Filed under: Emotions, Family, Good day, Vacation, memories | Tags: Family, new york city, Vacation
(I just flew in and boy are my arms tired.)
I got home last night from visiting my sister and brother in New York City and it is a homecoming mixed with a million memories, bittersweetness and thankfulness. I had what can only be described as a magnificent time and I’m marking my calendar already for a return visit.
I’m going to share all of my photos and thoughts and funny anecdotes from each day and hopefully capture for my own historical prosperity how wonderful it was. This trip couldn’t have come at a better time for me, everything about my life is changing and it is all for the better. I’m becoming more of the person I am and less of the person I thought I should be. Finding out that the people I love are going through the same thing is comforting and reassuring.
My life has never been so turned upside down yet so exciting and hopeful at the same time.
Filed under: Art, Family, memories | Tags: Art, contest, Family, moma, NYC, photographs, The Museum of Modern Art, Vacation
(written 11-13-08)
My sister has got to be the best traveling host in the entire world. On my third day in NY Mike had to go visit his parents in NH for a few days and my sister and I were left to our devices. And she was so obliging; our first stop in Tara’s Tour of NY Art Museums: The MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art).
Holy Picasso! I cannot really describe how much it meant to me to be there, to witness those things that I only saw in books growing up thinking that I was so far away from that world. And here they were before me. Sometimes I get the question, “Do you regret not using your degree?” It’s one of those rhetorical things I let roll off my back now, I don’t take offense to it and why should I? No, I don’t regret it because art lives inside of me, it runs through my blood. Art isn’t an action for me, it’s a reaction to everything in my world and beyond.
When I woke up that morning I wasn’t thinking, “Hhhmmm, I should dress to coordinate with Warhol’s soup cans.” Really, I didn’t…?
Another Warhol
My favorite artist of all time, Robert Rauschenberg, who just passed away this past May. Believe me this was an existential experience, like seeing the Holy Grail:
A little Pollock: Masterpiece or mess, you decide?
And, yes, this one did have cigarette butts and keys and such embedded in the paint. You know, I try to do my art drunk and it definitely won’t be hanging in any museum.
AND NOW FOR A LITTLE ART FUN…
NAME EACH ARTIST BY THEIR WORK:
1) 
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8 )
9)
10)
Hey, get the most right or all of them right and I think a little sadieandleo prize package is in order!
I’ll leave it up for a while and see if anyone is up for it.
*CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED, SEE POST FROM 11-15-08 TO SEE WHO WON!
Filed under: Vacation, memories | Tags: american museum of natural history, central park, memories, new york city, photographs, stage deli, Vacation
Mike and I visited The American Museum of Natural History, and no, Ben Stiller does not work there, but it still rocks!
I recommend getting to museums as they are opening. You get the run of the place.
Probably the most photographed feature of the museum now, “Dumb Dumb give me Gum Gum”. Why aren’t we smiling? Because the very friendly tourist who offered to take our picture couldn’t figure out how to use our camera. There are a few I’ve deleted of our feet, over exposed, under exposed and this is the best of the lot.
But she did her best:
Out of all of the amazing things they had on display here, and even at Mike’s dismay that “these are real animals… stuffed animals… that’s not right!”, my favorite animal on this planet is still the manatee.
After the museum, my sister and brother-in-law took us into the city for the best damn sandwich I think I’ve ever had at a place called Stage Deli. I’m pretty sure this place will be in my version of heaven.
Oh, and we had a piece of cheesecake that was bigger than my head. Check.
They then walked us through Central Park and it is as romantic and as wonderful as you have heard. We even stole a kiss on one of its many historic bridges… yeah, we’re love nerds.
Filed under: Vacation, memories | Tags: Empire State building, memories, NYC, photographs, Times Square, Vacation
Here it is a little reminiscing of my outstanding and wonderful recent vacation in New York City, I wish I was still there…
On our first day, Mike and I did the NY tourist thing and visited Times Square and the Empire State building.
I was overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. I’m sure our Dad brought us here when we were kids but I don’t remember it. For some reason all I remember from that trip was Trump tower and my Dad acting like a kid on the escalators.
So there are a lot of people (tourists) here and its like an outdoor mall. I’m not saying it isn’t cool or wasn’t cool to be there, but it’s a little like going to Hollywood, CA for the first time, at the end of it you kind of scratch your head and wonder, “Was that it?”
You are immediately reminded of how small you are in NYC. The moment we got into the cab and started whizzing around the city you can feel how everything is so packed in. It’s an awesome feeling, how the city is busting it is being pushed upwards.
Going up the Empire State building was surprisingly fun! It is such a production nowadays and I know I sound like “in-my-day”, but in my day you just went in and went up and I think there was a little admission but it’s so different now. I think my favorite thing about this time were the 100s of Japanese kids apparently here on a school field trip.
It was rainy that day and wicked windy at the top, as I am sure it always is. But seriously, some of those kids almost blew away. I love the feeling of looking down and thinking that we’re some Godzilla type creatures and we could just stomp on all of those little buildings. I’m such a kid.
How cute are we? You have no idea how cold we are! Burrrrr… but having a blast!
Later on that night we walked to a couple of bars in my sister’s neighborhood (btw, everything is in my sister’s neighborhood, to me at least!). I got hit on by token creepy guy and we had so much fun watching the patrons, my they haven’t changed. I fell asleep very quickly that night.
Filed under: Boobs, Commentary, Humor | Tags: Boobs, breasts, coffee, dumb studies, sweden
October 20th, 2008
Why is it all of these odd discoveries are always made in places like Sweden? Didn’t Sweden produce ABBA and Ace of Base?
Anyhow.
Drinking coffee is supposed to shrink your breasts. Hhhmmm. I’m going to go with no on this one. Granted I have cut down tremendously on my caffeine intake over the years, and most if not all of my caffeine intake consists of coffee. And there is the weight gain after quitting smoking… yeah, still using that one as “the excuse”… but in reality the girls have never really been small. I think when I went through the tumultuous change at age 13 I went to bed with bug bites and woke up with watermelons. Yeah, it’s the best I got.
So, I saw nay to this silly theory. I’m a 36DD and I keep most of Starbucks in southern Arizona running smoothly.
*Because of this post, I’ve decided that I need a category just for “boobs”.
Filed under: Emotions, Humor, Work, movies, youtube | Tags: half baked, quitting, Work, youtube
October 17th, 2008
October 14th, 2008
To Whom It May Concern,
This notification is to inform you that I am resigning from my position and employment with American Eagle Outfitters, my last day will be Saturday, November 1st, 2008.
Thank you,
Tara A Marchese
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
And there it is, 27 days away from my 9th year with that company and that is what it comes down to. I went through 9 managers, 5 district managers, about 25 assistant managers, and 100s of sales associates. In every store I worked at and with the exception of my present store manager and district manager, I earned and kept and protected their respect. The present leadership is so substandard that it would be embarrassing to try and uphold the pretense that that company still cares about its workers. It’s a mill and I need not have any part of it. I am strong and smart and resourceful and the funny thing is I have been all along, my greatest fault is that I thought it mattered there. I always clung to “if I do my job well, no matter what my job is, it will matter”. I have been proven wrong in the last 4 months. It has always mattered to me how well I do my job but it does need to be met with some form of acceptance and respect. A company that will allow their leaders to “push out” a tenured employee shows me that it is not the place for me. I witnessed first hand what this can do to people, good people, the kind of people I am proud to say I am still friends with and will always be friends with.
I will take my leave before this happens to me, proudly and with my dignity.
October 13th, 2008
I’ve been up since 4 o’ clock this morning.
I’ve registered on Jobing.com and set up my resume and have even applied with two customer service companies. I’m going to apply to “somewhere else” today, so many opportunities coming in ‘09 with the new distribution center here in Tucson. I feel like I’m taking charge and it’s so scary and so exciting at the same time.
I’m undervalued at my job so much so that it isn’t a matter of they-can’t-make-it-without-me, it’s a matter of I don’t care anymore. It’s about me now and my life and my marriage and my friends, doing the things that fulfill me and not my incompetent upper management.
I was “written” up yesterday at work for the first time in my NINE year career for something so petty that all it did was lift the veil of denial I’ve been living under for the latter part of this decade. I’ve known for a while now that a job doesn’t define you but I’m not proud of my job in anyway, and even those things that I once loved about it have been stripped away slowly and now I can see that it is nothing but a hollow shell of a pathetic existence… sorry, that was deep, going on 4 hours of sleep here.
I definitely have more, so much more to say on this subject and I will. But for now I must put on the happy face and go to work, but I can be assured that I will not be walking through those doors too many more times.
I’m going to be so tired later on, but I’m thinking the adrenaline and new found excitement of future prospects will keep me going.
October 12th, 2008
My job.
My boss.
Her boss.
Her boss.
Rules and regulations.
The general population.
Retail.
———————-
As if this came as a surprise.
