Today Theodor Seuss Geisel would be 108 years old!
Some things I didn’t know about him:
He first used the pen name ‘Seuss’ while at Dartmouth. The story goes he was caught drinking with friends in a dorm, and as punishment, was banned from extracurricular activities including writing for the college’s humor magazine. So he wrote using his middle name–Seuss.
One of my favorite animated shorts, Oscar-winningGerald McBoing-Boing, was based on his short story that originally appeared on a children’s record in 1950.
Last weekend I was in NYC for a joint Birthday/pretend Bachelorette frolic with my friend Mandy– who’s getting married the week after us! We had such a blast. Here are the highlights:
We started the weekend’s festivities with a trip to the magical Spa Castle in Queens. Have you been? It’s insane. It’s as if you tossed a mall and a spa together, with a dash of Disney World. It was really fun and I recommend it to everybody. You can kind of make it as relaxing and spa like as you want, or just stick to the more water park-ish parts filled with kids. I think we even spotted a few birthday parties going on. Our only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer than a few hours. We had to leave to catch an early (sold out!) screening of Bridesmaids. Which of course was awesome. (Random note, G also saw Bridesmaids last weekend, but with a bunch of dudes at Mandy’s better half’s bachelor party.)
Judd Apatow + Kristen Wiig + Maya Rudolph + Paul Feig= my idea of heaven. (Ok sure, I could have done without all the gross-out humor, but still, I was laughing during it.) And how great is Melissa McCarthy? She’s so under-appreciated. I tried not to watch too many trailers ahead of time, but I just found this one and happily it actually uses a bunch of clips (or at least lines) that didn’t make the final cut. So have at it:
Our day ended at Radegast Hall in Williamsburg with dear, dear friends who I haven’t seen in ages. It was so good to see everyone. (Williamsburg is cra-aazy by the way. 2001 does not compare to 2011. I know, Ms Obvious, here. But, still.)
On Sunday I managed to get over to Warby Parker’s showroom and finally got to use my gift certificate from Christmas. I chose the above pair–which technically are listed as ‘sold out’ online, but apparently if you visit the showroom they have a few left in stock. Just a little tip if you’re in the area.
Before skipping town, Jane got us provisions at our friend’s wonderful Vic’s Bagel Bar in Murray Hill. Yummers. I had forgotten that New Yorkers are the ones who really know that you need to slather on the cream cheese. Other cities, who toss you a little cream cheese container, are just mistaken. You really need a pound of cream cheese to properly enjoy a bagel. Preferably with custom “mix-ins” a la Vic’s. (FYI my brother took their product photos.)
We managed to pack a lot of other things in– awesome dinners, shopping, some lazing around and much needed catching up. What a great weekend.