Yesterday, after work and before the downpour and before the beet salad and bruschetta and vino at 'Inoteca, and before the Lindeman's raspberry ale at d.b.a. (yum, yum, yum, and yum) and the recognition from a pita fan (hi Ron!), I felt like doing a little shopping in my neighborhood: Lower East Side, what! (What?) [read the rest at my new baby, fashion binge, yeah?]

have i mentioned i love my new job? yesterday i got taken out to a big group lunch, partially to celebrate the close of the issue and partially to celebrate ME, and i've already been out to not one but two welcome lunches! we went to josie's, and it was all healthy, amazing food, and it killed 2.5 hours of the day. hooray! and today's a half day! hooray!

wow. this is amazing. there is now a cadbury chocolate bar with creme-egg filling. cadbury creme eggs all year long!! this could be dangerous.... [via bunnyshop]

i was saddened to hear yesterday that sleater-kinney are breaking up. one of the most rockingest bands of our time, and all-female. they will be missed. i've seen them a bunch of times, but i can't believe their second-to-last show is all sold out now, and i didn't get tickets. i am gonna need a hookup here, kids.

i'll be a good blogger and blog about going to the gothamist laughable hype show the other night. here is the order of funniness of the comedians: daniel kitson (hilarious and british, he talked about his hatred of walking into places); eugene mirman; aziz ansari; todd barry. kitson had the room in stitches and was clearly the star of the evening. i laughed quite hard indeed.

okay, i have a half day today and am off to shop and enjoy the lovely day. later kids. oh wait, i almost forgot: PUNK SONG OF THE WEEK! here it is:

Stiff Little Fingers, "Suspect Device"

Stiff Little Fingers, "Gotta Get Away"

hello! i had no idea it'd been this long until betsy wrote in with an impassioned, earnest declaration of pita love. i'm sorry for my absence. apparently the people really want to know where i go and what i do and who i see. and so, on to the weekend report! friday night randi and i and leigh ann and her posse attended the late-night ryan adams show at bowery (doors at 12:30). news flash: i am old. and i guess i don't love ryan adams enough, and perhaps i love my bed too much. ryan went on at 1:50 and we stayed for about 40 minutes of the reported hour and a half set. oh well. it was almost 3 a.m.! i needed my beauty rest, you see.

saturday i got up early and journeyed to brooklyn to eat banana pancakes while watching world-cup soccer on high-def TV. then i donned my green bikini, and carl donned his yellow poncho, and we headed out to the mermaid parade in coney island, joined by the two michelles. the rain held out, mostly, till the very end, but it was cold, and so i was unable to fully unfurl my mermaid-ness, since i had to keep my clothes on for warmth (sorry, green bikini). but i did have the tail and the seaweed-esque headpiece. there is a picture of me somewhere in all my half-mermaidy glory. it was my first time at the parade -- i've always wanted to go but never made it for various reasons -- and totally worth it.

then it was reunion time with college friend vinnie (now very gay and still very tan). we had dinner at french bistro bacchus (not recommended due to terrible service) and drinks at kili (half-recommended: nice vibe, and quite cute, but not very generous with the alcohol). vinnie definitely won the award for most touchy-feely gay man of the night.

so, yeah, in case you missed it, because i don't have anything else to do, i launched a new blog with tamar. behold fashion binge! tagline: so much style, you'll want to vom. it's a fashion blog (like, duh) inspired by betsy's wonderful fashion is spinach, where she is posting cute shit like 80 times a day. go, consume, barf, die.

currently in my head: "treat her right, treat your mother right" from this musical ode to your mom by mr. t. my favorite part is the moms dancing backup in their 70s dresses.

it's been a long time coming, but i've decided to shut down the pita shop. i had to pay an annoying amount of sales-tax penalties (cause i'm a delinquent, see, who can't keep up with adult matters), all stemming from the paperwork i had to fill out to get into last year's renegade craft fair (which happens again this weekend), which if you recall i didn't even break even on. i can't even stand it when people ask me to rustle them up a custom-made cozy anymore. i'd rather work on craft projects for my own damn self, on my own time. and, like, plan my ice cream party. so. eff it. maybe i'll fire up the shop again if i have another brilliant craft idea that i think needs to be brought to the people, but in a few days, i'm closing it. in celebration, i'm having a SIX-DOLLAR SALE! everything is six bucks, all the cozies, all the bracelets. if you've always meant to snag one of my cozies, now is the time. how can you go wrong for six bucks? tell your friends, blog it, go crazy. just don't try to place any special orders and we'll be cool. the shop will go dark in a few days.

hey, bob pollard is trying to make some bucks, too. he is not having a six-dollar sale, though: he's selling his original collage from the mag earwhig album cover on ebay as part of his Dazzling Year-End Soul Sale. bob, of course, is an accomplished collage artist; i'd love to have this work, entitled "the astral city slickers," on my wall. it's bob's personal favorite, has been displayed at the rock & roll hall of fame, and is going for $5,000 to start. guess i'm out.

that's right, i was wearing my softest, smoothest-soled sneakers, and immediately after purchasing a tasty vodka-and-diet-coke at the upstairs bar, i executed a spectacular maneuver on the side stairs, my feet going out from under me in classic banana-peel fashion, landing on my back, and sliding down to the landing. carl looked really worried when he turned around, having heard the crashing sounds. i thought he was just wearing his "oh shit, she's gonna cry" face, but apparently he was actually afraid i'd broken my arm, such was the twisted-ragdoll-like position i was lying in. anyway, i started feeling weird after that, so we left a couple songs into dungen. i like them but can't say i'm really that into them. i am really liking the italics tonight.

after that we returned to kurt's going-away party at my apartment (he's off to the former soviet republic of georgia for six weeks). it was not one of our million-man parties, but a smaller gathering of enthusiastic dancers, drinkers, and shit-talkers. unfortunately we were not in much of a partying mood and retired at a relatively early hour, earplugs in, trying to drown out the horrendous sounds of contemporary pop music. "hips don't lie"? not good. that new nelly furtado song? the suck! sorry, kurt. sunday was brunch, shopping, world cup, and a ridiculously fattening dinner made by carlito involving pasta, eggs, cheese, and bacon. the four food groups according to my boyfriend, ladies and gentlemen. (it was really good though, of course.)

in weekday news, i have started my new job! so far, so good. nice people, nice chair. i even inherited a pretty cute floral clipboard. i'm not doing much websurfing during the day, trying to get up to speed on the new place, so there may be fewer links here than usual (if that's even possible), at least for a while. you could send me some fun ones if you wanted to help a girl out.

i got the best piece of mail the other day. how often do you see an envelope and squeal? i squealed, for i knew i had once again won a contest. so save the date of july 22, kids, for i am hosting an ice cream block party sponsored by edy's slow-churned ice cream! i'll get 12 cartons of delicious ice cream and all sorts of accoutrements. i won this prize by writing an "essay" (of about 75 words) on the topic of why my neighborhood deserves a block party. i wrote some crap about hipsters and hardware-store workers coming together in the spirit of chocolate, or something. i'm thinking this neighborhood block party will take place on my roof (so as to serve alcohol along with the ice cream), or maybe we'll set up a card table on the sidewalk (and be all wholesome and shit). fat baby patrons will not be served. but all pita readers are invited! i believe i heard about this contest from my favorite email newsletter, hungry girl, which tirelessly educates the health-conscious about which food products are better for you and how you can make diet-friendly substitutions instead of being such a fatass all the time. they have recipes sometimes, too, for fun things like low-cal smoothies. i totally recommend subscribing.

finally, today is jami's publication day! her book of short stories, instant love, is in bookstores now. hardcover! i haven't read it yet, but i will. it's about "love and loneliness in the city," as she told the copper who pinched her for stickering last week (i got away). it also has a very pretty cover that would look great on you.

::: The Misfits, "Last Caress" :::

::: The Misfits, "Attitude" :::

i was receiving a fair amount of guff in the comments for how long hilarious picture day was going to be in effect, and so, behold: it's Hot Friend Day! now, please do not be offended if your picture is not here. even if your picture is not here and it WAS here yesterday, showing you making a ridiculous face, that doesn't mean you aren't hot. okay, dumpling? i'll try to snap your hotness next time we're oot and aboot.

bunnycam! the bunny's on vacation right now, but yesterday he was totally, like, eating lettuce and rocking the "hen" pose and generally being very cute and bunnylike. recommended!

also, todd levin and his cat never fail to amuse. click the video, and wait for the surprise ending.

look out, it's hilarious portrait day! as i was going through the ridiculous number of photos on my work computer in preparation for my last day, i found some truly gut-busting images. i started emailing my favorites off to the subjects, but then i had a eureka moment and decided to run a bunch of outtakes, just for shits and giggles. these have never before been seen on the pita; what they have in common is that they make me laugh like a crazy person. which i sort of need right now. don't worry if you missed out on making it: tomorrow i am thinking of having "all my friends are so hot" day.

i just fired up pandora on the advice of a coworker. why did i not try this before? i feel certain i knew about it in a vague sense. basically you give it an artist, and it creates an internet radio station that plays music you might like based on various musical criteria. right now it's telling me "we're playing this track because it features punk roots, extensive vamping, major key tonality and dirty electric guitar riffs." extensive vamping! i don't even know what that is, but it sounds hot. i expect i will be finding some new punk songs of the week in this way.

okay, this starts out as a pretty normal crazy cat lady video, but then it goes SUPER-INSANE. a good video to watch on the day of the devil, i'd say. [credit: little matt]

::: The Make-Up, "Type-U-Blood" :::

before moving on, i have a late-breaking update: VCR are playing this sunday at 8! this is tamar's sister's band from richmond, virginia; it'll be a relatively small (i.e. fun) show at cake shop; and they're pretty good, if you like loud, sometimes violent keyboardy punk. they seem to have been coasting on an EP forever, so i'm happy to hear they've just put out a full-length, power destiny, on sideone dummy records. hear some songs on their myspace. i'll be there; will you?

fyi: winebar on second between 3rd and 4th is a good place to have a nice glass (or three) of wine with your girlfriend, talk about boys and work and other important things (like fashion blogs), and watch a good thunderstorm on a thursday night, should you ever find yourself in that situation. it seems to be run by italians, so the music is pretty morts, but i dig all that dark wood.

another high-quality tip for you: i've been listening to this nyc band called slow learner. it's pretty rare that i like local bands, so this is big. i would describe them as all of the following: dramatic, atmospheric, moody, melodic, complex. kind of a cross between tv on the radio and jay bennett, say. it's one of those that are going to take some time to sink in. their self-released album "in their time they are magnificent" is sort of, well, magnificent. go stream two of their songs on their fine-looking website or at their myspace. god, i love myspace.

i also discovered recently that i quite like bishop allen, another local band. thank you, bloggers, for yammering on about them and forcing me to download those mp3s from those monthly ep's they're doing. those are sweet. i might just be blinded by the perfection of "things are what you make of them," but right now i am in love with them. they play poppy fun stuff, though sometimes they rough it up a bit (and sound exactly like modest mouse; seriously, "busted heart" is a blatant mm ripoff). i can't wait to see them at pianos june 30th.

speaking of shows, my tiny yellow post-it of shows i want to attend has become inadequate. i need dates for the following; get your applications in right away:

the boy least likely to @ knitting factory, 6/13 (tricia, perhaps?)
dungen and witch @ irving plaza, 6/10 (kinda iffy on this one)
travis morrison @ mercury lounge, 6/25 (don't all jump at once)
the ark and baby dayliner @ bowery, 6/28 (i'm looking at you, maura)
bishop allen @ pianos, 6/30
oneida and dirty faces @ knitting factory, 7/13

did i miss anything crucial? tell it to the comments. also, you should totally get tickets to this kick-ass night of rock at mccarren pool in williamsburg: sonic youth, the yeah yeah yeahs, blood on the wall. oh yeah. the pita is so there. the new sonic youth, "rather ripped", is streaming, you know.

dudes! k-fed cleans up good! he's still dumb as a rock though: "The day they judge me as an artist, a CEO, as somebody, not Britney Spears' husband, that's the day I am looking forward to." yeah, and the day you're a CEO is the day i pull an octopus out of my ass. [via whitney]

this is pretty cool: a threadless/blik competition. the winning t-shirt design gets incorporated into a wall graphic. i bet the peeps who come up with the cool threadless shirts are going to make some wall stuff i'd totally want to buy...maybe i should wait on buying those heads i've been eyeing for months and see what wins.

kurt is posting from hawaii, while the outside of my front door smells like dog poop. have i mentioned i hate kurt?