Entre Nous.

Happy Halloween!

 

I spotted this Halloween cupcake candle at a shop in Fairhaven and just had to have it.  Later I came upon the plate with a similar pattern and thought they went well together.  The only place online I could locate the cupcake candles was eBay.  I would have liked to have purchased more of the candles but as I'm moving in six weeks the accumulation of "stuff" is just not practical.  So this was the extent of my Halloween decorations.

The Science of Sleep

I went to see The Science Of Sleep for several reasons.  I found the previews enticing.  I'm a fan of director Michel Gondry's other work (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).  But the main reason was because I'm smitten with Gael García Bernal and think Charlotte Gainsbourg is brilliant.  "The plot, such as it is, involves a would-be artist and inventor, Stephane (played by the lovely Gael García Bernal, speaking a mixture of accented French and accented English, and only occasionally his native Mexican Spanish), whose waking and sleeping lives are inseparably intertwined, and the border between the two is often hard to determine.  A mishap involving a piano delivery introduces Stéphane to his neighbor Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is every bit as wonderful and wise and irresistible, as the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin ought to be), with whom he begins an uncertain romance.  The two don’t ever really connect, largely because Stephane lives too exclusively in his own head: that is to say, in his dreams, which (literally) occupy most of the length of the film."  If you haven't yet viewed this film might I suggest not trying to make sense of it, just enjoy the eye candy. 

 

In September, to coincide with the films release, Michel Gondry held a show at the Deitch gallery.  The show was titled The Science of Sleep; an exhibition of sculpture and creepy pathological little gifts.  In the exhibition, "The Science of Sleep movie sets were presented and elaborated on as to allow their more concerted consideration as sculpture.  A walk through the exhibition will immerse the viewer in the sculptural experience of the movie in three dimensions."  If you go to the Deitch Projects website you can still view photographs of the installation.

Here it goes again

Friday afternoon I dealt with a very terse Comcast service man.  For the past year and a half I've been receiving free cable unbeknownst to Comcast.  When I first moved into this apartment free cable and DSL were included with the rent.  But eventually the couple I rent from decided to cancel their cable service and informed me that if I wanted to continue getting cable I'd have to pay for it myself.  But through some glitch I continued to get cable in my apartment despite their canceling their service.  Recently my landlords have been having trouble with their DSL and called a Comcast repair man to come solve the problem.  Subsequently on the service call he discovered that I was still getting cable and promptly disconnected it.  He was a total you know what about it too.  Friday evening we had dinner at this new Japanese restaurant that opened in Fairhaven, called AW Sushi Bar.  The decor is beautiful and the food superb.  The menu includes Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Thai and even a little Mongolian.  Saturday I stopped off at the cemetery to take some photographs of the gorgeous multi hued leaves.  Then went back to Fairhaven to pick up a piece of pottery I was having glazed.  I then headed to the park for some reading.  Back home my Charlotte Gainsbourg's "5:55" CD was awaiting pick up in my mailbox (so brilliant by the way).  Due my lack of cable I spent much of the evening watching the first season of HBO's show Big Love.  Sunday I spent most of the day (4 hours) at a "Restoring Balance Through Yoga & Knitting" class.  The class was taught by the same woman, Maureen, who taught my last knitting class.  Our knitting project was a "tea cozy", which is going to take about a month or more to complete due to the complicated stitch involved.  The pattern is from the book Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  The yoga aspect of the class was very minimal but she offered some good poses to implement when you only have a short period of time or when you have a minimal amount of space.  Next weekend it's off to Seattle to see Molly Ringwald in Sweet Charity.

Halloween Good Things

1.  Halloween cookies from Eleni's NYC.  My favorites being the "Pumpkin Patch" collection.  "The perfect snack for staying up all night for the Great Pumpkin."  [$55.00]

 

2.  A bewitching bouquet of calla lilies and orange roses from Marthas Flowers.  "We’ve conjured up some black magic with this elegant bouquet. With 8 dark calla lilies peering through 15 orange roses, this spooky creation unmasks the sophisticated side of Halloween.  Nothing makes a lovelier decoration or gift for your ghoulfriends."  Just gorgeous.  [$59.99]

 

3.  A knit "Hallowig".  Here's what to do with "all that cheap, bright acrylic yarn one finds in craft shops."  The pattern can be found on Knitty.  [price varies]

 

4.  A "Seattle Sunset" colored Glassybaby.  "A Glassybaby is physically a small, colored, glass cup, candleholder, or vase.  But the light of a candle coming through a Glassybaby generates more; it gives warmth to a cold day, a calm token of peace in the busy world."  [$40.00]

 

5. A Todd Oldham Halloween graveyard bouquet.  "Todd Oldham has created a fun and festive arrangement perfect for a Halloween gathering. The Halloween "graveyard" filled with decorative picks and fall flowers is presented in an 8" x 8" brownie pan that can be reused for baking.  Arrangement includes sunflowers, daisy mums, spray roses and cattails."  [$59.99]

6.  Craft candy creatures from Martha Stewart.  "With a few simple tricks and techniques, you can make monsters and other Halloween creatures."  [price varies]

 

7.  Let Amy Sedaris help plan your Halloween party.  Amy gives Epicurious a party to scream about.  [price varies]

"We like it! We love it!"

Saturday I went to The Trucks show at The Nightlight with Sara, Lucy and a few other girls.  Before the show we had dinner at La Fiamma.  Then headed to Caps post dinner to kill time until The Trucks ("The Trucks are four females who will make you want to dance. The sound is Electro-pop meets northwest indie rock and it’s all dressed-up in fishnets.") made their appearance.  It was The Trucks CD release party so they drew quite a crowd.  In addition, Federation X played as well as a band called A Gun that Shoots Knives.  My friend Alina and her boyfriend Brent met us at the show.  The Trucks CD is available on Amazon or through their labels (Clickpop Records) website and comes highly recommended (by me).  Plus, if they happen to be making an appearance in your city you should definitely check them out.  They're such fun.  You'll like them.  You'll love them.

 

Sunday a whole lot of nothing occurred but on Monday I went over to Alina's for dinner.  I brought the wine and Fran's sea salt caramels.  Alina's boyfriend Brent made the fried chicken, asparagus, rice pilaf, and salad.  It was sensational.  I've heard Alina rave about Brent's fried chicken but never had the opportunity to try it myself.  Brent is working as a chef in Bellingham and getting ready to start culinary school in Austin.  He's from Texas and definitely knows a thing or two about southern food.  I decided to ask Brent if he'd be interested in catering my "southern themed" going away party.  Within mere moments he came up with the perfect menu for the party.  It's going to be so fun, I can't wait.  I just might have to start moving more often if only for the going away parties.