A Bittersweet Facebook Bonus

In the past few months, I know several people who have "announced" the death of their beloved pets on Facebook. Including myself, of course. And each time, friends have sent in a ton of thoughtful condolences. I think it is really nice that people have a way of letting people know about this kind of loss, and get instant reaction from their far flung friends. Because, let's face it, it is hard not to feel a little silly or pathetic telling people how upset you are about your pet. Because you know it is a pet and there are much bigger problems in the world, but you are still in tears and want some acknowledgment of your loss. At least that is what I found. But Facebook is the perfect medium for these sad but inevitable occasions.

Speaking of Elvis, Neilson recently found some more pictures he had taken of him and Audrey. Here is one of my favorites.

"W" in ice cream

I received the following email from one of my fellow Obama supporting docs at work. I read in the paper yesterday that this is an email version of an urban myth but it still is pretty funny.

Maybe Ben and Jerry should look into it. It might be a money maker.

Ben & Jerry created the "Yes Pecan!" ice cream flavor for Obama. (This is a real flavor. the description on the website is, "An inspirational blend. Amber waves of buttery ice cream with roasted non-partisan pecans").

They then asked people to fill in the blank for the following: For George W. they created "_________".

Here are some of their favorite responses:

- Grape Depression
- Abu Grape
- Cluster Fudge
- Nut'n Accomplished
- Iraqi Road
- Chock 'n Awe
- WireTapioca
- Impeach Cobbler
- Guantanmallow
- imPeachmint
- Heck of a Job, Brownie!
- Neocon Politan
- RockyRoad to Fascism
- The Reese's-cession
- Cookie D'oh!
- The Housing Crunch
- Nougalar Proliferation
- Death by Chocolate... and Torture
- Freedom Vanilla Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chip On My Shoulder
- Credit Crunch
- Mission Pecanplished
- Country Pumpkin
- Chunky Monkey in Chief
- George Bush Doesn't Care About Dark Chocolate
- WMDelicious
- Chocolate Chimp
- Bloody Sundae
- Caramel Preemptive Stripe- I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands...with nuts

Strange Red Carpet Moment

I was watching the Academy Awards Red Carpet show on E! and I was startled by a new graphics technology applied to the footage. Actually, it is an old technology- drawing little x's and o's as in a football game, but now on the dresses of the stars and starlets. They actually were tracing the lines of the gowns in what looked like blue magic marker as they praised or panned the outfits. Weird! Is this new?

Greylock Arts

A couple of pictures from my trip to Adams, Mass. I will be in a show there next September.

Check out Greylock Art's website, there is a terrific web comics show online right now, as well as documentation of a great video installation that marks the passing of analog video. Another great project-Recollecting Adams - stories told by Adams residents and animated by Marianne Petit, as part of an ongoing Greylock project- (Re)Connecting the Adamses.

Greylock Arts- what a cool building!

Mass Mocca had a huge Sol Lewitt retrospective

Lots of forehead showing despite the hats.

Josephine demands attention!

IMG_4172
Originally uploaded by neilsonabeel

A Sole Culkin in a Family Death March

As many of you know, Marc is participating in the 2009 Hustle Up the Hancock this weekend. It involves running up the 94 stories of the John Hancock building, which, honestly, sounds miserable. There was actually an article on "tower running" in the NY Times Style Section, so apparently this is a cool thing to do. My favorite quote from the article: "Mr. Loy described some drawbacks to tower running. 'The lactic acid production is high,' he said. 'And the higher you go, the worse you feel.'" Marc had wondered if only one Culkin was participating it could still be a Family Death March;if there was any doubt, I think that quote would make me answer yes.

Marc is participating as a member the Abbot Lungbusters, and the team is raising money for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago (RHAMC)Click here for Marc's fund raising page, if you would like to contribute. He has promised pictures.

A Few Questions

1) Isn't February a sweeps month? Then why are there so many repeats?

2) Why isn't Bruce Springsteen's song from the Wrestler nominated for an Oscar? I've only heard snatches of it, but my guess is it is better than the song from Wall-E. (Not that I have heard that song either).

3) Has anyone watched the Mentalist? Is it good?

4) Why isn't the British Life on Mars on Netflix?

"Very Valentine"

Andrea Trigiana has a new book out -- the first in a planned trilogy -- about resuscitating a family wedding shoe business in the West Village. If you liked "Lucia, Lucia" (I loved it!), this is probably for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Very-Valentine-Novel-Adriana-Trigiani/dp/0061257052

From the Amazon description:

"In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin."

Read her notes on Amazon about she did the research for this too, and also this excerpt:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28980556/

What fun!

Happy Valentines and recent events

Happy Valentines Day! We had a nice day here. We made Valentines Day cookies and watched Madagascar Escape 2 Africa (mad 1 was a better film). We also ate some chocolate of course. Hope you all had a good day.

Feb. 12, the good and the bad

Good: I bought a dress for $20 at Old Navy that looks like like something that would sell for $200 at Anthropologie.

Bad: I accidentally bought chunky peanut butter instead of smooth. Yuck.

Good: Someone offered me a free ticket to Hedda Gabler, starring Mary Louise Parker. It has gotten pretty miserable reviews, but I'm still excited.

Bad: Neilson had to have an emergency root canal after a night of excruciating pain.

Good: I had the day off, for Lincoln's birthday.

So all in all a good day for me, but a pretty miserable one for Neilson.

Happy Birthday to Darwin and Lincoln

There must have been something in the air Feb. 12, 2009.

Michelle Obama in Vogue.

Read an editted version of the cover article here

More NYCC

More pictures of NY Comic Con

Esther Smith, who teaches at BMCC, after her DIY panel at NYCC with her books, How to Make Books and Magic Books and Paper Toys

Adorable Isabelle and Sophie with friend.

Homage to Trader Joes

I'm not sure if anyone else here shops at Trader Joe's, but Neilson and I have become quite dependent on it. This video really captures the TJ's experience.

New York Comic Con

New York Comic Con was fun as always. Kate and I missed each other on the floor, unfortunately. Today I walked the floor with Cindy and Naief, old friends who I rarely see, and their adorable children.

Many people were there.

Including Robert Culp.

Zombies were big.

Chip Kidd on Robert Downey Junior

In the Sunday Times Magazine- read it here.

Here he is at New York Comic Con.

Spanish

Kate asked me for some information on the Spanish podcast and newsletter I talked about in a previous post. I'm finally getting around to providing the info. Sorry about the delay.

The site for the newsletter is www.notesinspanish.com You can sign up for the newsletter and download some free materials from the site. They also have programs you can buy. They have message boards to practice your spanish and ask questions as well. You can find them on iTunes under the Notes in Spanish name as well and they have lots of free podcasts.

A recent newsletter sent out some information about a networking site for people trying to learn different languages. I just signed up. It is free and they have lots of exercises to try out but more importantly you can connect with people willing to practice speaking with you. You should check it out. www.busuu.com

Where's the action?

Sonja started "school" this week -- half days -- and is spending afternoons with Dak and me. She spent all Monday trying to walk -- literally, she wouldn't sit down -- I think those other babies are inspiring her.

Stolen from Trish's Flickr

Sonja and "Daisy Sunshine", originally uploaded by trish.culkin.

Sonja and "Daisy Sunshine," named by Anders.