BECAUSE I AM SENTIMENTAL ABOUT POST COLLEGE DAYS IN A2

i bring you a memory from those days straight from the genius songwriting mind of peter macmillan, fellow coffee-slinger and also known as cavah petvah:

"Remember that footage of Elvis Presley executing -
rather poorly - karate kicks between songs? This was
fat, white jumpsuit with sequins, mutton chops to
China, just about to sit on a toilet Elvis. We were
watching it at your cool house on Catherine Street -
was it above a dental office? You jumped up and
yelled "HIYA!!!", and I remarked, "He's not really
flexible." (His leg made about a 50 degree angle from
his torso.)"

I AM LOOKING

for the perfect pair of city running around shoes. requirements: comfy, strong with arch and heel support, chic, go with everything, breathable for summer jaunts up and down west side highway park and long wlaks on hamptons beaches. need also chic sun hat but that is another story. so, ladies and gentleman, won't you join me on my search? i will be researching and posting results here.

LAUREN HUTTON HAS FABULOUS BREASTS

the only reason i know this is because she was sitting in plain view for all to see at noho star on sunday for brunch. now her breasts were not exposed mind you, but the outlines were extremely visible in her loose fitting blue t-shirt. they sort of pointed out. anyhoo, she is very beautiful and was wearing some very interesting reebok shoes that sort of looked like the puma walking shoes everyone loves. except they were reebok and wierdly multi-colored. hm. what does this say about her? i wonder. oh yeah, i'm supposed to be able to answer that question.

PRE FAB IS SO FAB

this is what i learned yesterday after a large pear sorbet and go-around in the west village with the fabulous holly waterfield. we hit irma and intermix and discussed the merits of bleecker, hudson, and why if we could, woudl never leave our small corner of the west village for a second, unless we were going on holiday. she also opened my eyes to the wonder of hudson street--only a block away! but ANY hoo, after chilling with some white wine in holly's nanucket apartment, pam turned us on to the idea of prefab. all you do is buy a piece of land, throw down a septic tank, then go online and order a house! click click. and these builder men show up to build it! and it is very chic and cheap! how about that? maybe the seinfelds would let me buy a tiny corner of their hampton estate and plop right down on it! whaddya think? ikea living on the beach!

ps. holly is making me a skirt! eeek! i'm so excited!

THIS CRACKS ME UP

SOMETHING I LIKE

RAY RAY

even though you have won the national poetry award this does not mean you know everything. for example, i bet you don't know what EDA is? hm? have i finally stumped you?

PEOPLE WERE POURING WATER ON THEIR HEADS

among other things to try and COOL DOWN from the 100 plus degree temperatures inside joes pub last night. a very dedicated and very sweaty crowd of about 90 lloyd cole fans (and fan supporters) each lost an average of ten pounds in water during an amazing acoustic show in which lloyd swigged red bull in a good natured attempt to deal with the sweat dripping off his arms. WHy you may ask would a dark, closed, music venue have no air on an 86 degree day in manhattan? WHY you may ask didn't they try to make it fun and give out free mango drinks or lemonade? WHY you may ask didn't they head down the street to KMART to get even ONE FAN? this will remain one of the great mysteries of life. fortunately the music was stellar and saw us thru. doesn't it always? (see jane jacob profile in this week's new yorker on cities&song)

RISOTTO AND CHOCOLATE FONDUE


that was the nutritious meal mary and i enjoyed before we headed into one of our final three readings at the series (not that we are counting, oh no). we were so hopped up on chocolate after just spooning the fondue straight into our mouths and forgoing the requisite chocolate bananas and ladyfingers, we had a great old time, tho i was personally a little antsy. jon thirkield so rocked it out. WOW. his poems, instead of being damaged by iowa (which can happen,you know) have instead been strengthened and made beautiful, taught and fine.

NEW BLOGGER

jordan was right. this new version kinda freaks me out. note to blogger staff: it is hard for technophobe people like myself to adjust to changes in navigation. why change naviagtion from right to left? the reason technophobes like me USE blogger is so we don't have to think. or maybe it's because i am a scorpio and since i am a fixed sign i don't like change. either way, pls. no more changes.

A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN HER UNION

this was the banner the women's carpenter's union brought to the house we were building on 134th street on saturday with habitat for humanity. and truth be told, these ladies were pretty fierce. it was awesome to watch them tear into a piece of concrete board with the same swagger i've seen a man do. except of course, with more beauty.

NOTICING

the ennui/despondent parallels between j geils rage in the cage and kanye wests' school spirit . thematically more than lyrically. best line: they dont want me paralyzed, they just want me neutralized.

DOES JESUS GO OUT AT NIGHT?

a line i found in my breadloaf notebook from four years ago.

COMPLIMENTS FROM OFFICE PEOPLE HELP

even brad who normally doesnt notice such things. thanks guys!

I AM NOT A BOY

today i woke up back in my good old feminine self. for some reason this haircut has now morphed the way it's supposed to and instead of making me feel i had to give up all things pink & frilly, i now feel excited for summer with my super short locks.

FUN PEOPLE I HAVE MET IN THE LAST TWO DAYS

1) maral balian: eyebrow specialist and musician extraordinaire. from michigan--of course. the place where many amazing people grow. watch for her on the charts soon my friends.
2)matteo: my trusty driver this morning
3)j. henrique d. campos: lovely brazilian businessman
4)sami: owner of new store in soho selling brazilian clothing. (note to self; must get bikini!)
5)maria carvalho: coordinator for sole commerce
6) dusica's fabulous friend from palm beach: i am SO upset i forgot her name. she was lovely. we talked dogs, kids and palm beach shoe stores.
7) edward: edward scissorhands of note below
8) robert the locksmith: charming, patient and learned
9) sally: woman in veggie restaurant who came up to me while i had my head buried in beginnig with O to tell me she saw olga read from that book at yale when she won the prize. can you imagine?

WHY DO I ALWAYS GET WEEPY?

at the full moon? i'd venture to say it has to do with ovulation.

things weeped at today:

1) sandi sassack's email to me. ten years in one email!
2) olga broumas poems: artemis, innocence, four beginnings

ok so really only two things. but two things more than usual. & you'll notice i did NOT weep about my hair.

NON-BOYNESS CONFIRMED BY IMPARTIAL OBSERVER

ok well she did have some self-interest in complimenting as she was my waitress at the veggie restaurant i go to withincreasing frequency, and so maybe she had a good tip on her mind. but still. she seemed genuine. i told her my fears and she quickly dissuaded them. whew.

EVEN THOUGH

jordan says i don't look like a boy, i am still feeling a little boyish in this new hair. do you think griffin will recognize his mommy? we'll see. he is coming over tonight for dinner. i mean, i am not actually making dinner for him, i am making dinner for sarah and russell. griffin will have whats in his bowl. organic of course.

DUSICA DOES IT RIGHT

cocktails at dusicadusica last night, the hottest new shoe store to hit manhattan since sigerson. turns out business is so good, they are currently in talks to move to an even bigger location on prince, further west. tho i can't tell you yet where, sweeties until the deal is done.

dusica took me in the back and showed me whats hot for fall. waterproof cashmere (she is the only designer to have smartly snapped it up from the italian factory where it is made) and it shows itself on pumps, kitten heels and fabulous knee high boots with molded rubber heel. when i asked dusica about her inspirations, she said, "it's not that esoteric. i think about what i need in my closet. what i want to carry what i want on my feet and then i make it. " smart strategy methinks. obviously working for her since she is rolling in business. i also got to preview the new totes. ruched leather with a chiffon piece that can be woven into the handle, string across the shoulder or taken off. genius. "women need to feel sexy, powerful and feminine," dusica said, " and that's what i aim to do."

& if i can trust you dear reader with another exclusive tidbit, i'd tell you that next fall dusica will be designing a line just for us new york girls! stylish, comfortable running-around shoes in addition to her already comfort-soled heels and boots. a feminine dusica-ized puma. stay tuned for more details.

I HAVE NO HAIR

in a good way. edward scissorhands (otherwise known as edward tricomi) just chopped my hair into an "edgy" cut for spring. don't worry people. it's ok. i'm ok. i think.

REQUEST FROM HEIDI IN SALMON

it is true. i did not do my usual dilgent reporting on ms. heidi e. ewing's party last saturday night. i can't believe my mind was so erased by that monday it slipped my mind. because really who could forget dancing in the den to "i ran so far away" by flock of seagulls and "dilemma" by nelly & kelly, chocolate covered strawberries, cute geminis, and an abundance of good springtime feelings?

UBER SEXY

on a very different note, the opti-grab crew were extremely sexy and fun at the mercury lounge on saturday night. hilarious lyrics, tracy murphy gettin' racy, and even tho the music was flowing from an imac, the sounds were tres awesome.

ps. waldo says uber is not a good superlative. somehow it sounds better when jason uses it, i guess. sigh.

DID I TELL YOU

how smart griffin is? he went poopy and pee on his weewee pad TWICE yesterday!

GRIFFIN IS THE NAME

of the sweet, gentle, cute, refined little sheltie that decided to chosse russell and i as his parents. now before you all gasp kidlets, know that russell will be the primary owner and sweet griffin will live with him most of the time. holidays and when griffin misses me (or i miss griffin), griffin will take a vacation to the west village.

oh my goodness. it was quite miracluous how he chose us i tell you. just looking out at us with his intelligent little face and long nose. russell immediately named him and i cried. then russell and i took him around all day yesterday and people just stopped us on the street every two seconds because he is SO CUTE. we got a dog-bag, chew toys and lots of organic food. russell says he won't take him to the doggy ice cream social, but that i can.

WE ALWAYS MEET

the most fabulous people at daniel while we are lazing in langoustines and everyone is always curious why liz is leaning into my ear and i am listening with such fervent attention. this is because she is singing me her latest song she just wrote, silly people! she sings, i listen and then we exclaim, because it is always so good! i drink champagne all through dinner and then all of a sudden there are about 100 chocolate-y desserts on our table and then we close the place down. wheee!

LANGOUSTINES AND CHAMPAGNE

always make me feel better about the day's procrastination activities.

PROCRASTINATION

1. listening to j. geils freeze frame over and over while jumping around house
2. pretending to send out poetry submissions (by this i mean moving the sealed envelopes that need postage from one part of the desk to another. and back again.)
3. eating a salmon burger & drinking coffee
4. talking on the phone
5. sending email
6. walking to washington square park & back
7. taking a sudden, overpowering interest in my book shelf. WHERE was that carl phillips book? i need to read it right now!
8. reading gawker
9. emailing agent to say i need the weekend to finish proposal
10. playing with hair
11. eating raspberry sorbet
12. doing nails
13. looking at joan rivers postcard and thinkign how much i want to go see her at fez
14. inviting everyone i know to see optigrab this saturday at mercury. c;mon! it'll be FUN!

ok but rayray at least i am not cleaning house from top to bottom. getting on my hands and knees to scrub the MOLDINGS and scrubbing even the bathroom floor behind the toilet in an obsessive manner. ohhhh nooooo. that was LAST weekends procrastination-fest.

GRANDMA KNOWS EVERYTHING


"You are so talented, dearie, and you are a good worker as well even though your blog sounds like there is nothing in this life but laughing, joking, friends, parties, entertainers and wine."

--Grandma P in Michigan

thanks grandma! love you!

NICE IS THE NEW SNOBBY

thought i'd just say that.

READING

the reading last night sort of. um. KICKED ASS. between joelle's hilarious delivery, jordan's shimmering verse and daphne's amazing performance and their collective talent. i mean, really. one of our best.

AND MORE SHOES

if you were watching the WB this morning, you may have caught me doing quite a turn of the foot in my pink stilettos. just a few seconds of stilettos in the morning is really enough to get you going. why do i love TV so much? it's so fun with all the camera guys and makeup people and lights. and the cool makeup lady had this AMAZING thing i want for home: a makeup airbrush. two seconds and you're done. because i do not get up normally at 6 am, I LOVE MAKEUP.

BUT BACK TO SHOES

while in a haze and debating internally while a woman walking down the street towards me on sunday was wearing UGGs and why wouldn't she just RETIRE them, i quickly realized that this woman was walking right next to quentin tarantino and sofia coppola. then a german tourist starting screaming "i LUFFFF your movies!!" and my concentrated staring at the number one fashion faux pas was broken. i was thinking maybe i could will them off the woman's feet with my staring. fortunately sofia herself was not wearing UGGs (i am sure she had some cute marc jacobs numbers).

MADE-UP POETS AND LOW-LIT ROOMS

had the opportunity to hear jordan davis and anselm berrigan talk last night at brendan lorber's zinc bar series. it is very dark in there. and hot. (so hot it made me feel better about our last week's sauna reading at a&b.) jordan told us about made-up south american poets and anselm told us about working on his father's collected works. even though we were all sweating, i laughed a lot and learned a lot. this is a good combination i think. as the learning comes in, the sweat pours out. maybe this should be a new spa treatment. poetry detox. language sweat-lodge. verse body scrubs. sonnets and steam room.

ALWAYS A GOOD TIME TO RETIRE UGGS

SCREAMING AND LAUGHING

is what the audience did on the view today when wendy went on! they loved her! and why shouldn't they?

LIVE LONGER, WRITE NON-FICTION

AND ANOTHER THING

maybe it's because i am a writer, but whenever i watch modern dance i start composing dialogue for the dancers. does anyone else do that? then i hear my therapist saying why are you so in your head? why can't you just feel things? then i try to just feel the bodies on stage. (not literally get on stage and touch them, though that would interesting, wouldn't it? very very avant-garde, non?)

so i just try to feel. but it always happens. words keep popping in. oy!

I TOUCHED FASHION!

yes it's true. I TOUCHED ANDRE LEON TALLEY, the man who IS fashion. & i think he is the bees knees. hopefully tadej and katherine will let andre know that i am not a crazy stalker but a perfectly normal girl temporarily starstruck by the presence of such an amazing personality.

who are tadej and katherine you may wonder. well tadej is the STAR of martha graham's circe dance. if you are not familiar with this dance it is all about how ulysses gets all wrapped in circe when he is on his long trip. its about the allure of feminine wiles and all sorts of other things. what this translates into on stage is a lot of very hot muscled sweaty men running around in small shorts and a woman playign circe dressed in a gold lame bodysuit and red cape. lets just say everyone in the audience got a little hot and bothered. in a good way. note to martha graham: provide fans for audience during this piece.

anyhoo, tadej was AMAZING as ulysses. so incredibly talented. and i will tell you that later at the party, i got to touch his arm muscle. yes it was under his suit. but still. and katherine is the fabulous development lady at martha graham who is helping restore the legendary legacy of the dancing. i cant help but think how moderne and avant-garde martha must have been. i mean she did all these things in the 30's and 40's and 50's and 60's.

paul burns threw a fab party at his apt on CPW. lots of warhols and lichensteins around and yummy choclate covered strawberries. mmm.

but back to andre. did i mention i got all discombobulated? oh. yeah. it's ok to temprarily embarras oneself in front of fashion icons, yes? readers pls back me up on this by sending me gently supportive emails to missmeghan@missmeghan.com. thank you.

WENDY'S READING WAS MAJOR

i ate lots of wendy sweetarts and got a wendy tattoo but besides that, a group of about 75 people laughed and cried while wendy shared her life and opened her heart to us. it was beautiful. now buy the book good people. read it as a memoir, a body-image book whatever. just get it. and be happy with your bod!

OH GOODY GUMDROPS

i am just squealing i am so excited. turns out my book is going to ship from printer to media contacts NOVEMBER 2004!!! and even if official pub date is May, they will be in stores March 15! OR as early as FEB 15 if pub date is April! sooooooo excited! did i say i was so excited. oh yes. i think i may have mentioned that.

DON'T MISS WENDY'S READING TONIGHT

barnes & noble on 6th ave and 8th street at 7:30 pm. the twins are in from LA and will be there along with marta and lisa and mary and alison and sam and wow, just everyone. just all the lovers of wendy.

FRENCH FRIES RISE AGAIN

ok so the french fries twice a year thing was confirmed by chris davis today at pastis. he agreed with my therapist that they are very very bad for you. somehow this did not stop us from not only ordering them but smothering them in bearnaise sauce as well and imbibing them wholeheartedly. i guess i have to wait until next year now to have two more servings. sigh.

POETRY DETOX

not only did we have an amazing reading, we also provided a sauna detox for our audience. yes it was so steamy many member of our fine audience (including the bibbins, ted mathys, nick flynn, robyn schiff & others) got a complimentary detox because it was SO HOT in there. sweat lodge meets poetry.

anyhoo, the folks from the canary really delivered. cate marvin, michael dumanis, cathy park hong, noelle kocot (who read my fave poem of hers beginner's mind and purple plants which has been up on my desk for inspiration for about two years now) sam witt, and kevin larimer.

on the break, mary and i decided to peruse the latest issue of JANE magazine. while you may think that articles like "pick the sexy jeans they want on your floor tonight" or "john mayer describes how he fakes it" might seem kind of funny to read at a literary event but i guess not since DAVID BERMAN poet and author of actual air had his fiction featured in this issue. feeling very literary indeed, mary and i sat back to enjoy the rest of the mag and what we could get for under $150, $100 and even $75. answers in that order: d&g underwear set, bebe blue dress, ben sherman skirt. so while we were perusing, i found out i have two FANS. i was so excited. i love fans. they are nick twemlow and robyn schiff. and nick gave me a gift (& we know i love gifts as much as fans!) which is robyns fabulous poetry book all about fashion. i mean obviously it is deeper than fashion. but now that i say that i realize fashion can be very very deep. i mean hey i wrote a book about how to tell someone's entire life by their shoes. anyhooooooo, they are very cool and so is robyns book, which is called worth. i mean did you every know anyone who could put chanel no 5 and the rosenbergs in the same breadth of verse?

JJ'S BDAY & LEMONAIDS

before JJ treated us to some amaaaaazing dance moves at fez, we first laughed our asses off for an hour and a half in the basement. oh wait, were we just SWEATING our asses off since there was 10 of us in a booth made for 6? ok, laughed AND sweated at sarah silverman, whose routine is so tight and so good and soo unbelievebly offensive, (in all the right ways) that i almost spit out my chicken paillard. that lady is one inspiration, yes its true. tho she could use a stylist. her black pants and top weren't the same black. was it only me who noticed that?