Well hey there, fellow shambotsters. I would write a little blurb here about how crappy I am about updating this thing, but we’ve all heard it before. So, I shall substitute the normal “oh, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted” with this:

I AM COMING HOME TO THE APPLES ON THURSDAY.

Yes. Less than a week. Far less, in fact. More like half a week. I miss the living hell out of all of you, and I when I see your faces, I will squeeze you until your brains pop out of your ears and ooze into your hoodies.

More later, potentially.

Well hey there. I’m back, on a lovely rainy Portland afternoon, hanging out at Hilary and Scott’s house on Skyline, where I am currently house/dogsitting. It’s beautiful up here, particularly since they’ve remodeled, and now you can see the view from almost anywhere in the house. When it rains, I like to open the windows just a crack so I can hear it and smell the nice fresh west coast air. The dogs are downstairs drying off after a wet jaunt around the yard, but when I’m finished here we are all going to curl up on the couch.

Things around here have actually been pretty busy. I’m working at BenchCraft again, and after a sickening stint as Chief Folder Folder, I finally acquired a desk and am currently handling the design work for ImageMedia (a sub-company that does design for various clients). It is wildly exciting. Note to self: when searching for a career, work somewhere that has a GOOD sense of design (read: no gradients, no shadows on text, etc). After a semester of not really touching the computer in any of my illustrations, it’s good to be brushing up on that.

Other interesting things, in list form (since I am too lazy to write out paragraphs):

-bought tickets to go see Wilco in August with Benny. Hooray!

-Learned to make mojitos. Will be utilizing this skill ASAP when I return to Minneapolis.

-Am going to the movies with my dad today, who is the coolest guy ever.

-Currently obsessed with “That Time” by Regina Spektor, who is very pretty.

-Watched the first half of the first season of the Office and fell in love with Jim all over again. I challenge anyone to watch this show and not love that man. Just try.

-Hil and Scott have a world map on their shower curtain, so each day I look at where the Ben is and map out his next few destinations. I know, the height of cool.

That is all. I am homesick for you all at MCAD. I’m pretty sure it’s been too long.

Well. Here it is, Wednesday. And I leave New York City on Saturday, to return to my beloved city of Portland. But New York, you were seriously better than I ever could have imagined.
Here is a list of things that make me teary-eyed when I think about leaving:
-the subway. Oh, it may be disturbingly filthy, and it may have caused me to have multiple dreams about rats and various other rodents, but you just can’t beat it.
-my apartment. The little hobbitt hole of goodness, site of many cozy evenings spent by my lonesome drawing, reading, or watching Law and Order. Hopefully, it is the smallest space I will ever live in. But I will miss it, and I will also miss living by myself (although I can’t think of better roomies, Emma and Alli!).
-Harper’s. Naturally. Besides the obvious satisfaction I still get from seeing my name on the masthead, I loved my art directors, the other interns (in all their weird, smart ass glory) and all the editors (most of whom still know me as just “the art intern”).
-The pizza. Don’t even try to compete with it. It’s the best.
-The bagels. Seriously, I will never be able to eat bagels anywhere else. Here, they are fluffy chewy little pillows of carb-filled goodness. Especially when paired with my coffee/hot chocolate combo mixed from the gas-station machine thing at the cheap bagel place on Montague Street.
-All the little munchkins I babysat for. Yes, I bitched about them endlessly, and I am glad to have my days as a nanny-whore behind me. But they’re so little and cute! And they like me!
-Gallery openings. Always free wine. Sometimes good art.
-And lastly, the people. Specifically, the ones that I like and hang out with. Special shoutout to Intern Suzannah, that froyo loving, horse riding, Coney Island going, ANTM watching bundle of cynical love that I will miss like crazy.
Well. I still got stuff to do and places to be before I head out. Two quick things:
1. Went to see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart with Intern Suzannah last Thursday. It was totally sweet, and he is really, really short.
2. Went to the movies Monday night, and behold: ran into Kim (yes, little cutie lesbian Kim) from ANTM! She had sort of an odd mullet-esque haircut, but was just as hot and sassy in person.
THE END.

Update:
I am alive. Just (as usual) shirking my blogging duties. Here’s why (in a nutshell):
-Harper’s = almost over.
-Nannying = also almost over, and my boss extra-booked me this week. As a result, it is 7.22 am and I must run out the door to an 8.30 job. Blargh.
-The Ben was in town. Now he is in Israel, and I am writing him very long (and probably boring) emails because I miss hearing the sweet, lilting sound of his voice on le phone.
-New York = almost over. Sadness. And I must properly re-experience everything I love here before leaving so it’s fresh in my head like a bad aftertaste.
Must go sit on the babies. Real post later. Love and kisses and other silly things.

Dudes.
Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, is aware of a certain ridiculous obsession that occasionally overcomes me. It has probably made a few movies and television experiences that we’ve had together hellish. Here what this little tick looks like:
Me: Don’t you recognize that person on the screen from somewhere?
You: Eh. I guess they look familiar. Don’t know.
Me: I think I recognize them. WHO IS THAT GUY?
You: What?
Me: I can’t hear you. I am obsessively Googling various traits of this particular person so I can figure out who they are, because if I don’t, I will not sleep.
Remember that one?
Well, NYC has been more than a little difficult, because I see people often who look vaguely familiar. And since it is New York, they probably are familiar for a reason.
Exhibit A:
This afternoon, I was rushing down the stairs to the subway to catch the F train at Broadway-Lafayette to get from work to a babysitting job. A bunch of people were getting off the V train (runs on the same track) and there was a mildly cute guy I noticed. We looked at each other for a second, and I thought I recognized him. And, just now, as I was eating some quality frozen yogurt and watching The Office, it hit me.
Yes, I definitely saw Chili this afternoon. As in, Chili who was Johnny’s friend at the Newport public high school on the third season of the OC. (Rest in peace OC. You were an amazing prime time soap of the gods.)
If you recall, Johnny was the guy who was a really good surfer, wanted Marissa’s ass, and eventually got drunk and jumped off a cliff, killing himself. Chili was his lame surf buddy and maybe had two lines in his few appearances. The (amazingly talented) actor who played him is named Johnny Lewis, and he is currently filming a show called “Eight Days a Week.”
And yes, I am feeling like the biggest nerd-o on the planet.

it’s raining here.
now, i understand that my disgust may not actually shine through to you, since i just wrote that instead of saying it. let me try again, with feeling.
it’s raaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnning here. eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggg.
ah yes. much more whiny and realistic-like.
here’s the thing, new york. i really like the rain. out west where i’m from, the rain means nice things. it means a cozy day inside, drinking coffee and curling up with a book. it means green grass, and smelling fresh nature for days and days. it means lush botanical goodness.
but here in the great city of nyc, the rain does not mean any of these things. instead, the rain means crappy runs on slippery concrete (which doesn’t help my phobia of somehow managing to slip off of the brooklyn bridge, which is ridiculous). it means that my wet, nasty running clothes will be mildewing while they try to hang dry in my bathroom, which happens to be about 2 feet from everything else in my apartment (and this smells like death). it means that i have to walk the blocks to the laudromat (in the rain) with my big fatty bag of laundry when it is dirty (not so bad) but also when it is clean and dry (bad). it means that tomorrow, when i babysit catie for 10 hours in the same apartment as her mother, i cannot take her for 4 hour long trips to the park. i must stay in a small, confined space with a bored 2 year old (under mommy’s watchful eye) ALL DAY.
and lastly, do you know what it smells like when it rains in new york city? rain in ny does not mean renewal and goodness, because concrete and dingy subway stations reeking of urine do not need renewal in the form of rain. they need renewal in the form of 409. rain just makes the smelly garbage sitting on the street smelly and wet. mmm.
plus, i we had an intern day at the zoo all planned, now cancelled. poop.
granted, my day will be lovely after i run and do my laundry. then i can eat and watch movies and do art. but seriously. i can’t see to the lovely without windshield wipers on my glasses.

make that 2 AMAZING things.
1) today, while babysitting the little Catie Kirk (that would be the one to whom I am known as “Judy”) I took her to FAO Schwartz and we played that fatty huge piano just like in Big. And then, as we were walking out of the toy store after 2 hours of action packed fun, we just happened to step right in the middle of a Beyonce concert. Only in NYC, my friends. And, of course, Beyonce is shorter than I expected. But her voice is large.
2) Tanya is taking me to see Hairspray when she comes out here in t-minus 3 weeks! Hooray! I have a sugarmama!
The end.

well hey there.
it’s been a spot of calm the last couple of days here in nyc…kara left thursday morning, i just mailed in a bunch of freelance stuff i was freaking out about, and merits are being taken care of for me (thanks guys!). also, since i was off the calendar for babysitting while kara was here, i didn’t get a bunch of the good babysitting jobs. i’ve been working upwards of 35 hours a week regularly, and this week i’ve only got one job so far (tonight). there’s a slight chance i’ll get called in tomorrow, but since most of the richie ny’ers with little ones are currently running off to the country (it’s the first weekend of spring break here) i highly doubt it. but never fear–i already have bookings all day monday, saturday and sunday of next week–and it’s not even next week yet.
had lunch with alexis yesterday at an amazing dim sum place in the middle of crazy chinatown (mcad alexis, she’s in town for a few days to check things out). mcad paid, which warmed my cheap little heart. in return, i gabbed for upwards of an hour about how much i love interning at harper’s and living in a closet. tried to keep the bitching about nysp to a minimum, but did manage to work in that i’m paying a studio fee, but not getting to use a studio.
last night was the first night in a while i didn’t have to sit, so intern barry and i went to moma to see the jeff wall show. it was rockin. barry tends to assume i know about everything involving art, which is sort of flattering until i have to admit that i actually have no idea how jeff wall takes a panoramic photo that is entirely in sharp focus. i hope i’m not ruining my image. at any rate, it was a nice evening and a good show.
today, i’m meeting a friend of stacey’s (harper’s art director stacey) to chat about sitting for her son (outside of pinch sitters, just once a week) then heading up to lower manhattan to sit for the evening. yay babies!
ok. i think that’s all, except for a couple of things i am excited about, contained in the following bulleted list:
-i can just see a couple of little green buds on the tree outside my tiny window. springtime! finally.
-tanya from paper prince is coming to see me in only a few weeks, then the bean will be in town
-i completely repaired my toilet MYSELF using only a strand of dental floss.
-intern suzannah and i are going to the bronx zoo next weekend.
-i got a few samples from DG that are products with my art on them. that is the coolest thing ever.
-i think there should be a prize for consistently longest shambot posts, mostly because i would win. there should also be a prize for anyone who actually reads these.

well, i’m sick. sickie mc grosserson. and here’s the unfortunate thing (actually, there are multiple unfortunate things)–
-angie and rhea are in town and i want to play with them (which i did, last night, hooray…but i whined the whole time)
-kara comes into town tonight to stay with me and i don’t want to get her sick, plus a whirlwind tour of nyc takes much more energy than i have
-i want to run, but i can barely make it up the subway station stairs, much less over the huge hump of the brooklyn bridge
-all i want to do is sleep all day in my apartment, but the pest guy just came and sprayed everything down and i am pretty sure i’m poisoning myself by being in here right now (but on the up side, no more huge ass crawlies. i am not equipped to handle those emotionally.)
-all i want to do is sleep all day (part 2) but i have to watch 2 little ankle biters from 12 to 6 (which i cannot cancel, seeing as it’s 10 15) and if they don’t take a big fatty nap for most of the afternoon i will cry.
end of ridiculously whiny post. send soup.

well, not intentionally. i do not have some sort of political cause against st. patrick’s day. if i had, in fact, remembered that today was a celebration of…green things and the irish, i may have been inclined to don some mint colored pants (okay, first i would have to buy said pants, but you get the idea) and drink green beer. but. i did not remember. and so, i babysat. in a beautiful apartment on crosby street, which featured very high ceilings, amazing wallpaper on only one wall (how very now) and the best interior decorating/design i have seen so far in my adventures (which, as it may be very obvious by now, are merely fuel to my real-estate whore fire).
anyway. saw a very, drunk, very underage looking guy being dragged home by a few other boys, and lots of exuberantly drunk people on the subway. turns out drunk people are way more fun when you are also drunk. who knew?
my crazy night of debauchery also included finishing “the fortress of solitude,” an epic and amazing novel by one jonathon lethem, recommended to all (you should also check out adam langer’s “crossing california” and the sequel, “the washington story”–they’re kind of in the same vein). it was especially exciting to read it while in nyc and brooklyn, where the story is set. the whole thing turned very interactive: i now read the tags i see everywhere, analyze and catalogue graffiti and the authors of it, and have a mental version of 1970s brooklyn to compare with the very gentrified, cleaned up modern version. anyway. read it.
next week (er, this week?) exciting things are happening. harper’s may issue is closing, so that means a nice, slow, highly alcoholic week for myself and the other interns (not to mention most of the staff not bothering to show up for work). angie is coming on thursday. kara is coming on saturday, and staying with me for a few days. i am starting a couple of new books and attempting to slowly eat away at the very large pile in my apartment. and also, i bought these really rockin new shorts that i will wear, whether or not the weather decides to cooperate. and i will look slammin. and finally, i have apparently stopped using the letter “g” to end words. to conclude, i heart new york.
word.