Friday June 25, 2010

Some of my West Coast friends keep forgetting that I am on EST time and like to text me at 1:00 am. I haven’t been sleeping very well due to insomnia (aka sobriety) and I went to yoga this morning at 6am on 4 hours of sleep. There were only 5 people in the class and the instructor was a bit of a toolbag. He wasn’t mean, he was just a little bit tool-y. And his voice was bugging me. Maybe I was just grumpy. Anways, I came home and packed my stuff up for a little road trip…

My friend Betsy and her boyfriend Bob (names have been changed to protect the innocent and because someone might lose their job simply by knowing me) are avid antique collectors and they invited me to go to Hudson, NY with them. Hudson is a quaint little town about 2 hours north of Manhattan and is known for attracting hippies, artists, gay men and antique dealers/shoppers. The main street is lined with restaurants, bars and antique shops so we started with bellinis and champagne at Le Gamin. I ordered the escargot and it was probably the best escargot I have had in the whopping 12 times that I have tried it. Betsy had never had it and is now a fan! I love introducing people to new food and having them love it. Of course it was served super hot and it burned the roof of my mouth because I cannot control myself. NOT the way to live, folks.

Chicken ratatouille crepe (poulet aux legumes)

 We went from antique shop to antique shop so that Betsy and Bob could shop for giant pieces of furniture that they have no room for in their house. They have a huge place chock full of amazing Victorian sofas, chandeliers, hutches, tables, etc… and are continually shopping for more. It’s kind of ridiculous, but fun to watch them get so excited over a shelf from the 1700′s. I personally would love love love to have one of these gaudy gold fish eye mirrors in my house. I remember that my parents had one and I honestly don’t know what happened to it. I will have to ask my siblings if they know. Trying to take a fish eye photo of a fish eye mirror doesn’t quite work the same.

These columns would look pretty sweet in my loft with 50 foot ceilings.

After hearing the story about the kitten at my sisters house they insisted that I come see what this place was all about. Animalkind is a cat shelter that sells kittens and does adult adoptions. (cue Sarah Mclachlan music) They have a strict screening process and they actually check references when you are adopting a cat from them.

Upstairs is where all of the adult cats live…somehow, magically…harmoniously together in one space. I think that they somehow have a new appreciation for life and are simply so happy to be fed and have a warm place to sleep that they just get along. Or they are drugged.

I mean, I am not even a cat person and I am in awe of this place.

 This is by far one of the best fish eye shots I have ever taken.

They even have an outdoor patio area for them to lay in the sun.

This guy invited me to take a dip in his pool. I declined despite the heat and humidity. And the other diseases lurking in there.

He bought this house in the mid 90s for just $73,000 and is in foreclosure now I guess. I am not really sure what the situation is but he hangs out on the weekends outside telling his story and trying to get rid of some of his stuff.

Betsy tells me that there is a local artist whose “art” (loose interpretation of the word) is featured in many of the antique shops around town. Fascinating. I had no idea Obama was a merman.

I am sorry, but it’s a little bit hideous. This “artwork”.

I bought this bear head for $175! I am so excited to hang it in my loft next to the other animal head that I cannot identify. I think this was probably a female bear (maybe even on her period judging by the mean look on her face) and I need a good name. So far the only one on Twitter that I liked was Sylvia. Thoughts on naming my bear head? Someone on Twitter also suggested that I take that as my carry-on home back to San Diego next month! Bwhahahahah what a fucking brilliant idea!!!!

One of Betsy’s things is picture frames and mirrors so we had to go check out this place.

Find the Pink Monkey! (another edition of my version of Where’s Waldo)

We stayed at a small inn owned by the owners of a restaurant called Ca Mea. We had a 2 bedroom suite in a large house. The coolest thing was the adjustable bed…. it had a remote controlled dial that allowed you to change the hardness and softness of the bed. A level 5 was like a waterbed. A level 100 was stiff. I slept at a 65 perfectly.

For dinner we ate at Ca Mea. I ordered a dish called “Bresaola della valtellina …Mountain cured beef with arugula and lemon vinaigrette” … an appetizer which was pretty much beef carpaccio, but made with a better, leaner cut of beef. So delicious. I could have eaten a few pounds of it. (We weren’t really hungry and didn’t want to be in food comas for our show. Bad idea since this town doesn’t have any late night dining.)

Now onto the portion of the evening that words cannot describe: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus.

I was asked to put my camera away so I only snapped a few photos of the emcee…

…and Musty Chiffon singing a few songs.

The Bindlestiff Cirkus is the weirdest, most eclectically amateur group of circus performers I have ever had the privilege of seeing. Imagine one of your friends calling you up and saying “Hey…do you have any skills that you can perform on a stage this Saturday night?” because they were putting together a show and were desperate for acts. Strangely, all of it was entertaining and perfectly acceptable as-is. The other acts included Coney Island Chris (a cute and funny guy in his mid 20′s who pretended to do acts of self mutilation with nails, mousetraps and bear traps but who only actually did one at the very end), a sad clown who blew up balloons shaped like penises, a juggler, a contortionist (the closest semblance to a real circus act), unicylists and a musical duo named “Deer Head Church” which consisted of two women facing the back of the stage with giant deer heads on their backs facing the audience while playing wabby sounding instruments while a black man walked through the audience and onto the stage wearing a hooded cloak carrying a cross made out of sticks. The venue, Helsinki, has not received their liquor license yet so at intermission we made an executive decision to head outta there. Deer Head Church (not even showing up on google as of now…) was by far the highlight for me, although I would marry Coney Island Chris in a heartbeat.

Close to a full moon tonight…

Here is an interesting play on light. When I set the camera to “think” based on my choosing the f-stop  (Aperture priority for those of you who give a shit) it chooses this setting. Making the church look yellow. This is hand held at 1/2 second. The fact that I can hold the camera that steady is remarkable in itself, but I want you to know this is not at all what the church actually looked like.

I set the camera on a manual, underexposed setting, which was more like what it actually looked like, but far less interesting.

A new bar in town… very “chainy” and very needed according to locals. “It serves a purpose” meaning that it is a magnet for the douche bags and clears the cool places for the actual cool people.

After the show we headed over to this place owned by a fellow hag… the Red Dot.

…where Musty had clearly ditched her circus pals to come drink. Just like us. I absolutely love her purse. A functioning telephone.

 I have really two awesome cat videos which are taking forever to load so I will post them seperately.