Rena's blog

sometimes new york is lovely

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 01:28:53 -0400

a very lanky man got on the F train at 4th avenue today. the train was crowded with very tired post-Coney Island kids and moms and dads. the man had a red and yellow striped shirt and blue pants and red high-tops and a red rolling suitcase. slowly he made his way through the aisle and in the center of the car, he pulled out some balloons.

silently, animals were made. there was a cheer every time one was completed. all kids turned around in their seats to watch. everyone in the car was smiling.

the man came back through the car with red hat in hand. at least a third of the people put in money. a pair of guys near me gave him a ten dollar bill right before he exited at carroll street, and then started estimating how much the man received. "he probably makes twenty five bucks every time he does this...he must be making one twenty an hour." "not bad."

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cal-i-for-nia...here i come

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:22:49 -0400

many cross-country flights later, in which we find out united premium service means "free pillow and blanket, but no food", we have obtained an apartment. we'll be living about 2 blocks from derek's former place, between duboce park and haight st, and the dog will be so happy. i will be so happy because we have concrete floors which is great for dog hair. oh, the dog hair.

now to find a storefront! of course we want something small, cheap, in good condition and in hayes or the mission. hah.

we have SO many boxes of books, and crates of art. that's the bulk of it, really. sadly, architecture and design books are oversized and printed on very heavy paper stock and weigh (literally) a ton. not sure where they will all go in the teeny new apartment.

the other unit on the ground floor of my bldg is the oldest independent queer erotic press in the country. california, i have missed you.

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bad R2D2

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:48:53 -0400

dear united states postal service,

sometimes when people come to your website, they really just want to get things done. like, oh, ship packages. so when i visited the site and was greeted with blaring music and a flash animation of a bleeping R2D2 who was covering up my Click n' Ship button and WOULDN"T GET HIS ASS OUT OF THE WAY, i got really mad. even the dog noticed. please make the droid go away.

love,
me

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italy thoughts

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:08:49 -0400

we went to rome, spoleto, ferrara, castellina in chianti, verona, siena, venice, and back to rome. and maybe i missed a town in there somewhere. rome had the best gelato. castellina in chianti is your prototypical tiny (one restaurant was open as of last week) wine country stop with a fab butcher shop. verona was big and had scarpa buildings. siena had a church with giant illuminated manuscripts, behind plexi, two inches from your nose. venice had the best weather and just about as many tourists as we could deal with. espressos are criminally cheap, as is wine. bar snacks there kick ass. nobody needs a venetian face mask. i didn't bring enough dress up clothes. rugby fans from the UK invaded each weekend, wearing their shirts. college kids still go there for spring break. there is always a hard-boiled egg for breakfast, bad orange juice and those little laughing cow cheeses. old ladies have no ankles. window shopping in rome gives you all kinds of ideas for shop displays. there is some kind of small curly-tailed dog that we saw everywhere. and i still don't understand what's up with san marino.

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Vox Hunt: Latest Read

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:46:02 -0500

Book: Show us the latest book you bought, borrowed or received.

The Pocket Complexicon, by Lacey Volk. My super Etsy score of the week, just arrived today. Per the designer's description:

Tiny letterpress printed "fictionary". The Pocket Complexicon is a book of made-up words and their made-up meanings. Includes such favorites as clapathetic, gelatvian, lubricajun, and infestigate. 21 definitions total!

This is a fun little book of fake words, printed on a Vandercook press with handset lead type, and hand bound with photocopy transfer illustrations.Edition size of 12, but only one is remaining (this one - #3). 3" x 5.75", about 40 pages.

Complexicon

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QotD: Worst. Job. Ever.

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:11:51 -0500

What was the worst job you ever had?
Submitted by salaryman.

gift wrap girl at a JCPenney in the mall, sacramento, christmas 1989. and having people telling me to tuck awful leopard-print thongs into pockets of bathrobes, and other fun surprises, before i wrapped things up.

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new computer

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:42:31 -0500

i just got a slightly used macbook pro from craigslist. fortunately the person i bought it from is a regular at the store - a nice coincidence. i am migrating data from the 6 year old powerbook right now, and there seems to be internet though i have not configured anything yet. god bless wireless.

what should i do with my good old powerbook? i actually quite love the bronze keyboard, it has a nicer, less slick feel than this new one. also it is warmer. generally i don't have to worry about that but it's a cold day today and this aluminum or whatever is chilly! i can touch type so i think i need to knit a little keyboard cozy that i can stick my hands underneath while i use this thing.

i can't believe i spent all this money so i can load quickbooks 07. i hate the bookkeeping part of the biz about as much as shipping...and that's saying a lot.

hm, the data transfer is supposed to take an hour. poor mia dog, she needs to go on a walk. hope it is a bit faster than that.

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what i do at 1am

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:56:18 -0500

crop images of dog and cat pillows. wait, didn't i quit web production around 2003 or so?

...also, the mittens are done. yay for lamb's pride bulky yarn in Chestnut.

Chacha1

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mittens

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:09:31 -0500

mittens are better than gloves, except if you have to grab anything smaller than a ping-pong ball. gloves that are thin enough to fit under mittens, however, rule.

i'm knitting mittens. the colors are a soft brown with some yellow in it, and a neutral that i hesitate to call beige...oatmeal? the mitten looks like a toy acorn or mushroom.

why mitten? why not just mitt? we don't wear glovens do we? though i have to admit i am fond of adding the -en onto words. the puppen is dreaming.

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oh browsers

nobody@vox.com(Rena) — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:25:22 -0500

i think i'd be writing more here if it worked in safari.i have to remember to fire up the firefox in order to post anything at all...

it is february and just not a very pretty month in new york. the face-burning cold has started, and people are not really shopping, and it's boring at times at the store. i am trying to knit mittens. and i need new reading material. suggestions?

i want to visit SF and meet mr lyle and see my godpuppies and eat some sushi zone and some tartine. but! i think we are going to italy instead next month, and that is really great.

also i want to buy a new machine for the store, but what kind?

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