100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 51-100

Well, NaBloPoMo's March Madness - aka, List-making - got away from me. So today, on the last day of March, I am finishing the last half of my 100 Things I Want to Do list.

Here goes:

51. Pay homage to a style icon.
52. Drink a martini.
53. Ride a camel (my grandmother beat me to this one).
54. Fly over a volcano in a helicopter.
55. Sip a margarita at sunset.
56. Build a custom jewelry box.
57. Give in to creative urges.
58. Stand on that bridge at Giverny.
59. Ride in a Checker cab.
60. Drive a Corvette.
61. Oh, and learn to drive stick.
62. Win a Monopoly game.
63. Memorize the Q-without-U words for Scrabble.
64. Play a scale on a Steinway.
65. Send a cartoon to the New Yorker.
66. Take photobooth pictures on every vacation.
67. Visit Morris Aboretum at least once each season.
68. Rent a beach house with people I like.
69. Ride a boat down the Seine.
70. Take a cooking class in Tuscany.
71. Follow an olive from harvest to first-press oil.
72. Take a suggestion from Clothilde for dinner.
73. Plant a new dogwood.
74. Make a fancy bow on the next gift I wrap.
75. Tour an artisanal chocolate studio.
76. Give everything my all.
77. Watch for the perfect moments that occur every day.
78. Get over my fear of fire enough to take a glass-blowing class.
79. Keep track of my goals all year long.
80. Worry less about what others think.
81. Use up my favorite beading supplies.
82. Eat a perfect mango.
83. Ride a bike every summer.
84. Open a stationery store.
85. Make more gifts.
86. Give things away.
87. Embrace fully the joy of celebrating another's happiness.
88. Get to the point faster.
89. Make mozzarella from scratch.
90. Buy flowers for no reason whatsoever.
91. Don't put off til tomorrow what can be done today.
92. Join in the chorus.
93. Ride the train into the city to save gas and savor the view.
94. Pitch every story idea and aim high.
95. Ask my nephew to coach me on throwing the perfect spiral.
96. Take out my frustrations at the driving range.
97. Eliminate 95% of the paper on my desk.
98. Color with markers for inspiration.
99. Write more love notes.
100. Let bygones be bygones.

100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 41-50

41. Post a podcast on iTunes.
42. Tour a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
43. Catch sight of a rare bird.
44. Kiss fear goodbye.
45. Hang 10 for at least 10 seconds.
46. Add 7 more delicious veggie recipes to my culinary repertoire.
47. Give someone else a leg up.
48. Continuously spark curiosity.
49. Experience what makes Austin (TX) weird.
50. Throw a barbeque inviting 40 friends from different parts of my life.

What things are on your list?

100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 31-40

For previous segments, look over here.

31. Skim across clear-blue water on a sailboat.
32. Have more experiences than things.
33. Stand in a field of lavender.
34. Bang out a short story.
35. Stare in awe and wonder at the Grand Canyon.
36. Laugh out loud every day.
37. Make more sandwiches.
38. Sing with abandon.
39. Embrace my strengths.
40. Enjoy what I have.

What are the things you want to do? Post them in the Comments! Who knows? You may inspire someone else.

The "Whiching" Hour

You know what the "Whiching Hour" is.

It's the time of night where you wake up and have to decide which you want: to go back to sleep, or get up and act upon whatever's on your mind and keeping you from catching the rest of those Z's.

For me, the Whiching Hour is 4 am. Usually my alarm goes off at 6:30 am, so if for whatever reason I wake up briefly at 4 am and my mind is whirring about a project or my to-do list, I have a decision to make...

If I indulge those thoughts much longer than a minute or two, getting back to sleep can be nearly impossible.

After a few minutes of conscious thought, I'm likely to be engaged in problem-solving mode, or fretting over a confrontation that's to come, or working through a creative idea.

When I'm leaning toward waking and starting my day, I look at whether I can start and end work earlier than usual, before I crash. I try to assess my sleep deficit overall for the week.

But at 4 am, with 2.5 hours to go until the music wakes me from my slumber, that's a decent chunk of sleep to be had.

On those mornings that I'm feeling sleep-deprived, I reach for a notebook I keep on my bedside table to scribble some notes, hoping that writing it down for processing later will put my mind at ease.

Many friends have said they experience the same thing. Similar forms of sleep interruptus must be at least partially responsible for all the tired and cranky people in this country.

And I know I've sent far more than my share of emails at 4:14 am.

How about you? How do you deal with your own "Whiching Hour"?

A Visit to Port Richmond

Friday was my family trip to Port Richmond, for Easter fare. And it was lines, lines, lines in Krakus Market, the store packed with people rushing to buy the last of their Easter dinner supplies and the aroma of kielbasa filled the air. People looked so serious yet patient as they awaited their turn.

And oh, what a tease, to be standing in a store with the best smoked meats around, on Good Friday, when eating meat is not allowed.

Instead, we went to a humble little joint and had thick potato pancakes, fried to an amber-y brown with applesauce alongside. Boiled pierogis topped with caramelized onions and dollops of sour cream.

Julia Bakery had all sorts of delicious treats awaiting us. Boxes of cream-filled layer cakes, tarts, round chocolate cakes drizzled with more melted chocolate. It's a tiny slip of a store, with nary a storefront, just a simple Julia Bakery in script on the wall next to the door. You blink, and you'd miss it.

A quick jaunt to Stock's for pound cake finished up the trip. We picked up armloads of the stuff, some in the freezer for friends, other loaves to be enjoyed on Easter and beyond.

As we'd entered the store, we happened upon Timmy Kelly - a local elementary school kid with a beautiful voice who has sung the national anthem at Eagles games - giving an impromptu performance of an Irish lullabye. All the bustling activity ground to an immediate halt as he began to sing, all eyes trained on the boy.

Timmy's singing was earnest and sweet, and it filled the entire shop. He finished to a burst of loud applause, wished everyone a Happy Easter, and then the action started again, with orders being filled speedily.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 21-30

The saga continues... If you're here from Mighty Girl, welcome! You may also want to read this, the list that Maggie quoted.

21. Help someone anonymously.
22. See more art every week.
23. Sink my toes into Hawaiian sand.
24. Bake a credible French baguette.
25. Visit all 50 states.
26. Learn to whistle.
27. Harbor fewer grievances.
28. Never give up hope.
29. Smile more.
30. See what happens.

100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 11-20

Thanks to Mighty Girl Maggie Mason, who inspired this thought-provoking exercise. As another reader noted on her blog, thinking about this really made me look deep in my heart to find a few items that resonate with me, which started here...

11. Sing karaoke.
12. Visit my friend in Brazil.
13. Raise funds for my old music school.
14. Attend an opera at the Met.
15. Keep my orchids alive.
16. Help a graphic designer I know find a better job.
17. Obtain a patent.
18. Write a letter to the high school English teacher who inspired me the most.
19. Go canoeing in Maine.
20. Read The Bell Jar.

When is the Next Full Moon?

A mash-up of meetings and proposals and family things are conspiring against my being the most creative and productive that I know I can be.

That's OK.

It's these weird times that can help you see the forest for the trees. Right?

I've been collecting the most awesome materials for jewelry lately, but I can't stop the merry-go-round long enough to sit still and think about the designs I want to create.

Too much going on, you see.

But now that I think of it, last night I was at a local networking event, when a woman stopped me to compliment the necklace I was wearing.

When I told her I'd designed and made the piece, she assumed this was my primary line of work. When I told her otherwise, she was stunned.

It made me smile inside for the rest of the evening.

And now, recalling that? It made me pull out a couple of pieces that I just might get started on tonight.

(Once I plow through my to-do list, of course.)

Here's hoping that your own to-do list doesn't get too far in the way of expressing your creativity.

Marc Jacobs: Hot Mess

The Victoria Beckham ads, where she wears that little Whoville hat/thing on her head?

The odd-colored, strange proportioned plucked-from-the-hand-me-down-bag dresses?

The backward-heel shoes?

The man is just a train wreck.

Musicians That I Just Don't Get

R.E.M.

Nirvana

The Replacements

The White Stripes

Rufus Wainwright

Project Runway Finale: Christian Nears the Breaking Point

As I said before, seeing the clothes in still shots of little online video snippets is one thing. But watching the show, seeing the designs as they're trotted out one by one, is another thing altogether.

The fourth season of Project Runway ended with a bang, in that the last show was edited well, and had a better feel overall than years past. I can't quite put my finger on why.

But like Jillian, I was surprised at how it all played out.

Runaway Rami

With Rami's collection, every piece that had a color looked just wrong. That teal that he opened the show with? Bleh. That muted raspberry tone? Looked like something you'd see a designer do for Target.

And I'm sorry, that gold lame number (the first of the last three long gowns) looked like a shabby afterthought. The last two gowns were stunning - the 30s lace zig-zag details were lovely. But that was the only thing that turned my head from his collection. The weaving? Yawn, just more fabric trickery, on par with the draping.

But the sheer joy on his face when he introduced his collection? That's a shade of Rami we never saw all season - having fun.

Jilted Jillian

Jillian should have been in 2nd place. But yes, I see where her collection was a bit all over the place. That pleated evening-pants-with-bustier thing? That was somewhat out of left field.

But her knitwear was beyond interesting - it was a material that few if any on Project Runway had really done since Jay McCarroll won.

If he's smart, Ralph Lauren will fund Jillian in some high-priced 2-year contract that gives her a real shot, giving her a huge investment in the upside if it succeeds.

Aside from the loopy-loop striped sweater that had real presence, I REALLY loved that sweater-jacket over the goldish pants (with the weird ski hat?), and the ruffled zig-zag front. Just superb. I would wear that in a heartbeat.

Clearly, however, wearability is a sin.

Christian Cracks Under Pressure

His season-long love affair with the camera and viewers was bumping up against the harsh reality of all the little details that go showing at Fashion Week. Models who bitch about the shoes or simply don't show up. Feathered bird pants that Tim Gunn hates. Near-tears on the runway.

Although it wasn't my favorite, Christian's line was totally cohesive, dramatic, point-of-view, all the things they say every designer should have. And I thought that although all those black pieces lost some of the detail in the show, you could see enough to know there was texture there from all that work.

And his last piece, that ombred feather gown? Alexander McQueen better just hang up his serger, toss his sketchbook into the bin and retire now, because there's a new enfant terrible in the world.

Throughout the season, I was never a Christian fan. His personality was so off-putting at some points, I thought "Yeesh, if this is what the Great American Designer is like, I'm so over it."

But actually, I'm thrilled the prize went to a designer who isn't as established, like Rami is, or like Chloe or Jeffrey had been. I just hope Christian has a good head on his shoulders and spends the money wisely, really making a name for himself other than as Posh Spice's stylist.

Given how they edited the show all season to make him look like a Bratty-Bitch, it was heartening to see glimpses of Christian being human - the choking up on the runway was a surprise, the lack of uber-confidence when Tim called him on it in the workroom.

Yesterday, I read an interview with Chris where he said that the show didn't do Christian justice, that he was really much warmer and full of heart than the show portrayed.

In the end, I'm glad that these three were the finalists, and hope to see great things from them in the future.

100 Things I Want to Do: Nos. 1-10

1. Triumph over my fear of inverted yoga poses
2. Take a graphic design course
3. Have tea at the Plaza
4. Pick up the guitar again
5. Write a screenplay
6. Learn to paint a room
7. Grow heirloom tomatoes
8. Design the perfect jacket
9. Flip an egg in a pan
10. Convince my husband that Paris is a worthy destination

[Editor's Note: See Items 11-20 here.]

Project Runway: Missing March

Well, last week's Project Runway episode, in which Chris March lost to Rami Kashou and his anti-drapes, left me a bit deflated.

Surely Chris deserved to win based on the strength of the pieces he sent down the runway, human hair or not.

I'm still convinced that this combination of using hair as trim that made the judges gack, having "costume designer" on his resume, and being auf'd before they realized they'd have a too-short season once Jack left were the reasons Chris got his walking papers.

But that's all I'll say about that because in every post-auf interview, Chris has sounded gracious and grateful for the exposure, and has spoken of opportunities he's never dreamed of coming his way. And since actually winning Project Runway doesn't actually seem to do much for the winner other than tie them to the show forever (frankly, hasn't it been something of a kiss of death?), it's probably a blessing in disguise.

So enough sturm und drang - let's start the show! [Oh, Heidi, how I will miss your kewpie-doll announcements.]

Just based purely on what I've seen of the designs in photos and such, here are my pre-show predictions:

Winner: Jillian
Second place: Christian

Books We Have Known

The bookshelves have been sagging under the collective weight of all the Amazon purchases lo these many years, and so we're divesting ourselves of many books of which we have come into possession.


Herewith, is a random list of five of those books, some equally random comments on their contents or quality, and, potentially, what I was thinking when I bought and/or read the book:

1. It Takes a Village Idiot: Former Entertainment Weekly writer buys a house in sticks, only to be made fun of by locals. Hilarity ensues.

2. How to Be A Star at Work: Don't bother even taking this one out of the library, because the upshot is, there's really only one way, and the key is this: Make lots of money for the firm.

3. Confessions of a Window Dresser: The memoir of Simon Doonan, the mastermind of the Barney's shop windows. Got this in the bargain bin a couple of years ago. A few good anecdotes, but not as good as I'd hoped. The book felt kind of slapped together, like a collage of ideas someone had kept in a shoebox.

4. How Now: A new-agey, feel-good tome that I found amidst the stacks -- at our local Anthropologie store, no less. What was I thinking when I bought this book? I have no idea. What was I thinking when I read this book? "I should have bought the coffee-table book on Parisian style instead."

5. Television without Pity: Far more entertaining to make your own snarky comments about TV shows. Reading others making them? Not so much.

I give up. Good night.

The Past Few Days: A List

1. Making homemade gnocchi with my sweetie.
2. A meeting with someone who sits at a desk covered with more paper than mine.
3. My favorite pair of brown shoes, found in black at 75% off.
4. A boy running out of school and into the wind while furiously combing his hair.
5. The first unseasonably warm day of 60-plus degrees!

Continuing Education Or, A Cure for the Creative Doldrums

Today I took a class that has totally taken my creative energy in a whole new direction.

We took this teeny packet of pure silver mixed with clay and some stamps and texture plates and had a ball. Just look!

In a three-hour session, I learned how to make pendants with art clay silver, an extremely cool medium that lets you sculpt silver into any shape you want.

You can:

• Stamp it
• Poke it
• Cut it
• Roll it over a cool, texturized pattern
• Or just manipulate it however your little heart desires.

Dry it out in a food dehydrator, then pop it into a 1400-degree kiln for just 5 minutes and you've got a sturdy piece of silver, imprinted with whatever design you've made.

Just sand off the matte finish, burnish it up and dunk it in some oxydizing fluid and the results are pretty astonishing.

The piece on the left is a little larger than a dime, and it's something I smushed together out of leftover clay. The oxydation made the color a kind of copper-patina'd green/blue.

The piece on the right is my piece de resistance. I know that sounds melodramatic. But if you really know me, you'd know I'm extremely bad at singing my own praises.

(But I can market the hell out of someone else's product, or skills or services.)

I'm just really happy it turned out the way it did, considering it was my first piece.

Really, the photo doesn't do it justice; the coloration in the lowlights changes, depending on the angle at which you're looking at it.

Sometimes there's a blue cast, other times a deep purple, then there's a rust-colored sheen throughout the spirals.

The mind reels at the combinations of other beads I can pair with this thing to really make it sing. I'm thinking of pairing it with a few special strands I've been hoarding to make a really interesting necklace.

So here's my tip for the day.

When you feel stuck creatively, get out of the house. Sign up for a class. Meet some new people. Pick their brains and enjoy how others think. Bat around a few ideas.

Support what everyone else is doing, because it's all good.

Then see how it magically opens up your own mind to create something you never realized you could do.

In a little over three hours, I made one decent-sized piece and three small ones that will always be a reminder of how trying something new and leapfrogging out of my comfort zone can result in really wonderful surprises.

Music: The Great Cultural Connector, or How A Radio Broadcast Made Me Cry

Earlier this week, I heard NPR's coverage of the New York Philharmonic's visit to North Korea. You've probably seen the coverage in newspapers or online.

But the performance? You could just hear the energy crackling in the air, delivered by the music, to the listeners and back again to the performers.

Although the orchestra was effectively playing to a concert hall full of elites, I had hoped in my heart of hearts that somehow people of humbler means were able to hear the broadcast in that country. That it made a connection to the outside world that they may never have experienced before. That it gives them hope that one day the world will open up for them more than it has so far.

It's what made me mist up a little - the thought that music could bridge the political and cultural gap.

And get to the part of just being a human, appreciating the expression of feelings through sound.

Project Runway Episode 13: They Really Did Pick Just One

With last year's four finalists, it always seemed a possibility that they could pull another surprise and allow both Rami and Chris to show at Fashion Week.

But the not-so-subtle clues of only having three workspaces in the workroom drove home the point: someone would be going home. Immediately.

Before that occurred, Tim Gunn took us on a mostly New York-based excursion to meet the finalists on their home turf. And it was an interesting journey to say the least.

Christian's apartment was the first stop. His teensy nook of a room - in what I assume is a shared apartment - was the size of a closet and had once functioned as one, according to Christian. So when he said early in the season that he slept on the floor because he'd rather spent his money on clothes, the kid was only half joking. His "bed" is something he waved to hanging on the door (Was it a cot? A sleeping bag? I couldn't tell.)

About Christian's designs... When Tim held up a pair of feathered trousers, I was stunned... could it be? Has the wunderkind misstepped? These pants looked like they were made from dozens of chickens who had met an unfortunate demise. And given Tim Gunn's suggestion to edit-edit-edit, I'm not surprised they didn't make the final cut. The previews for next week allude to Christian losing his mojo, so maybe this is the beginning of a much-needed period of growth and reflection that he is not all that simply because he can out-trashtalk the best of them.

Jillian's collection looked just like plays on the best of the designs she churned out all season - well-tailored coats, with surprising details and femininity all around. (But what's with all the little cutouts on the jacket arms and such?) She must have taken Tim's suggestions to heart regarding her color palette, because the runway shots look less "gray skies" overall than the designs she showed him.

It was sweet to see Tim Gunn meet Jillian's family and enjoy dinner with them. Meeting the contestants' families is always one of the most interesting parts of this show for me. I love to see where people came from, maybe how the way they grew up inspired them one way or another to become what they've chosen to be. This episode was all the more poignant given that two other contestants introduced us to their "chosen families," who seem to give them tremendous strength and feed their creative spirits.

Chris's designs intrigued me from the moment they appeared online. But Tim's analogy of the monkey house with Chris's design was a little over-the-top, but maybe there was a kernel of truth there. Using human hair in such a creative way, as a decorative element on clothing, was certainly gag-inducing if you thought about it too much. But the way Chris did it was so inventive and smart, who could blame him for following through on an idea?

Once they got on with the elimination show, I thought the designers made surprising choices in the three items they selected to compete.

Given Tim's reaction to the human hair business, I was surprised when Chris stuck to his guns - and I have to say I respect him for sticking with his creative vision, even if it was one I couldn't stomach, really. The safety-pin skirt was architectural and inspired. With most of his three designs, the overall effect was one of movement and life, despite the dark gothic with a twist theme (granted, the gown seemed to trip up the last model, and I think that was probably the final nail in Chris's coffin). His designs shimmy'd down the runway, and the details showed he really could design clothing. He has a costumer's sense of the absurd, though, so finding his audience may take some time. I think that's what the judges were responding to when they said his looks were overdesigned... and frankly, I think they couldn't get past the hair.

Although he moved away from the draping, the three selections that Rami made were, to me, a bit disappointing. The teal coat looked over-engineered and definitely sturdy enough to go into battle. The second piece, the dress with the every-which-way fabric dancing across the front looked so lovely, but I would have liked it to be a little longer - the way it revealed the model's leg made her look a little odd or chunky. Rami's last look, the gown, was so elaborate but strange with the circular hip-targets, but I liked the almost Spanish influence and all the ruffled detailing really showed some tailoring chops.

In the end, I could see why the judges went with Rami - and realistically? They wouldn't give it to Chris given his returning status when Jack's health caused him to withdraw from the competition.

But damn... Rami already has a career in this industry, and a showroom - and a following in Hollywood, for crying out loud! (I had the same complaint about Jeffrey Sebelia, so go figure.) Why not celebrate the creativity of someone like Chris, who stands to make a significant career change that could shake up the industry a little with some out-of-this-world creativity and execution ideas?

At one point, Chris March joked about the small size of a room he walked into, noting it was "about the size of my first apartment!" Thinking back to Christian's tiny sliver-of-a-space, I had a glimpse of two futures taking divergent paths. Who knows whether Chris always wondered what would have happened if he'd done something differently, chosen another path.

Farewell, Chris. I really hope we'll see more of you. In Vogue, perhaps?

Diablo Cody's Shoe Hissy Fit

What a way to upstage your Academy Award win: Diablo Cody wore her schlumpy gold flats to the awards show because the Stuart Weitzman shoes she was loaned were really for PR purposes? The nerve of that company!

(Note to Diablo: If you really wanted to hide as you claim, you would have worn a black dress. Or even red, given the sea of red that swarmed the theater Sunday evening. Not a "Look-at-me!" animal print.)

Even a writer should realize that on awards night, strolling down the red carpet is just another form of "the media and the message" - and that nothing comes for free. Now she'll forever have to pay retail, just like the rest of us.

Also: Not smart to wear a dress slit up to your pupik when there's even the remotest chance you may have to climb some stairs in full public view. On camera. In front of nearly a billion people, no less.

Despite all this, of all the awards that Juno was up for, original screenplay was probably the most deserving. Great story, well told.

Project Runway's Christian in the Lead

Surprise, surprise, even the poll I ran on this blog revealed that people think Christian -- garnering 60% of the vote -- is a shoe-in to win Project Runway.

(Jillian got 30% and Rami just 10% of the vote. Chris got nada.)

I'm wondering, though ... given all the attention he's received during this season, it just seems unlikely. In theory, I know the producers don't know who's going to win during the course of the show. But they still reserve the right to choose whomever they want.

And who wants to watch the finale if there's no element of surprise?

There hasn't been anything on Bravo to hint at any dramatic tension, yet. Maybe they'll ratchet it up after tomorrow's episode.

Maybe during the hometown visits, Tim will be startled to find some seismic shifts going on to cast doubt over everything we've come to think this season.

It's fun to think about what could result during those visits... For example, Tim Gunn could:

• Declare Christian's three-color "sophisticated" palette is just too-Donna Karan circa 1987.
• Find something spectacularly artistic during his visit to Rami's abode that proves that he is more than a drape-master.
• See Jillian's ideas taking shape in a collection that kicks Ralph to the curb.
• Unveil in Chris's collection an aesthetic that had been heretofore buried under his attention-seeking portfolio of Wonder Woman costumes and broadway showpieces.

Seeing the collections in photographs is just completely different from seeing them stride down the runway.

Two seasons ago, I remember thinking Chloe's collection looking prom-ish and fusty in the photos. But seeing the models strut down the runway really sold her collection. And it's difficult to get a bead on the workmanship from a still photo.

As they say, "We shall soon see!"

Make It Today: Jamie Oliver's Cheat's Papardelle with Leeks

If you enjoy leeks, you must make this dish, courtesy of Jamie Oliver, whose latest show should be subtitled, "Cooking in the Garden Shed" because that's what he does most of the time.

His approach to cooking looks slap-dash and frenetic, but the flavors are a substantial symphony culled together from years of practice.

We made this last night for dinner, and it was easy and delicious and we ate twice as much as we expected.

You don't have to, but we also made the porcini-mushroom breadcrumbs for the top, and it added an earthy garlicky crunch to every bite of pasta. Yum.

A Photo a Year

I love things like this. When you look at each year, and consider the physical changes etched on each person's face, doesn't it make you wonder what was going on, then?

During certain years, you can just see the parents aging more rapidly than in others. Or that something heavy is weighing on their minds. Especially for the mother during the sleep-deprived years a new baby entered the family.

But I guess that's not surprising -- what mother doesn't worry?

And with three boys -- are there more worries or fewer? Just different? I come from a family of girls, where the women in the household outnumbered my father.

What made the boys grow beards at certain points, or shave them off at others? Rebellion? Exams? Style?

Similarly, the Seven Up! documentary series has always fascinated me. But that's another post (or two, or seven) for sure.

Project Runway Reunion Show

Did you cast your vote in my Project Runway poll, yet? It's easy... and it's right over there, at the top of the last column. Go ahead, vote!

---

The reunion show was... well, it was a clip show. Under normal television standards, these are hack job affairs that don't provide any insight into the show or its underpinnings.

But Michael Kors losing it during the WWF Divas challenge? That just got me. He's normally so, I don't know, reserved and together, sort of approachably imperious with the occasional kooky commentary. To see him just flat-out overcome by a fit of the giggles made him more human in a way.

But oh, how they didn't let the designers get away with a thing!

With a nod to both Marion and that girl who was eliminated first (oh yeah, Simone), they were asked each about their experiences. Marion seems like a genuinely earnest sort, disappointed at not having had the opportunity to showcase his avant garde side and accepting of his fate. Simone marveled at how she's been stopped while out in the airport with Kit Pistol (um, probably because Kit was around for a while and developed a following?).

Carmen, who boo-hooed too much about not being properly missed after she was dissed by the judges? With her massive architectural shouldered jacket, just begging to take up more space on the screen, I kept yelling "Grow up!" at the television. And her sarcastic "Thanks, Heidi," sort of snort she made when Heidi mentioned the menswear challenge after Ms. Klum specifically mentioned "an outfit that had no shirt." Maybe Carmen will see how a lack of grace and gratitude aren't exactly becoming a former model turned fashion designer. Perhaps she could take a cue from some of the other auf'd designers who handled their fate in a more mature way.

I'm no fan of Victorya, but I lost a bit of respect for Heidi after her derisive remark about Victorya's uptight nature -- when they'd just been describing Jack's very sad departure and how Victorya felt about it. Tim, too, joined in the slam, which surprised me, because Mr. Gunn is nothing if not the master of courtly politesse. Something tells me there's something going on, what with Victorya showing at Fashion Week in spite of her being dismissed weeks before the finalists were a glint in the judges' collective eye.

Was anyone else surprised by Jillian beating the crap out of her dress model? The girl has moves like she's taken a self-defense class, or at least an aggressive form of Tae-Bo.

As a fan of Catherine Keener's movies, I was glad to hear Sweet P got some attention from her at some point. Catherine Keener's got an interesting sense of style, and I admire how she got started late in the acting game, but carved out an indie-film career for herself (one of America's most underrated actresses, along with Hope Davis).

It was a shame that the segment on Kevin focused so much on his not being gay. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to see how he thinks being a heterosexual male means he's got a unique angle on for designing for women?

The way Elisa acted on the reunion show now makes me suspect that she adopted this interplanetary character/persona and played it to the hilt for the sake of getting more air time. Boo.

Was it me, or did every shot of Ricky make it look like he wanted to strangle the producers? He looked angry from every angle. And when the feature on his crying jags was introduced, he seemed ready to punch someone. Can't say that I blame him.

All the bellyaching about having no money is getting old, actually. Sweet P mentioned it, and so did Christian. I realize this is a tough business -- but having any business is hard work, labor intensive, and financially risky. Get used to it! Like Michael Kors says, the insecurity never goes away because like Heidi says, one day you're In and the next, you're Out. There is no more fickle finger of fate than that of fashion.

I loved how Rami's advice for subsequent contestants focused on how you've got to love what you do, that this isn't a springboard -- even though it really could be. It's clear that none of the previous contestants have really used it to its fullest advantage, at least as far as I can tell. Michael Knight is coming out with a fragrance? What about a line of clothing? Did he, too, fall prey to the licensing bug, a la Jay McCarroll? And what of Chloe? Jeffrey? Hello?

Christian being voted Fan Favorite wasn't surprising, I guess. He had the most over-the-top, made-for-tv personality, garnering him the most screen time, albeit with the overuse of a tired-old expression (I thought "fierce" went out after the inaugural season of America's Next Top Model?). For me, though, his winning the Fan Favorite award was a teeny bit jumping the shark, because his persona seems so calculated and sound-bitey.

These reunion shows are seldom as good as the clips lead you to believe, and it's all due to the editing. I can't imagine fitting together such a disparate group of comments into an interesting narrative, when people aren't really as inspired as they may be in the heat of the battle.

The clips quoting Heidi were the lamest group of snippets ever! Maybe they didn't want to harp on the worst outfits, but how can you do a segment on Heidi-isms and leave out her assessment of the outfit Marion and Steven cobbled together? Behold:

"It's like 'out of the basement.'
It looks dirty -- it looks like a rag to me."

Honestly, ever since Heidi uttered those words, that phrase runs through my mind whenever I feel disheveled or not at my best, fashion-wise. It's like the title of a bad made-for-TV movie: "Out of The Basement," the tragic drama of an outfit gone horribly wrong.

The dish from the other designers over who they thought would win? Clearly Christian has their respect, but I suspect that his Fan Favorite status means he'll never take home the big prize. Jillian had her share of supporters, too, with the exception of Victorya, who clearly seems jealous of Jillian's talent, having worked with her on the coif challenge that got them attention for Jillian's dramatic coat design.

Rami had a few nods, too -- and one from Marion, (or was it Steven?), who said he was confident that given Rami's skill that he'd do besides the draping (Note to Marion/Steven: Uh, don't hold your breath!). Only Jack put in an off-hand good word for Chris, while hedging his bets in speaking kindly about all the finalists. Shades of things to come? Or Red Herring?

It will be an interesting final two shows, no?

Our Comcastic DVR Meltdown Nightmare

Yesterday, we went to watch something we'd recorded on our Comcast DVR to find that we lost everything. Ev. Ry. Thing. Thanks to Comcast and its faulty DVR.

Project Runway episodes from the start of this season. The new Jamie Oliver shows (loved the one about leeks). Almost a season's worth of Futurama. A few stray Flight of the Conchords. Even Lost. (Thankfully, we'd seen all the episodes in this truncated season, but still.)

The Comcast DVR we had so lovingly programmed our tv-watching habits around had been half full -- or half empty, depending on your point of view.

But now, the Comcast DVR unit had turned magically overnight into a doorstop. Couldn't even change the channels.

All gone!

During a storm the night before, our block suffered a power outage. But after power was restored, the DVR was working. As I recall, I even watched a few old recorded episodes, and deleted a few.

Then, yesterday, the unit locked up -- we couldn't change channels or get audio. So, we did as we've done when it locked up once or twice before -- we unplugged the DVR and plugged it back in.

Only this time, the DVR was DOA.

A call to Comcast confirmed we were totally out of luck. Ding-dong, the DVR's dead. They offered no way to get the shows back off the hard drive. And no, there's no backup.

In rare cases, losing power, we were told, can wipe the hard drive clean!

We pointed out that this was unacceptable in a service that purports to hang onto whatever you tell it to -- especially because it gives you no options whatsoever to create a backup of the hard drive contained within.

The response? Something along the lines of this:

"Too bad."

Clearly, frustration reigned on both sides of that conversation.

Because they don't offer any way for you to easily and effectively back up the hard drive that comes with the DVR, the assumption is that Comcast has it covered somehow.

Well, they don't.

So, let that be a lesson to you. If you have a Comcast DVR:

• Watch whatever you record -- or love -- early and often. Because you never know when your shows will completely disappear. God forbid you live in a rainstorm-savaged part of the country.


• Write down a list of the shows you record as a series. If, like us, you've become dependent on your DVR and no longer pay attention to a show's actual broadcast time, this could be a challenge to reconstruct later. Do it now. On paper.


• If you ever get an on-screen message that involves calling Comcast and giving them some sort of special code number, pack up your DVR and find out which local Comcast office you need to go to to trade in your DVR for a different unit and pencil in some time to go ASAP.*

Live and learn!

*This happened to us a few months ago, and with a simple phone call, they were able to fix something on their end to reset it, and we marveled at Comcast's efficiency. However, when I traded in the DVR yesterday, the very nice Comcast person there said that's a sign that something's up and you should just trade in the DVR right away.

Memory and Memories

My high school biology class was run by a dynamo of a teacher. One who placed high demands on all of us, and who could smell fear.

One of the biggest problems I had with biology is the rote memorization of it. High school felt like one long list of things to memorize after another: kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, species...

Not to mention history dates, literary themes, pluperfect forms of French.

At times it seemed more than my brain could hold.

I'm not a natural memorizer. Never was, and it took me a while to realize I never will be. I make connections visually and viscerally. By identifying patterns and interactions and relationships, some connections I just feel in my gut.

It struck me that so much of how my high school classes were taught ran counter to this learning style.

So when I got to college, which of course wasn't free from the need to memorize facts and figures and formulas, it still offered more of a forum for synthesizing the connections between disparate ideas.

Today, I've seen evidence that schools are starting earlier and earlier with the connecting of the dots, where math and science work more closely than before, where projects in social studies have a language arts component that enables the outcome to be richer and less about memorization than about thinking.

And making the connections.

In the process, administrators just may find more kids with different learning styles succeeding more than ever before.