Curiouser

Chatty Kathy? Or - Shut Up Greg!

My mother always says:

"A good deed never goes un-punished."

My father always says:

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

One must forgive them this bit of pessimism. They are generally happy people, but they are, after all, Russian.

I, on the other hand, only had a few months in a Soviet school before running away to the land where the streets are paved with gold. And so, am much more optimistic. As a result, i believe in karma and Random Acts of Kindness doing.

Into this category of "Random Acts of Kindness" falls my relationship with a man who's name I do not know, but who's little complaints on life i listen to whenever we run into each other in the hallway at work. Inevitably this happens when I'm ridiculously grouchy and just trying to run out for a quick lunch.

This man, let's call him Garrulous Greg, loves to corner me and tell me (in his boring, oh so painfully boring way with his nasally voice) about whatever it is that happens to be bothering him at that moment. I feel very badly for him. He's an older man (in his mid-50's?) and always looks so crumpled, not ironed, clearly not cared for by a woman's gentle touch. It seems to me that he must be pretty lonely to constantly want to chit-chat with a person he doesn't know. Clearly there is no one else who is willing to hear him out. So i take this burden upon myself.

He has told me about his cat, his argument with his car mechanic, his desperate attempts to get his money back from Weight Watchers because they have done nothing for him, why he dislikes Tuesdays more than Mondays, that the quesadia line in the cafeteria is too long, that he doesn't like the salsa they put on them and on and on and on...

All the while, through his tirades of unhappiness and general distress, i stand quietly smiling and nodding (you know the technique i'm sure), occasionally voicing concern and outrage at his mistreatment at the hands of others. I'm SURE the cook at the sandwich line at the cafe DOES gyp him on the roast beef.

Yesterday Garrulous Greg cornered me by the bathroom and start talking, even though i told him that i'm really kind of in a rush, ahem.

Greg apparently did not care that i was in a rush and kept right on going. "You know what?" he said after a few minutes. "I just realized that i don't even know your name. In my head i always just think of you as 'chatty-Kathy' "

Excuse me, WHAT?!

I may be generally chatty (I prefer 'friendly'), but with Greg - i am the MODEL of a good listener! I listen and listen and am NOT interested in telling him anything about myself what-so-ever! WELL! can you believe this guy? After my kindness towards him, my patient willingness to hear all of his stupid complaints, HE has the nerve to call ME 'chatty-Kathy'?! Is this where my good intentions have taken me?

That's it people! I am no longer going to put up with Greg or any of his ilk. The doors to this house of understanding are closed! Bah!

And that's all i have to say about that.

Stalin and Marilyn

I thought we might all enjoy a little bit of Soviet style Marilyn in the morning...

These two pieces are by Russian artist Leonid Sokov, who is considered to be part of the Russia pop style, 'Socialist Realism' movement. .. Wikipedia describes this as: "the use of ideology as an object of consumption"... which really cracks me up, but seems to fit the following two works.

I saw them at them at the Russian Art auction at Sotheby's in NYC, which is where the photographs are from.

"Marilyn and Stalin", 1989

"Marilyn and Bear"

The Cranes are Flying

Yesterday Alex and I watched The Cranes are Flying, a Soviet film from 1957. Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, it is one of only two Soviet films to ever win the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

It is a very sad movie. Veronika, playfully known as belka (squirrel) has her life torn apart when her fiance, Boris, volunteers for the army to fight the Nazis in WWII.

When her parents are killed in a bombing, Veronika moves in with Boris' family. She waits and waits for Boris, she checks the mail every day, she calls the plant where he worked before leaving, but hears nothing.

Meanwhile, Boris' cousin, who has dodged the draft by bribing an official for a medical exemption, pursues Veronika despite her repeated requests that he leave her alone. During another bomb raid, he rapes her. After the rape, Veronika is shamed into marrying him, leading the rest of the family to think that she has betrayed Boris. 

As the film progresses and war gets worse, the family is evacuated to Siberia where Veronika volunteers at the hospital where Boris' father works. The life is cold and miserable and Veronika is growing stiff and cold and miserable and everything points to the fact that Boris has died, yet she continues to wait and wait and wait for his return.

In the final scenes of the film, war is over and the troops are coming home. There is a parade and the people are filled with joy, families reuniting with their boys after the battles have been won. But amidst all this happiness, the camera pans to Veronika as she struggles through crowds, holding a huge bouquet of white flowers, looking looking looking for Boris. Even at this moment, especially at this moment, she doesn't want to believe that he's not coming home.

Finally, Veronika finds Boris' friend, Stepan, who confirms that he has died. As Veronika cries, Stepan makes a speech urging everyone to embrace the hard-won peace and rejoice, but never forget those who have died.

The last scene is so painful. You feel Veronika's desperate sorrow while everyone around her is celebrating. While there are a few other emotional moments in the film, this one is clearly the culmination.

Something a bit entertaining is that while The Cranes is really supposed to be about love and family and honor and war, it wouldn't quite be Soviet without showing Boris as an honorable factory worker, the women of the factory as supportive do-gooders and a few great speeches about loyalty to one's country...

The Avid Traveler Essentials Set

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love mini-travel versions of my favorite products.

This makes sense because I used to travel very often and am quite particular about what 'personal care' items I'm willing to use. Also, I'm a bit of a germaphobe and so am constantly armed with sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes, etc. Alex doesn't really do a very good job of THOROUGHLY wiping his hands with the sanitizer I squeeze on to them, so I've gotten into the habit of forcing him to hold out his fingers for me to examine.... (prompting my mother and his mother, who have both seen me do this, to remind me that he is my boyfriend, not child, but WHATEVER! i don't need him touching me with his possibly infected fingers!).

Back to my love of travel-sized items: I'm one of those people who does a lot of things on a whim, but i don't like to feel unprepared. This is why all of my 'purses' are enormous caves with vast collections of items that i could possibly need at some point throughout the day. You know, in the rain forest, and/or desert, that I have to cross on my walk to the office (in Manhattan).

So, OF COURSE i was going to love this gift set from Minimus, a company that has travel size versions of practically everything that comes in a travel size version:

This set is just about perfect! It contains everything from a single use thermometer to a generic poncho. Not to mention travel toilet seat covers! I'm not sure if the $49.99 price tag is a bit much, but I will deffinitely be buying one for my Eastern European Hopscotch.

Will one set be enough or should I get Alex his own?

Fay Ku in NYC - Yey!

I am VERY excited!

Fay Ku is showing three of her new works in a group exhibition entitled "Four Artists: Works by Recent Pratt Alumni".

Fay Ku - Bridge, 2007

The show is curated by Eugenie Tsai, Director of Cultural Affairs at P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center.

The three other artists featured are Rosanna Martinez, Swoon and Jean Shin.

Swoon is a very interesting street artist. She uses intricate paper cut-outs and wheatpaste prints of figures that she then attaches to walls around NYC and other cities. There is an interesting article about her and other street artists in The New York Times New York section.

Swoon

Check out the Wooster Collective blog for more street art.

The Pratt Alumi show is located at 144 West 14th street (Bet 6th & 7th) on the second floor.

Show will be running from June 15 - July 28 and then again from Sept 4 - 15.

This Thursday, June 14th, there is an opening reception from 6:30PM - 8:30PM.

Birthday moment of assessment

June 2 was my 25th birthday.

Being an adored and teensy bit spoiled 'child', I got to have an entire weekend of celebrations for me me me!!!!

Ah yes, I'm so loved!

It's either that or everyone fears what may happen if my birthday (which I take very seriously) isn't properly noticed... although I'm not prone to grudge holding, for THAT kind of an offense, I will. I WILL.

My favorite part of every birthday is the Moment-of-Assessment that is a tradition in our family.  somewhere between the many toasts (to me, to mom, to dad, to grandparents, to sister, to boyfriend, to loved ones no longer with us, and all others potentially affected by me, or having had some sort of input into my current existence) that are a staple of Russian celebrations, I am asked to take stock of what I have accomplished over the past year and what I plan to do in the new one.

It's really a great tradition, a sort pulse check on life. we also do this on new year's eve, so it's like a semi-annual evaluation to make sure I'm headed in a, generally, good direction.

This is no simple pat on the back mind you. If my family or anyone else present feels that I have been under-performing and/or ignoring crucial components (such as health) to focus on others (such as work), they will let me know about it. They will readily propose action plans for immediate correction of said 'issues'.

This year's Moment-of-Assessment was really pretty awesome for me. We run around so much every day that it's easy to miss when our lives have taken a gradual shift, no matter how significant.

A year ago, I was in a job that made me desperately unhappy. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. Objectively speaking, it paid very well, it provided a clear career path, it was in the field I had majored in at school and I was very good at it. But boy did I HATE it, everything about it, every moment, ever detail.

My mom, who's into 'that kind of stuff', kept urging me to read Finding Your North Star by Marth Beck. I refused over and over because I'm NOT into 'that kind of stuff' and couldn't imagine a book with such a cheesy name having anything to do with my situation. Furthermore, I didn't even realize that I was in any sort of particular situation. I just thought that I was very tired from work, that I was constantly sick due to faulty genes and that all people my age hate their jobs, but keep at it for future benefit.

Meanwhile, without realizing it, in about a year and half, I had become this boring, sleepy person who trudged to work in the morning, sat nearly brain-dead at my desk and then ate dinner in front of the TV before bed. Actually, one time I fell asleep at my desk. And, since we didn't have cable, i sometimes resorted to watching Wheel of Fortune. Yes, this is true.

I found myself just floating along, disregarding all of the exciting plans I had made, forgetting the things I loved and was passionate about because they somehow didn't seem 'adult' or 'realistic' anymore.

Anyway, to cut this story of pain and sadness short, this is what happened: I finally got that book, I don't know what made me do it, but I'm glad I did!

When I read about generally energetic people who fall asleep all day and generally healthy people who get sick all the time... I realized that I WAS, in fact, in a 'situation' that needed to be corrected immediately. I felt like I had finally woken up after walking around in a daze for a year. And then I got to work.

After busting my butt in the search, I found a new job that I love, one that's in line with where I want to be in a few years. I'm also applying to NYU's Gallatin school for my masters. The topic I've chosen to study is a bit removed from my career, but it's a passion and I'm confident that I'll make good use of it.

So, my Moment-of-Assessment was great this year. I'm in a completely different place than just one year ago.

My two main resolutions for this year are to (1) whip my health back into shape and (2) get into Gallatin!

Woohoo!

(did this sound like some sort of product testimonial? it's not!... but since we're on the topic, i feel obligated to say this: do what you love! if you love it, you'll be good at it. if you're good at it, you'll be compensated well. this is what i've learned.... )

And ok, one more thing. if you're struggling to actually find what it is that you like and/or are good at, this is also a very good book:

Now, Discover Your Strengths

and you might want to find out what personality type you are on the Personality Pathways website, which i found through Polly Poppins awesome blog.

Travel Planning - the pain begins

Well well WELL!

As usual, Alex and I have waited until the last possible days to plan our trip and book our tickets.

Lucky for Alex, he's away with his family in Tunisia right now (he has a lot more vacation days that I do), so the entire pain of planning has fallen to me.

All I have to say about that is as follows: Since he's not here to help out, he's just going to have to love what i come up with. And I mean LOVE IT. And praise me endlessly for my resourcefulness and other spectacular qualities.

The original plan, as mentioned in a prior post, was to:

• Fly to Moscow (spend 3 days)
• Train to St. Petersburg (3 days)
• Boat to Tallinn (1 day)
• Train to Riga (1 day)
• Fly to Budapest (1 day)
• Train to Prague (3 days)
• Fly home to NYC...

But now... I can't find an easy way to get to Tallinn from St. Petersburg. It's also proving difficult to find an affordable way to get from Riga to Budapest. And from Budapest to Prague... Damn you EasyJet for not (really) servicing Eastern Europe!!!!

Maybe I should consider scrapping Budapest from the route all together?... i don't know!

In the meantime, here are some great websites for planning a trip around Eastern Europe:

Real Russia.Com - British website, has a lot of information and will help you get a visa

Bravofly - great way to search for cheap flights within Europe across many airline companies at the same time

EasyJet - this is an obvious one... great cheap flights all over Europe (Western Europe, primarily)

Lonely Planet - a great overall tool. A lot of train information...

Maps of Europe

Frank Gehry invites you to "Fuck Frank Gehry"

I read this funny bit on Gothamist, who got it from a New Yorker article by Lauren Collins.

The short version of the story goes like this:

Some people in Spain were very angry with Gehry's design for the Bilbao Guggenheim. So they started wearing "Fuck Frank Gehry" t-shirts. The shirts were designed in brown and orange by Barnaby Harris who had long been looking for a follow up to his big hit - the "Fuck Yoga" t-shirt.

Then Gehry's driver saw the shirt at a super-bowl party and got one for THE GEHRY himself. THE GEHRY turned out to have a good sense of humor and started wearing the shirt around - at work and to the gym.

Then the shirt really caught on. Barnaby Harris says:

“First, someone from his office called and wanted me to deliver one to a friend of Frank’s who was giving a lecture at Baruch College called ‘Starchitecture,’ ” Harris recalled. “A week later, he called again: ‘Would you please send some shirts to Bruce Ratner?’ A couple of weeks ago, I got a third call: ‘Frank needs two in every color and every size.’”

NEAT-O - i say.

If i were Gehry, i would take this is as a big 'ol compliment. You have to be 'kind of a big deal' (in the words of the wonderful Ron Burgundy) to inspire such strong feelings! 

Anyway, Gehry is used to inspiring people to great shows of contempt:

"You know, when Bilbao was presented publicly, there was a candlelight vigil against me.And then there was a thing in a Spanish paper saying, ‘Kill the American Architect.’ That was scary. So I stood beside the President every time there was an event. I figured, if they’re gonna kill me . . . Anyway" - said Gehry.

People have pretty much hated everything he has built - at first glance. And then somehow, all of his buildings acquire a huge following and love and respect of many.

Personally, I am a huge fan, even though I generally prefer classics.

How can you not love these flowing lines that make his buildings look as though they are constantly in motion? Catching the light and playing with the surrounding world. Wonderful! - say I.

Bilbao Guggenheim

Bilbao Guggenheim at Nights

 

The Dancing House in Prague

For those not yet in love with Gehry's work, Wikipedia has a good general article.

If you want the shirt (for only $33!) you can buy it at fuckyoga.com.