ADULTHOOD IS A S#!%SHOW
One of the worst feelings in the world, when you’re down to weed dust and stems. Time to re-up. I have about two days worth left, so it’s not all gone praise the lord. Cannot wait until dispensaries open up in New York City, well more that is. Weed clams me down, helps me sleep, shifts me into gratitude, food taste phenomenal and everything is ten times funnier. Via: Vintage Fantasy Art
Punching bags, boxing gloves, hand grenades, human hearts, just plain balls. As a jaded New Yorker who attracts insanity and grew up in the epicenter of artistic expression, I forgot what it feels like to be taken aback visually. That says A LOT when anything goes on the subway, I mean anything. Gobsmacked by the front and center, in your face details, I was left to ruminate on how many different meanings this shape can take. I stared at it for a long time, deeply enchanted by Ernesto Marenco’s ability to stun me, to do all the things art is suppose to do by making me think and switch perspectives in order to interpret what I’m looking at. He took something so simple and made it sophisticated and new. Brilliant. What do you see? When was the last time something you saw shocked you? Artist: Ernesto Marenco
Highlight of being sick in bed was finding this absolute gem. Nora From Queens left me doubled over in laughter, blinded by my tears, from beginning to end. Nora, played by Awkwafina, is an underachieving stoner, pushing her thirties, still living at home with her grandma and father. Attempting to assert her adulthood she finds herself in ridiculous situations; getting addicted to amphetamines in order to balance her gaming addiction and real estate assistant position, getting caught up in her own Fyre Festival scandal. The latter made so much funnier due to the dynamic with her foil character, Edmund. Her gay, tech-savvy, successful cousin, who reads Nora whenever possible.
The show is similar to Broad City in that it showcases that ‘Only In New York’ (OINY) eccentricity, that as a native I can attest to. A city filled with complex, zany characters all trying to find their place and purpose. A reminder that the definition of success varies from person to person, people value different things, everyone has their own timeline. Awkwafina is about elevated fuckery, adding levity to soften the edge of what can sometimes be a cruel world. Can’t wait for season two. What is your version of success? Do you feel pressured by society to have a different goal? Why? Via: Nora From Queens
Chomping at the bit for the days I can go out and order a glass with friends. Definitely took restaurants for granted. Missing the ambiance and those frenetic New York City weekends filled with so much potential. A blank night waiting to be filled with stories of hardworking denizens, looking to exercise their demons. Truthfully my first drink order will be a plain margarita, salted rim. What you sippin on tonight? Via: Square Sayings
On the plus side, being harried by countless men while simply trying to walk, has also been deferred. In New York City this is the toxic males favorite pastime. Standing on the streets demanding women yield to their sexual desires. Said female after showing disinterest, is then called a bitch.
Maybe she’s taken option B, lying about having a boyfriend, because men respect other men, even if they aren’t real. Catcalling, following/walking along, ignoring no as an answer, being disrespectful…all inappropriate ways to treat women. We aren’t property, or second class citizens. Am I missing any toxic male behavior? Via: EverThineEverMineEverOurs
A curation of Minnesota born, New York based college dropout Malcolm T. Liepke. His loose brush work and wet on wet technique gives his work a luxuriant, sensual and intimate vibe. Applying wet paint to wet paint adds a quality that the figures themselves are dripping, melting in a controlled way, one that feels like the moment between moments. I feel like I’m watching the transition of water turning into vapor as we speak, the figures are present. There’s an element of motion: she’s just gyrated on the horse and is about to move again, you watched the lovers slink up the couch and you’re about to see them merge, you saw when the boozehound fell onto the couch and she’s a blink away from crashing to the floor…Which picture resonates the most with your soul right now? The first image reminds me of Jennifer Connelly on that horse in Career Opportunities.
Two parties, one city. Which event are you attending, 1983 with rockstars or 1965 with art stars? Currently drinking the same Jack as Keith, so I gotta go with the rockstars. Top: Rock Rebellion Bottom: Cosy Nostalgia
How can Martin Scorsese’s New York City be the same as Woody Allen’s New York City, which is not the same thing as Spike Lee’s New York City and Mike Nichol’s New York City? That was my introduction to perspective.
Photo: Raymond Mair
Here for some RuPaul’s Drag Race. We’re only two episodes in this season and Gigi Goode is my favorite, for no other reason than bitch can put a lewk together. I mean day one with that pirate ensemble I was sold. Work bitch. Which is your favorite fashion moment? Look two is something I’d wear on New Years Eve lol, very Fifth Element vibes. Via: The Gigi Goode
Babygirl was prepping to be a stepmom. A period riddled with delusion. Deadbeat Dane didn’t take care of the kids he had, nor did he want more. Dealbreaker. He lacked ambition and deemed all his exes crazy, each of them a wily succubus. What did I get out of it? He treated me better than my deplorable prior. Since I was way, way, way out of his league he worshipped the ground I walked on. Plus he was an artist, painting me as one of the nude women reclining atop a mountain, in his surrealist vision of paradise. A gift for his friend…me hanging naked in his homies living room…that part was a little weird, also a surprise as I didn’t grant him permission, he never asked, I didn’t know it was an option…but it was so damn good. I was a muse. In reality slash retrospect I wasn’t over my ex and couldn’t stand to be alone, because I didn’t love myself. Oh the early twenties. Thank you, but good riddance.
Contracted to create an entire children’s exhibit, he sojourned home to Arizona for a month. I agreed to fly out, he was missed. Plus I didn’t treat him the best. On multiple occasions I’d shown up hours late, forgetting dates all together, I didn’t take him seriously and was not the most considerate. Boundaries didn’t come with his vain adoration, so I did me, confirming for myself that I will eat a beta male alive. As an alpha I need an alpha counterpart, or I won’t respect you for leaving me to dominate. It’s just who I am. Back to the matter at hand…
Going to Arizona meant meeting almost his entire family: parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, children and former spouse. The parents didn’t worry me, I always get along with them. However, the kids and the wife he said entrapped him made me nervous. Things could go south with a woman he described using nothing but negative terms. Never a moment of sunshine. I felt bad for him, until I met Alicia and found out he was full of shit.
This woman was so cool, beautiful and covered in tattoos. Unlike Dane, she has her life together like a true queen. A badass who rose from the insanity that was her upbringing. A spiritual gangster and inspiration. We clicked instantly. If you’re reading this Alicia, I love you and admire you so much. I know I’ve already told you I love you like 15 times this month alone, but still. She left us with the kids, to get better acquainted. I’m also phenomenal with kids, as the eldest sibling and female grandchild I’ve taken care of children all my life. I get them. The trick with kids is to be mindful that they are little people, they have feelings, points of views and are absorbing everything all the time. I treat them how I wanted to be treated, listened to and understood. I stayed up with his daughter Cara(9) all night talking about a million things, how she felt about heading to middle school soon, Niall Horan being her favorite 1D member, one of the wisest souls I’ve ever encountered. His son Brandon(7) was the funniest, asking me if I loved the Pokeman movie that just finished. Yeah it was good, I answered. You didn’t watch it, you were sleeping under your sunglasses. Even though he was right, I declared I’d only taken a nap. Failing when he quizzed me. It broke my heart when we had to part. In all honesty, I spent more time with them that weekend than he did. When they came to visit New York City I rushed to see them, when I went to Japan I mailed them gifts.
Even though our relationship soured, my kinship with Alicia over the years only strengthened. We support each other, root for each other, talk shit about his increasingly terrible life decisions (honestly I won’t tell you his tea, but he deserved to be treated poorly by me, not an upstanding human being)…Never in a million years would I believe that the best thing to come from a former lover, would be his ex-wife and kids. I don’t speak to him anymore, but if I did I would say thank you for gifting me the three of them. Had we let social norms of woman versus woman dictate our lives, we would have missed an awesome friendship. Photo: Flare Magazine