a crack team of art department bitches

things i have learnt from art department-ing:

1) "okay folks, that's a wrap" are some of the sweetest words you can hear
2) art dept will get yelled at for anything and everything
3) there is always a strange tiny yet noticeable division between art dept and rest of crew
4) when the director starts chain smoking, that's probably not a good sign
5) don't bawl out other art dept members unless you're the Art Director...
6) ... but pick axes and fuck-off big mallets still should not be left on a public pathway for ten minutes while there's no one from the art dept anywhere nearby
7) two hours' sleep isn't quite enough to last the day
8) caffeine is your friend
9) low to no budget may mean, alas, you get dragged in as an extra
10) don't point malfunctioning staple guns at your eyes
11) white tack won't hold up pictures
12) black tack gets stuck to your fingers
13) "lefty loosey, righty tighty"
14) flat head screws are a bastard
15) the tube sucks. public transport is a joke.

i've got the black lung...

i'm a bit of a snot factory at the moment (mmm pleasant). caught something from the plane, probably, where the germs just circulate... i snickered at the strange lady sitting in front of me who wore a face mask, but i now understand why she did it.

*cough* *cough* *sniff*

it sucks being back at work. being back in london, actually. i've just gone straight back to the "what do i do now?" mode of thinking. i don't know how much longer this job can last.

i'd like to go away again.

but i'm also really getting back into school mode. maybe a masters. or maybe summer school will cut the craving again. it worked last year. i just feel like dedicating a year to going back to school now is too much. i'll try and pick up one of those big course directories you can get and see what i want to do this summer.

a language. and history. and more art. and literature.

goddamnit.

*atchooo*

excuse me.

one crazy assed bbq

hell, what a bbq.
met pro_keds in the library bar (ave A) first, along with salmon and her friend jenny.
beers.
bumping into david cross again.
big rats on the subway.
car from p_k's to fort greene and the bbq at chonch's house.
more beer.
margaritas.
running out of tequila so making dirty margaritas.
only eating chips (doritos) as never got round to grabbing any bbq.
thinking it was a good idea to bring out the water balloons.
instigating a conveyor belt system at the sink with frank but the balloons kept tearing.
big water fight.
wet kitchen floor.
slow dancing in the kitchen with p_k to the slow-dance-bbq CD jeff had made.
the pimpin party going on in the garden behind the one we were in.
twizzlers.
moving on to meadows' place.
talking to a "shemale" who then started playing bongos.
frank's striptease.
jeff's spontaneous dance routine.
curling up on the sofa with meadows' new martin parr book.
falling asleep on the windowsill, then crawling to the couch when jeff and aimee staggered out.
waking up and walking out into the beautiful morning light but realising i had no idea how to get home.
asking the guy at the petrol station.
the G and F trains being surprisingly full for 6:30 on a saturday morning.
pancakes at mcdonalds, mmm.
no sleep.
ajay probably dragging me to coney island in a couple of hours.

it's aaaaalllll good.

bedford avenue theme park

crazy crazy rainstorms yesterday. we walked into bloomingdales just as it started, and it had paused when we walked out - crossed the road into a sandwich bar and it started again. horribly humid as well. the downside to summer weather.

the NY meetup was last night. i was happy to casually walk in, don't know if this was 'cause i'd already met a bunch of them. met a lot of other cool kids like pro_keds (j'adore) and staciemerrill rebekkah and sharonwatt and meadows...

when i walked out onto bedford ave from the subway it was - i'd heard a lot about it, mainly from panther, but it seemed kind of like a theme park. toy town-ish. everyone hanging around, all these crazy dress senses, so many people about. it was kind of strange.

asked the bartender for a vodka lemon lime and got the blankest look. "uh, vodka 7Up?" yeah, whatever.

someone also said to me "the bartender speaks funny, are you guys from the same place?"
the barman was from dublin.
close, guys.

stacie bought me an "empanada" which was gooood (hey, it was food, right? hadn't eaten in a while) and pk ordered me a car... apparently their word for a cab. while we have taxis (the black taxi cabs in town) and cabs - like minicabs - they have cabs (the yellow ones you get in the city) and cars, which are ones you order from firms, like minicabs... how confusing.

a selection of meetup pics:
me & prokeds 'share a moment'
hott tub
more hott tub
being doubly photographed
frank n adam
a little spillage
hidden meadows
up yours
bad brainware...
empanadas
for every action...
there is an equal and opposite reaction
it's only rock n roll... the A+ boys
bear + beer
oh dear

suck my neck

vampire movies can often suck ass bad stylie (when they should be sucking neck, ha ha) but van helsing is genuinely one of the worst movies i've seen in a long time. ugh.



but lost boys still rules the roost.

brooklyn bike gang rule

i think that's about it, really.

i shocked even myself by agreeing to go hang out with people i've never met, but i figure what have i got to lose? i'm here by myself, don't know anyone... figured it would be fun. and it was *so* much fun.

we went to some home-run kind of bar in DUMBO with ramshackle outside booths and beer at $2 a bottle, then on to the Run For Your Life night run by black label bike club a couple blocks away (we took a, ah, slightly circuitous route to get there...)

they had loads of souped up bikes there and black label kids were working on them whilst we were there. the brooklyn bike gang kids were having a whale of a time ridin round... while some of us just took photos.

all in all, a crazy introduction to brooklyn. but a wicked night.

my trip so far

* i walked past david cross about an hour after landing in NY

* there have been big thunderstorms both nights i've been here

* there is a great deli right round the corner from where i'm staying. uh oh

* i watched a softball game when i was killing time in central park. it was the broadway league: The Producers vs The Playwrights. it took me ages to realise it was the show 'The Producers', and that Matthew Broderick, Mr Ferris Bueller himself, was sitting two rows ahead of me. he then batted and played 1st base for his team. he was okay. everyone was a little sycophantic. first time up at bat he missed, second time he bunted it down to first base but the guy fumbled it, so Broderick managed to get to first while the right fielder scooped up the ball. everyone was like "yeeeahh matthew! go matty!" and i was like - it wasn't that good. anyone else who did that might have got a smattering of applause or something.

* i just couldn't bring myself to go into banana republic even though my sister wants me to bring her back something from there

* my credit card has already been refused (eek)