what would summer be without a summer picnic? saturday afternoon, a bunch of us gathered around a friend’s lush backyard to stuff our faces like food was going out of style. we had b-b-q, macaroni salad, fruit salad, peach pie, chicken wings, vermicelli noodles, chocolate cake, milky iced cantaloupe for dessert and some more casserole. needless to say, the heat, the laughter, a tabby cat that couldn’t stop shedding, the summer breeze and a wedding across the street a friend said between a “cowboy and an indian” all conspired for a great picnic (picnique) and a royal headache. i needed a lie down in the airconditioned room indoors and to escape from the torpor of gluttony. all in all a dreamy summer day! now if only my french sweetie, the vegan were there to witness my fall from grace from Veggie Land into the Land that Alka-Seltzer forgot. i wish i had pix to prove, but i forgot to bring my camera. otherwise, take my word for it, or at least take my bloated stomach…please!

east village radio is a very cool radio station. just this saturday morning, i tried to listen live to DJ Colleen von Crumbcake’s show “Sandy Acres Sound Lab” (my favorite show) and i couldn’t hear a peep of the broadcast tho’ my volume was turned all the way up! so i sent her an iChat message via AOL IM giving her the “heads-up” and she commisserated…then in about 20 minutes time, I hear back from her saying “we’re back on!” now, what other radio station do you think would do that? online or otherwise? evr is not just the little radio that could…it’s the best radio station around that plays the best music and the deejays really care about their listeners…that’s virtually (pardon the pun) unheard of! thanks DJ Colleen for bringing me the coolest music around… yay!

btw, she’s got a great blog: girljukebox.typepad.com

i just heard some audio samples of yo la tengo on a certain sh–ohh! myspace page (take that you google search engine spiders!) and i must say they have an intriguing blend of vintage jazz and indie folk on a track called “why do you have to be so sad?” (or thereabouts) and it’s pretty bewitching. cool and hot. fuzzy or steel guitar, it’s yo la! yo la tengo! i have it?

“Difficult color, green…very tricky,” so says Lady Constance from the movie, Gosford Park. Sadly, this is the inconvenient truth. “There are certain shades of green than can ruin a girl’s complexion…” chimes in Holly Gollightly. Chartreuse, kelly, lime, fatigue, loden. Whatever it is, this ubiquitous shade has become more than a passing fashion statement. It’s the iconic color choice for the eco revolution: from Green Design to Green Tech to green politicians. Thinking green is in. Ralph Nader was onto something years ago by choosing to be in the Green Party. Now it seems like everyone’s crashing it (in a good way!) Green Day’s having their day.

We needn’t wait until the next ice floe melts away to ponder who killed the electric car before we take a stand, make a move, and be the change we wish to see, or be a part of the solution and not the problem.

a bamboo bicycle

Luckily, I live in a city that’s bike-friendly, so I take my PeeWee Herman-style bicycle with me everywhere I go. Cycle Trades of America, Inc. says: “It’s fun to ride a bike. If you want to look your best and feel your best, start riding a bike today. Slip into fetching togs of freedom. Spin away to new adventure. Bike-riding brings a sparkle to the eyes, health to the body. And it’s grand fun for you, and for every member of the family! Keep trim…Keep Slim…Keep Cycling!” Yowza. (Hope those fetching togs of freedom have a bit of lycra in it.) It’s a great way to kick the addiction to oil!

Switching lightbulbs is a good idea too (especially the one over one’s head)…I’ve recently switched to a long-lasting Natural Spectrum bulb by Seventh Generation because it reproduces natural sunlight indoors and saves energy (it also doesn’t ruin a girl’s complexion!) Recycling too…I’ve even recycled relationships!

i, candy: shiny happy handbags of recycled candy wrappers by Ecoist

Greenstyle. The wearin’ of the green. Even if you’re not Irish. Go see www.treehugger.com or www.ecoist.com for style with a conscience! As soon as my greenbacks are back to healthy levels, am planning to switch to bamboo: bamboo tees, plates, utensils and now bamboo ply for fab furniture and flooring! Talk about sustainable.

Whether green for newbie, or green like Kermie, don’t be green with envy, be green by loving your environment…

Think Green!

felicities, my sweets! this just in: my current fave couture colors are sky blue and red. it’s turning up everywhere: including on me! is it a saliency response or is it my trendspotting ticker going tick-tick-tick-TOCK! recently whilst surfing (as is my wont these days) i found paper-source.com, with some of the sweetest, twee-est, most covetable items on terra cyberia (cyberland)…take a gander and see! see? si, si! i am enamoured of the mini suitcases in colors red w/ pool stitching and vice-versa, as well as the rubber stamps which bode well for a tee-shirt project i have in mind that involves stencils and silkscreening. i think i’m seeing red…in a good way~!

This is one of my all-time favorite tv shows! As well as The Partridge Family and The Monkees. People used to break-up and get back together again over an unironed shirt in this show, with story segment titles like “Love and the Unironed Shirt.” It was never about who gets the condo. I think the U.S. soldiers in Iraq should protest the war by waving this flag instead

while singing:

Love American style
Truer than the red, white and blue-ooh-ooh-OOH
Love American style
That’s me and you
And on a star-spangled night my love (my love come to me)
You can rest your head on my shoulder
And by the dawn’s early light, my love
I will defend your right to try
Love American style
That’s me and YOU!

Long before the Squirrel Nut Zippers were these guys. If I had a band, I would love to have a poster just like this:

It’s so beatnik…like groovy, baby!