Amber & On Other Blogs

The 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire did get a respectful ton of coverage: on this blog, in the Old Media, and, I have discovered, on other blogs.

The writer over at Alef followed and interviewed a chalker and does a nice job describing the emotions the memorial conjures.

(photo by Beth Stebner over here)

There are those familiar shoes again, with that familiar jacket and a familiar hand.  We might also notice that this particular memorial for Joseph Wilson was one of the ones we featured, and we might try to Poirot out this mystery.  But as the chalker whose parents must have mystically foreseen his participation in naming him Chalk when his last name was Man, points out, "it's not about the act of writing."

Nor is it about the act of blogging.  The gentleman who sent us the link to this article expressed concern that you, dear readers, might be getting bored of all of the Triangle Factory memorial coverage.  So, I promised to throw in a cutie animal to keep you entertained if that was the case.

May I present... Tiggy?

She's pretty entertaining.

Amber & Sabrina

Readers, meet Sabrina. Sabrina is James's new buddy, and she is super sweetie. Like her cousin Tiggy, she is a naughty tortie. But James points out that, unlike Tiggy, she is outgoing and affectionate with strangers. Not everykitty can be Tiggy.

Amber & CLEARLY Wrong

Q: What color ink would you imagine this pen to have?

Hint: the tip under the cap--the non-writing end--is also red.

A: Not black.  Hello, pen makers?  UR DOIN IT WRONG.

Amber & Memorial Marches

Our man on the street sends these emotional photos of participants from Sunday's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire memorial march.

And the NY Daily News covered the memorial held in front of the site.



(I note that Charles Schumer is not wearing bike shorts. He must have taken the subway to the event.)

Amber & The Importance of Remembering

It's the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, an event remembered annually on the Lower East Side with chalk and on this blog with photos of the chalk memorials that magically (if magic means a group of dedicated New York historians wake up early and pull these text rabbits out of their winter hats) spring up all over town.

Being a big, round, three-digit number, this anniversary has gotten a good amount of attention--which, after all, is the point of the annual chalking: that we remember and reflect back on the lessons we can learn from the tragedy.  It seems especially relevant these days, with anti-immigrant sentiment, to remember the contribution (and often sacrifices) immigrant workers make to American business, with anti-labor legislation making shocking headway, to remember the humanity of the work force, and locally, with history being erased all around us to make room for luxury condominiums, to remember New York as it once was and take pride in that spirit and struggle.

Huh.  I know somebody who has that exact jacket and sneaker in that lower left corner there.  I will have to remember to tell him about this moving anniversary.

Amber & Work To Dos

It's been super busy at work lately.  Sooo much to do.  I plan to make a major dent in my to-do pile today.  Let's see... where to start?

How about I start with that nice kitty right there on the top of the pile?  (The vet says he sounds much better--lungs are clear, no nasal sounds, mew no longer wet and thick--but that the x-rays look pretty much the same.  Wah Wah.)

Woody plans to start his day in the office with an intense belly grooming.

Good golly, I luff him.

Gorgeous.

Amber & You Know What I Like?

Decorative zippers.

It's a dangerous path, though, where too much can be way way too much.

Amber & Obligatory Irish Stuff

Happy St. Patrick's Day, aka Annual Shake Day.

Shake Day 2010

Shake Day 2011

Careful observers may note that James is absent this year.  He was busy marching marching in the big Fifth Avenue Parade (and maybe meeting more Lady Horse Officers).  Maybe he'll get written up in the press again!

 

Oh, the Irish and their mint-flavored shakes and funny musical instruments.

Wait.  One more.

Amber & Crowd-Sourcing

I have been trying to find new glasses.  But right now all of the frames are super heavy and dark and giant and completely Wrong.

Damned hipsters.

So the question of the moment--or more precisely the next five days--is should I just keep my old glasses?

Log your vote in that poll over there  ----> and, if you have frame suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.

In journalism, we call this crowd-sourcing.  Disclaimer: Don't be offended if I do the exact opposite of what you all tell me to do.  In life, we call this being contrary.

Amber & Most Exciting Movie I Ever Added to my Queue

I cannot wait to see this.

Do you see his tongue? Oh. Em. Gee.

I just hope it's not as disappointing as this magazine I subscribed to.  What's in a name?  Well, false advertising in that case.

Amber & Kitty Couture

I once made a rule that, because I own so many cats, I won't also own cat things.  Like cat statues.  Or paintings of cats.

(Tempting cat portrait by Gwen Sylvester)(But I resist)

But, I break that rule when it comes to clothing all the time.  These now R.I.P. kitty cat pajamas were some of my absolute favorite pants ever.

I got these awesome Hello Kitty pajamas to replace them and they have fast become a fave.

And there are some novelty t-shirts that include kitties.

But how much kitty couture is too much?

This dress that Alison recommended for me?

It's hard to tell but there are little astronaut cats all over it.

I mean, is that any less cat-crazed than my new sweatshirt?  And I really only wear cat ears rarely.

I mean, it could be worse, right?

Amber & Fond Memories

Remember when Woody came to the office?

I liked that better.

When the pile on your desk is your kitty buddy, it's nicer.

Amber & Bring Your Kitty To Work Day

My handsome, rather large, boy has pneumonia.  Again.  Or, again.  We had our vet visit this morning, and then, because one of us has a really really swollen and ouchy knee (not the other one who had a bad knee but then got surgery to fix it) we thought it would be nice to take a break from schlepping by working in the office.  Well, one of us is working.

The other one is resting his sickie self.

Look at that clenched paw!  Squee!  Good office kitty, Woody.

Amber & Best Sweatshirt. Ever.

 

 Nick, you know me so well.

Also, somebody needs to come clean up those boxes in the background.  They're interfering with my journalistic coverage.

Amber & Different Place, Different Drink

Yesterday, I went on a Pub Crawl.  But, given how hard it was raining, sometimes it was more like a Pub Dash.

First, Nick and I had Bloody Marys at La Palapa of blogged brunch fame.

Those were, as always, amazing.

Then, we walked, looked at some glasses frames, bought lots of kitty treats.  And then we went to the Standard's Beer Garden and had, well, beer in the garden.

Then, we walked the Highline in the rain.  Then, we wandered into the guest-list-only cocktail lounge cluelessly and gin & tonics in rolling large hip hop hipster style.  Only, I didn't take any photos of that.

But it looked something like this.

But with golden balloons since the space is all champagne colored. And with a floor to ceiling glass wall looking out on the Hudson in the bathroom.

I really should have taken a photo of that.

Amber & If Nick Had Bieber Fever

Amber & Patience is a Virtue

Amber & Fun With Catcessories Day

Bonnets are all the rage today.

Often worn more like a balaclava with a neck covering for extra modesty.

 

Also, cowels.

Too bad Pickles is suddenly so high up on the dresser and can't participate.

His loss.

No cats were actually harmed in the making of this blog post.  Some may have been annoyed, but everyone was surprisingly tolerant and got treat compensation for participation.  Even Pickles got treats, and he didn't participate.

Amber & Amy and Way After Our Before & After

About a month ago, I wore a shirt with a ridiculous bow and gave a presentation.  And, the following day, I promised to blexplain how I was also having Twin Times with Amy Bee.  And then I never did.

See, the thing is that Amy Bee and I were both going to get our hair did.  And we were both getting a cut and color at exactly the same time on the same day!  And Amy Bee had the amazing idea that I could blog our Before & After hairs.  That Amy, being an editor, sure knows how to assign stories that will provide compelling content.

Amy snuck into her work bathroom to take her Before shot.

As you can tell, she's making a face that says "I think I need a new hair-do."  She's also super cute Before.  So, it's no surprise that she is also absolutely adorable After.

 

You can see Amy looks happier, shorter-haired and more highlighted After.  Excellent transformation!

I took my Before sitting at my desk and tried, like Amy did, to convey my unhappiness with my hair.

Acting!

But I was super disappointed with my After.  Jenn said, "We want it with sort of a reddish tint, right?" And I said, "No, we wanted it more chocolate."  And she said, "But kind of cinnamon?"  And I said, "Not really."  And then my hair was the color of grape juice stains.

And so I just never blogged it.  And then I tried to get it more brown, less purple.  But it turned black!

But, really, this is an important lesson for us all, dear reader.  After is not always better than before.  Sometimes it is and then you have happy face like Amy Bee.  But sometimes the After is confusing and not what you expected.  So you just restart the clock until your next hair did and look forward to that.  And think again about just growing it out and making puffs.

It's just like Laurie Anderson said Walter Benjamin said.  History is an angel being blown backwards into the future.  And the angel wants to go back and fix the hair that has been colored maroon.  But, you can't change After.  You can only look forward to the next After.

So, Happy Face.

Amber & Remember When I Lived In Madison?

Amber & Some Days This Is All You Can Blog