Amber & Happy Monkeys

I am still pretty sick, but I managed to venture out today and experienced the Snowpocalypse Aftermath first hand.  Mostly, it meant climbing some street corner snow banks, and trudging through slush.

To prepare for this dangerous adventure, I armed myself with three items of prime safety: my ridiculous big snow boots, my super soft hoody (no, really, have you felt how soft it is?) and a novelty-t.

This novelty t is from the Short-Haired Lady Coffee Place near Nick.  Nick goes there almost every day to work, but I like to go there because they have coffee.  And because I fit in good with my increasingly short hairstyle.  And now that I own this shirt, I like to go there even more because they support monkey happiness.

Close up:

Not all monkeys going into space were happy.  But this one sure is.  He must like coffee, too.  Or short-haired ladies.

Thank you for the nice shirt, Nick.

Amber & Even Bigger Birthday Booty

Last night, in addition to a quieterly breathing Woody, I got this novelty t as a present from Nick.

See?  There's a doggie riding a bike with a kitty in the basket.  And, under my pointing hand, there is a birdie flying along with them and some trees.  (It's like this shirt and this one got together and had a green baby.)  Nick pointed out the doggie can't really reach the pedals, but we know they must be coasting because there is a little motion cloud coming out of the back tire.  Cute, and dynamic.  (Also note I am wearing the Alison hedgie today to mix it up, cutie-animal-style.)

Also, I got Thai food and this book from CRD.  It has that poem in it that makes me cry.



But really, everything makes me cry this week.

Amber & Welcome Back, Old Friends

Two exciting bits of foodie news that confirm the arrival of a new summer and, at the same time, harken back to summers of yore:

1.  NYC Icy has returned to a small space on Avenue A with its ever-exciting assortment of flavored ices.

James sends this photographic proof, featuring the flavors matcha and cherry.  He also reports they had a purple carrot flavor.  This?  Is definitely worth an A train ride.  Even if it's going local.  And I'll wear my novelty t.  It will be just like 1999 all over again.

2.  The Tabla Frankie Cart has returned.  Last week, the fellas and I partook of its food and beverage offerings and then sat in the Park soaking up June.

Although this article claims the lamb frankie is a new addition to the menu, it certainly isn't.  I had it last year.  Hello, FACT CHECKERS?

An added treat was that we got to see Taya's little guy having a fun playtime while we ate our sandwiches.  (But, being responsible people, we did not approach or kidnap him.)  Taya, by the way, just turned 40 and reported, several hours into her actual birthday, that it was pretty good.  Happy Birthday, Taya.  And thanks for being the guinea pig on that milestone for me.

Amber & Cross-Country Novelty T's

My San Francisco professional colleague Alison was wearing this amazing novelty t yesterday and gave me permission to blog it.

Get it?  It's a Lord of the Rings thing!  I thought it was awesome.

Also, Alison suggested I might want to crop out all of the mess behind her, but I think it shows both a) how busy she is multitasking all aspects of consumer subscription marketing and low-dollar fundraising and b) how far from dead print is.  So take that, Interweb.

Amber & Melodies

Are you sitting around, unable to move on with your day, just pondering what songs I find myself humming on the A train this week?  Let me help you out of your thought-rut.

There's this one.



I bet Kevin likes that one, and not just because it references Joan Fontaine.

And then this one was my theme song for relaxation yesterday.



And not just because the video features Mary Louise Parker, who shares a middle name with me, or because it features a rotary dial phone.

And, I've been humming this Laura Viers song in the office, and not just because she makes me feel like the one and only thing separating me from being a rock star is musical talent.  Did you not get that vibe from that very polished (and unfortunately embedding disabled) Warner Brothers video?  Watch her live.



See?  I already have the novelty t's, glasses, and general demeanor.

Amber & Old Friends

Kevin is an old friend.
I don't mean that, since he turns 36 years old today, I consider him an old gentleman. I still think of him as being young-- at least younger than me.

But, I have known him since Ye Olde Times-- half his life, actually. His friendship has been super important to me. And I just like him: he is smart, fun, caring, and has good hair. He also makes a swell Professional Colleague, as seen here in this photo taken by our other Profesh, Ed, at our biznuss lunch.

My friends are among my favorite things, and Kevin is among the favorites among my favorites.

Thanks, Kevin, for being borned.

Amber & The Perfect Blendship

Hippo:Monkey::CRD:Amber

This work of Paul Frank fine art is so perfect and fitting for my friendship with CRD-- not only because he loves hippos (alot) like I love primates, or because we both blog about and know how to ride bikes. It also sums up our friendship, if smiling and riding a bike can be read as an allegory for sitting on the couch watching programs. It's also symbolic of how two seemingly different things can have so much in common: I am a monkey, CRD is big and red, but we both pedal along. The one unrealistic thing about this portrait of our friendship is that I, the monkey, am not wearing a helmet. Everyone knows I always wear a helmet, and even sometimes wear specialty headwear around the office.

You know what other two things have a special bond where each is made better by their friendship? Pickles and fleece blankets.

He's not hiding from the vacuum. I was resting, trying to horizontal off my horrible headache, and he nuzzled and suckled his way into the middle of the blankets. You can't tell from this photo, but he is purring so loudly that you can feel his purrs vibrating in the bed frame.

OMG. I love that buddy.

Amber & They're Coming

Jimmy just sent in this evidence that the Ape Revolution has started.

Fitting that I should be wearing my Amy t-shirt today. This is actually the oldest novelty shirt I own, dating back to at least 1997, when Kevin bought it for me after immediately recognizing that Amy must have modeled for it. The printing is a little cracked, but it's still in pretty good shape.


This December, Amy will have been in my life for 29 years. I can't tell you how much joy she has brought to me throughout our friendship.

I wonder what will happen when Amy and I choose sides in the Revolution.

Amber & Treats I Have Loved

Back in the Glory Days when CRD and I were sitting around thinking up brilliant novelty slogans for t-shirts and not making homonym errors or typos or getting lost in the middle of our sentences, there was an awesome icy place right down the Avenue B from me.

Those were heady times. After Buffy Club, you could just walk down the street and get an NYC Icy in some amazing flavor like blackberry or coconut or thai iced tea or bubble gum. Good grief that stuff was delicious.Then, I moved to Wisconsin, and NYC Icy closed (maybe because without my patronage, their revenue plummeted?) and then moved to Hell's Kitchen, but then apparently closed, but also moved to Brooklyn where it was rumored to be closing but apparently still offers frozen bliss.

I wonder if they also still offer such fun novelty t's.

Amber & Novelty T's

I have decided to make this Novelty T Week and feature, on my person, a different novelty t-shirt from my extensive collection. Really, I had started this theme week without thinking about it, but it's working so well for me, I decided to run with it through Friday, especially since crew necks cover up the fact that my odd anti-antibiotic rash has moved down my neck to my chest and upper arms.

I love novelty t-shirts. Back in the Avenue B Days, CRD and I used to come up with different slogans that we thought we should put on shirts. They were super witty and funny. But, I can't remember any now. And, I used to make t-shirts featuring illustrations of Amy drawn with crayons: Amy as an astronaut, Amy wearing a birthday hat, Amy as a chef. Etc. (If any of those still exist, I would love reader-owner photo submissions. I would also be pleased to feature reader submissions of your favorite novelty t-shirts.)

Yesterday, I wore this great shirt from BoyGirlParty that Nick gave me for an occasion.

This shirt does what every great novelty shirt should do: it raises questions. Where are the kitty's legs? What's he doing with that yarn? What's he looking at? Why is he so cutie and round?

Today's shirt was a birthday gift from CRD.


I don't know if you noticed, but that's a raccoon buddy playing the drums! But his drums are garbage cans! And he has a crazy look with pink eyes and some of the sound effect illustrations say "BOOM." ! What's going on there?

Of course, you've already seen some of my collection featured on this blog. My very third post ever featured CRD and I wearing our matching brown smoking bird shirts on a DC edition of Awesome Club.And, I added this timely one to my collection in January 2009.


I had blogged about that one before it was given to me by Nick on a trip to Boston. At the time, I even made a crack about not wearing novelty t-shirts to work. (Those were the old days.) I bet you can't wait for tomorrow's shirt!

Amber & When Dreams Become Real

Remember this?

Well, I gotz it.

Amber & Spoilers

No spoilers, people! I am not watching the inauguration until tonight, so don't tell me how it turns out. I want to be on the edge of my seat.

This t-shirt says it all.

Yes, we can wear novelty t-shirts (but not to work)!

Amber & Friends

This is a picture of my friend CRD and I wearing our smoking bird shirts. What is it with birds and cigarettes? It's really bad for them.

Below is a picture of Diana, Kevin and me which was taken by Jimmy who is a serious photographer.


The exciting thing about today is that I will see all of these friends at Old Town, which is just like old times. I miss them and bacon cheeseburgers-- now more than ever.

More pictures of my friends can be found here.