David Brooks on the human mind

Listened to this on NPR and thought it was pretty exceptional. Take a listen if you want your compassion for other people to rise.
At the 2010 Aspen Ideas Festival, New York Times columnist David Brooks discussed what scientists are learning about the human mind - and what that means for both our lives and our public policy.

This last Saturday, I ushered the dance performance H3: Bruno Beltrao / Grupo de Rua de Niteroi and found it to be very exciting. Anyone from my generation is familiar with hip hop, break dancing and the derivatives of these, but I've never seen anything like this. Perhaps these videos don't quite express what my experience was, but at least shows you a taste of their style.





Sitting in the front row, close enough to smell the bengay, I was a little nervous, like a mother at a wrestling match, for the performer's (and the people in the front row)safety. Moving that quickly can be nearly impossible to control and sometimes with blunt stops directly in front of the audience, I really really thought I'd get or witness a kick to the head, or a dancer running into stage equipment. It should not have suprised me though that I was watching the best in the trade and they know what every centimeter of their body is doing every second.

The only disappointment was 1: the music wasn't really "bumping" but more ambient and slow. 2: they had their shirts on, and I really wish I could see their muscles. To see the movements, although who doesn't like looking at 9 super fit brazilian men?

Anyway, great show. Great dancers. Exciting lighting. Very fun.

Calcutta : CallCutta

I've begun managing (along with two of my favorite co-workers John K. and Crystal) an amazing performance from Berlin based performance group Rimini Protokoll called Call Cutta in a Box: An Intercontinental Phone Play. The last few evenings I've spent on the 40th floor of the IDS tower trying to figure out how to run this show from two very nice german men and really hope I can do it without them! It is really fantastic and I must must must share with y'all a few images I have taken of some of the packages of breath fresheners that are part of the show. Beauties!








I will post more images soon. Don't want to take too many and scare Sebastien. Will wait for him to leave before that.

Jewels

My co-worker and style guru, Nichole Neuman, always has super bad ass jewelry, some of which she's gotten from Surface to Air, a lovely jewelry company that makes me wish I had more money (although some of it is pretty inexpensive!) and today, Nichole suggested I look at this fantastic website for pieces of a similar style. verameat
Here's a taste of what you'll find on it:

The Real Wishlist

If my parents were billionaires I would be giving them this list for Christmas. These things are amazing and even more amazingly expensive.


Top Shop cardigan



Lindsey Thornburg cloak


Lanvin dress


La Dama ring


Nude lace top. Don't care who the designer is.


Jeffery Campbell booties



Philippe Tournaire House rings


Fur pieces(coats/vests/whatever) (faux fur)


Another Lanvin Dress


Another Lanvin Dress


Clogs by a designer whose name escapes me, but I found them on a Parsons aquaintance, Marcus Holmund's amazing blog


Body necklace by Litter SF


BCBG velvet leggings


Balmain jacket


Acne shoes

The Christmas List

This is my actual Christmas list that I sent to my parents. I've also asked for merino wool socks, isotoner leather driving gloves as well as a garlic press. All reasonably priced items that I need or would like to have. Nothing elaborate.
I find that sending online screen grabs of items is a really good system for people that don't necessarily know what you'd like. It also makes it really easy for them, and then you end up actually liking and fitting into what they give you. My sisters seemed to think it was cheating when I did this last year, but the jokes on them because I was super excited to get some of the items I asked for and while they were getting ill fitting sweaters and vanilla scented candles.

Fashion icons

I've always been a lover of fashion. High and low, old and young, ugly and beautiful.
When I went to Parsons as a freshman, I had thought maybe I would go into fashion design, but upon arrival, I realized that the competition within this specific design field is cruel and unusual. If ever I am to be a part of this amazing phenomenon of a business, I would much rather be doing graphic design for them. But nonetheless I am constantly looking at fashion blogs, magazines and such, as well as observing the fashions of those that come to the Walker.

BUT alas, my love has some hate involved. Perhaps it is slight jealousy, although I'm quite confident on my appearance, but I get really tired of seeing beautiful young women dressed in rediculously expensive designer clothing. Exactly how does a 20 year old afford a 600$ pair of heels without a trust fund? Really I'd like to know!

So. I've decided to put together a list of ladies that I find to be amazing and even more inspiring than runway models:







Mind you, a few of these ladies are fashion designers themselves, but I love seeing old women in fantastic clothing. (Especially since I won't probably be able to afford the clothes I want until I'm this age.) I've also thrown in a photo of Miss Ditto because she's got style, class and sexiness with an extra 200 pounds on her.

These are some of my fashion icons.

I See You

I've been working in the Walker design department twice a week on various projects. Some more exciting than others but it's really awesome working in a studio with editors and fellow designers. My internships and freelance jobs up to this point have all been working directly with clients, artists and curators so it's a totally new and really fun experience.

One of the more fun projects I've done is the family (read:children) activity sheet for the Dan Graham exhibition. Today, I got an email with these two images attached of children using the sheet in the galleries. So cute!




images copyright Walker Art Center

Jean-Claude! Rest in peace you fantastic being!

Jean-Claude, the collaborator and long time wife (51 years) of Christo died today at 74. She will be missed. I've always enjoyed hearing interviews with this woman. She was so mesmerizing and charismatic. Her relationship with Claude was ideal, adorable and fantastic. A beacon of greatness. Although their beacon would be wrapped in some warm colored fabric.

Shogun Totally Won

Last night I watched the UFC championship with my boyfriend's parents who had a party for the championship. I've seen UFC a few times and enjoyed it, which I (mostly) did watching it this time except the final fight. It was Lyoto Machida (reigning champion) vs Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Mauricio totally won. It was obvious, and they gave it to the reigning champion!? I never want to watch UFC again because they are liars and unfair but would love to watch Shogun fight again. He's quite easy on the eyes and damn, can he throw some punches and kicks. Here's some shots of him at work:







Here's a video of the two fighters that they showed before the fight. But I couldn't find a video of the actual fight.


Another note worthy fighting crew is the Union Square Spartans. I lived in Union Square for a year and probably saw these guys at least once, but there's always so much happening there. Anyway, they're a group of guys, mostly homeless, that have strict rules and found a loop hole around fighting in public by not hitting each other in the face. Here's some beautiful stills and you can find a plethora of their videos on youtube.