So you all agree that my weird things really are weird...but I think we're all on the same page with the medical fears. Maybe it's because we're creative thinkers and we get real creative about what can get us when we least expect it!! :) But one thing that I have to clarify about me not driving is this: I have a Driver! Me and Aaron are together 24/7 and whatever random, out of the way place I want to drive to, he is in complete compliance. It's a real deal Driving Miss Jenny situation, except I ride up front. When I said that driving is his hobby I meant it. He is the only person I know of that loves the highways and byways of New Jersey, which I guess is a good segue into Aaron's list of 7 weird things...
Hi everyone! Aaron here, a bit begrudgingly so, because as you can see by that little photo up in the top left corner, I like to stay a bit in the background... but I was tagged and I must submit my 7.
1. I like to drive in New Jersey and don't mind traffic really. If you aren't from Jersey you might not know about a little highway feature known as "the jug handle". People from out of state come here and immediately hate the words "jug handle". You see, instead of being able to make a left turn at a traffic light you'll have to go around this little loop that's sorta in the shape of a jug handle. It drives people crazy, especially when traffic gets backed up and you're stuck in a jug handle for three red light cycles. But I don't really care, because I'm out in the car andthat's where I like to be. The congested gray parts of the state, the shore, the pinelands, farmlands, I don't care where just far. I also like driving in NYC and the unruly roads of Staten Island.
2. I carry lots and lots of books with me everywhere I go. Seriously, even if I'm taking a 60 second drive to the corner store for a gallon of Poland Spring, I'll still grab a notebook and a stack of 4 to 6 novels. I never read them on these little trips but I still bring them. I don't know if it's that I fear a mechanical breakdown and I'll need some good literature while I wait for a tow truck or if I'm slightly obsessive. More the latter than the former I guess.
3. I love the look of smokestacks and massive industrial complexes. This sounds terrible and I have no good explanation. Don't get me wrong, I love the trees and the birds and everything else. In fact, if I had my way we'd be hiking trails twice a day. But I'm just so visually stunned by monstrous industrial wastelands. If I was a gallery artist all I'd paint would be smokestacks and the like. Maybe it's my way of making a horror film, because I really do love nature, but with all that driving I like to do I guess I'm being counterproductive with all my carbon emissions. Forgive me Al.
4. I was a jock ( captain of the football and wrestling teams etc...) but was never ever interested in professional sports on TV...still not. This is a lame weird thing about me because I know a lot of jocks that don't care about sports. But I'm grasping for ideas...not because I'm not weird...more because I have trouble looking inward.
5. One of my favorite gifts to get is cheese. Books come first, but good cheese is next on the list. My family is great and they know my tastes well. Gimme good cheese and spicy mustard and I'm a happy man. Jenny's sis Missy consistently buys me cheese on holidays. I hope getting cheese as a gift is weird because I'm running out of ideas.
6. This one isn't really weird, it's just makes Jenny crazy. When we go on drives and take toll roads I keep my loose change in my lap, right in the little valley that happens in the crease of the jeans. This isn't the bad part...what's bad is that no matter how many times I do it, I will still forget the change that remains in my lap and when we get to our destination I stand up out of the car and the sound of quarters, nickels, and dimes crashing to the pavement can be heard for miles. As I'm on my hands and knees picking up my coins I can hear Jenny going "tut-tut" as she walks away.
7. I think the weirdest thing about me is Jenny! All of her quirks and eccentricities don't phase me. I don't mind the little things like buying cosmetics and other girl products. If she has social anxiety and can't bear the thought of entering a store, what do I care? She doesn't drive...so what, I like to drive. She talks about imaginary birds with our dog...who cares?! We'll get the bird (actually it must be bird 's because budgies need companions) when we're ready for the bird 's ...the moment will present itself. And I'm fine with surprises in my sandwiches...and like she said, I never expect them. I'm usually so hungry that my first few bites are free of thought and then bingo! a grape, or a raisin, or whatever else she can sneak in!
Ok, that was only mildly painful and as I look back on my list I can see why I'm not the blogger in the family. I'm a guy who likes smokestacks and cheese! But please don't judge me on that...I paint pink cupcakes and stuff for a living. I can't be THAT bad. Now I'll hand the reigns back over to Jenny's able hands. Take care, Aaron.
Ok, It's me Jenny. I know Aaron is much weirder than that but I'm not gonna point out things before he does!! And while on that subject, today is our 14th anniversary. It's really crazy how fast time goes. I mean, we've been through a lifetime's worth of stuff but it feels like we were teens at the prom just yesterday. This day of the year I always think back to the time of our first meeting. I moved down to Jersey from New York and it was total culture shock. I felt like all the trends and style and music were hitting Jersey a year late. Me and my sister dressed like how Jersey girls were gonna dress next year, if you know what I mean. We listened to the music that the Jersey kids would listen to a year later. Everyone thought I had an accent and I thought everyone else had an accent. Just one state away, but the dialect was different. Example: when my dad says "Dork" it sound like "Dawk". Well, I did my best to assimilate in a town wherein all the residents seemed to know each other since birth. Aaron was there since birth and was the captain of the football and wrestling teams, and the singer of the local "it" band. I didn't like my new town and what's funny is that I felt that Aaron was the embodiment of the town and therefore, I had a distant and quiet distaste for him! This lasted six months...I'd see him in the hallway and I'd go "grrrrrrrr" to myself. Then one day he makes it a point to meet me one on one and I discover that for all my life I apparently had a male version of myself living down in New Jersey. The rest is history...upon graduation we both took a semester of community college and decided that the student life wasn't for us. We then started painting and we haven't stopped. Wednesday isn't a great day for celebrating so we're putting off the dinner date and stuff til Saturday when we go into NYC.
Now check out this fab new creation up top! I'm certainly not one to rave about my own stuff but I LOVE this piece! I've been dying to do a faux menu board. I love infusing black into a sweet pastel color palette. It grounds everything, brings a bit of seriousness and evokes a vintage appeal. Very Paris patisserie! It's trimmed with a scallop of vintage recipe clippings and it's on black but it's not an actual chalkboard...we were just going for the look of slate with sweet chalk script. And it's a larger piece. We live in a small place so we're guilty of designing artwork that fits our meager proportions. This is a two foot square and can totally MAKE a room! This idea has been on the back burner for sooooo long. I'm thrilled to launch it! If you're interested, it's listed now.
Tomorrow is Walt's 17th birthday. He's my littlest bro/center of my universe! Upon request, I'm baking him his favorite Magnolia cupcakes...some for school, some for the family. Aaron will be driving the cupcakes over to Walt's school tomorrow at some point during the school day. Aaron finds this humorous because it's such a parent like act and Aaron still feels like a kid. He's done it before and when he checks in at the front office with the cupcakes he feels like he's pulling some sort of joke! Tomorrow night we're having cupcakes with the fam and on Saturday we're combining our anniversary with Walt's b-day for an all day NYC extravaganza! We'll end up at a little restaurant called Dragonfly for what Walt calls "the best fake chicken in the world!" after that we'll hit Beard Papa for dessert. If cream puffs were rock bands...the ones at Beard Papa would be The Rolling Stones.
Ok, one more thing. Yesterday, the uber talented ArtsyMama, who moonlights as a blog journalist, interviewed me for the monthly Tuesday artist interview on the Create a Connection blog. I was honored that she chose me as an interview subject and the blog is just sooooo fab that it was a thrill to do it. Last month featured an interview with my near and dear Jennifer Paganelli . Check out my interview here and then scroll down a couple entries to see Jennifer's. Big thanks to the sweet Artsy Mama.
Well, I have to go whip up some buttercream frosting. Til next time, xoxo Jenny
