russell suggs, branding expert extraordinaire, writes in re:mandals:

"my toes do not come out after 6 pm"

i had never thought of the mandal scandal in terms of time limitations but there you have it, an entirely new dimension to the debate.

cool news gave a shout out to vernors, today. my most favoritest drink in the world. only available in detroit which is also birthplace of house music, madonna, motown, ford, and well, me. i think vernors should have an express to new york delivery program for those of us who jones the stuff. i mean mattie and i can only carry back so many 12-packs on the plane without hitting baggage limitations! you used to be able to find it at dean and deluca and sometimes motor city bar but, alas i have not found myself at motor city at quite some time since it requires drinking large amounts of alcohol and staying up until 3:30 am to even enter that place, and i'm afraid my youthful partying days are behind me. but anyway, back to the vernors campaign. perhaps i will pen a letter and make a request. perhaps they will ship it to me in large vintage wooden boxes and perhaps i will quit writing and instead sit out on strategic street corners with a vernors stand. depending on my price break, i'll hawk them 3 for a dollar. or perhaps 1 for a dollar. that seems more reasonable. look for me, i'll be on the corner of st marks and second " get your ice cold vernors here!" but only michiganders will know of what i speak. sigh.

randy sklar writes in re: mandals:

"Mandals could be the worst fashion faux pas since the assless pant. I think
it's a prerequisite that the Mandals come with a ribbed shortsleeve Armani
Exhange Shirt and a man with a fake tan."

as i said before, this is a topic with deep feelings by many.

then off to the pier where the sun was on it's slow descent down, many a muscle T, and a lazy sailboat or two passed by. when suddenly someone shouted hey! hey ! poetry lady! to which i paid no attention, until i realized it was russ dillon and bridget cross, two of our favorite poets, enjoying the slowly descending sun themselves. they graciously let us crash their party of two and we sat for a good while, debating the merits of the new postal service CD and delivery vs. non-delivery. of food. i am hoping they write in soon with their thoughts on mandals--poets always have such strong opinons on things.

mattie and i decided that we were going to try and discover a new place in the west village every weekend that we're here in the city this weekend we hit a little place called westville on 10th. i run by it all the time in my little runs from east to west and it always looks like such a cheery little place. and of course i can't stop and go in since i am a bit sweaty at that point! we stopped in for a 4 o'clock snack and had a delicious little meal served up by the nicest people, and listened as belle and sebastian and hank williams sang their wistful tunes. an open french door, homeade lemonade and blueberry pie still warm from the oven. mmmm mmmmm.

the mandal scandal seems to have unearthed a lot of strong feelings. another reader writes in:

"Men don't ever belong in sandals unless they're Jesus."

readers write in re: the mandal scandal. one entry i found notable:

" my feelings on mandals: BOOOOOO!! so gay, and i mean that in the most literal homosexual sense. no guy can wear sandals and even hope to look straight much like no man may wear italian loafers sans socks and hope to look gay.

now, while i don't like flip flops on the ladies, a decent pair of brown leather, "informal" (vs: banana republic/kenneth cole style which basically goes back to the "gay" thing) flip flops on a guy wearing a great pair of jeans, something not too flashy or form fitting, is the ultimate in "hot guy couture" for the summer. it's laid back and somehow masculine and athletic. yum.

i can't help it... i'm a guy who likes guys who are GUYS."

i think we've scratched the surface of some deep feeling here, folks. pls continue to write in and share your feelings. not too much of course, like at the therapist, just about mandals, pls.

i'm so bad, i didn't even mention how great jj's set was. still live for the music cover--gets everyone ALL revved up!

WILD ON.
ok so how did i end up at a penthouse party last night involved in a wild on E segment? (grandma don't worry, i'm still a nice catholic girl!)

"party" is of course a relative term, since the seedy back bar of rivertown only held two penthouse pets in the midst of the killer 80's rock tunes (don't stand so, don't stand so, close to me) and the entire jjappleton entourage. the penthouse posters were halfheartedly tacked on the walls, and a bit worse for the wear, seemingly reflecting the state of the publication in general, tho i got a really cool party favor of a slick silver penthouse lighter!

the most fun part was hanging with the boys in jj's band, the lovely lora appleton (glamourous in a fuschia lace and leopard betsy johnson and gold slippers), kristen, jeff, DJ chris zahn (who shared his many interesting fashion ideas, including that of the broken vintage watches look), the pet bodyguards and the camera crew from E. i think behind the scenes is always more of a blast, don't you? and didn't JJ give such a great interview with the penthouse pet? JJ maybe you should become a journalist.

another one of my faithful fans and readers, the talented dj brian poillon, has written on on the flip-flop flap, letting me know that i am right on the money and indeed a bit early in my reporting of the working girl wearing the flip to work trend.

meanwhile celia cruz's casket has just passed by my building, the skies temporarily stopping their downpour to let her pass, the crowd singing her songs in praise.

and the eiffell tower is afire.

an interesting day to say the least.

ok the love affair with new york continues: ps 1 on a saturday afternoon. groovin to the hot house tunes with a few hundred other up for it kids. sunny day. excellent dj's playing the crowd like a top, people-watching galore, cute fashion and that beautiful uplifting moment when the dj hits a bass line and everyone jumps and screams on the floor. a killer mix of "crazy" by seal brought everyone together singing at the top of their lungs. a ride back with a very entertaining bangledeshi cab driver who cracked us up the whole way home. view of the city from queens, crystal blue sky, lit-up sky line, driving back into the city can you ever believe this is where you live? it's always the biggest boldest backdrop you ever saw, and then suddenly you cross the bridge and you are IN it, all tiny streets and rustling.

then a rooftop party on 7th and C. empire state to your north lit up red white and blue and downtown to your left. the absence of the towers like that ache in your knee when it rains, but still gorgeous. light breeze, clear sky, stars shining. the big willow on eighth and C. i've swung from those branches after a very late night at barraza.

rayray also pointed out a very astute point re: my man o' ray observation a few blogs ago. there is no such thing as a man o ' ray. there are man o' wars and manteray's but no man o ' rays.

ahem. pls excuse.

found myself in a heated discussion with one of my most avid readers, the esteemed and soon to be famous poet, raymond mcdaniel, about sandals for men, (as the twins so lovingly refer to them as "mandals"). rayray has been searching for a pair of "fisherman sandals" a style i am not familiar with thought should be, since i am a shoe expert (rayray won't you email a picture of which you speak?) which brought us to the whole discussion about men wearing sandals in general. i am against men wearing sandals since it conjures up bad images of faux-ceasar romanesque monstrosities, and can't men wear some chucks or trainers in the summer? just as comfortable, non? ray claims men must have the option to wear a shoe other than a wingtip, chucks, or docksider in the summer. i say fine, a pair of havaianas, or teva's even. but he gently pressed on, not every man wants to wear those, he claimed. and apparently in other parts of the world, sandals for men are de rigeur. so dear readers, please weigh in. email me at missmeghan@missmeghan.com and tell me your opinion on men + sandals. i need to feel the general poplace's oevre on this.

nytimes bruce springsteen review today mentions that he may have found his "master metaphor". and what is that, you may query? kissing. yes the activity i have extolled the virtues of time and again here in this very blog. i guess bruce and i have a lot in common.

did i mention i loved new york city? a few highlights from yesterday's doings:

--rooftop yoga in the west village to a brilliant red-orange sunset

--karaoke + poetry = fun at the bowery poetry club. it's true! it DOES equal fun.

mary donnelly rocked it out with delta dawn (who knew a southern california girl could summon such a perfect drawl?), jen knox killed with her icelandic poem, and reggie cabico's interpretative dancing was absolutely, well, INSPIRING.

esteemed cousin sarah cleary writes in from somerville, MA:

"Since you are the shoe maven I wanted to tell you I bought the greatest shoes yesterday! We went into a store that was an Urban Outfitters type place. They had a pair of shoes that I had to have. They're sandal heels, red (my latest obsession). They're almost like velour, the part that goes over the foot, down near the toes, is styled like the old Dr. Scholls with the buckle, and the foot rests on the same red material. The heels are four inches high, the heel and bottom are a blond wood. I love them, you can understand how a pair of gorgeous new shoes can give you a new lease on life!"

NOW there's a lady who knows the power of her shoe!

when on the beach in southampton, do as those fierce ethiopian runner girls do, and run barefoot. yes, an activity sans shoes that i found incredibly visceral and enjoyable. bare feet smacking the hard wet beach, sweating in the sun with cool water lapping at your heels and knees, stopping for a swim in the giant waves mid-run and then heading back to our spot in the shade. a bit of yoga to cool down and a nap in the sun. throw in some salt and vinegar pringles and an
usweekly, and it was really the perfect summer afternoon.

just back from the beach with mattie--we saw a HUGE man o' ray!

maxine rose is insisting i go and play but i must first talk about the research experiment i did yesterday during my loving new york day. i wore my jade green dress and alternated between pink and white pumas and my lavender high heeled slides to see if i got any different reactions on the street. now the research was to see if shoes can truly change how people perceive you, but i think the reality is that shoes change the way you feel and therefore the vibes you put out into the world. in my pink and white puma sneakers i felt like a sassy eight year old and in my lavender weave slingback heels i felt like a cosmopolitan woman elegantly traipsing around town. hm.

oh wow. what a wonderful day i had yesterday. filled with an amazing cross-section of new york--from upper east ladies who lunch with the blazing bejewled manicured hands to an art opening filled with struggling artists and the snooty stuffy people who buy and comment on art to slovin and allen's show at UCB where my dear friends, the sklar brothers performed, and a hilarious skit by andrea rosen called "this is it" (which involved a guy in a wheelchair playing guitar, a lot of thrift shop fur and fake blood) to a sweet walk around the west village and meeting a nice cat called miss kitty. and running into the amazing tracy cox stylist from sex and the city on the way home. i was just feeling all the love for my town. followed it up with a hilarious drive in the car this morning to the hamptons in which we sang along to the xanadu soundtrack and old macdonald alternately with juliet ewing, our very own broadway mom. happy meals for everyone at the manorville exit! then skinny dipping with my favorite four year old friend, maxine rose, in the pool in sunny/foggy southampton. could it be a better 24 hours?

oh goodness -- what just happened? i was on my way to lunch with my agent, the ever-lovely elisabeth weed, and we got ourselves into a strange little vortex at takashimaya in the shoe section. after a quaint little lunch in the teabox, all of a sudden there were shoe boxes and tissue paper and credit cards flying about and what do you know? we both walked out with the same pair of size nine hollywould brown skimmers. oh so wunderbar. what is so ever special about these skimmers is that she is so smart ! she uses a man-made sole (which is the only thing that will wear on city streets) and she mitres it! so the appearance is that of a dries but will be long-lasting! AND there is a "comfort pad" inside the shoe under the ball of the foot that if you carefully turn over you will see her wise words" "because it's hard to look sexy when your feet hurt!" a woman truly after my own heart since i have been spending this day in some uncomfortablity in my very chic lavendar weave sandals. and lots of clear band-aids. but no matter! ms. hollywould has saved the day! so happy! it is moments like this that can make miracles, erase heartache, lift your spirits, and in general zen out your world for the moment (the mood-enhancing spritzer at takashimaya doesn't hurt either! love those rosemary hydrosols!)

it's happening again. i am falling in love with new york city. it happened last fall for about four months, the swooning, the giddiness, the pure joy. and it happened again this week. starting with my run on sunday and then cemented yesterday while walking to the 6 train at about 6:30 pm with my friend sarah lukashok. there were about five or so complete dramas enacting themselves out right before our very eyes in a five block jaunt, including two indian businessmen on a corner with their fingers in each other's faces, one shouting "who do you think you are?!" and a near miss of a mercedes zooming out of a parking lot and quite possibly running sarah and i down. we repsonded in polite new york fashion gesturing withour hands and yelling" this is the SIDEWALK!". two otherwise polite and well-turned out middle class ladies, turned temprarily into snarling cab drivers. only for a quick moment tho. i am just reveling in new york's every moment of live theater and falling in love again. . .

slightly weak for the antelope boot from frisoni. oh my. it is the best interpretation of the fur on the boot trend for fall that i have seen yet. how does he know how to just take it up a tiny notch and tweak it so that it is heads above the rest of the pack? must-have must-have.

living for olivia morris this AM. so cheeky she is! must run down to geraldines and snap up a pair or two.

and the shoes. cousin kevin opened my eyes to a new men's brand Bjorn. very rugged but sylin'. uncle tim showed us the classic wingtip. and the ladies--shout out to cousin molly for her sexy mules (ooh la la!) grandma in her chic, golden shimmering flats.

family reunion was rockingly hilarious and quite a ball. we got to hear all the family legends straight from the mouths of those who lived them. an hour late for your wedding because you didn't buy socks? forgot your son at church because there were too many in the station wagon to count? deathly afraid of pie-in-the-face? creator of your own "nancyisms"? obsessed with frank sinatra? and of course tribute to our beloved guardian of the whole clan, james l. cleary. was there ever a wittier man?

there are some few wonderful moments when you feel like new york is truly yours. your place, your neighborhood, your street. i had one of those yesterday running at around 10 am from east to west on 10th street (as usual). it was sunny and sweaty and i was chasing shade the whole time, but what glorious solitude and quiet. those who were up and about (the friendly firemen, the churchgoing lady) were quite amenable to my good mornings.

here i am in michigan sitting with my grandma and we are discussing family news and good salad dressing recipes. we've just seen a fast summer storm blow through and have gone outside to look at the lilies that the rabbits for some reason left alone this season. however they did find the marigolds and sunflowers exceedingly tasty.

presently getting ready for the big family reunion this evening. shoes? a lilac summer sandal weave, two inch mules, procured by the ever-styling matthew simonelli, costume designer extraordinaire. in fact, now that i think about it, he styled my entire look this evening. jade green wrap dress from meg, white mother of pearl disc earrings, and the aforementioned shoes. merci matt!