tuckergurl

Some Good Food

This is a list of the best mac & cheese in New York City. Visiting these places seems like a good fall activity! Williamsburg has a decent showing here.

I can at least have a nice house in my second life

Lately I have been feeling a bit frustrated by the lack of real life, human interaction I have been experiencing. Though I love the power of the Internet, getting someone to actually call you is an event! Sometimes when I meet people, I just want to hear the sound of their voice! (I just had to have my little rant. Thanks for reading.)

The verdict is still out for me about second life but this article entitled, “A House That’s Just Unreal” in The New York Times intrigued me nonetheless. The house displayed in this piece is far beyond any home that most non-celebrities can afford, in this life anyway. In second life, things are a whole lot more affordable. Still, do you really need a house in second life? Some interesting (and humorous) observations this article provides are as follows:

Since you don’t eat in Second Life, do you need a kitchen? Is a bathroom really necessary? Since you can teleport, do you need stairs? Since you don’t sleep, do you need a bedroom? Answers vary, but most opt for at least a bedroom (although not for sleeping).

Cross Posted On Engine Feed.

I'm Back! Come And See Me ...

I am completely jetlagged! Many stories to tell. I will probably blog about them later.

For now, I wanted to let y'all know that my short, The Birthday Girl, will be shown this Friday at The Oasis at Weeksville Society in Bed Stuy (Brooklyn that is)! It is an outdoor screening series. I hear it is beautiful and I am excited! So come on by. I am doing a Q and A with the other ladies whose short films are featured.

I'm Only 31!

This just makes me feel old. I make jokes all the time about being an old woman but I didn't mean it.

My New York age is 35

This New York age puts you into a middle category between young and old (but not "middle age" per se). Be proud. You've got a nice balance between going out hard-core and staying in. You care about culture but also like some quiet nights. Keep it up, but think about expanding your horizons in the other directions. Head to Studio B or Anthology Film Archives for the first time, or finally check out the Village Vanguard or Elaine's for a dose of old-school NYC.

Does your age reflect how you're living? Let us know.

What's your New York age? Take the Time Out New York quiz and find out!

I Can't Even Spell Kindergarden

I skipped kindergarten.  (There is a "t" not a "d".  Sadly, I had to look that up.)  I went to The Lower East Side Community School downtown, near Orchard Street, in Manhattan.  I am not clear on how it happened.  I remember going to pre-school.  There were blue cots that I took naps on.  And then, I was in first grade learning that tomato in Spanish is well, tomato.  A bunch of us were skipped and we underwent all kinds of random testing.  My brother always said that I was skipped because he taught me the alphabet at a young age.  Who knows? 

I did not feel particularly smart.   Sometimes I think I peaked at five.  I was deemed a prodigy and I could never really live up to it.  I cheated on exams all the time.  I skipped a month of fourth grade and read novels in the park in Stuy Town.  I cursed at Ms. Macchio, my 5th grade teacher, in front of our entire class.  And still I would get promoted to the top class.  It was really frustrating because I had stopped pulling my weight long ago.  I just had a reputation as a smart kid that I could not shake. 

I would have to go to NYU once a month and they would ask me all these questions about how I was developing.  They tested me until I was in 4th or 5th grade.  This seems an imperfect system because being younger did not really make any difference until I was much older.  Being 12 when everyone else was 13 or 14 was brutal.  Graduating from high school at 16 just felt strange.  And don't even get me started about never being 21 in college.

This article in the New York Times Magazine asking the question of when a kid should start kindergarten was so fascinating to me.  I was glad that people were actually giving this some thought.  I have a friend who used to teach pre-school and I actually think that it is more intellectually stimulating than when I attended it.  The decision to have your kid start early or late to kindergarten is a huge one.  It effects their entire educational life.   

I have no regrets.  I would not have done it any other way.  But I did always feel like a late bloomer when well, I wasn't.    

My Summer Plans

This morning I was going back to Africa for an opportunity.

This afternoon it was gone.

For the most part I am ok with it. You know how a cool thing comes your way but deep in your heart you know that the drama that surrounds it makes it so not worth it. There are some situations where the drama is worth it. You can be disliked or envied or whatever but you want it. Bring the drama on. For example, if Wentworth Miller had a girlfriend that was a not so close friend of mine and he decided he wanted to dump her and give me the job, girl code be damned, I would do it! (Sorry ladies!)

This opportunity was not really on that level. Still I am left feeling like I lost something. I feel like I lost something that was not even mine. I think I feel this way because I did not take the opportunity because I felt like it would cause more friction that it was worth. It was a place I had been to before so it was not like I had not had the experience before. Still, I love to travel as anyone who reads this blog knows all too well.

Tomorrow I should feel better but tonight as I sit at Outpost drinking red wine and listening to a decent remix of The Killer's "Jealousy", I feel like I missed out on something.

I made a decision a while back to make a list of things I want to do this summer to really focus my energies. I want to enjoy the warm weather and take better care of myself. I feel inspired to do it now. Here it goes:

1. Do one of the walks on Time Out New York's Best Walks.

2. Take my learner's permit test.

3. Go to Hawaii!! (This is already planned.)

4. Go to PS 1's Warm Up .

5. Put mulch in my garden before my birthday.

6. Go to four outdoor concerts.

7. Eat pancakes at Mike's.

8. Finish my screenplay.

9. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge every two weeks.

10. Visit my friends' babies.

11. Visit my brother.

12. Hear Fiona Apple and Nickel Creek at Summerstage.

13. See a bunch of films at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and Sundance at BAM.

14. Watch Season One of The Wire on DVD. (I was given it as a present MONTHS ago and I am so embarrased that I have not watched it.)

There are 15 things on this list but I'm not mentioning the last one. Some things have to be personal!

My Visual DNA

Everyone else is doing it so why not!

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

I've Been Self Absorbed Lately

First I was sick. Now I am better.

Now I have a bunch of great stuff going on but I am so preoccupied with it that I have nothing else to blog about. Sure I am excited about Libby finally being indicted. Sure I am still all about Obama. But I have a lot of cool things happening right now and I am just enjoying it.

I am listing them all here in case I never get around to blogging for the next handful of days. In another week or so, I will have more to say about the world:

1. Myself and three other filmmakers are going to be on WBAI's Wake Up Call with Deepa Fernandes this Thursday at 8am. (That's 99.5FM for New Yorkers or you can listen to the podcast the next day online.) I am nervous for some reason. Those who know me are probabaly wondering how I am going to wake up for this. My answer: Two alarm clocks!

2. My short is screening at Harlem Stage on Screen on Saturday, March 10th at 8pm. It is great to see it on the big screen. I have had so few chances to. I travel and talk a lot as a producer but there is something different about it being my work.

3. Sunday, I leave for SXSW for Election Day's premiere. Our company produced this film and I am a consulting producer on it. It is a great film though I am entirely biased! If you are in Austin, check it out. Honestly I am so so excited to go to Austin I can not stand it! I need some warm weather man.

Beth and I are interviewing doc filmmakers for an article/video podcast for MediaRights. I am excited to meet so many new people. Everyone I have encountered in Austin has been so great. I am staying with a girl I don't even know!

This picture is from my short. Isha took some great stills. It really is amazing the importance of having some good stills for your film. It's the image you look at over and over for your film. It should be something you like. Beth mentioned how much the main still of my film looks like my main photo on my blog. It does! Geez, what an act of narcassism!

So that's all for me. Keep warm.

Lazy Friday

Maybe it was because I was cocky and did not take any Vitamin C. Who knows? But I have finally gotten that cold/flu that is going around. My throat was hurting yesterday and this morning, I was congested with a headache. I took a sick day and am trying to lay low. I have much to do in this next week, fun things that I want to do. I am sitting, having tea and watching one of my favorite films, My Beautiful Laundrette. Man Daniel Day Lewis was hot in this!

Some cultural experiences:

- I saw August Wilson's King Hedley II at The Signature Theater. This is such a moving play especially the last few acts. There is a beautiful monologue towards the end of the play that is even more poignant because Wilson has passed away. I wish I could remember the exact passage. The tickets are $15 and though the run is sold-out, there are standby tickets. I recommend it.

-Last night a few of us went to see Miranda July at The Kitchen. She does a performance art ... audience interactive ... Oh, I can not explain it. The show is called THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND AND DEFINITELY ARE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT. It is about love and heartbreak while being fun and quirky and (the best part) brief. I wanted more. A half hour more for sure! It was a can't miss experience and I am so glad that I got a chance to see her live.

A Doc I Worked On

If you guys are not out partying on a Wednesday night, you should check out a doc that I worked on called Beyond The Steps: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tonight on PBS' Great Performances. I have not mentioned it much here because you never know what you can talk about on the old blog without folks gettin sensitive. Anyway, it is about the new era of the company under the helm of Judith Jamison. The film chronicles their trip to Russia to perform their new dance, Love Stories.

I was Line Producer for the film. (For all those interested in what that means, I helped get the crew to Russia for the shoot, field produced one shoot day, helped find archival photos and footage and helped coordinate post production. Some of these job are typical line producer duties. Some are not. Now you know.) I am biased but I have to say that I think it is a beautiful portrait of some amazing artists. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to check it out.