La Musica Coolica #58 (LG)

Author: Jake

Ok ok ok ok ok. I’m pretty sure that LMC will most likely lose and sort of cred that it may have had, after this post. But here goes anyway. Except for those who have spent the last 18 months in a bomb shelter, or have recently awoken from a long coma, there is no avoiding the hype that surrounds Lady Gaga. Reagan and I have had countless discussions about her. Reagan is obsessed. I am repulsed. We do both agree that she is a very talented individual. There is also no denying that she gives the kids what they want.

So, I guess for me it comes down to whether or not she has a soul. In my mind there is no better embodiment of the once abstract idea of a “sell-out.” There have been a few occasions when I have seriously been blown away by her vocal abilities (namely when she is messing around/ad-libbing on SNL, etc..). Despite her obvious depth of skill, she continues to write and publish pure crap. The problem is that, the crap is catchy crap.

I can honestly say that I don’t care for the majority of the music that she has released. There are a few tracks, however, that I am now for the first time publicly admitting, have gotten under my skin. The song that I’m sharing today is probably the one that I like the most. It is from “The Fame Monster.” The song is called “Telephone.” Beyonce is also featured on this track. It is the story of ever clubber kid’s standard weekend. Check it.

FYI, if you are really bored, check out all of the tribute videos there are for this song on YouTube. Reagan and I wasted a good hour and 1/2 being amazed by them.

Ugly Winter

Author: Jake

It was so cold, last weekend. Some of our friends ran a race in CP, that I was going to go shoot for Examiner, and I totally bailed on it, because it was so cold (I then want back to bed and slept in until after1 pm, hehe). It is still freezing outside (check out the ice flow in the Hudson, above).

I guess that I can’t really complain though. Check out the photo below from Maggie (or Ben), of Georgetown last weekend.

Despite the freezing temperatures, I’m am getting excited for Fashion Week, which begins on Thursday. Plus one of my old HS homies will be in town visiting. We are going to link up for dinner or something.

NYC Ballet

Author: Jake

As part of our little B-day date, we went to the NYC Ballet. Apparently all of Reagan’s famous clients aren’t just on TV and stuff. She has some that are in the fine arts, as well. One of them happens to play in the orchestra for the NYC Ballet, and gave her some pretty amazing tix for her birthday. Here is a shot of Reagan after she got all dolled up for the show:

I mean, we were literally on the front row. I have never had such great seats at a show that wasn’t GA.

I actually felt kind of white trashy sneaking these shots inside of Lincoln Center, but I had to do it.

Brooklyn Flea

Author: Jake

Since we didn’t really get to do much fun stuff on Reagan’s birthday, I told her that we could do whatever she wanted on Saturday. She chose to go to the Brooklyn Flea Market. It was quite a site to behold. The market is traditionally held outside. But for the winter, they moved it into the old Williamsburg Bank building. It is like a gigantic hipster garage sale.

There were a couple of things that I thought were pretty cool. Almost all of the booths had some vinyl LPs for sale. I found the original “Breakin’” soundtrack on vinyl. In the end, I decided that $5 was more than I was willing to drop, for that beauty. I still thought it was a pretty cool find.

Sorry for all of the lengthwise shots. Here is one more of my favs.

Here for plenty more.

i’m 26 now

Author: Reagan

we were kind of busy moving piper jane (aka thunder stealer) to blythedale, so we didn’t have a lot of time to do much. we wound up watching breakfast at tiffany’s in the late afternoon and eating veggie burgers. we’ll do the real celebrating tomorrow. if it doesn’t snow too much.

i wanted jake to take some pictures of me while i’m still young. it was really a beautiful day yesterday, so we had fun and didn’t miss our coats too much for the 10 minute outing.

here are some tidbits about me at 26:
~i’m going to have a 3 year old
~i have lived in ny for 5 years
~i still prefer to splurge with sugary over salty
~weezer is still my favorite band
~the cardigans are my second favorite band
~i really want to go to japan
~alice’s adventures in wonderland is my favorite book
~i am really regretting those years of no sunscreen and tanning bed sessions
~i am running the new york marathon this year
~jake and i met 5 years ago this week (right after my 21st)
~we are still smitten in my opinion
~for the first time in my entire life, i’m a coke drinker (ending now)
~i have 6 nieces and 2 nephews
~my favorite food is sandwiches
~i’m glad i never got a guinea pig last year when it seemed like the best idea ever
~i have no idea what i want to do with my life (so i’m going to do nothing, hehe)

man, ending a weird list can be awkward. bye.

safe and sound

Author: Reagan

piper jane is in her old bed. with her old roommates and her old nurses. exhale…

january was crazy. it was eventful, the bad kind. we are all exhausted (see pic). but all i can think of is how lucky we are. i held piper jane on monday for the first time in three weeks. i fought the tears, but couldn’t for very long because she knew who i was. it’s always a worry when she gets so sick, we never know what kind of permanent damage there could be. we are so thankful that her little body has healed so remarkably despite the countless setbacks she has faced.

on wednesday morning i walked in and she smiled at me. the goofy, crooked smile that i missed so much. on thursday i clapped her hands together and she kept clapping after i was done and laughed at herself. how does she remember clapping after being asleep for two weeks and sedated for a month? how does she remember us? i’m amazed.

pippy has her days and nights mixed up. she took a one hour nap last night but otherwise played until the sun came up. i was with her for four hours today and she slept the whole time. she has no idea i was even there, ha. i took advantage by snuggling and rocking her, and then clipping her witch finger nails, finally.

dont ever let me complain again. we are so lucky to have pip as happy as she is. this scare made me realize that although she has made great strides, piper jane is still a very fragile little girl. i hope i can do a better job of appreciating our time together.

sorry to be so sappy. i just wanted to let you all know that she is safe and sound in blythedale’s green unit. where she belongs.

Getting better all the time

Author: Reagan

*****this blog is about a week old. I did it on my phone and it never showed until now. Weird***

Wow, what a blessing it is that pip has nearly fully recovered. There is always concern of permanent organ damage when she gets so sick and has these episodes. I can’t stop thinking about all we have to be thankful for right now.

Piper Jane is still not quite herself, she seems to be a little anxious and extra wiggley on and off. Otherwise, she is almost there. When I arrived this morning, she smiled nonstop for about 5 minutes. I missed that smile so much. I haven’t seen it in 3 weeks! I also haven’t held her in 3 weeks, so we snuggled like we never snuggled before. I put the mother in smother.

Things are going to be ok. Things are going to be great again. I’m going to remember better than ever that even though pippy is doing so well, she is still very fragile. I’m going feel fulfilled with our visits and love her more than ever. I promise, no more complaining that’s she’s not home. Also, word has it that she gets to return to the green unit

Happy Birthday to this girl

Author: Jake

Reagan asked me to take some birthday photos of her.

We decided to go up on the roof and try to get some cool backlit stuff, since it was late afternoon. It was kind of a warmish afternoon (above 34 degrees), so we had kind of a fun little shoot. It is so cute the way that Reagan just kind of tells me how she wants the photos to look, then she just walks around looking adorable.

Here are a couple more.

Surprise Piper Move

Author: Jake

We found out yesterday that Piper was going to be moving back to Blythedale this morning. Hahahaha. A little bit of short notice, but we are not going to complain. Everything went very smooth. Reagan and I both took the day off. We were hoping to be able to take advantage, and do something fun for Reagan’s birthday (also today), since we weren’t working. As it turned out, the move, coupled with retrieving her stuff from Wanaque ended up taking the whole day. Piper is still getting Adavan and Methadone, to help with the withdrawals. Other than that, she is totally back to normal. She was goofing off and smiling with Reagan, this morning while we were waiting for the transport guys to show up.

We could tell that Piper was happy to be back at Blythedale. She made herself right at home. Hahaha

Here are a couple more shots from this morning.

If this doesn’t motivate me, nothing will

Author: Jake

I have been so freaking bad at running, lately. I haven’t done any running in almost a month. True, Piper has been sick, and I have been sick. But, even when I didn’t have an excuse, I have been extremely bad at keeping with a routine, for this entire winter. Hopefully that will all change, now. Monday, I registered Reagan and myself for this year’s New York City Marathon, in November. We gained automatic entry through the 9+1 program. I have to admit, that the motivation meter was going up a little, just being on the NYRR site, putting in my info.

In addition to running the NYC Marathon, this year. we have also started a club. When I say “we,” I should say Becca. She did almost all of the work. It should be really good for getting in some group runs. Nothing like a little healthy competition, for a pick-me-up. BTW, if you want to be in the club, and are not already on the email list, hit me up. Since we were able to Recruit Carl, I’m pretty sure that we will have the club points championship pretty much in the bag. But, if you would like to be a part of Carl’s entourage, we are currently still recruiting. As of Monday, our name is now officially showing up on the “affiliations” drop down, on the NYRR registration screen. At least it is, if you are registering for the Marathon .

This may sound totally dumb, but, after having so much fun shooting last year’s race, I’m kind of bummed that I can do it again this year. I’m a nerd, I know.

Go NYRC!