MY BRAIN IS BORING

My brain is boring, thank God. Perfectly normal, see? I left the doctor with a huge envelope of brain pics, feeling like I had just been to some demented elementary school Olan Mills shoot. Really, the individual scans come out in little squares that are more-or-less wallet sized. I might sign one "have a nice summer" for Jad. He used to tell me he liked me for my brain.

I'm thinking of cutting them up and using them somehow in the installation. They might make good tree innards, coupled with my lumbar spine MRIs. Like the tree skeleton is in there and it's just like yours, you perfectly normal (albeit with some bionics) patient, you.



I'm considering making knot holes in the Yarn Tree or the Sweater Tree which have a magnifying glass and an LED light so you can see the bones.

WEEKLY BLOOM: WEEDS

Yellow Swamp Iris: I'm told this is a weed, and that makes me like this beauty even more than if it were planted fastidiously every year by the Conservancy.

While this Foxglove was planted in the Conservatory Garden, and therefore planned and well kept, in most parts of the country it just volunteers weed-like anywhere the soil conditions are right. These are one of my favorite flowers to run across. I imagine actual foxes putting their paws into the bells of the flowers. It seems like a nice accessory for a society fox to wear to tea, don't you think?

Black Locusts grow incredibly fast around here. When I first moved into my house in 2001 there was a 5 foot tall weedy-looking bushy thing in the backyard that my landlady wanted to remove. Since then it's grown into a giant tree which beautifully shades her backyard in the summer. Right now it's so beautiful with the white blossoms. They smell like honey, Honey.

I should really add this to my list of things I love: weeds. I love dandelions. I love that they win every war to kill them. Were I a suburbanite, my lawn would be all dandelions. They are so bright and noisy. I also love bittersweet nightshade, chickory, ailanthus, and etc. Most of them have flowers. I think that's a defense mechanism; "I know you want to get rid of me, but look how cute I am!"

On a related, but slightly non sequitur topic, I'd like to point out that I'm trying to find a way to give fresh flowers in my installation. Like maybe there's a flower tree that contains daisies. Perhaps people can wander by and pick daisies all day? I think in the apple tree, some of the ladles can be filled with water and flower heads. Yeah.

I'm also toying with the idea that people won't know they can take stuff, until the first person does and doesn't get in trouble. Like you take your 8 year old to the installation and she can't keep her hands off the apples. Then no one yells at her. Then adults start to touch stuff and no one yells at them...then suddenly everyone realizes that everything can be harvested.

One way that my Central Park will be better than the actual one; in Real CP you can pick apples, but you better not get caught.

MEN WHO KNIT

Thinking ourselves SO original yesterday, with our knitting men post, I expected to be the only listing to come up when I typed men who knit in the Google box. Not so. Not even close to being so.

This is a real, live genre of activity/person out there. There were not just a few listings. No, there are pages and pages of listings, including a magazine devoted to it.

This is probably my favorite site out there...It includes a little history of male knitting.

I would like to read this children's book, too, but keep in mind: written by a woman.

Here's a video, featuring a man knitting a hammock with pool cues.

Some more links:
Men Who Knit Community
Male Knitters (at Knitty.com)
A fun blog

Keep in mind, I've only listed a tiny fraction of the sites out there.

We've officially decided to rename our musical genre Male Knitting Music. It's going to catch on, I'm sure of it.

MOBILE SWEAT SHOP

Every band member on the case of the Yarn Tree on our way to Wilmington NC for WE Fest.

Knit like the wind!

CENTRAL PARK + RAIN = GOOD LUCK

Sunday I went to the wedding of two good friends. They got married at Hearnshead in Central Park. Their permit only allowed for 20 or so people to actually be in the gazebo-like structure thingy:So the rest of us rowed out in boats:It was raining and that made things cold but fun. Our excellent hosts provided us with flasks of bourbon and other goodies like wax lips:

Bourbon + wax lips = We don't notice the rain.

Never had wax lips at a wedding before. I've also never attended a wedding in a boat. It was a banner day.

Wish I had a better pic of the bride and groom to show you. Oh here's a funny vid of their civil ceremony; 1.25 minutes courtesy of NY City Hall.

ANNIE QUICK + HEMINGWAY = HIP HOP

This is new math, folks. Somehow Hemingway makes a cool hip hop track. Check it.

Omar Musa is a British/Australian rapper who went to Seattle to record a new record with my record's producer, the very talented Geoff Stanfield. Geoff hooked him up with Hemingway.

REHEARSALIZING

New traveling band members here in the studio for rehearsal this week. We're on our way to North Carolina (Wilmington) for the WE Fest later this week.

Please say hello to Austin Owen:
Notice the flower attached to his headstock. Nice touch, Austin.

The very photogenic Jake Geesling:
We had a fine day woodshedding all the parts. These are kind and talented folks. I'm glad to have them along.

HAPPY NEEDLES

I just got a wonderful package full of these needle books. I'm going to use the needles to make nests for my yarn tree. I didn't realize I was getting these beautiful little old-fashioned folders complete with antique-y threader and bright foil backings.

Here's the front:

I just had this kooky idea that the first person to subscribe to my band-new RSS feed (I'm putting that in today) will be able to receive one in the mail from yours truly. If you are someone who is a non-sewer or a masculine type who won't admit to being a sewer, I'll send you something else that you'll like.

Leave me a message if you've subscribed and I'll send it on over.

I'm going to have a hard time disemboweling these. I love them too much.

HI I'M ANNIE

Hi I’m Annie Quick, and this is my blog, in case you hadn’t guessed.

I started this blog to chronicle the making of a kooky installation about Central Park, which I’m set to take around the country with my band this fall. The installation is really interactive and fun and will hopefully remind you of Dr. Seuss. It is also educational—it teaches where cupcakes come from. I also shot a movie in Central Park last summer, which I’m editing, in a behind-schedule sort of a way. The blog’s about that too.

It’s also a blog about Central Park in general, as I live two blocks north of it and am inside of it almost every day. I love Central Park. I like the idea that nature exists so close to my ghetto home. I’m originally from the Redwood Forest, and never would have considered myself a city girl, but twelve years later, I’m a convert. That being said, my nature girl heart is excited by the giant salad bowl that is CP. I guess it’s time to mention that the idea of parks in general makes me overjoyed. That you can make up nature is just so darn appealing. That raccoons live on 81st street is even more so. In this blog I’m prone to telling you everything I see in CP, what’s blooming, what’s falling, what’s flying, what’s crawling around in there.

When (as is scheduled) I’m gone for prolonged periods, I’ll likely tell you what’s going on in the natural world and in the parks wherever I am.

Here are a few tidbits about me personally, in case you’re interested:

1. I’m a musician by training and sometimes by trade. Right now I have a semi steady gig making Spanish language instructional videos for Yabla.com. I’m a filmmaker and a maker of objects d’art and illustrations sometimes I also do these things for money. When people ask me what I do for a living I pick the thing I’ve been doing that day. At the moment I don’t have a life sucking uncreative day job, like I’ve endured in the past, but at any moment I may. I’ve had a billion jobs including but not limited to:

Ambulance Driver
Gardener
Writer of Articles about New Drugs
Rachael Ray Worker Bee
Someone who Dresses Like Laura Ingalls for TV Land
Deli Meat Specialist
Assistant to Two Men Named Greg
Hair Model (kept me fed one summer—I ain’t proud)
TV Promo Music Writer
Horse Mascot Costume Wearer
Interviewer of Mimes
Security Guard (complete with polyester CHiPs costume!)

2. I got married when I was a kid, and am still married to Jad who likes cats and does Flash Animation for a living. Jad’s shy and kind and funny. He used to play bass in many of my bands, but one day decided to give up the life in favor of growing up. He’s an excellent example of a productive adult and I hope to be like him one day.

2. I like flowers, trees, shrubberies, hills, mountains, lakes, oceans and most animals. I like reading children’s books where animals wear clothes or otherwise engage in human behavior like having tea or ice-skating. I secretly believe that animals can talk, but only wish to do so when there are no humans present. One day I hope to catch an animal red handed.

4. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I thought I wanted to be a musician, but I really like doing all kinds of other stuff, including (at times) nothing. Drawing is my new passion. I’d be happy doing everything.

3. I have a band—doesn’t everyone? The only reason I mention this is because I’ve actually spent a good part of my adulthood in a van with said band, so it must be part of any biographical details. And because right now I’m getting ready to get back in the van with the band, my giant, collapsible Central Park Installation, my Movie and a toothbrush. You see how it all comes around? When that happens, the blog will be about the band and where we go and what we see.


I’m sure there are other things to mention here, but at the moment I’m all out of autobiographical steam. You’ll have to read the blog.


XO
AQ

P.S. Please feel free to email me at annie at teamsuperteam dot com. I'd love to hear from you.

WILD CENTRAL PARK

Last night I was walking home and saw this guy. He was trying to leave the yard at the Museum of Natural History and cross the road to get to CP. He almost got hit by a car on Central Park West in one attempt.

He was a cute little guy, and stood up on his hind legs a couple times, obligingly, so I could take his picture:

I love how it looks like he's wearing pants. And his little hands are nice too. All he needs is a backpack to look like he's nonchalantly walking to subway. Maybe he keeps his Metrocard in a hidden pocket in those pants.

Here's one more dark photo of Mr. Raccoon Pants' epic journey:

I hope he made it across the street.

WEEKLY BLOOM: PERFECT SPRING

This is a perfect Spring. By that I mean perfect conditions for growing. Everything is large and full of color. All our city plants look positively corn-fed. I'm not sure what combination of conditions have brought this about, but I'm using my crappy point and shoot to get it all down. One day I'll get an SLR and my selective focus will be better selected, if you know what I mean.

Here's a short list of what's currently blooming:
Forget me nots (above).

Lilacs:
These are in Central Park's Conservatory garden which is ringed by very old lilac bushes of all different colors. It smells good in there.

Tulips:
Tulips are just over their prime. They had a gorgeous season this year.

Whatever this is:
This white flowering shrub is in CP's Conservatory Garden.

Other blooming things:
Asian Dogwood
White Azaleas
Bluebells
Wisteria (just starting)
So many other things, I can't count.

Things past their prime:
apple blossoms
cherry blossoms
regular dogwood
daffodils and other early spring bulbs

Blooming in my house: The yarn tree. Getting bigger but still miles to go:

WEEKLY BLOOM: TULIPS

I wonder if NYC has some sort of an account with Holland. Every year the Conservatory Garden, Broadway and Park Avenue have many hundreds of the same color tulips. It's actually more like thousands or millions of them. This year many are this weird purple-black color, like photograph of red tulips with the blacks turned WAY up.

But, back to Holland. Do you suppose that the people at XYZ Holland grower are like, "Boys, no matter what, we have to keep the NYC account; wear the wooden shoes if you have to." Twelve million bulbs a year have probably paid for all their kids college tuitions and the ground breaking for that bulb museum Grandpa Vandersloot always dreamed about.

I really have no idea. I'm just thinking that whomever sends us the bulbs is doing brisk business.

I also know that I'm going to be picking up a few of these girls when they take them outta the ground at the end of the summer. You can have them for free, I'm told, on a certain mysterious unannounced day, if you happen to be walking by.

INSALLATION INSPIRATION

I went out to Willamsburg last night for a friend-of-a-friends curated show last night. The friend-of-a-friend had a piece in there that I loved. Sort of an upside-down frosted vinyl tent with tubes that went out to fans on the window. Very shiny and smooth and warm-looking. I found myself wanting to lick it, but I've heard that that kind of behavior is frowned on by fancy society.

There were a few snow globes that I was real fond of.

A million tiny fans:

And slip covers for the Birth of Venus. I wish I had thought of this idea.

BRIDGE TO ENGINEERING

Last night I had a 1.5 hour confab with the engineer who's helping me structure, wire, animate, cut, construct and etc. His name is Bob Quick and he also doubles as my dad.

Poor guy is neglecting retirement to be in on this, and I'm really glad. He has an uncanny ability to figure out what something needs and make it so, giving me all sorts of structure and materials advice, while allowing for the design of the place.

Progress Report: Still building the Yarn Tree. Realizing I'm gonna need MANY more yarn cones.

CP Progress Report: The fruit trees are done blossoming. Tulip season is nearly over. Hydrangeas and Lilacs on the move. I'll include a Lilac picture very soon. When, oh when will scratch and sniff technology extend to photographs?

WONDERFUL THINGS

I've found some beautiful things in the process of making this project. Some are weird, some are wonderful, some are bizarrely specialized, and some are all three.

Here are just three that please me the more than the rest:

1. A site that makes customized guitar pics cheaper than any you can buy at crappy-ass Guitar Center. I'm ordering green ones with a leaf pattern to put in the pockets of my sweater tree.

2. A blog that's about cupcakes and cupcakes only.

3. A site that locates free/cheap/surplus materials for you wherever you may be.

There are many more--too many. I'll keep posting them as they strike my fancy.

A FUN NATURE LINK AND AN UPDATE

I just read about this woman who lives in a houseboat in the 79th Street Basin on the Hudson River. She is a doctor of Science Education, or some such thing. Anyway, she wrote a book called "Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City". I'm ordering it before I leave this chair. I've been waiting my whole life for a book like this.

Here's a link to an article in the NY Times nature blog where she asks readers questions about NYC nature. It has three parts and starts here. Did you know there are hawks living in Central Park?

Here's an update on progress with the Yarn Tree. I got a ladder and have begun to affix the chicken wire and yarn cones to it. Here's me sewing the top part on:

And here's the foot of progress I made on it over the course of the day:

PROGRESS

Progress report on the Yarn Tree Pinacea Filimentus Domesticus


Here is the tippy-top of the tree. It'll sit right on the top of a ladder. Tomorrow the ladder will arrive and I'll start work on the rest of it. Still not sure if my hundreds of yarn cones are enough, and I'm a bit pins-and-needles about it.

NOTE: They're not only my yarn cones. My mom and my niece made some too, which is helpful because one can only knit so many hours per week before one's hands start to bleed. My mom's hands are probably bleeding too. Sorry mom.