live from new york

photo essay of YYY and i next year?

go west, young women

a photo essay:

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings — This Land Is Our Land

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live

Lou Reed – Take a Walk on the Wild Side

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centrelight pop and everybody goes “Awww!

The Rolling Stones — Wild Horses

Youth comes but once in a lifetime

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live

top ten

there’s a nice thread going on garance dore right now asking what everyone’s top ten fashion must-haves are. the question was inspired by a ’97 magazine widget about emmanuelle alt, current fashion director at paris vogue and three-quarters of the reason i changed my wardrobe to monochromes.

my personal style at the moment has been described by others as teetering somewhere in between “victorian lesbian” and “geriatric chic,”  which i find both totally flattering and shockingly insulting. so my list of fashion top 10s is partly a continuation of the comfy tom-boy aesthetic i’ve been honing since i was 4, but also partly an aspirational attempt to finally look like a girl (possibly even a woman).

oh, and it wouldn’t hurt if i managed to look as effortlessly stylish as emmanuelle, too…

1. gap v-neck tees: Justice always scoffed when i preached the virtues of this “generic soulless corporation.” whatevs. i still stand by my corporate cotton: it’s super soft, fits well and is usually on sale once a month.

2. dark wash skinny jeans: my denim preferences have gone from 90s high-waisted acid wash to pre-faded flares back to 90s acid wash (this time with curt cobain-inspired tears in the knees) as well as some ill-advised dabbling in destroyed boyfriend and bootcut fits. but nothing, and i mean nothing, looks or feels as good as squeezing into a pair matchstick jeans

3. cardigan: preferably dark and soft, but really, i have them in every size, shape, cut, fabric and pattern — and love each one as much as the other.

4. blazer: black, slouchy, cuffed sleeves, nuff said.

5. black booties: this is one of the aspirational pieces i was talking about earlier. i don’t actually own this item, but i am on the hunt for a pair of black suede mid-height ankle booties that can give my outfit a shot of sex.

6. nail polish. yes, that’s right. my embargo on cosmetics is coming to an end. while my stubby, jittery hands will prevent me from actually applying the stuff myself, i’m willing to consider not knocking out anyone who tries do my nails. colours of choice: black, navy, light grey and, oh fine, deep red.

7. scarf: something to tie my dark-wash jeans, black blazer, black cardigan and black booties look all together? a black pashmina? genius!

8. watch: simple, reliable and durable. i’m looking at you timex.

9. buttery-soft leather motorcycle jacket: when i’m rich and famous (or married), this will be my very first purchase. mmm…i can feel the butteriness already…

10. purse: asian practicality dictates that it be spacious enough to fit all my books and notepads and have pockets for all my pens and recording equipment. girly frivolity, however, also says it should be pretty, leathery and hurt my shoulder to carry.

read or not

in almost exactly two months, i will be graduating from the columbia university graduate school of journalism.

shit.

recently, one of my stories from class got picked up by a newspaper in syracuse. then linked to by usa today.when i told my mom this, her first response was, “it’s like you’re a real journalist.”

i guess so.

click here and here for my latest contributions to humanity.

mine for the taking

i’m back!

after another toolong hiatus — including a brief but ultimately failed romance with tumblr — i return older, probably no wiser, but certainly eager to get back on the wp blogging horse.

a lot has happened since i last posted just before the winter hols. paris and london (not ontario) were both more romantic and charming than i remembered, but still strangely not as impressive or exciting as i hoped they’d be. i realized on my two week european romp that new york really is where i want to be right now. even as i was sipping on one of the most thoughtfully crafted cocktails i’d ever tasted and nibbling on exquisite little macaroons from la duree, i couldn’t wait to get back to city, my city.

yesyes, i know, who am i to call this city mine? i’ve lived here for less than a year,  i still get lost transferring between subway lines and it confuses me when the streets stop being numbered. but that’s what i love, too. in every subway ride i take, every side street i turn down, and every day i wake up, there’s still a sense of adventure and discovery.

career expo is in two weeks. time inc assessment has been completed. vice interview is being (re)scheduled. somewhere in between it all, i just hope i can find someone willing to help me stay and continue making this city my own.

Phoenix – 1901 (acoustic) how perfect: a french band playing the theme song from “new york i love you”