Rewinding to Fast-forward

After feeling "snubbed," (see post below), I was in the mood for transformation. I decided to become a minimalist and simply simplify. I thought I would get rid of an enormous vintage coat that Josh bought for me. In the same breath, I decided to grow out my bangs. I also decided I was "done with" my Polaroid camera since I have an iPhone with an app that takes Polaroid-style photos. Then, while sewing, my grandmother's sewing machine broke - mid-quilt. The nerve! That same day, I bought one on Craigslist and took the broken one home to my mother, telling her that I was "done with sewing." Around the same time, I concluded that my record collection was taking up too much closet space. I didn't see a need for the records since I can carry around Pandora's play lists in my pocket.

Then, somethings happened.

1. I got out the photos of me in my vintage red coat out. After reviewing the photos, I decided that the coat was kind of cool, and that I didn't know enough about it to actually sell it for any amount that would make it worth selling.

2. I noticed in the photos that I actually liked my bangs. I decided to get them cut short again - not "cartoon short," which I sometimes used to do, but shorter than usual so that I don't look like a nurse from an episode of Fraggle Rock.

3. The sewing machine I bought on Craigslist was broken. The girl who sold it to me told me she would give me my money back. Then, on the day we schedule to meet up for the return exchange, she disconnected her phone. I decided to donate the machine to a sewing machine repair shop. My mom loaned me her classic Singer machine, and I decided that I would continue crafting. This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with listening to records.

4. The Beastie Boys made a debut on KCRW, which reminded me that I have "Licensed to ill" on vinyl. I broke out my record player, and I have been listening to Neil Diamond, the Beastie Boys, Randy Newman, Miles Davis and Johnny Cash's "Orange Blossom Special" ever since.

5. We went camping, and my brother's girlfriend, Brittany, brought along a Polaroid. She was joking that she had to take pictures sparingly due to the high cost of film. The vintage quality of the photos reminded me of how much I LOVE Polaroids. I am re-inspired to invest in the pricey film.

6. The New York Times Magazine published this article about Anne Marsen, a girl who has her own combo-pack dance style. She was discovered by photographer Jacob Krupnick (who posted an ad on Craigslist) for dancers to audition for his project. In his video, she's wearing a windbreaker and other non-diva garments. The video is awesome! I recommend watching it. It's inspirational and soulful.

In the article, Marsen says,“So this is like a dream, to be able to just do my own thing to Girl Talk.” It was often scary during the last few years," she said, charting an iconoclastic path through the New York dance world, where people sometimes get “weirded out” by her ideas and her hybrid style. But she always had faith, she said, that if she kept doing what she loved, good things would happen. “I just didn’t know specifically how to get there,” she said with a laugh. “But now it’s coming to me.”

Once I got my bangs trimmed, I felt more like me again. Josh said I should write a blog titled "I'm back" since I have returned to many things that I enjoy.It's Spring time, which is the right time to rewind back to your roots and start doing what you love.

7. I read an article about Gabrielle Hamilton's new book, Blood, Bones and Butter. She is the owner and chef of Prune in NYC. In one article I read, she is described:

“Gabrielle was way ahead of a lot of things that, for lack of a better term, would become trends,” says Anthony Bourdain, her friend, fellow chef-author, and host of the Travel Channel’s stalwart hit No Reservations. “She seemed to come out of nowhere to open this ferociously independent and important restaurant. It was really ‘my way or the highway’ from the very beginning with her. She hooked into all kinds of foods that chefs like to eat, but also showed an independence of spirit and a courage that a lot of chefs, at the time, didn’t have. She did straight-ahead, delicious food in a nonintimidating, bullshit-free environment. That’s kind of a trend now, but back then, it was just Gabrielle being who she is.”

I remember Gabrielle's impressive Prune from when I lived in NYC. She busted-out her restaurant and left all them man-chefs salivating with dropped jaws. She set the bar, and I loved that her restaurant was PINK and didn't take reservations. To me, she was a hostesses' heroine.

She squeezed a book out of no time at all. In the article she states:

“It’s 50 billion times harder to be a writer than it is to be a chef,” says Hamilton, who earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 1997. “I wrote this book, literally, by hand on a cutting board, in bed, with a child sleeping on either side of me. When I lived in Brooklyn, I wrote in the car in bumper-to-bumper traffic coming across the Williamsburg Bridge on my way in to work. I craved that Room of One’s Own idea, having specific space to get the writing done, but it was not a possibility for me. I was in my tiny office in the restaurant’s basement with noise-canceling headphones on, listening to Springsteen and Pearl Jam. You’ve got to get it down when you can.”

Partially inspired by Hamilton, I decided to rejoin my writing class and try to scribble something down in a notebook from time to time. That, to me, would be a fast-foward move toward progress on a personal level.