weddings n'at

the past few months have been busy, but with good travel, parties, friends, and fam all over the country! my mom pulled off the best party ever for anne and yannis's pittsburgh wedding 'celebration.' after 11 mos of planning, 180 friends and family gathered at the Carnegie Museum's Hall of Architecture. we had a 10 piece orchestral band, greek singers, fabulous food, and of course lots of dancing and the cookie table (which was inhaled in record time). pix posted. the after party even went till 4am, whew!

after the burgh, i spent Thanksgiving in relaxing Sac-town with Jessie and her family (note: her grandpa was a Steeler in the 50s!). then i headed to tahoe where i was greeted by bears....story for another time.

December followed with a superb wedding celebration for Quinn and Brian in Hawaii! the NASPP finally had the reunion we needed (sans Kara and Drew, unfortunately) and tore the Big Island up in 5 star style. we kayaked, snorkeled, surfed, offroaded, body surfed, watched Steelers, and partied it up at Quinn's aunt's amazing compound.

i'm home in the Burgh this week then to tahoe to ring in "New Year's Eve of No Expectations Part XIVXX."

don't give up baby!

this week i was able to partake in a wide variety of city cultural events: monday pm, i managed to watch the Steelers crush the Redskins, at Giordano Bros. They're the west coast version of Primanti Bros, and they even have a cheat sheet with questions like, "So wait- the fries are IN the sandwich?" and "What is hot coppa?" it's such a great home away from home. they even have a Kennywood sign!

Tuesday was also cultural in its own way- um, the election! Hallelujah for hope and change. The streets were like New Years Eve, and then some....

Wednesday was the Teton Gravity Research ski film showing, with the usual Liverpool Lil's pre-party. a fews hausers were there, and the movie was better than MSP, tho that doesn't say much. Jeremy Nobis, who i had met at Sundance in 06, had a cameo in it, so i texted him after. here's the brilliant exchange:

11:06 allison: nice cameo in TGR. they showed it in SF tonight
11:09 nobis: Ghost from the past! Sorry it was only a cameo had bad luck on my trip! tried to call earlier. Good to hear from you! xo
11:12 allison: Damn, yeah! Not enough lovin. Oh well. Tahoe got a foot this week wahoo! Give a shout if you end up at Squaw this winter.
11:13 nobis: I just skied 44 new at ALTA today!
11:15 allison: Twist the knife, baby! Ill actually be at Alta in Feb for a few days
11:17 nobis: You let me know I will let you know. Now I miss you, been too long!
11:22 allison: I bet you dont even know who this is, hee hee ;)
11:24 nobis: you are wrong! But if you want to challenge let's go!
11:27 nobis: You were the dark and beautiful of the sun valley crew trying to make the may happen and many other great things
11:34 nobis: Cat got your tongue!
11:51 allison: ha! sorry, just getting these. Anyway, well, that all sounds fun but Ive never been to Sun Valley
12:05 nobis: Your bad!
12:25 nobis: Don't give up baby! Look forward to talkin' to you soon!

thursday was the AIGA wine fundraiser, complete with a Heinz ketchup bottle interpretation. pretty sweet, tho i couldnt quite muster the funds to bid :(

successories.

sooo, i headed back to cube-land this past week, a little break from the PLC while this whole 'recession' thing takes over....and i was thinking of making an amusing 1st impression by ordering a few things for my desk area: I'm considering the above "Successory" about "synergy" - a favorite corporate speak word of mine. unfortunately, they don't have one that says "Impactful" or "Leverage" - two other good ones that are so often used and abused.... up next- those Newton silver click clack balls, and a Magic 8 ball. if anyone can find me the "hang in there" cat poster, posters of pets in clothing, or at least some type of remote controlled blimp, please give a shout.

in other news, i went out a bunch last week, post-realworld job, and it was great seeing old friends and design colleagues. i stopped by a book launch party for a new book called, "Do You Matter? How great design will make people love your company." by a former Apple ID Director, and with a guest lecture by Pentagram NYC's Michael Beirut. It was hosted at Autodesk's ridiculous new office right on the Embarcadero. They had a large projects gallery set up, showing all the products that have presumably used CAD- including a 12 foot T-Rex made out of Legos, fuseprojects's XO $100 laptop, and Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge (see pict). Beirut's talk was based on typography, his specialty, and he showed a font example for every letter of the alphabet (samples included Ted by United, street signs in lower manhattan, and the refined Saks Fifth Avenue logo/bags). it was rather amusing- he's a great speaker, full of sarcasm and energy, and good new york stories.


oh, i also ended up, along with 60,000 others, at the Red Bull Soapbox Derby in Dolores Park this weekend. Hosted by ski personality Uncle E, some drag queens, and surly DJs, it was a fun afternoon in the sunshine. about 35 teams plowed down the 3 block course on Dolores, complete w/ an opening skit, costumes, music, and seriously good crashes. the best one was the Death Star, tho the TreeHuggers were also spectacular. Attached are some shots from the SFChron.

heard about Pittsburgh, PA?

ok, i'm back. i can't resist- too much good stuff happening out in San Francisco. this past weekend was the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which is a well-done 3 day free festival of solid music in GGpark - emmylou, lucinda, etc. i went on Sunday to see Elvis Costello, Iron&Wine, and also caught Gogol Bordello. it was even sunny this year, and the setting was nice and chill (unlike the Outside Lands mess). anyways, some friends and i had a nice afternoon out and about, chatting over kettle corn and some Tecates.

last night, however, was off the chain! i went to see David Byrne and his 8 person band play some fabulous songs (from his times with producer Brian Eno) at the SF symphony hall. the acoustics there are 5-star, obviously, and the set included all sorts of good old and new stuff- of course they played great great stuff from the Talking Heads- Once in a Lifetime, Take Me to the River, Life During Wartime, etc. The ending was the best part- the Extra Action Marching Band came out and rocked the party in sequins, tubas, pom poms, leather chaps, the works. very SF, and very fitting. the whole 2 hr event was a huge party for a group of way too many MFA grads ;) there were 3 dancers, 3 great backup vocalists, and 2 solid percussionists, everyone wore white, and there was lots of interpretive dancing and good old david byrne dancing. The Talking Heads met back at RISD, and they also had Tibor Kalman (one of my favorite designers, RIP) design some album covers like "Speaking in Tongues." David Byrne was also on the board of Exit Art, where i interned one summer in NYC, but i have never met him. he has put out a few books of his photography, has installations and shows in NYC, still works in a wide variety of art outlets- a true artistic genius. anyways, all in all it's been a solid return home, and tonight is the Matchstick production ski porn flick. should be a nice kick-off to the upcoming ski season....

turn out the lights.

turn out the lights.
the party's over.
they say that all
good things must end.
-willie nelson

time to head back west, maybe put the blog on hold, till i fine tune the job, location, and direction i am headed.

some faves from the past month, so i don't forget (or if you're traveling to NYC soon): grom, market table, tom and jerry's bar, anthos restaurant, more grom, guggenheim, whitney, moma, 52 prince, Tropical bar, sweet revenge, cafe habana, takahashi sushi, ippudo ramen, bourgeoius pig, 7B, ace, cherry, dba, vig, delicatessen, sing sing, grey dog cafe, more grom, celeste, the dove, barneys, bergdorfs, bloomies, bernardaud, apc, co-op, camper, pho bang, tibi, community, casso basso, pop burger, patsys, two boots, perilla, radio city, home, pearl oyster bar, insomnia cookies, supper, public, japas 38, the room, ino, craft, snack, and chez 7e!

trips to grom: 5
trips to saks: 1
museum shows: 3
shoes purchased: 1 pair
number of bike falls: 2
good friends seen: approx 35
days spent on carmine street: 12
parties attended/hosted: 1/1
karaoke nights: 1
celebrity sightings: 1 (the priest from "The Princess Bride")
sushi meals: 10
trips to princeton: 1
pizza and bagel comsuption: bi-weekly

OUTSIDERS NY, art opening

on Thursday night, my mom, melissa, and I and managed to get into the preview night for Dave's show, despite not being on the guest list (go, mom!)....there was a solid turnout of LES and Bowery cool kids, and dave's art was definitely tops. he had a ton of pieces in the show - attached are some hightlights, including an Obama painting and some small works of graffiti/painting. check out the chicky who was painted into Chanel, and also the plaster wall that was de-plastered to produce a sweet new facade:

graffiti art

my good friend joe to is in town this week, helping dave choe on a cool new space/show/installation right near anne's on Houston at Bowery. i'm headed to the preview night thursday, but here's part of the new facade:

louise bourgeois @ the guggenheim

I went to the lousie bourgeois show for an hour break today. it was interesting, but i think i am way more into the grittier, mutant materials of Eva Hesse. the guggenheim is either a really good (matthew barney) or really bad place to see art (louise). i think the building facade is fabulous, despite not being a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan, and it was nice diversion from a day of serious job schtuff. and, people watching on the upper east side cracks me up as well.

just a quick note about Louise Bourgeois (thanks, Wikipedia): "born in Paris, 1911, an artist and sculptor. Her parents repaired tapestries. At 12, she started helping them draw the missing segments of the tapestries. At 15 she studied mathematics at the Sorbonne. Her studies of geometry contributed to her early cubist drawings. Still searching, she began painting, studying at the École du Louvre and then the École des Beaux-Arts, and worked as an assistant to Fernand Léger. In 1938 she moved with her American husband, Robert Goldwater, to New York City to continue her studies at the Art Students League of New York, feeling that she would not have stayed an artist had she continued to live in Paris. She lives and works in New York City (in Chelsea)."

her art has loads of male/female forms, sexual undertones, battles against male figures (her dad had a longtime affair w/ her english tudor), and amazing sculptural forms. however, as i said, i just don't really connect to it. i was expecting more, somehow. i am not sure what was missing. maybe it was just too loud and crowded as well (they were installing a new show). i even did the free audio tour (dork). oh, and on a sidenote- the director of the Carnegie is headed over to be the new director of the Guggenheim. perhaps he will shape the programming back towards actual art vs blockbuster shows in the rotunda.

i think i saw all the shows i set out to see while here, amazing. a month in NYC is still not enough time, though, as i'd love to gallery hop, and also see the Olafur Eliasson waterfalls, PS1, Neue Gallerie, and head up to the super cool Dia Beacon, on the Hudson (they have nice Richard Serras there).

rock bottom

dan barasch, jen blumin, and her bf hosted a great party on a canal street rooftop last night- the theme was "rock bottom," see attached invitation. guests went all out- i saw a Winona Ryder, Imelda Marcos, Keith Richards, Robert Downey Jr, McCain (who was gay and black), Rick James, Edie Sedgewick, among others. I went as Palin, since i own little glasses and can rock that awful updo hairstyle. the reaction was great, and the amount of men who were like, "I am aroused an also annoyed by you" (meaning palin) was odd and funny. i didn't realize i'd get such a reaction. i can't believe i didn't get a baby doll and a fake gun to top the outfit off, but i didn't have much time to prep. Dan won the "ironic dance off" and i stayed and danced till about 3am.

i'm back on the job hunt tomorrow- need to get that locked down asap. the weather was spectacular today, but i fell off anne's bike while riding over on the Hudson bike paths, and landed on my good knee. suh-weet. weird day!

detox and retox

thursday was another good mix of city/outdoors, up and downtown. jake, scott, and I went road biking (my 1st time, nice start) along the Hudson River park bike path. the scariest part, but also most fun and exhilarating, was getting TO the actual waterside path. biking down broadway at rush hour on a weekday = insane. we hit a right onto Houston, where at one point i fell off the curb (while looking over at scott, dumb) but was ok, and busted over to the park. we cruised down south to Battery Park (nice view of Lady Liberty), then back up north to this cool old pier that has a newly opened bar that's actually on an old ship. It's wreckage from Cape Fear, NC, known as 'the Frying Pan.' its been docked there awhile now and is open to the public to hang out in, over beers. it was underseas for a few years an has all these rusty barnacles all over, an old typewriter, original steering wheels, etc. super cool macabre setting and spectacular on a sunny day with friends.

after the urban excursion, we had a lovely cocktail party at anne and yannis' new place. all the usual suspects came, we ate too many hors d'oeuvres and then headed out to karaoke at midnight. resident karaoke expert Dens took us to the 'nicer' Sing Sing, whatever that means, and the usual mayhem happened in the private toom til about 430am. classics were played- Journey, Forigner, Def Leppard, and even "The Pina Colada Song"....friday was most recovery and cleanup. my 'work husband' from apple, Brian, was in town, so a bunch of us met up for drinks in the W. Village, then i met up w Anne and yannis and a friend of theirs at Takahashi (new fav sush place- gooood aji). today i did another huge ride, then emily just came in for the day to hang in Soho over good greek food @ Snack, and to do some window shopping. tonight is some "Rock Bottom" themed party, hosted my Dan Barasch and some other cornellians....

culture with some culture on the side.

in the past few days, i managed to see "Burn After Reading," spent some QT in Princeton with emily and rusty, hit "Wicked" with Anne, then saw the Buckminster Fuller show at the Whitney. Oh and tonight i finally saw, "Step Brothers," then we forced ourlseves to go to Bubba Gump's for the worst light-up-frosty rum drinks of all time. all in all, a great couple of days of high and low culture. very uptown downtown- my fave.

i have to comment on the Bucky Fuller show, as it was pretty amazing to see how so many of his ideas and concepts pre-date the idea of sustainability (he called it 'Ephemeralization'). his energy-efficient, three-wheeled Dymaxion cars, from 1933, fit 11 people and got 30 mpg, while his "4D" self-sufficient houses had very small carbon footprints and created affordable solutions for the masses.

"A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist." - b. fuller

"I'm gonna kiss you on the mouth, Kenny Rogers." -W. Ferrell

"Think I can still fit in a run." -G. Clooney

amen for ramen

anne and i found a super authentic ramen place downtown this weekend, sooo good, it was basically right out of Tokyo. perfect. they had this funny brochure for the newbies (see pict) on how to eat it. we also tried to go to angel's share after, but had too many in our party. i did a bunch of other fun stuff- had some solid lunch meetings for jobs here/sf/italy, and found the other grom (soooo good). alice was in town and so was chris from boston, so melissa and i were able to hang with good peoples. i also saw some hilarious and very, very dirty comedy (lisa lampanelli), hit up Sweet Revenge for cupcakes and prosecco, indulged in duck prosciutto/beets/black cod, and stumbled in and out of Delicatessen late night with a good companion. i'm hoping to see 'Burn After Reading' or head to the Whitney to see the Bucky Fuller show later this week, but right now, sushi, the great jones spa, and the steeler game = calling me and anne. the plc continues on another week....

uptown downtown: the bear bar, new museum, and the king.

the story of stuff

for anyone interested in bringing new products to market, or learning more about what happens to all your junk:  http://www.storyofstuff.com/

travel, art, and leisure

hello from nyc, and westhampton. i headed out to the east coast to help my sis and yannis move into their swanky downtown condo, visit some close pals, have a few interviews and lunch meetings, and of course, hit the MoMA pre-fab show, eat good food, and take advantage of one of the best cities on the planet. highlights after a few days are below.

too much weekend in my weekend.

i can't really even post anything to describe (or do justice to) the girls weekend/zydeco barn burner up in napa. there was golf, manicures, champagne, oysters, pool time, synchronized swimming, bounty hunting, dive bar dancing, saddle riding, beer can chicken eatin, crawfish snacking, bouncy housing, appalachian clogging, washboarding, camping, and some leisure time. here's a sneak peak:

yurt so good

so the PLC hit Big Sur this weekend. we are lucky peoples to live so close to such pristine beauty. no condor or whale sightings, but we managed to eat lunch at nepenthe, hit up the yurts, do some late night japanese spa tubbing at Esalen, meet some Romans and also some guys from the FBI, sip boont in adirondack chairs at the river inn, greet some llamas, find and lose the gnome, play dirty scrabble, gaze at the milky way over lucia lodge, crash a wedding, eat some delicious tuna steaks, make choc brownie waffles, find the never-really-open big sur bakery, and also do some serious r&r poolside, while looking out at the endless horizon and sharing lots of good wine and chatchat (ie no hiking or biking)....