summer fun has begun

pretty excited for the next few weeks!

the figment art festival is this weekend on governor's island.

FIGMENT is an annual arts event on Governors Island, with artwork in every medium, from installation to performance to music to games and many things in between.

there's a bubble battle on friday in times square. there will also apparently be a massive bubble afterparty in brooklyn.

the 7th annual snapple big apple bbq block party is on sunday.

The weekend-long event takes place every June and brings together the country’s top pitmasters who cook up their award-winning food for over a hundred thousand barbecue enthusiasts.

i think we all know how i feel about bbq.

then of course there's the brooklyn hip hop festival coming to us the weekend of june 20.

and there's the coney island mermaid parade on the 20th, which i totally have a date for already.

yes, june, you are going to be very good to me.

did nothin!

so i did almost nothing on my list of things to do last weekend. last weekend was tough!
this wknd has started off really well. i went to deity last night, and i will definitely be back. my friend nyjia is definitely a new partner in crime.

i'm trying to make it to galapagos for the springtime floating kabarette. who doesn't like a little burlesque, aerial dancers, and people in wigs to start of the night?

on sunday there's a macaroni and cheese contest in greenpoint. i've gotta give a shoutout to my bloggin friend heather over at new york shitty who will be an official judge. that could be really ... hella dangerous for the waist line. so i will very likely be staying away. but observing from afar, i can't wait to hear who wins. who is the DON of mac and cheese?

spring has almost sprung, y'all. and you know there will be soirees on my roof, tea parties in shara's backyard, and weenie romps through the park.

let me know if you have any suggestions for other places to dance. deity's at the top of my list. i even saw a few people doing a little bboying/bgirling last night, which i was pleasantly surprised to FINALLY see in brooklyn.

i'm in the process of searching for a new roommate, too. i'll let you know who passes the rad enough test to move in.

ciao for now.

/np

it's another week

so there's another weekend. this time my weekend is extended - it's starting on wednesday night (that's tonight). even though i have to work tomorrow, i will be taking my sweet heiney out on the town!

wednesday:
allison weiss, who's a good friend of my friend rosie, will be playing at sidewalk nyc tonight. no cover. you have no excuse! allison sounded wonderful during her last show at sidewalk, so i'm looking forward to tonight.

thursday:
galapagos. that bar/art space that has little pods of places to stand/sit on water in brooklyn that sound really neat. they're having quizo at 7pm. after that is nerd nite. apparently it sells out, so you should get advanced tickets.

i think i will actually, in all truthfulness, be at the gym thursday night. but crunch is awesome, and they have that old fall back cardio thai box at w. 38th st at 6:30, some crazy thing called bodyweb where you act like spiderman at 6 at e. 59th st, hip hop at 6:30 at union square, or urban rebounding (bounce on a trampoline) at 7 at e. 59th st. maybe both bodyweb and urban rebounding? for double trouble?

friday:
possibly a house party at the mckibbin lofts. although whitney (from nc) LIED TO ME! and is not going to be there. i might go. it will be a Strange Famous Records showcase. i have no idea what this house party might mean, but it might be lots of fun.

saturday:
don't be blinded by the flier, but i hear that voodoo funk is supposed to be super fun. at union pool, $10, dancing to music you've never heard of!

public assembly is holding the 2009 beard and moustache championship. it's $15 advance, so i think you will find me at voodoo funk.

sunday:
the brooklyn st. patty's day parade is goin down. the brooklyn based tip sheet recommends the following:

starts its march through Park Slope at 1pm. Line up on 7th Avenue or along the west edge of Prospect Park, between 15th Street and Union Street, for optimal viewing.

now. if you dont' get the brooklyn based tip sheet, then you're missing out. a lot of what i do on the weekends comes from booklyn based. they've recommended some REAL DUDS before. like that dance show that i mentioned last week ... we left 3 acts in. but they've also recommended some really neat stuff, and i'm hoping this time it's no different. at the very least, they know how to recommend it!

it's wednesday.

do you know what you're doing with your weekend?

thursday i'm going to the badass brooklyn tweetup at the bell house (149 7th st, brooklyn) with my honey to stand around with what will probably be a bunch of other geeks twittering on their iphones. seriously, there will be many rad people there that i want to be friends with! sponsored by one of my favorite blogs - FIPS and @AllGrownsUp.

friday i'm thinking about helping to raise some dough! there's a non-profit museum in brooklyn called the city reliquary that's doing an event called brother can you spare some rent. there will be a fortune teller, depression-era movies, dj's, old-timey alkeehol, and other recession-themed fun. i can think of no better place to kick off my weekend.

on saturday i'm thinking about swinging up to my old hood to check out funky child at alphabeta. it's a pop-up market where you can get all kinds of fun things that i have no business buying. i'll be happy to indulge my "oh wouldn't that be awesome" bone by perusing the offerings of artwork, photography, accesories, and gifts while enjoying the live painting and music.

then to round out the weekend and get a little dancing in (cause it isn't a weekend without dancing) ... on sunday i'll be checking out something brought to me by the brooklyn arts council. the sixth annual folk feet traditional dance showcase will be goin down. it shows off the dances of brooklyn's immigrants. while i don't think i'll see anyone there reppin north carolina (other than myself, of course) there will be people from grenada, china, india, and korea gettin down at brooklyn college's whitman theatre.

these, my friends, are the reasons i moved to brooklyn in the first place. a whole weekend of fun! and it's almost all free!

spring accesory round up!

i was perusing over at lucky mag, and they've got a great little section listing accessories for spring for under $100! too bad i don't have $100 to spend on much of anything, but maybe you do.

there are even loads of cute heels ... alas i hardly wear the heels i have anymore because i live in nyc. but that's a story for another post.

check these lovelies:

drool! $25 at shop intuition.

i love chaotic jewelry. $98 from alex and ani

i hate to admit to liking something from urban outfitters, alas i am a sucker for mixed metal. $58 i do not have to part with, so i will eye from afar.

delicious pink pocketbook, i love your cinched waist! i've never heard of fashionflairs.com, but maybe i will come visit you and party with ... oh wait, no. not $79.99.

alas, i will not be doing much shopping to get ready for spring. not only is there no room in my budget, there's also no room in my "closet." aka the closet in the bedroom i share with my boyfriend and the closet in the 2nd bedroom that serves as his closet and studio. oh yeah and some of my shoes are in there, too. but you go ahead, you enjoy. i'll be around with my credit card in a season coming to the world very soon.

gone tumblr!

i've made a break for it, and i've gotten a tumblr.
i also finally opened my etsy shop! there's only 1 item up right now, but more are definitely forthcoming over the wknd.

racism in 6 frames

courtesy of Barry Deutsch

stickk.com

we all know that i've tried to lose more weight in the past with varying success (and some failure). i've not lost any weight since i lost about 40 lbs on weight watchers when i was in college. i've gained about 15 of that back, and i gained quite a bit of it back since moving to nyc. i've cancelled my ww membership.

i've found something new to try. i downloaded the iphone application lose it, which has almost identical functionality to what i was getting with weight watchers. it works so much better, however, because it doesn't rely on the internet, and it's free!

i'm using that in combination with stickk.com. i've made a commitment on stickk.com saying that i'll lose 0.88 lbs per week for 52 weeks. if i don't lose that much in one week, then i pay $10 to the george bush library. that has been really motivating! there are lots of people behind me, too, cheering me on. the combination of these two things may get me down to 150 lbs! i'm counting on it.

62,000 jobs cut today

according to the NY Times, 62,000 jobs were cut today. every time i hear someone mention layoffs in my office my heart skips a beat. that number is incredible for just one day.

in other news ... i'm working with a bunch of other techy kids in nyc on a charity event called NYC twestival for charity: water. very excited for the skills that i can offer to them, but even more excited about the things i can learn from this group of people. the people who are involved are really, really an incredible group. they've achieved things that i hope to achieve during my time here in nyc. we're just about to announce the venue and put tickets up for sale! so keep your eye peeled.

oh, and you should all be following me on twitter, obviously. http://twitter.com/nettap

i have very funny ex boyfriends

ok so only one of my exboyfriends is really, really hilariously funny. okay maybe 2 of them.

but this one has a blog.

i don't understand the title yet, but i think by reading i might.

this friend i used to know

there is this friend that i used to know, that i used to absolutely adore. in fact, i still absolutely adore him, but i knew he was always looking for something different. not something new, but something very basic, in fact. and he found that when he moved to brazil. i haven't seen him in over a year, but i just saw a photo of him today labeled "happier than a pig in shit." i could not be happier to see him that happy.

it makes me think about all of the friends that i've ever had, and how the ones i were closest with are now almost all the farthest away. not necessarily the farthest physically, although that is true of a great number of them, but the ones that were the most special to me i haven't spoken with in the longest time.

then again i think about all of the friends that i have now, the ones that i still talk to regularly and are still a part of my life, and so many of them are so special to me, too. they've all given me different things and give me different things.

there's the party girl who i love to death because she's not scared of anything - except commitment.

there's the married one with the amazing kid who has been such an incredible role model and mentor for me.

there's the other party girl who was always scared of commitment, but is suddenly getting married.

there's all the dancers that have been in my life, and there's one special one that still doesn't know exactly where he's going.

all of the great loves in my life, i want nothing for them but happiness. and i've learned over the years that the more you give thanks for having these special people in your life, the more amazing things happen to them and to you.

so this post is in dedication to all of the friends i used to know, i know now, and i will know in the future. i wish happiness for you, i am so thankful that you are in my life - this year and every year. i am happy for you when you move on, and i am thankful for having the pleasure of seeing you happy even though you and our relationship may be long ago and far away.

fly on and say thank you.