Taking My Indecision to Entirely Different Websites

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If you know me in person, you’re no stranger to my constant, incessant hairstyle polling. “Should I keep my hair long?” “Did you like my hair better when it was short?” “Should I get bangs?” In fact, for quite some time, a now-deleted post on this very website was the number one Google result for “Finola Hughes hairstyle” after I posted a keep it short vs. grow it long poll. Or maybe you’re more familiar with my chronicling of the length of my hair over on flickr.

So given all of that history, I’m totally psyched to share the fact that I’ve been selected as a participant on Hair Thursday! People send in photos of their hair, and Sarah and her team of readers help them decide what style they should try. It’s completely addictive, and I didn’t really ever expect to be selected.

But I was, so head on over to the post and accompanying poll on Hair Thursday and help me decide if I can pull off bangs with my long hair. This is going to be so fun.

Minibook: 27 Things

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Back in July, I wrote a list of 27 Things to Do While I’m 27. This week, I started working on a minibook to chronicle each of the items on that list. I’ve been writing about them here (sometimes), but I love the idea of having a tactile record of this year.

The thing is, though, that this was entirely inspired by Elise Blaha’s similar list, which I saw referenced on another craft blog I read (although I can’t even remember which one). When I first saw Elise’s list, I was reeled in right away. I already had the list written, and even better, I’ve been wanting to stretch my creativity in different ways. And honestly? I think scrapbooking in its traditional sense is a little hokey, but Elise’s minibooks are scrapbooks that appeal to me much more… they’re organized but not overly so, full of nice paper, and heavily feature photos. So I signed up for her April Get Crafty workshop, and I’m loving the results of putting her ideas into motion.

Here are the first few pages I’ve been working on (click through to flickr for more details and links to the original blog posts!).

27 Things minibook: the start

27 Things minibook: the list

27 Things minibook: #1

27 Things minibook: #7

27 Things minibook: #7

27 Things minibook: #9

27 Things minibook: #9 and #12

27 Things minibook: #12

Dear Citi Field,

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sixteen rows back

Through a strange and amazing twist of fate, I came into some unbelievably good seats for the game vs. the Pirates on May 8. It was a Friday night game, but the universe aligned so that both my brother and I could leave work early to make the drive up to Queens. I’ve been watching every game I can see this season, eagerly trying to soak in every nuance of the state-of-the-art-shiny-newness they assure me you ooze. I grumbled when people called talk radio programs to complain. How can people complain about you, Citi Field? I know you’re no Shea, but what’s not to love?

even the lights are swanky

Our tickets were so good that John and I kept looking around, shifty-eyed, waiting to be kicked out, told we weren’t supposed to be in the Delta Sky 360 club. Or at the full service bar behind our seats. Or peering through the little window by that bar down into the batting cages under the stands to watch Gary Sheffield take some practice swings before pinch hitting. Our seats were cushy. We had waiter service and ordered Shake Shack hot dogs and beers and fancy fries called “Frites” right from our asses. There was an attendant in the bathroom. The people in our row came back halfway through the game with cupcakes and wine. CUPCAKES AND WINE. At a BASEBALL GAME. I was deeply, deeply torn: my love of cupcakes is strong, and oh my did I want one. But I refrained, on principle. You just don’t eat a cupcake at a ball game. You eat a hot dog (bonus: mine had kraut!) and you drink a beer and maybe if you didn’t have too much beer, you have some ice cream in a baseball hat bowl. I get the whole amenities thing, I really do. And maybe it’s just that I’m simple, but I’m just not a cupcakes-wine-coffee-and-swanky-BBQ-sandwich baseball person.

Bud Lite

Don’t get me wrong, Citi Field. You are gorgeous, shiny and new in a way that’s hard to conceive of. In fact, I think in a lot of ways I was far too distracted to even appreciate the game (which featured an 8th inning rally and even an appearance by the new and wow shiny home run apple). John and I walked around the whole park, and I was amazed by the vastness of the Jackie Robinson rotunda (something that I have much, much more reverence for thanks to Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary). You really do feel more intimate, more quirky. And walking through the concourses, it’s all airy and you can see the field as you walk past hot dog stands and beer vendors. Maybe I’m not fancy enough for such good seats (but OMG they were SO GOOD I can’t even EXPLAIN IT we were SIXTEEN ROWS BACK you just don’t get to sit there more than once in your LIFE so don’t get me wrong I LOVED IT THERE) and maybe I don’t feel emotionally vested in you yet.

Shea's third base

Shea was crumbly and beat to shit, yes. And the former diamond is commemorated in the VIP Parking lot on your third base side. But I got a little teary and yes, maybe a little overwhelmed, seeing the site of Shea’s third base. I don’t hate you, Citi Field. But I’m not quite ready to say I love you yet. I hope that’s okay. I’m certainly going to come back to visit as often as I can, because more than anything, I do want to love you. I think we’ll get there.

Love,
Elizabeth

Minibook: Shea Stadium

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get crafty project #1: a minibook of trips to Shea Stadium

I signed up for Elise Blaha’s Get Crafty workshop, which started on Monday. Along the same lines as my kickstart photo project, I’m hoping this workshop will get me thinking in a crafty frame of mind again. I finished my first project last night, and I’m so happy with it… not just because I like how it turned out, but because it was fun to put it together: cutting, gluing, stamping, all of that jazz. I’ll admit to being pretty skeptical about the whole scrapbooking phenomenon, but the workshop is sort of scrapbooking outside the box, and I can get behind that for sure. It’s more collage and papercrafts and photography all together, which is right up my alley. Plus! It was an excuse to buy things at the craft store and Staples, things that would normally count as “unnecessary” like a date stamp (!!!) and markers and cardstock and labels and shipping tags and new scissors.

detail view: September 27, 2008

The book itself is a collection of photos and memories of my seven trips to Shea. (The full sets of photos are over on flickr.) I printed one photo from each game wallet-sized, and wrote little bits about what I remember most about each game (or rainout, as the case may be). This is especially cathartic as the Mets begin their season at CitiField, which promises to be gorgeous, but is still in need of some memory-building.

Get Crafty Project #1: Shea Stadium minibook

Kickstart: 25 days

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1. first signs, 2. another sign, 3. the height of cool, circa 1989, 4. ready to burst, 5. in profile (and the glow of the tv), 6. signs of life are everywhere, 7. I learned that this is called a balustrade., 8. I am really out of practice, 9. progress, little by little, 10. lights and raindrops, 11. mirrored, gilded corner, 12. opportunities are everywhere, 13. A little hope in the gloom, 14. star magnolia, bricks, 15. shooting into the sun, 16. it’s just spaghetti, 17. yellow like sunshine, 18. quick, before it starts raining again, 19. it’s a lot easier to take photos like this when you’re the passenger, 20. leaves! green! sunshine! I can’t deal!, 21. just one, 22. awaiting their fate, 23. stripes in the sky, 24. spring can look a little like winter sometimes, 25. bagel run

I’ve been trying desperately to kickstart my creativity by (not-so-secretly) taking pictures every day, and I finished with a nice, even, square 25. (I’ve been swearing all along that I won’t do another 365 days in a row.) I did it because I missed it. And because I’d stopped taking photos of anything but beer. So I just… started. And my inspiration may be slowly coming back. (And you know, it ended totally naturally… I just didn’t feel like forcing a photo on Saturday, so I didn’t take one. I think I’ll do this again soon.)

Rollin' Fun

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the height of cool, circa 1989

Having a birthday party at the roller rink was about as cool as it got in third grade. We’d wear smelly roller skates and skating in endless circles (except during special songs like the Ghostbusters song which had complicated choreography that everyone knew) before pizza and cake were served in the special party room. I never had a party there (not being the type to enjoy that much attention), but I went to so many.

late reservations OK for this weekend!

The rink itself closed years ago, although I’m not sure exactly how long ago it was. It has to be at least ten, maybe fifteen years ago now, but the building has stood empty since then, cheerily advertising “rollin’ fun” and birthday parties alike.

I’ve wanted to take pictures of this place since my first 365, but I’m always too chicken to park in the lot (which is on a busy highway) to take pictures properly. But I drove past a few weeks ago and noticed that it’s fenced off and the roof is caved in or being taken down. So today I drove down there and parked in the empty lot and took some pictures. I’m really glad I did.

ELO: Elaborate Lasers, Orchestrated

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ELO Laser Light Experience

On Saturday night, a bunch of us headed out to a planetarium at a local community college (who knew?) to see a regular planetarium show followed by a laser light show. Nerdery, ahoy! I don’t know what it is, but I adore planetariums. And it was like a double plus bonus, seeing as how learning new constellations was TOTALLY on my 27 Things To Do When I’m 27 list. So anyway, yay! The planetarium! After the “winter skies” show, we were ferried out of the planetarium, and then back in for the laser light show. While we were looking for directions earlier that afternoon, Dan and I discovered that not only was it a laser light show, but one set to the music of ELO. Now, I’ve heard of ELO in my general fondness for classic rock, and I like some of their songs, but as we listened to the few songs Dan had, I realized that this had the potential for sheer awesomeness.

The others weren’t so big on ELO, and not all of them had even heard of them before. But the lasers! It was somehow awesome and cheesy at the same time. I was partly fascinated by the new digital projection system in the planetarium (they had that old star projector in the middle of the dome at first, but only to show us how they don’t have to use it anymore! Because of the new and awesome digital projection system! OMG!), and partly astounded by the actual setup of the laser show, in that most of the laser pictures were obviously hand-drawn by the Laserist himself. Like he sat there with the digital laser-pointer-style device and drew the outline of a globe. And a lady playing a cello. And a lady with huge boobs. And some mountains. And a guitar! Woah!

lasers and stars circling wildly to the tune of ELO

So yeah. It was kickass. And really, really, really hokey at the very same time. The music, though? I don’t know how I don’t already have all of ELO’s albums. I adored it and have had the songs stuck in my head since about 9pm on Saturday night. My mind, it has been blown.

PS. Don’t tell Bill, the Staff Astronomer/Laserist, that I was taking photos during the laser show. It’s totally not allowed.

Plus, Minus

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Plus:

Minus:

  • Dry, dry, DRY itchy skin.
  • Unbearably chapped lips that are impervious to all manner of chapstick.
  • More photos of the dismantling of Shea Stadium.
  • Baseball season, you are SO FAR AWAY and I spent my evenings pining for you and the hot stove is just not fulfilling my needs any longer, SIGH.
  • Sweating the small, insignificant shit, even when I try not to.
  • Salt on the windshield.
  • Rooms that oscillate between stifling and freezing.