "Sweet About Me".  This latest Australian import to the pop charts has a lot more grit on her vocal chords than Kylie and Natalie combined and her latest single is perfect for dancing away the winter doldrums in the privacy of your own apartment before braving the chill for a night out.  

-Each and every one of the champagne cocktails served up at The Beehive.  How can you turn down bubbly mixed with honey and the essence of elderflowers? I can't, that's for sure.  My personal favorite is La Vie en Rose, which is champagne and lychee-infused cognac, but you really can't go wrong with any of these fragrant, flirtatious concoctions.

-Floral headbands.  Right before my birthday a month or two ago, I had been lamenting about the pricey beauty of the headbands over at ban.do, namely #10, so Los, my infamous and almighty best friend, worked her creative wiles and gave me the lovely headpiece you see pictured in the previous post to celebrate my 23rd.  Basically, I want to wear that massive blossom on my dome every single day, rain or shine.

so, my darlings, what are YOU indulging in to beat your winter blues?  what are you looking forward to this spring?