Photos_Weekend at Robbey's

FRIDAY

Evening

Pizza + wine + Friday Night Lights =

an appropriately spent Friday evening

SATURDAY

Movie

Dinner
@ Mitaka

Post-Dinner

Robbey's high school friends @ Warwick Hotel

 SUNDAY

Morning

The boys at Action Church at Club 19, York, PA

 

Words_The Hoop, The Hoop, The Hoop is on Fire!

What the hoop?
I came home tonight from class to find a familiar circular object, which I could only deduce to be a hula hoop, tightly wrapped in brown paper set against our fridge. I thought it funny and terribly ironic how one of my roommates had an apparent interest in one after I had recently scoured the Boston area for anything remotely resembling a hula hoop to accompany my Sufjan Steven's Super Teenage Hooper Heroes costume for Halloween (thank you Sufjan).

Come to find out that hula hoops are not year round accessible and are in fact seasonal items, which left this important piece of my costume up to my imagination. Well, thanks to Mandy and her candid resourcefulness, we crafted a poor man's hula hoop out of bubble wrap and streamers. Honestly, the result wasn't half bad.


As I casually inspected the wrapped item, I realize that it's actually addressed to me and that the return address is from Brooklyn, NY. Perplexed, I begin to unwrap the hoop like a kid on Christmas, laughing hysterically at the idea of someone mailing a hula hoop. Let's be honest; it's probably one of the best ideas ever.

After finally tearing away the last piece, I realize I'm not holding a $7 hula hoop you buy at the grocery store, but a very sturdy, red, white and blue sparkled well made hoop apparently from Candy Circle in Brooklyn. It had undeniable pizazz, a little soul, and a definitive Sufjan vibe. I let it go a few revolutions around my hips, taking note of its stately yet consistent movement. Needless to say, it was awesome.

Who the hoop?
The next question I needed answered was: Who sent it?

I instantly thought of Mandy as she was my initial creator in crime. I texted her: "DID U SEND ME A HOOLA HOOP???"

"Nope," she replied. "Maybe Roberto?"

Hm, maybe.

Robbe happened to call as I chewed over this possibility. I told him the scenario. He instantly said he didn't send me the hula hoop. But after a few minutes he confesses, "Actually, I know the person who did it."

How the Hula was Hooped
After Halloween, Robbe had the amazing idea of sending an e-mail and photo of my Halloween outfit to Sufjan Steven's label Asthmatic Kitty with the subject line: "My girlfriend was a hoola hooper for halloween and..."

He included language about me needing to be recognized and went as far to say that I might be more in love with Sufjan than I am with him so any recognition would be life changing (I would die).

Miraculously, someone from Asthmatic Kitty replied, thanking him for the e-mail and photo (which he circulated to the entire AK family) and also gave me generous props for my costume. Even more miraculously, Robbe received another e-mail from a different staff member asking if they could put the photo on their Flickr site (it never made it...yet). And if that wasn't miraculous enough, they contacted the woman who made Sufjan's hoola hoops in his actual BQE film and SENT ONE TO ME. These retail for $25-40.

So, needless to say, I'm in Sufjan/BQE/AK/hoola hoop heaven, and finally, my last remarks in the style of the Shleighbers: "Robbe is awesome. Asthmatic Kitty is awesome. Sufjan is awesome. Me is awesome."

The (awesome) end.

Design_Illustrasians

www.myspace.com/farewellflight

Words_Pre-Thanksgivingness

There's been quite the pre-holiday celebrating going on lately. I'm starting to wonder the likelihood of these mini celebrations overshadowing the actual pending events but I'm trying not to worry about it.

Saturday, Raych Arles cooked up the loveliest and truly yummiest pre-turkey meal which included baked chicken, stuffing, and green bean casserole. I baked (bought) some fresh, buttery biscuits (Popeyes) and brought them to the party of three which included Raych, me, and Ash Money Millionaire (Raych's friend). Seriously delicious. We exchanged names for our Christmas Secret Santa; planned our attack on Ticketmaster for David Sedaris tickets on sale in December; and watched the Puppy Channel per NPR's most recent podcast "Starting from scratch." We had this song in our head for the next hour.


I'm determined this Thanksgiving to add some flava flavvve to my family's feast by creating turkey hats for each guest. (Photos to come.)

I'm looking forward to a 3 day work week (must kick some butt to make up for the two days I'll be losing); eating until passing out; and then post-Thanksgiving with Robbey Porkchop.

Let the festivities begin.

Words_Reason #1 Why I'm Team Robbey

After purchasing a two-foot tree this past weekend at Target (which I was self-admittedly too excited about given it's not even Thanksgiving), I attempted to persuade Robbe into believing the magic of pre-Christmasing. Whether or not he really set his heart to my own tune of pre-holiday wonderment, he did an amazing job playing along--which is why I am unequivocally, positively, 100% Team Roberto. Here's how the night unfolded...

I had bought a few ornaments at a school fair a week or so ago, which was the real reason behind my premature tree purchase. I now owned two hand-sewn sheep--one black and one white--and three handmade doves with bells attached to their bellies in green, red, and blue.

"Let's decorate the Christmas tree!!!" I smiled at Robbe (with a crazy look in my eye). It might as well have been Christmas day; that's how excited I was.

After comparing my excitement to our workload Robbe gently said, "Okay but it's probably going to take three minutes." Well, he was right. But that didn't stop pre-Christmas wonder from happening.

As we slowly placed the ornaments on the tree, Robbey pulled up a fireplace app from his iPhone so we could hear the whistle and pop of the virtual fire. Then he imported Christmas songs from a music application. Pretty soon we were singing Carol of the Bells (but the Family Guy version "Ding! Fries Are Done!") while positioning and repositioning the tree; trying to find more suitable decorations around my room. We strung buttons together with twine into a long necklace that wrapped around the neck of the tree; Robbey took a couple buttons and hung them individually. I took my two sleeping masks that Raych Arles had made for me and Carebear for my birthday and used them as a a star-topping focal point. We finished the display with a few supporting present-esque items like, Farewell Flight's CD, the Waynes World soundtrack on cassette (thank you Raych Arles), a giftbox, and Fossil catalog with happy Christmas models on the front that I got as a handout at the mall.

 Robbey went to the bathroom and came back with his socks soaked from unexpected water on the floor. We draped them over my trashcan while the fireplace app crackled in the background.
We then proceeded to play the rims of our wine glasses (seriously), had a mini dance party (only me), dressed up my Spongebob slipper with some sunglasses, and had a legitimate, Friday the 13th bewitching time.

Merry Pre-Christmas everyone!

Words_Novembra

Thank you Ashleigh for being my best friend and for pushing me to write. There is not terribly a lot to say right now. There is a general sense of sadness and discouragement that is difficult to handle, to understand its taste, its realness, and that it's not subsiding...at least, not anytime soon. It reminds me of The Neverending Story and the desperation attached to Atreyu's exclamation: "Don't give into the sadness Artex!" I'm trying not to; I know this isn't how God designed us, to respond by closing yourself out to the world. I'm grateful for the hope and love that emanates from the ones who are most afflicted. There is no way to be sad. There is no excuse to be sad. But that is easier said than done.