New Obsession - Glen Hansard

I watched "Once" when home for the holidays and it deserves all of the acclaim it has gotten. Check out the soundtrack. Its been a long time since I've gotten misty listening to music. I haven't heard someone with such raw emotion in their voice in a recording in awhile. Definitely worth a listen.

Karpens Take Manhattan

Deb and Doyle came to NYC the weekend of December 14th-16th. After some minor weather difficulties they got here on Friday morning and we started our adventure. I took them to some NYC tourist locations including a carriage ride through (part) of Central Park. Check us out:

It was a really nice trip and I think I convinced them that people are nice and I'm not going to end up dead in the East River or Central Park like on "dun dun". Anyone who hasn't seen the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall has to put that on their list of "to do" for next year. It was amazing!

Bad blogger! Very bad blogger

Ok, so I've been MIA for the last month but that's what happens around the holidays I guess. I had a great time at home for Christmas and experienced my first White Christmas in several years. White Christmas tops brown Christmas by approximately...a lot.

I finally put together a present that I have been thinking about for several years. I know, my niece/nephew are only 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 but this plan has been in formation for some time. I put a 24 x 36 map on a magnetic board and then put magnets with family members pictures on it. Then put the magnets with family members faces on them and put them in their respective spots in the country. See picture:

Even though they're still very young I am DETERMINED that they will know geography. Why is Whitney in SoCal you ask? Well, Whitney will be marching in the Rose Bowl parade on New Years Day between 12 and 1pm EST! Watch for her in the Pride of South Dakota marching band. One person that will be really excited to watch is Gabrielle who requested to watch "Aunt Whitty Marching Band" several times when home for Christmas (Whit has a DVD of performances which is a HUGE hit in the 2 year old demographic). Try to check her out!

Star Spotting #7

My first star spotting not in Soho! Coming home from SoDak Saturday evening I was in the cab line at La Guardia and thought, "Why is Ethan Hawke standing in the cab line?" Then the improbability that he'd be taking a cab and not a car service prompted me to stare at him.

I decided that I'd have to do some checking online to see if there were any pictures of him in the hat he was sporting. Here it is...him, in the hat, from 2 weeks prior. I heart New York.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Yay!

The Vomit Tree

There is a large tree about one block from my office that I never noticed before late this past summer. It was on this occasion that I noticed that there was a certain stench coming from the area that I realized that something was not right. Living in New York, I am not immune to noticing certain unpleasant odors from time to time but my first thought was, "Someone had a wild night last night." Assuming that someone had thrown up in a nearby garbage can.

The stench continued day after day until I eliminated the possibility of someone throwing up in the same garbage can every day for a week.

Then I noticed that the tree had been dropping some seed-like balls and the more that were squashed on the ground, the more it smelled. The tree was the culprit.

So yeah, this was a long time ago that I realized that the tree should hence be called the Vomit Tree, but now that it's fall in New York, the leaves are turning a lovely golden (non-vomitlike) color, I have a new appreciation for it.

I'm a weenie

According to my digital thermometer it is 73.2 degrees in my bedroom and it is FREEZING. I don't like it being this cold. I want my heat to turn on. Right now.

I acknowledge that I am always cold. When home in South Dakota during Fall/Winter months I always stake claim to the giant blanket poncho, so frequently my mom knit me one last year for Christmas. I also steal my mom's wool socks and have the BEST space heater ever.

My ideal indoor temperature is 78 degrees. What is your ideal temperature?

Broken Records

Kansas is 8-0 for the first time in 98 YEARS. Wow. Go 'hawks!

Watched the game at the Village Pourhouse with some new Jayhawk friends and had a blast. Well worth the trek to the East Village.

Star Spotting #6

THAT'S RIGHT!!! Who's jealous? I saw Mr. John Cusack at EXACTLY the same spot I saw Kevin Spacey, in front of Balthazar in Soho. I was walking with my friend Stacey to the subway and he walked right in front of us, tapped his driver (standing near the car) on the shoulder and they both got into a black shiny car.

My physical reaction at seeing stars is still super obvious, eyes wide, mouth open, utterly embarrassing.

Helpful Advice to Stay Safe

Since we live in New York City, my boss wanted my coworkers and I to be familiar with the signs for terrorism established by Homeland Security. Here are a few that I found most helpful:




If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.







Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy. Also, they tend to rub their hands together manically.









Try to absorb as much of the radiation as possible with your groin region. The current world record is 5 minutes, 12 seconds.




I'm sure that you'll want to learn more helpful ways to stay safe. Here is where you can find more information.

P.S. If you didn't get it, this is a joke, there is no current threat, NYC is very safe. However, it is true that my boss sent this to me and I spent the next 15 minutes snorting and falling out of my chair.

San Francisco - Part 2

Ok, so enough about the flight.

I had an interesting ride from the airport in a very scary van with a man who could not speak English nor apparently read road signs. Don't worry, I'm alive. I just had to remind myself not to be a scary New Yorker a few times when he put SEVEN passengers in the van and gave us no indication in what order we would getting out. Breathe in...breathe out.

Jenn was very kind and took me to dinner and we got to check out part of her neighborhood before I crashed.

Day 1: Friday

• Woke up at 5am, stared at the ceiling for an hour before going back to sleep
• Saw Alcatraz which I thought was very cool and did an excellent job of deterring me from a future in crime
• I saw some rockin' sea lions
• Reunited with Molly after nearly a year
• Went to a Prohibition bar where you need a password to get in. We went in through the library. Password: books
• Went down a SLIDE to get to a bar, only injured myself slightly. We told the slide story several times over the weekend. Jenn and I showed our battle wounds to prove our dedication to the cause.

Day 2: Saturday

• Delicious breakfast at Polkers with Molly's friends
• Walk to the Golden Gate Bridge
• Laying on a hill in the sunshine
• Oktoberfest
• Oktoberfest beer
• Big cups at Oktoberfest for beer
• KU football winning 58-10 (I think)

Day 3: Sunday

• Matt giving us a ride to brunch
• Seeing Roxie Cinema
• Brunch at Foreign Cinema with the Patch brothers, Dave and Jared
• Gourmet Pop Tarts at brunch
• Dave giving us a ride to the Sports Basement
• Falling asleep on the couch at the Sports Basement
• Reenacting the opening credits of Full House at the Painted Ladies
• Walking/shopping with Jenn, Molly and Amy
• Dinner with the same

Now that you know WAY more about the trip than you ever wanted to know, here are the pictures! As I remember specific stories I'll be sure to fill you in.

Many thanks to Jenn for being an amazing host and helping eat all the candy I brought into the apartment...and my snoring that apparently can be heard through walls.

San Francisco - Part 1

The whole time I was in San Francisco I was thinking about blog topics and I think I'll have to type them in several posts rather than one super long post.

The flight to San Francisco was outstanding. I took Virgin America which is a relatively new airline flying between NYC, DC, Las Vegas, LA and San Francisco. If you're going between any of these cities, the flights are pretty affordable and the plane has some very cool features.

The in-flight entertainment center in itself makes it worthwhile. Each seat has its own screen where you can watch TV, movies (for $8 - boo), play video games (with the console in the armrest, chat with other seats (using the other side of the console with qwerty keyboard), and create playlists. There were probably 500 artists and you could select the track or the whole album to add to a running playlist.

All this was great but the COOLEST thing is that you could order food on your screen too. All the typically complimentary drinks were free but they brought them to you any time you ordered them. For some reason I thought this was the coolest thing ever.

Flight to NYC: Same plane. Red eye. I slept.

Trip 1 - District of Columbia

For those of you that didn't know, I am going on two trips at the beginning of October. Last weekend was the first!

I went back to DC to visit some friends that live there and some friends that were visiting. My friend from college, John, and his girlfriend Erin came to DC Metro to visit another friend from college and his wife. I didn't get to see them for very long sadly, but it was a good visit.

Gretch was also in town for the night before flying to MI for the long weekend to visit her parents.

We went to Buffalo Billiards for Happy Hour along with the typical PSB crew and in typical Roxie fashion, I forgot to take a single picture. I lived in the moment, that is until I saw a photobooth.

I pushed Sabrina and Gretchen into the booth (seriously pushed) and we got some very cute shots. Awww. I miss us.

Go Jayhawks!

I've always been an avid KU basketball supporter. It's easy to be a fan of something that has been pretty darn successful for so long. However, our football team has often been lacking in the win column. Throughout college we had losing seasons every year and finally made it to the Tostitos bowl or something my senior year.

For these reasons today is momentous! Guess who is in the AP Top 25 Poll?!?! That's right, the Jayhawks for posting an undefeated 5-0 season so far. The first 4 teams were non-conference but this past Saturday we defeated in-state rival Kansas State (ranked #24). We are ranked #20 in the AP Poll, the first ranking since 1996, yes, 11 years.

The only thing that takes away from this great news is that Missouri is ranked #11. November 24th someone will be watching that game, and by someone, I mean this girl.

Best Concert Ever

For my birthday my friend Ashley (frequently mentioned) sent me a ton of burned CDs of her new favorite artists. We have the same taste in music (alterna rock, singer/songwriter, indie, classics) and there were a ton that I really enjoyed. Then I became obsessed with one of the CDs.

The singer's name is Sara Bareilles (Bah-rell-is) and she is AMAZING! I decided to check if she had any shows in NYC and was disappointed to see that she was opening for Jon McLaughlin at the Bowery Ballroom but that they were sold out. Luckily I spotted the little note saying that there were still tickets to see Sara at The Music Hall of Williamsburg (in Brooklyn). I figured my friend Nicole would go with me because she really likes Sara too + apparently Brooklyn is where we go to see music.

She is even more phenomenal in concert than her CD shows. I swear, her label must have tried to tone down her vocals because she was fantastic. Her between the song banter was hilarious. About her song Fairytale, "this song started out as a joke with my friends. The princesses need some attitude. What would it be like if the princesses were drunk."

My favorite tidbit came from Ash, again. I told her that my favorite intro was when she was introducing her song "Love Song". She said, "God I love you guys" then muttered quickly under her breath into the microphone, "but I don't love the people this song is about." I thought she was just talking about an ex. I told Ash the story and she started laughing. She said do you know what she was referencing?

Apparently, her label told her, "we want a love song for your album." She felt kind of pressured to write a love song when she wasn't in love, wasn't feeling it. The chorus for this song:

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you asked for it

'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you tell me it's

Make or breaking this

is that why you wanted a love song

'cause why you asked for it

'cause you need one

And as a refresher, what did she call this song? That's right, Love Song (this links to the song that's on her site). When listening to it, you actually think its a love song and its her biggest hit so far from this album. Seriously, hilarious. We have all decided, we would totally be friends.

This is turning into the longest blog ever. Anyway, what you should take away from this is that you should definitely go see her if she's playing near you and you should buy her CD if you don't have it already. She's opening for Maroon 5 this fall so I have a feeling she's going to be a big deal and the days of $12 tickets to see her will be over.

Pain Infliction

Ok, for those who do not know me well, I have a particular skill for injuring myself regardless of what I'm doing. Most people would call me a "klutz". I prefer the term "proximity challenged". I run into doors or door jams minimum once per week and often fall UP the stairs. If the numerous scars on my hands, knees, elbows, shoulders and legs aren't proof enough you should check out a blog I did last December from when I landed on my shoulder after dancing into my living room with very padded socks. Yes, it's still stiff.

Anyway, I did something I think only I could do to myself. While putting on an elastic headband to wash my face this morning guess what I did? That's right, I accidentally let go of it approximately 2 inches from the side of my face. So, has anyone ever snapped a rubber band on your arm? Yeah, think that, but thicker AND ON YOUR FACE. Yeah, it is safe to say I yelled a few words most people don't hear first thing in the morning. There is no welt or even lasting pain but seriously, do yourself a favor, and be rid of elastic headbands. Ouch.

McCarren Park Pool

The new iPod commercial featuring Feist (you'll know her by the fact you can't get the song out of your head) reminded me that I needed to blog on this topic.

One, Two, Three, Four
Tell me that you love me more
Sleepless, long nights
That was what my youth was for

Ha! See, now it's in your head.

Anyway, I went to a Feist show in Brooklyn with my friend Nicole and the venue was unlike any I've ever been to. I didn't know what to expect going to a place called McCarren Park Pool. I Google'd it and saw that there was, in fact, a pool at McCarren Park but there wasn't a lot of room around the pool.

The GA seating/standing room was IN the pool. The pool of course was empty so it's not like we were treading water, but it was still bizarre. Apparently this pool has been empty for years and just this year they decided to turn it into a concert venue. It's actually perfect if you think about it, the pool gradually gets deeper so there is a nice gradual slope so if someone is standing in front of you, you can still see. We actually were sitting for part of the show. Sitting at the bottom of the pool.

And guess what they yell at the end of the concert. Yep, "Everyone out of the pool!"

Room Shift

I had been getting a little sick of my bedroom setup so while the living room is empty (I'm between roommates ) I rearranged my room tonight.

Note to self: beds are heavy and you shouldn't try moving them yourself. I didn't hurt myself or anything but it was not the most enjoyable experience.

So not sure whether I LOVE the setup yet but basically I consolidated all 4 square feet of walking space into one area rather than spread out. I could do a jumping jack if I so desired!

Ok, I actually wrote most of my intended posts in one sitting so you don't necessarily need to watch this space. I'll try to be better about blogging though. :)

Happy Belated Anniversary to ME!

So, shockingly, I didn't make a big deal about my NY/Harris anniversary on my blog on the actual days so I'll make a big deal about it now.

It's my ANNIVERSARY! I've officially lived in New York a year as of 8/27 and I've officially worked at Harris a year as of 8/28. Some people think that I should consolidate the days and just pick one. Well if anyone knows me they know that I like to celebrate as much as possible.

Since my friend/coworker Viv and I share our anniversary I baked a delicious chocolate cake (recipe courtesy of Gretchen). It was seriously sooo yummy.

Star Spotting 5 1/2: David Bromstad

Some people might be more excited about this Star Spotting than others. I happened to watch his show once last Fall (I think) and honestly the only reason I recognized him was because his enormous tattoo peeking out from his t-shirt.

I saw him in nearly the exact same place I saw Kevin Spacey and about 2 blocks from where I saw Elijah Wood.

Spring Street is HOPPING!