nyc zine fest
June 30th, 2009Posted using ShareThis
Call for slapdash last minute creativity!!!
June 22nd, 2009Hey friends,
I’m trying to get issue #3 of the tight pantsy drew zine finished and ready for Zine Fest this weekend (I have a table with Joe Yoga, prolific performer and editor of (A)muse zine, wee!), and I’m having a rough time doing all the art myself, plus I’ve also been wanting to make this thing less of a vanity project, so if you lovely folks want to get on board what will one day become an empire, send me something and get published. Or…er…printed and copied!
If you have a moment and can do by this Wednesday (sorry, all my brilliant ideas come at the last minute)…scribbles and designs based on the below chapter quotes would be most appreciated!
1.)
She’s wearing purple tights as if they’re pants, and a drapey black scarf thing as if it’s a t-shirt. You’ve probs seen her lying on her back on the billboard at Houston and Clinton, blowing a bubble, playing with a small dog.
3.)
I’ll tell you where to stache’ it! (mustaches)
4.)
his debut novel, My Life in Beards
5.)
Black Betty is howling with some kind of sauerkraut pyschobilly band called, “Comrade Dude Ranch.”…sweaty pits and flapping scruff of cavorting Eastern Euros on holiday, weird beard ‘burgers and chicks with triangular hairdos and bangle-laden arms clapping and clogging like maniacs…Another bangle flings itself into a girl’s pint glass full of Stella, and she wails bloody murder and tries to smack some other girl, who in turn smacks her back much harder, then smacks the Stella out of her hand, which explodes on the floor and makes shards of glass and beer-splatters the hot new accessory for 2009.
6.)
The sex/death dichotomy dude from dead Ghetto’s camera is up there, shirtless with bat-tats, shades and a red bandana, scraping bloody knuckles up and down a piece of corrugated metal.
…we rock back another couple of whiskeys as the band goes into a slow, romantic ballad about comrade truckin’ down to the levy, drinkin’ vodka and Boones in the sun, in the sun!
7.)
this big bird/guy on a bike comes wings-out flying down the sidewalk towards us. Chick Fillet jams a converse into his back wheel, which does not work out well for him, as he goes flying over his handlebars and crashes into the pavement, squawking, “Oh fuckohfuck!” on the way down.
8.)
No, I don’t mean what “used to be The Buttered Ram,” as in we changed the name to Rabbitface Truckdriver or Robo-squirrel Cubbyhole.
Benefit for Bags For The People this Sunday@ K&M bar
May 20th, 2009
Hello Everyone!
Every week brings something new and exciting into the world of Bags for the People! This coming Sunday, May 24th, from 5pm to 11pm the kind ladies from The Shiny Squirrel and One Stepper Productions are throwing a benefit for my cool little group.
The event will take place at the K&M Bar(North 8th and Roebling in Williamsburg). There will be music(Lady Magma, the Nasties, and many more will be performing!!), raffles, bag making, and free shots! All the proceeds will benefit us, so we can fix our busted machines!
Also on June 2nd, we will be appearing on Martha Stewart Radio(she has it all folks). We’ll be giving instructions on how to make your own bags! I’ll keep everyone posted so you can tune in.
Feel free to forward, post, etc., etc.
Bags out!
xo
Someone thought I posted this on Gawker. I didn’t. But it’s totes hilar.
May 17th, 2009Did you wake up today around 1:30 EST in your industrial loft, spend three hours in front the mirror figuring out the outfit that makes you look most like a male teenage prostitute in a Bulgarian gypsy encampment in 1981, and take a leisurely stroll down Bedford Avenue while smoking a Parliament and pretending to speak Spanish to the guys in the bodega? Do you have a tattoo that has been written up in a trend piece in the New York Times Style Section? Did you get the tattoo after the story came out? Are you simultaneously an aspiring musician, screenwriter, documentarian, filmmaker, fashion designer, and visual installation artist, while displaying no visible talent or determination in any of these fields? Did you used to be a vegan until the new Bedford Cheese Shop opened? Have you ever used your knowledge of cheese to impress a date? Does your mother give you shit about your handlebar moustache, or did you just stop talking to her?
Do you consider 25 “old age” because you’ve never talked a girl older than that into sleeping with you? Did you try to talk me into paying $45 for an old tie with a stain on Bedford the other day, because it was “vintage”? Are you not worried about the swine flu because it’s a government conspiracy, just like 9/11? Did you make sure to wear your keffiyah when you went home for Passover? Were you recently the victim of the Hipster Grifter? Have you claimed that you were a victim of the Hipster Grifter, or told all your friends that you fucked the Hipster Grifter, even though you actually never met? Do you privately think that some of the Hipster Grifter’s pick-up lines were pretty hot, and plan to try them out once the dust has settled? And most importantly, what are you going to do this summer now that everyone is actually poor?
Craft on Draught: Get Felt Up May 7th @ 3rd Ward
May 5th, 2009May 7th @ 3rd Ward*: Get “Felt Up” at our Springtime Social!
Spring is in the air! Come to this crafty social mixer to celebrate the soon-to-come death of sweater-wearing, and the dawn of more parties, bbqs, picnics and frisky biz! We’ll provide you with pre-felted, recycled sweaters and crafting tools, and instructions to make felted drink coasters and cozies. And, if you have the means, feel free to bring along your own pre-felted ugly Xmas sweaters!
Attendees get a raffle ticket to win a copy of Betz White’s Sewing Green and more from STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books, a gift certificate to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, and other assorted surprises!
*Here are pics from the last Craft on Draft at Spacecraft (alternating venues every month, keepin’ it fresh)! See how much fun you can have?
a brief reflection on our new school excursion
April 29th, 2009a brief reflection on our new school excursion
Posted using ShareThis
Friend of a Friend: Glenn Robinson
April 23rd, 2009
DISCUSSED IN THIS INTERVIEW: plastic bags are jerks, positivity in a concrete jungle, bigger than Obama, Oprah’s favorite things, child labor vs. eclectic boozy sew-ins, foraging for soup, live-action haircut portraits, me in a bag, Eco warriors vs. The OC, Al Roker’s lovability, Capricorns, the other Glenn Robinson, not being afraid of leprosy or Dinosaur Island, blockbuster biopics and Brad Pitt.
L.A. Henkel: First off, Thanks AMRsters for letting me introduce you to my friend Glenn of Bags for the People, a sexy* young non-profit all about increasing creative self-sufficiency and reducing people’s dependence on throw-away plastic bags, through avante garde bag-building sweatshop parties, workshops for the kids and the elderly, non-stereotypical activism, and overall good times and awesomeness. As I was just walked onto their “board of directors” super official-like (don’t ask…it involved a bloodletting and a vegetable orgy, with cats! Okay, almost, but not quite…), I figured my business is your business. *Sexy is for Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah and/or Vice, in case any of them happen upon AMR in search of “sexy things.” So tell me Glenn, what did plastic bags ever do to you? What’s your deal?
Glenn Robinson: Well, at heart I am a conservationist. I love the earth’s natural environment and believe that people should live within the natural environment in a healthy and positively sustainable manner(funny coming from a dude living in a concrete jungle). I try to apply this ideology to myself, living as positively and sustainably as possible while weighing the effect of my actions on the environment and it’s inhabitants. Sounds a little obsessive, I know, but it’s a fun challenge to the norm of our society.
[Concrete Jungle Jam]
GH: Currently I work at the Union Square Farmers Market at the Hawthorne Valley farm stand. Though we are organic and follow a stringent guide to sustainability, we still hand out hundreds of plastic bags to customers on a bi-weekly basis, which, to me, seems totally counter-intuitive and hypocritical to the very nature of the farm or a farmers market in general. As many people know, plastic bags are made from petroleum, oil and all the shit that comes with it (ie. political instability, destruction of nature, greed, poverty, etc.), and they don’t break down in a safe manner, visually polluting our landscapes, as well as releasing harmful chemicals into the environment and killing animals who eat them or get stuck in them. They are just bad all around, especially considering how easy it is to have alternatives.
Instead of just bitching about the plastic bags, I decided to positively effect a negative aspect of my life by providing free sustainable alternatives to plastic bags. I basically had an idea to make simple bags out of old t-shirts and had plenty of time and a few friends to help do it, so why not?
[Megan of BFTP in “The Good, the Bag, and the Ugly!”]
LAH: Why not indeed?! The first day I met you to talk about joining powers (Crafts, meet Bags) and co-hosting events at 3rd Ward and other spaces over too-fancy quesadillas, you gave me two of the cool little drawstring bags you’d started giving out for free at the Hawthorne Valley Farm stand. I mean, I know I was stoked on them, and have used them like crazy ever since, but I’m pretty easily stoked. How has the response been from the general Farmers’ Market-going public?
GR: The response has been amazing! People love it, and I mean, why not. It’s basically a funky little present they get with their purchase, plus now they are part of the positive change. It feels good to be part of positive change. Remember how all the people who voted for Obama felt… I’m going to strait up say it… this is a more lasting positive change to be a part of then voting for Obama! Haha. Well regardless if people believe that last statement, we are hopefully inspiring a lifestyle change that in time will have a very great impact on the world. 
LAH: Whoa big britches! Actually, I do think there’s some truth in the statement that Bags For The People people could potentially make a bigger impact overall than all the slap-happy voters (including me, probably you) who felt pretty good voting Obama in. I mean, it seems to me this is really more than just about getting people to stop using plastic bags–which is a worthy enough cause–but I think the movement’s shining glory is that fact that you’re encouraging people to engage in themselves and their world just a little more thoughtfully and creatively; social change via simple, artful and surprisingly fun lifestyle changes. I’d also venture to say, though, that a lot of people have changed the way they’ve previously interacted with politics, as inspired by Obama’s win. But all comparisons aside, let’s just hope you can win that camp too, without getting indignant campaigners all up in your grill. Oprah wouldn’t dig! [Glenn really wants to be one of Oprah’s “favorite things”!]
LAH: Okay, moving right along! So you’ve already been teaching workshops at high schools, and you recently had your first “Sweatshop Social” at 3rd Ward (which was awesome–featuring home brewed beer, chocolate pecan pie, yummy cheeses and breads, and an experimental free jazz duo. I felt like I was at a beat happening crossed with a teach-in crossed with the raddest picnic ever). How does it feel teaching two vastly different audiences in two vastly different environs? I mean are the reactions/ interactions that different? Do the warm fuzzies well up in you more working at one place over the other?[3rd Ward photo credit to Linda Gastaldello]
GR: Well, surprisingly(or maybe not so) the high school students at the High School for Public Service in Crown Heights that we’ve been working with are totally cognizant of what’s going on in the world and actually pretty fun to talk to and interact with. So basically the main differences are the settings, one is a homely art classroom with bad lighting, and the other is a rad art space with… well, mood lighting. Although we can’t keep the students past 6pm, which is actually a barrier because most of them get really into making bags for themselves and others and would probably sew through the night, which is a really awesome sight to see. So really both audiences feel very similar, just the environments are different. I feel the process itself translates to every environment though, and we’ll be testing this hypothesis out soon.
LAH: Unless it’s classified information, can you elaborate a little on how you’d like to take bags to the peeps even more…testing hypothesis and whatnot?
GR: By having events and workshops with different people in different places. I like combining atypical activities for our events too! Throw the act of sewing bags with say, getting a haircut while having an artist do real time portrait illustrations. Just things that people might not associate with each other. Things that will pique peoples curiosity and provide a unique experience. Also, hopefully we will inspire people in other states and countries to start having little bag making get togethers. There are some people in Baltimore that are starting a little Bags for the People chapter. Also, I am going to be starting some rumblings in Southern California soon. I think most importantly though, by making the bags as accessible as possible, we will enable people everywhere and from all walks of life to participate in this movement.
LAH: That would be great. I mean, it’s such a simple premise: one person handing another person a bag they made in like, five minutes with a bunch of friends, who will likewise make and hand out more bags (much to the surprise and delight of shoppers and friends)…or start their own bag-making groups…or become inspired to sew their own clothes and gifts…or start up their own totally different organizations for good…or learn to forage for scallions in Prospect Park. For reals, as part of Glenn’s personal naturalist tour guide training (an extension of his brothers’ work (read on), he invited me to join him on an edible foraging tour of Prospect Park with a bunch of Freegans. Then we made soup out of our gatherings. It was cool to learn that scallions and mustard greens grow every-freaking-where, while folks pay a grip for them at Whole Foods!
[Glenn’s soup stock recipe can be found on his inspiring and educatonal food blog, Proletariat Kitchen, where he also makes his own tahini. WTF!]
LAH: Um, and I love the haircut / real time portrait idea! You’re like the Warhol of conservationists! We’ve also talked about events with 80’s cover bands and pimpsploitation dance parties, both adopting “baggly” punned titles, (grooooaaaaans!), and me go-go dancing in a bag. Go ahead, go crazy. Tell the people your ideal dream vison for Bags For the People ten years from now.
GR: You go-go dancing encompassed in a bag made from recycled materials is one particular dream I have of the future, however, 10 years from now, I hope that Bags for the People does not exist. I hope that plastic bags are a distant memory. That there are either enough reusable bags in existence or everyone simply makes their own bags to use for shopping so there is no need for BFTP. That there has been the societal shift in the way we do and think about things that removes the need for such an organization. Although, it could possibly be that 10 years from now, a new organization will exist; Bags for the Bags. Bags are discovered to be the biggest proponent of plastic bags, so we have to make more bags for the bags to ween them off of plastic bags… a never ending cycle of bags!
LAH: Bag zombies! Damnit. The UC system wasn’t much for apocalypse-training. Speaking of which, you’re from crunchy California like me. Do you think it would have been easier to launch BFTP there?
GR: I have a lot of connections and know many people and organizations that can definitely benefit the cause there, however, if I was in CA, I might not have worked in an environment where I was in direct involvement with plastic bags. Basically this organization is a positive reaction to my negative action of handing out plastic bags at the farmers market. From there the concept just evolved and has grown and continues to grow. Though myself, Megan, and everyone else involved are working towards mass re-usable bag proliferation, it has really just been a fun ride so far. There hasn’t been a struggle, it’s just been a natural progression. Although, if I had stayed in CA, I’d be more involved with my brothers organization, Naturalist For You , which I feel Bags for the People’s main idea contributes to as well. However, Naturalist For You provides a direct connection to nature which I feel facilitates such a strong positive reaction that in turn instills an active want to decrease any harm to the natural beauty of our world, for example the use of plastic bags. So the overall goals are really the same, it’s just that Bags for
the People has a slightly more issue focused immediate cause.
LAH: Late night reading of this info prompted existential crisis! In which I did what I do about once a month; looking up how to become a naturalist, a forest ranger, an art therapist, a nature therapist…which finally ended in me finding a backpacking club to join. So anyway, wow! Are all the Robinsons eco-warriors? This is not the OC (the specific area of California that birthed this not-as-famous Glenn Robinson and his brother with the awesome org that also makes me want to move back to California a little) that I’ve been watching! Is my TV lying to me?
GR: There’s pockets of truth to that show… but don’t believe everything you hear outta Al Rokers mouth… Just kidding. Love the guy! My parents are pretty informed. We’ve always gone camping, ever since I can remember. Also, my grandparents on my dad’s side are very in tune with nature. So, a few of us are eco-warriors
LAH: Are you a typical Capricorn?
GR: Hmmm. In some respects yes, but over all, no. I sometimes am a perfectionist and want things done my own way. I also want to lead, which, I suppose, I am doing right now, but I don’t like stepping on peoples toes, umm, I don’t like stepping on friends toes. I guess I do really like stepping all over the toes of society just to mix things up and make change! Overall I am pretty mellow and positive. I love trying new things and not having an immediate plan, which I think are pretty atypical traits of a Capricorn. I also clash with other Capricorns sometimes because their “Capricorn-ness” often feels to me like self-imposed neuroses put in place to control their own and other peoples lives, which I find obnoxious. I also like long walks on the beach. Really, I do.
LAH: Who doesn’t? Do you prefer gathering shells, sea glass, driftwood, or…say if you’re in Coney Island: cigarette butts or empty vodka bottles? By the way, Capricorn is an Earth sign. Coincidence???
[The Element of Earth is attached to the Signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, and it also rules the Second, Sixth and Tenth Houses. All the earthy metaphors are appropriate here: salt of the Earth, feet firmly planted on the ground and so forth.]
GR: Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Everything random may be perfectly planned, or vice versa.
LAH: Hey, I googled you. You’re a totally famous basketball player in addition to being an eco-warrior! Way to go! So, can you play basketball at all?
GR: I used to play in high school. They called me “Big Dog” like the more famous Glenn Robinson, however I retired soon thereafter. I’d get too nervous to get the ball and take charge… haha.
LAH: Mmm, well at anyrate, one day you’ll out-google him! Or else join forces in charity “bagsketball” tournaments! (Groans) But isn’t being nervous and not taking charge not very Capricorn of you. Or is it Capricorn of you? I need to look this up.
[Looking it up on www.astrology-online.com…]
LAH: Hm, it says here your likes are reliability, professionalism, knowing what you discuss, firm foundations, and purpose…and that you’d excel as a bureaucrat…or (lots of other things) a teacher or a farmer. That sounds like you. Basketballer is not on the list, however. So you take charge in life but not basketball. Got it. I take issue with some of the dislikes though: You dislike wild schemes and fantasies?! Really?
GR: I hate bureaucracy, so I take issue with that. I do take issue with the dislikes as well because, as you already know, I love schemes and fantasies! I think that’s what BFTP is, right, a scheme and a fantasy rolled and tucked into a nice reusable bag.
[LAH looking up the other Glenn Robinson’s sign…]
LAH: Oh!!! No way, he’s also a Capricorn! Are you sure you’re not some bizzarro version of this guy?
[Glenn ROBINSON born 10/01/1973 sign Capricorn 20°23
GR: Wow, I never knew we had that much in common. I wonder if he is anal like some of the other Capricorns I know? Maybe he’ll join the cause after I show him my ball skills.
LAH: Oh and P.S., it also warns that leprosy is a danger for you. To steal (some more) from Nick Courage’s interview-stylings, if you contracted leprosy and had to go live on Dinosaur Island, what 5 items would you take with you, and what genre of music would you choose to listen to forever and ever, if you only got one? Oh! And what kind of food would you eat? Dinosaur Island’s chefs will only cook one type of food for each resident, no negotiation
GR: I don’t fear leprosy. It’s not contagious. Also it’ll be a good talking point when meeting new people.
LAH: I’m sorry, but you still have to answer the Dinosaur Island question, regardless of modern science’s knowledge of leprosy. Let me rephrase: if these were Jesus times (I’m sorry…you’re Jewish aren’t you? You should know that I only speak of time in measurements of Jesus. This should only take you ten Messiah-minutes to answer…)
GR: Shoot, I was so taken by the notion of contracting leprosy I forgot to answer the full question. Well, I would probably listen to Indonesian gamelan music…It’ll throw me right into a trance. But on the food front, I’d teach those dinos to cook something different every day. I mean, just because it’s a dinosaur island doesn’t mean there’s not a ton of good shit to eat! Right?
LAH: Good answer, that’s my favorite walking music! Probably perfect for trancing out on Dino Island too–which you’ll need to do just to survive there. Who told you this was some pleasure island where you could just whimsy around teaching dinos chefs how to make your favorite foods? They’ll bite your face off!
Anyway you also forgot to tell me what 5 things you’d bring.
GR: Haha. I’d take a knife. That is all. I can make anything from that knife… even a sewing machine out of whittled driftwood. Then the bag making can commence.
LAH: Okay. So on to possibly the last question–I know you have alot of bags to make in real life: How would you like Glenn Robinson of Bags for the People to be immortalized on celuloid (or camera phone)? I’d like to know a few details if you could: casting choices, directorial preferences, artistic direction, scene by scene breakdowns…whatever you’re willing to give the readers.
GR: For the hit blockbuster I would be played by Zach Efron and Megan, my partner in bag crime, would be Vanessa Hudgens. The only problem with that movie is that it would make people cry blood, not in the miracle way, but at the sight of such horror. The cool flick would have me be played by George Clooney. I imagine him working at the farmers market in Union Square and hunched over a sewing machine. Then Brad Pitt would come over. He’s so pretty.
[The real dream team, Megan and Glenn @ 3rd Ward]
LAH: So Megan is played by Brad Pitt?? Or is Brad Pitt your homo/hetero-erotic love interest and Megan is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and the 3 of you are in a baggy love triangle?
GR: Brad Pitt is everyone’s love interest, Homo sapian or Homo erectus, although he is no substitute for Megan. Maggie mixed with Angelina Jolie would be a good Megan. Three in the bag ready to go! Oh, wait. Now that’s four or something.
LAH: Yowzers! Well however you bag it, I think you’ve got your hands full! Thanks for taking the time to educate and entertain us. Everyone else, be sure to check out www.bagsforthepeople.org to find out more or to get involved, and if you’re NYC local, what the deal is with their onslaught of upcoming events!
Tales from the slushpile…GERM OF A NEW INSANITY
April 16th, 2009
Every once in awhile, though I’m not an editor, I get a proposal for somebody’s book they want published. The last one I got was super cute! I wish I hadn’t deleted it! It was called Diary of A Panda, with little kid panda drawings in crayon. Oh well, good luck little kid. It’s a tough biz!
This one actually looks really cool (though I seriously question the comparisons–and wonder how much damage an edgy underground poet can do…especially in Boston???), so I had to share. Will research the dude more later. Roid Rage!
***
I’m a writer-filmmaker from Boston and I just finished a new pop novel called GERM OF A NEW INSANITY and I would love to send you a copy for your consideration.
I thought you would appreciate the unique and innovative approach. See the attached illustrations that I hope will compliment the project.
I am collaborating with an award-winning graphic designer from NYC.
GERM OF A NEW INSANITY follows the turbulent journey of an edgy underground writer from Boston who launches a new revolutionary movement called “shit-house poetry”.
As leader of “The Dukes of Damage”, the vicious versifier ranges through the streets of the city and applies twisted literary vines dressed in urban
code. After slowly morphing into the next great media thing, he quickly sinks in a debauchery cesspool of his own making.
It’s A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES meets TROPIC OF CANCER. An edgy avalanche of a book dripping with Dionysian escapism and pop culture fun.
You can see some of my film work here - http://www.youtube.com/wickidpissafilms
I just finished a horror movie called ROID RAGE and a new biopic screenplay on the artist Keith Haring.
I look forward to your reaction.
Best,
JOSH MITCHELL
WICKID PISSA FILMS
http://www.wickidpissapublicity.com
Howdy Heather Rossites! Enjoy the Weekend(s) Sewing Tour Photofest!
April 5th, 2009Ahem. Hi there. Okay, so clearly this is not the Heather Ross you know and love, as she would never call her readers and fans “Heather Rossites,” as if you were mere minions lurching about the blogosphere wearing virtual “Church of Heather Ross” t-shirts, maniacally chanting, “One of us! One of us!” while inspiring/infecting people with your newly smocked and stitched duds from WEEKEND SEWING.
Or would she???
Oh, what the heck! Why not just own up to your freakish Heather Rossiteness right now?! I mean, I have. And not just because I’m being paid to, as her publicist, or because I really want her spare Necchi. Mwahaha!
Oh yeah, this will soon be me grinning psychotically with my glossy coif and polyester blouse:
Seriously though, I think I’ve become a card-carrying Heather Rossite simply because she’s so much fun to tour with!
First stop on our non-blog tour: Honfleur Home/Marimekko in Silver Spring, Maryland. Look! There I am with Heather, looking so cute!
What, she didn’t mention that her publicist was still in elementary school? We grow up fast in the city!
Alright. That’s not me, just a really cute kid, and I didn’t go to this demo. But! I was there in spirit, texting Heather affirmations to make sure she hadn’t had a nervous breakdown driving herself here. Fortunately she hadn’t. She survived the trip and came out looking like a demoing dream! And how lovely is this store?
Next stop, with the real me and my primordial dwarf of a sewing machine in tow, was the legendary Stitch party at Spool in Philly!
This place is a buzz! Heather meets, greets, and signs.
Meet Crisco and Frisco, the cutest duo EVER!
Entire families love Heather!
Hey! It’s Laura from Red Red Orange and The Philly Etsy Street Team
P.S. I want to live in Philly sooo bad just to take their classes! I looooove these quilts! Whoa! It’s Laura, Spoolster extraordinaire!
It was also Spool’s first birthday, and Go Knit in Your Hat was there to encourage people to accessorize with their birthday cupcakes…
…as was Freespirit designer and Project Runway season one winner, Jay McCarroll, putting everyone in stitches (pun so intended!) with his hilarious remarks!
Later, Jay and friends lead Heather on tour around Philly: to the Rocky steps, the Rocky statue…to the best falafel place in town…to the best hot pretzel place in town…etc., etc.
Needless to say, Heather was glad that the demo the next morning didn’t start any earlier than 11AM, even though she didn’t end up running the Rocky steps.
After the smocked sundress demo, which everyone loved, we hit the eats and streets of Philly! Bye Spool staffers, you’re the best!
Wow, look at all these cute people! Everyone here rides bikes and dresses nattily…
…um, except for all the tourists waiting in line for cheesesteaks!
But we, being posh New Yorkers, opted for classier fare. Mmmm, cheesy chips and guac! Oooh, Heather’s going to hate me for this pic!
Yum! After lunch we lost our minds in the awesome Eyes Gallery! It was impossible to take a bad picture in this place! Seriously! Every nook was a photo op! I’ve never used so many exclamation points in one description of a store before!!!
Heather came soooo close to buying this blanket. Next time!
Heather and I both wanted these cute little jazz dudes. But breaking them up was out of the question, and buying them all would’ve broken the bank! Aw, next time guys!
OMG, we can’t leave Philly! These crazy lamps drew us into Dumpster Divers, a gallery full of great found art!
Love this chair!
Love this sign!
Love this diorama!
Okay, so after finally tearing ourselves away from South Street, we head over to Baltimore, aka, “Little Havana”…
…where Heather and Chauffeur Tom try to chat about weirdos following Heather on the waterfront earlier that morning, and how earlier in life, Heather saved a group of lady backpackers from certain death (seriously!), over the sounds of Cubanesque frat boys and girls playing bar-shuffleboard, or whatever you call that game played with pucks in bars.
Chauffer Tom does not find Baltimore very Cubanesque at all, so we move swiftly along to the sparkly courtyard of the American Visionary Arts Museum. Perhaps we can suspend our disbelief regarding “Charm City” here?
We can! It’s a bird! It’s a crab!
It’s Heather sporting her love for this town! She’s so wacky! Now off to Atomic Books…
…where my camera died. So until some kid from The Brooklyn Messenger sends me his pics, you will have to use your imagination, or else believe me when I tell you that the demo and signing went almost exactly like this:
Thanks goodness we got her out of Baltimore and back to NYC in one piece (following, of course, a gigantic piece of carrot cake at the charming Cafe Hon)! 
But even after this mega-sugar rush, poor Heather was still so worn down and flustered by the whole “swift rise to fame” and “waterfront stalker” thing, she really just needed to knock back a cold one at Craft on Draught at Spacecraft Brooklyn...
…”Draught” loosely interpreted as PBRs with some crafty Brooklynites…
…and the ever-dapper TC, PBR-drinking husband deluxe!
Heather helped this dude get his craft on…
…and this lady scrapplique a cute tee…
…while people wore ironic mustaches…
…splattered and embellished…
…raffled things, including Weekend Sewing (you may have heard of it) and Complete Embellishing by the wonderful Kayte Terry of thisisloveforver blog...
…and basically, had a really great time crafting!
Bright and early the very next day, it was off to what I like to call part of “other Brooklyn,” Cobble Hill, for a demo at Brooklyn General. Um, how cute is that squirrel belt buckle?
Friday mornings the store always hosts a knitters group, but it was great to see so many knitters getting into the demo and the book, as they considered crossing over into sewing; foreign territory for some.
Brooklyn General, by the way, is awesome and huge! Packed with fabric, yarn, notions…
I could have stayed all day, were it not for the fact that I had to return to my real job. AKA: Octo-publicist!
Aw, but it was fun while it lasted, being a tour journalist /roadie /on-the-road groupie.
By the way, this post took me all day and then some! I’m so tired now! How does Heather do this?! Why does Heather do this?!
Hmm…maybe because I thought a blog tour would be a fun idea? Ha ha, maybe fun in a sightly masochistic, downing Redbull after Redbull and never cleaning your house way?
I jest! Kind of. But please, please! Give a round of applause to Heather for blogging so beautifully and enthusiastically these past few weeks (check out all the posts on the blog tour when you get a minute. They are so thoughtful and lovely!), and for doing the smocked sundress demo so many times, she can probably do it in her sleep. She’s truly a stronger lady than I, who is sooo ready to sleep and dream about weekends of laying low and sewing ’til summertime.
I hope you all can do the same…especially you Heather!
Goodnight everyone! Heather, thanks for having me. It’s all yours again!
I love my peeps.
April 3rd, 2009
L Hath No Fury! : A Tight-Pantsy Drew Mystery by Leslie Ann Henkel
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I learned that you should read this! You can get it at www.deardrunkgirl.etsy.com
Do it!
View all my reviews.
Nick’s review
rating: 
recommended for: brooklyn kids, everyone!
status: Read in July, 2008 — I have a copy to sell/swap
rating:
recommended for: brooklyn kids, everyone!
status: Read in July, 2008 — I have a copy to sell/swap
just finished reading my unstapled, b&w first edish, and man, it’s good! not only is it snort-laugh hilarious with this weirdly authentic bedford ave. nancy drew style voice, but i really, really want to know what happens with the ridic big coat and the bunnys v. robot DIY murder scene. i can definitely see this one getting a following, and fast - get into it!
