fun quote of the week

after nearly being run down by a red mustang, while trying to cross nassau avenue:

emre: fucking mustard!!
me: do you mean mustang?
emre: oh yeah, mustang....

random slice 'o york

out with the old, in with the new year!

i've said it at least three thousand times. this year has sucked. sure, there were decidedly amazing events which transpired, like the birth of my little niece rory. but most everything else felt much like having a pillow fight with an ogre wielding a sack full of nails. in the midst of getting my ass kicked, i had the chance to exercise those buddhist philosophies and try to let go of my attachment to material possessions. many things were lost to those bugs. some through infestation, some through the precautionary high heat dryer, and some to the mere circumstance of sitting in a plastic wrapped box out on a fire escape in new york city for a month of monsoon-like storms. turns out a couple of those boxes didn't have the greatest seal, despite my exhaustive efforts. and after the monsoon came the hundred plus weather. opening those boxes was a truly frightening science fair experiment. then after pouting over throwing a bunch of stuff away, i realized i could photograph things and thereby keep them (albeit, in a furrier than remembered condition) forever. brilliant! this is better than manhattan mini-storage.

ah, the wallace and gromit box set. why was i hanging onto it anyway--i don't even have a vcr or a tv anymore! because linda and damon gave it to me...



my nephew, kyle, picked out this hello kitty garment bag nearly ten years ago when i started catering (wearing a tuxedo!). he was five years old. it has served me for a decade. definitely hard to part with.

morning showers

excuses, excuses...

yesterday my sister said unto me, "you didn't send christmas cards".
and i said unto her, "no, i didn't"
and my sister said unto me, with mounting disapproval, "you say that like it's no big deal!"
and i said unto her, with the lack of energy i have to give this issue, "i have reasons."

understand, fair people of the earth, that i dream big. i have endeavored to send you all much more than a christmas card that you can put on ye olde refridgerator (don't get me wrong--i love christmas cards--keep them coming). but because the funds are severely lacking of late, what you receive in the mail, will be more than a card, rather the most amazing homemade gift you may have possibly ever been given in your life.
it's that major. so major, that of course it has required countless (i really mean shockingly so many!) hours of labor plus the brains of my genius boyfriend. so fear not, fine people of christmastown, thy gifting and carding will be done. just late. so in the meantime, maybe you can print this for the refridgerator?

so how's christmas in new york? well, on the plus side of not being able to go home for christmas, i'm discovering so many consolation prizes. for example, not having to pack during finals week. not worrying about all christmas gifts during finals week. also, there's that whole 'new york city at christmastime' thing which is really beautiful. and having the time to sit on my couch at night and gaze at the christmas tree. i'm particularly enjoying the view out my window, watching people come select christmas trees. i made gingerbread yesterday and brought some down to these guys who are out there in the cold providing christmas cheer for me from out the window. and i don't think i ever saw so much gratitude after giving any gift. as i've said before, little things mean a lot.
and now, i swear, one of my readers asked for more ornament pictures. really. so i'll load them at flickr to spare those who don't want to fall asleep while attempting to read my blog. thanks. here you go abbie. since you don't want a material gift--here's a virtual one.

welcome to the old people's club

if today is indeed the winter solstice, that means that it's tristan's 30th birthday. tristan is a conscientious friend, an amazing front-seat father of twins, an insane marathon runner, a bicycling fanatic, master gardener, talented multi-media artist, possessor of great style and impeccable musical taste--and perhaps most importantly to me in that it concerns my dear friend kim--likely the greatest husband i've ever known. happy birthday, tristan--enjoy big sur.

i took this portrait of tristan in the pre-photoshop days, looking through a set of binoculars backwards at his city garden plot in berkeley.

one room, one woman, six weeks

okay, okay, i get it--you don't like the ornaments. in my defense, i have been very busy with finals. just trying to throw some fluff your way as a distraction to my absence. i know, it was boring. so back to the depression of the chateau. fine. have it your way.
the opening image

strong hand grasping

distraction


the blue worm

and finally, my info page photo, obviously not by me.

presented my final group of images last night, printed large, in a portfolio book. my class was very kind (how could you not be, i suppose, with such subject matter)--but one classmate even had tears in his eyes. it's good to see the images are powerful to other people. i am so emotionally tied to this project that i have no way of gauging it's effect. i typed an explanation on the large border of the above image as a title page with my old typewriter full of errors:

all photos taken by kitty joe ste-marie in november and december of 2007 at the chateau medical facility in rochelle park, new jersey. one room, one woman, six weeks.
i embarked upon this project to discover what presents itself under the same repetitive conditions.
i found strength among apparent fragility, spirit in a depressing place, chatter from a woman with no voice, and unexpected beauty in the horrible details of dying.
visual themes emerged again and again, each time calling attention to something new. hands reach for words, hands stabilize, hands call for help, hands grasp at love. the framework of tubes choke like vines, yet bring life via air, nourishment, medicine, limited maneuverability, distraction through television. the tubes join the retro 50's fabric of hospital gowns in lovely patterns. all is lit by rays of weak winter sunlight slicing venetian blinds, reminding me that even though i am 'family', with the camera to my eye, i am also voyeur. what i see and represent is slightly taboo. as a society we don't want to see this 'unexpected' yet significant end to millions of our lives, lest we glimpse ourselves in those lonely faces.

the second day of christmas (ornaments)

my boss and friend, humberto, brought a set of three picture frame ornaments one year. found this little thumbnail printout to be about the right size and theme--emre and i in costume.
oh, and the lovely clear glass dipped in white--a gift from lauren and matt--from the cooper hewitt design museum (they brought a set each of white, red and green).

honeymoon egg

like a mini-version of the twelve days of christmas, i just might feature some of my ornaments here (oh my god, could there be a more boring blog topic--geez, i'm really reaching new heights with this one!). as i already mentioned, i missed the narcissistic chance to pass one out to each friend and say, "here, you can put this one on the tree. it's new this year. kathleen and jason brought it back from their honeymoon in austria because they know i'm a sucker for egg ornaments, being that i blew the yolks out of at least 75 of them, dyed, glazed, beaded and gifted them ten years ago. " i know a very small percentage of them are still in one piece. gotta love the homemade xmas gift. this year's is in the works. all who want it speak now or forever hold your peace. hint: if you're over the age of 40, you may not appreciate it.
and yes, that is a cat ornament butt in the background.

put the lights on the tree

you know i'm not much of a scrooge. in fact, i'm pretty sure if you look up scrooge in the dictionary, you will find 'opposite of kitty joe ste-marie' listed somewhere in there. yet this year we decided not to have our annual christmas tree decorating party, nor even get a tree. this year has just been too much, we declared. but considering i will cross the street just to walk through a sidewalk christmas tree sale, happily inhaling the smell of christmas, and especially being that there is one such seed of temptation across the street from my apartment--it was too much for me to resist. and anyway, kitty without a tree--it's just too hov-y for me. suddenly, with my dad in town, i found time to do it up right. it was saturday night. we decided to forgo the 1920's costume hawaiian steel guitar swing party (poor dad) for a quiet evening home resting his shins. i brewed a pot of ikea christmas tea (those swedes know a thing or two about 'white christmas!), donned the felt santa hat and cranked up the 'home for the holidays' record box set i found at the salvation army compound in healdsburg. it was perfect. and now i'm so happy. so for those of you who missed the private showing, you're welcome to come on over. finals are over on thursday (!) and it'll be a blue christmas without you...