Weardrobe is an ingenious website which calls itself an “online closet.” It lets people catalog their wardrobes a la Cher’s virtual closet/outfit-chooser in Clueless. And I’m considering signing up for my own account, though it could take a while to put together. I found the site through Tavi, a 12-year-old fashion blogger who both writes well and has impeccable fashion sense. Her Weardrobe account is below:
I want her clothes.
And this is Tavi (photos from Style Rookie, her blog)
Lately, it’s been difficult for me to keep up with blog posts . Between my two jobs, I work almost 60 hours, six days a week. Which basically means I spend what little free time I have trying to maintain my friendships and preserve some semblance of a social life. And while I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, that happens to be exactly what I’m doing – because this summer is far more stressful/exhausting than I had originally planned. And I have yet to go to the beach, which is just wrong.
This is from last summer. Note the yellow polka-dot bikini and the smile on my face.
Sure, I’m making a good deal of money, but I don’t even have the time to spend it on anything but food. Or, rather, I blow an obscene amount of money on an adorable onesie from In God We Trust (see below), just to make up for my lack of shopping all summer. Then I proceed to rationalize the purchase to death – I’ve settled with the conclusion that I deserve to spend my hard-earned money however I please, though I’m trying to ignore the fact that I could’ve bought myself an iPhone for the same price.
It's this design, but black & navy blue instead
With all that said, I’m deciding whether or not to quit my restaurant job as a hostess and cocktail waitress. I love my internship and the restaurant is only making me too exhausted to function during the day. This past week has been far more stressful and full of what I can only describe as bullshit. Maybe it’s the ugly and rebellious, screw-authority side of me that only surfaces when I get scolded for insignificant reasons or reprimanded for things I didn’t do. Or maybe I just resent the job because it has taken over many nights which I could’ve spent with my friends, or at home in New Jerseywith my parents. And no matter how good the pay, I have no pressing need to serve creepsters their glasses of drunk (on the rocks) or to explain to strangers why they can’t have an eight-person table for a party of three.
I’ve taken on jobs the way I eat at buffets – by piling spoonfuls of different dishes on one plate without considering that I won’t be able to finish the whole mess even if I tried. I’m beginning to realize just how much my time and sanity are worth. Which is to say I can’t be the Little Engine That Could(n’t Say No To Work) anymore.
Not that I want this blog to become solely about naked people and sex, but I absolutely have to post this for the pure beauty that is Hunter Parrish’s bod. The pictures are from last night’s Weeds episode (thanks, Gay Socialites, for posting them) and they’re, um, NSFW. Yeah, today would be a great day for my mom to NOT read my blog – she apparently found it by Googling our last name. Also, today is Sam’s birthday so I am dedicating this post to him – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE YOU!
P.S. – Hunter Parrish’s next gig as Melchior in Spring Awakening = ass shot IRL.
And just for fun, here’s a video of him whistling the Weeds theme song, i.e. using his mouth in another way (wow, I need to stop living with guys).
Shigeo Tokuda is Japan’s leading man when it comes to senior citizen porn. He’s starred in over 200 adult films with elderly as well as young women. Apparently the Japanese market is prime for elderly porn because it has the largest population percentage of senior citizens than any other country in the world. For Tokuda’s second and much more exciting career, he says he won’t retire again (he spent his first career as a travel agent) until he’s at least 80 years old.
Here’s the CNN video/interview on the story. And here’s the awesome CNN Shirt for the story – talk about great headlines. My other favorite? “Males win more mates after dye job.”
Before you quietly start singing LCD Soundsystem to yourself (”New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me downn”), here’s a little disclaimer: this blog post has nothing to do with that song, nor does it have anything to do with the ridiculous reality TV show called “I Love New York.” Rather, I’m talking about the upcoming (early 2009) New York, I Love You film. From the producers of last year’s Paris, je’taime, this new movie has the same structure and theme – it is another anthology of short films about romance and love. Instead of being set in eighteen of Paris’s arrondissements/districts, however, the narratives will take place in New York City’s five boroughs.
I remember how excited I had been to see Paris, je’taime at the very beginning of last summer. And though not all eighteen short films were amazing, there were several phenomenal stories and actors. I actually walked past Rufus Sewell on Broadway and Prince St. about a month ago. He was featured in Wes Craven’s short in Paris, je’taime about an engaged couple that visits Oscar Wilde’s grave. The character’s fiancé struggles with his lacking sense of humor and nonexistent spontaneity. Oh, but then Oscar Wilde’s ghost gives him some advice.
Natalie Portman, who played a young actress with a blind boyfriend in Paris, je’taime, plays a Hasidic woman named Rifka in New York, I Love You. This time around, she has also taken on a much bigger role as actor/writer/director/producer.Apparently, this movie will mark both her and Scarlett Johansson’s debut as directors. That’s pretty respectable and badass, ladies.
click for more pictures from NY Daily News
Other actors to get excited about include James Caan, Kevin Bacon, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Ethan Hawke, Shia LeBeouf, Rachel Bilson, and Christina Ricci. According to the Wikipedia entry, Blake Lively is also supposed to make an appearance as the mysterious character called, “a girlfriend.” Seems like a primarily young cast. I’ve always considered NYC to be a place for young people (then again, my opinion is definitely shaped by the fact that my city life consists of college students during the school year and hip young Williamsburg residents in the summer).
Either way, I’d say New York, I Love You has me even more starry-eyed in anticipation than Paris, je’taime did last year. Maybe because the stories are set so close to home, in and about the places I frequent, in the city I love the most. It’s New York City romanticism, squared.
Here’s the memorable Paris, je’taime short starring Natalie Portman – y’know, to get you feeling a bit romantic yourself:
I now have the new Facebook design. I’d first heard about the anticipated changes a couple months ago and decided not to worry about the transition until it actually happened. Well it’s been happening now for the past couple days and I finally saw the design in person when Julia (my boss) got it on Monday. My own Facebook layout suddenly switched on me last night when I was preparing to blog about it. Talk about good timing. And I might’ve shrieked like a little girl when the page unexpectedly refreshed to the new look – because I’m a dork.
Here are some changes that I’ve noticed so far:
The layout is wider
The profile is sectioned and separated by tabs – Wall, Info, Photos, and Boxes
You can add your favorite application(s) as additional tabs
There’s a mysterious blank box underneath the profile picture that says, “write something about yourself” – the About Me box is now moved, i guess?
You can directly edit on your profile without having to navigate to a different page
The Friends box displays all of your friends, not just your main network. AND you can pick how many friends appear in the box (6, 9, 12) as well as who permanently stays in that box. MySpace, much?
“The Publisher” is basically the Mini-feed integrated with the Wall, so that your statuses, photos, and comments are all displayed in the Wall tab. You can also edit the SIZE of each item, so as to control which stick out more.
You can either leave new comments on other people’s Walls or comment on their existing activities/photos/statuses
Wish I had seen this picture several years ago when I was still an awkward and insecure teenager. Yeah, who am I kidding? This still gives me a lot more confidence in my own similar body type.
(Oh, and expect a post tomorrow about my experience with and thoughts on the new Facebook design.)
Josh brought this ridiculous Craigslist rant/rave to my attention today because this picture of us was, for reasons entirely unknown, displayed as a random example of “modern day hipsters.” My understanding of the word “hipster” itself is so fuzzy and vague that my opinion of the whole concept is that I may or may not hang out with hipsters and that I may or may not be one myself. I have very little investment in the idea, so it baffles me how some people (like the person who posted our picture) can ardently define hipsters as the new social order against whom everyone else is simply a Douchebag, while others can insist that hipsters are the evil spawn of the Ray-Ban-wearing, Parliament-smoking, tattoo-covered Devil.
My favorite (and least comprehensible) sentence of the entire Craigslist post?
“In a sense, the hipsters have won as they have successfully ‘hipsterized’ modern day sensibilities.”
Well you know me – leading the modern day battle of sensibilities with my unbeatable hipsterizing skillz.
If complaining and/or whining were a skill, I’d pretty much be a pro (my friends can attest to this). It all stems from the fact that I’m an only child who is accustomed to being the center of attention, who regresses (not in the Freudian sense) to childhood playfulness and silliness and affection when most comfortable. Yup, that explains a lot. Seeing as I woke up an hour ago to an empty apartment and haven’t yet said anything out loud, I’ve decided that today will be the day that I attempt a personal experiment. That is, I will NOT complain or whine today. At all. No, really.
I know, I’ve been asking myself exactly how I’m going to pull this off. Especially since I’m the kind of person who says, “I’m sooo tiredddddd” on a regular basis – even when it’s not true – just to have something to say. I plan on turning those kind of negative thoughts (that really don’t ever improve the situation) into positive, or at least neutral, statements. So complaints in my head will be transformed (magically!) into more optimistic ideas, whether in my thoughts or out loud. For example, the weather today is supposed to be really hot/humid and the subway platform atmosphere should be stifling, but I’m going to instead remind myself that no AC = less energy (a la Duncan’s recent post). I’m aware that this whole experiment seems random and rather unnecessary. But, why not, right? Because it can’t hurt. And because I’m curious as to how this may change my outlook on how I go about the day.
Friday night marked my first experience as a cocktail waitress at Sea. Though I spent all last summer as a waitress at PJ’s Pancake House, I had never served anything but pancakes, eggs, and burgers before (yup, gained weight at that job). I was told that I’d be training my first night, after which I was planning on turning down the job, because I barely have free time as it is. However, “training” didn’t mean actual training so much as it meant full cocktail waitressing – i.e. serving alcohol on my own and keeping all my tips. Okay, so I made serious bank and the work wasn’t so bad. And I have the security of knowing a big, buff guy named Israel is watching to make sure I’m not being harassed by any creepy or overly-friendly dudes.
Considering my other job as an NYU tour guide, I’m generally comfortable with talking and meeting strangers. In terms of joking and bantering with the customers, I don’t have to struggle with language barriers in the same way as the other employees (many of whom were born in Thailand). And while I didn’t make any mistakes with drink orders, I still have to develop my own rhythm. One woman was incredibly mean to me at the very end of what had, until then, been a great first shift. I ran out of small bills to give change to her boyfriend and I got really flustered as she increasingly expressed her impatience. I nervously explained that sorry, it was my first night, expecting the excuse to elicit the usual response – genuine support and patience – “Really? You’re doing really well. Take your time, etc.” But no, she haughtily responded with, “Well you can really tell.” Which only made me more flustered and shaky and unable to count the correct change. She then had the nerve to walk up to my manager (who was behind me) and tell him, “This girl can’t count, blahblahbitchbitch.” Her boyfriend was nice and told me to take my time, though at that point I couldn’t help but start to cry. My manager consoled me and told me that I was doing fine, that she was just cranky. My response: “She’s so meannnn.” Yeah, it still really bothered me because I’m the kind of person who takes strangers’ hurtful remarks personally.
This is what I’ve learned: People will spend an exorbitant amount of money on alcohol. They will tip incredibly well if I tolerate their lame come-ons and humor their requests that I “don’t be a stranger.” They will then ask my boyfriend’s name. Oh, and sometimes they will be mean.
Nina Yiamsamatha is an NYU Gallatin student finishing up an individualized major in Internet/new media studies (coming soon - her rationale). On any given day, you can find her working at Undercurrent; talking about Twitter (follow her! read her "tweory" project); gallivanting around downtown Manhattan with friends; or blogging in her apartment.
For Summer 2009, she will be living in Washington, DC and working at the Center for American Progress as an External Affairs (online advocacy/social networking) Intern.
You can contact Nina at nina.yiamsamatha [at] gmail.com.
