Generation-T.com


	Welcome to the blog! I'm back from the book tour with more updates to come soon! April 7, 2006 – There's No Place Like Home! I'm on the train bound for home. First stop Trenton, then Newark, then Penn Station, NY. This morning's media was fun. I love all the male hosts who have been game for refashioning a halter top! (This one wouldn't actually put it on, though. So here I am, yet again, with the ever-so-hot layered look.) I got to watch that lame guy from The Bachelor whose family owns a winery on the segment before mine. Ugh. Very unimpressed. And a big shout-out to Luke's parents who drove in from Delaware to take me to a nice Italian lunch. Yum. April 6, 2006 – Rounding Third The last night of my tour, and the Books & Co. crowd didn’t disappoint. Much of today was a road trip of sorts, flying into Cincinatti, driving to Northern Kentucky for a morning show, and then on to Dayton for the book event. [Here's a behind the scenes shot of me getting all mic'd up. The producer had me take my shoes off because I was too tall next to the host!] I knew as soon as I walked into the store that I was in good hands—the first staff member I saw was wearing her own fabulous variation on the Broken Hearted tee (project #3 in the book, for those of you following along). Sharon, the bookstore maven is a goddess among book folk, and her enthusiasm is reflected in her whole staff. One young lady even came in on her day off, just to slash up some T-shirts with us! The crowd was entertaining, too—even if one guy just wanted to find out how much money he could get for his bag of old corporate logo T-shirts. (Um, you could donate them to people like us who like to cut 'em up... Just an idea.) In a change of heart, so to speak, we refashioned a bunch of the Broken Hearted tees (project #3) as that was the popular one with this crowd. One of the women in attendance brought an old over-sized T-shirt she had saved from her heart surgery recovery. Her story was so inspiring—I'm so glad she came out to share her story with us. And, damn, she looked fabulous! April 5, 2006 – "Scissor Blades Must Be Less than 4 Inches in Length" As I waited for my Midwestern panini to be grilled, I wandered over to the well-stocked meat counter (pretty fascinating stuff to a lifetime vegetarian), where a man preparing some “thick cut steaks.” He asked if I needed any help, I answered that I was just waiting for my sandwich to heat up. Then the conversation went something like this: “Hey, were you on Channel 4 this morning?” “Why yes, yes I was…” “Yeah, that was funny—that guy wearing that halter top….I totally thought it was you. And then I saw you were wearing a T-shirt, so I knew it had to be you.” [Here's the visual—by the by, the "Can't Hide That Midwest Pride" T-shirt is thanks to my friend Ernest—e-mail me if you're interested in getting your very own!] It’s so strange to put a face to a television viewer. I always feel so pleasantly anonymous when I’m sitting on my couch in the privacy of my apartment, tuning in to the latest Sopranos or Project Runway episode (though I know DirecTV could probably call up any show I watched in the last year). And on the other side, when you’re in the TV studio doing the live segment, it’s just you, a couple of newscasters, and a cameraman or two. It’s hard to imagine the thousands of viewers they claim to have when you’re just talking to the lens. But here was one of them, right in front of me at the Sendik’s on Oakland meat counter. And then I met another viewer as I went through airport security. After the scissors were spotted by the x-ray machine guy, I found myself explaining yet again to the woman digging through my bag why I have, oh, about 12 pairs in my carry-on luggage. As I did, she looked up and said, “Wait, you were on Channel 6 this morning! Yeah, with that cute little ruffled skirt—that was cute.” “Oh, you mean this one?” as I pulled the Triple Layer Cake sample skirt from the pile she had wrestled from my bag. “Yes, that one! Yeah, I remember you.” “Good, so you can corroborate my story. ” It’s funny, I never imagine that any of those thousands of viewers can actually see me. At least two of them do. As a side note, here’s a personal record: I don’t think I’ve ever visited 10 bookstores in one day. I know you’re all impressed. PS: All you Pirates fans out there—they stayed in my hotel! Go team! April 4, 2006 – #1 Health and #2 in My Heart Sophomore year in high school I read a study that listed Minnesota and New Hampshire as the number 1 and 2 healthiest states to live in. Born and raised in the Granite State (Live Free or Die, baby!), I felt especially proud of our clean air and abundance of trees and already felt a strong kinship toward anyone from the Gopher State…though the only person I knew who hailed from MN was my French teacher. Since then I’ve met several Minnesotans, and I’ve yet to be disappointed! First there was the local morning show host. Must note, however, she doesn't follow directions so well. I mean, we're on live television—when I say cut through only one layer, I mean ONE layer. Then I was off to visit some bookstores—one even featured Generation T as a staff pick! Thanks guys! Then, it was off to exploring the local thrift stores with my friend Sarah who actualy hails from this "Land of 10,000 Lakes," but who spends most of her time in the Borough of Kings back in Brooklyn. And finally, I got to hang with the lovely folks at my event at Book Corner for a cozy little demo and pizza party! April 3, 2006 – Opening Day Chicago was not only windy, it was cold, blustery, and mixed with a little thunder and lightning for opening day this weekend. (After an insane rain delay, I do believe the White Sox came out on top...but the only Sox I have eyes for are the ones out of Boston). Despite the angry weather (and the particularly sour folks at my hotel), the staff and crowd at the B&N were delightful. My friend Tehama, from back in NH came out to take some pics, and I was lucky enough to meet up with fellow Workman author Aneva Stout (stay tuned for her fabulously pink, excellent little book, The List: A Love Story in 781 Chapters, coming out in the next month!) The sprint from the bookstore to the airport was a particularly funny one, since I was wearing the outfit above, plus a hooded sweatshirt, plus a denim jacket, plus a pair of jeans underneath the skirt (I had planned to make a full change from skirt to pants in the car ride, but it didn't happen). It wasn't until I got to security (and the officer asked me to please take off my jacket and sweatshirt and run it through the x-ray) that I realized that I looked like a complete fool. After managing to keep a straight face (sort of), I wriggled out of the halter top I had over my T-shirt, made my way to the gate, and shimmied out of the skirt. Ahhh, jeans and a T-shirt. Nothing better. April 2, 2006 – Web Site Madness I'm so sorry everybody! The web site is stuck in February! I promise I will post new projects soon —it's just that I'm on tour and my scanner doesn't pack well, so I had to leave it at home. (I also have to do the ole taxes before I can post March and April.) Thanks for being so patient! April 1, 2006 – DIY is for more than T-shirts Before I left for tour, some of you may have heard me groan "Who do I know in Denver?! No one!" until my friend Cory was nice enough to point out—"Hey, Rebecca is in grad school there. And what day did you say you were going to be there? The 31st—yeah, it's her birthday!" So it was a DIY sushi party as my friend Rebecca turned 27 last night! I helped make maki rolls (avocado and cucumber for me), mixed up tempura batter, and yum—ate my fill. And, yes, in case you were wondering, that's regular birthday cake—rest assured, no rice, seaweed, or raw fish involved. But, let me backtrack. Did some local TV spots, as well as an interview with the Denver Post—stay tuned for the article in the coming weeks. We did a photo shoot, too! I’m not sure that this $2 T-shirt from Chinatown —or those has-been T-shirts from the Goodwill below—has ever received so much special attention… Bound for the windy city today! March 30, 2006 – This is Hollywood! "Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? ...Some dreams come true, some don't, but keep on dreamin'—this is Hollywood! Always time to dream..." Ahh, the Pretty Woman quote for which my friend and I rewound the tape again and again (just so we could write it down and recite it word for word—why? because we were 12 and that's what we did). And speaking of dreams, thanks to a late night check-in and and overbooked hotel, I got to get my dream on in a much larger space. Seriously, my new upgrade to firstclass was so big, it was a pity I was only to be there for about 8 hours (mind you, about half of them I was up packing and working)! I met a couple of my girls from school for brunch. We sat outside and people-watched. Yum. Strawberry covered waffles. The most decadent feast I've had yet. Ooh, except for maybe that mango cheesecake in Austin. They pointed out the famous people. But really, everyone seems rather beautiful and well-polished here, so I wouldn't know one from the other! Then, my favorite quote of the day from my she-who-will-remain-anonymous media escort: "Oh my gosh, you're so much cuter in real life than on your cover!" Umm, thanks? I mean, I guess it's better than the other way around, right? Welcome to LA. But she didn't stop there. She was so taken by my apparent superior in-the-flesh-cuteness that she felt it imperative to share it with everyone we met. Nothing makes anyone more uncomfortable than being forced to acknowledge someone's level of attractiveness in front of afformentioned someone. Ooof. Moving on...met with the lovely producers and costars of the DIY show Creative Juice. They are quite lovely in person, and were kind enough to mention my book on their blog. Cross-blog promotion, how delightful! Then I met Susan Beal, founding member of the Portland-based PDX Supercrafty and coauthor of SuperCrafty, the book! We chowed on some sweet potato fries and talked craft books and craft collectives other such delights.Check out the brilliant SuperCrafty site at www.pdxsupercrafty.com. And then bid me adieu as I jet set to Denver, Colorado. March 29, 2006 – Fun in 'Frisco I was in San Francisco the shortest I’ve been in almost every city so far… Also the first time I've catered to an exclusively teen audience! Okay, so it was advertised as a teen event. But as you can see, it was a still a very mixed crowd there at the public library. In the end I was most impressed by my superstar trio in the back: Amy, Juan, and Emma. Amy was my lovely model for the demonstration, but meanwhile, her friend Juan was busy following along, making her a shirt with contrasting lacing at the sides and neck. A young designer in the making! Before I was shipped out to Los Angeles, got to grab a quick bite to eat with my friends... Nothing beats a banana and Nutella dessert crepe. Yum. Thanks for coming out Celia and Damon! March 28, 2006 – “You will meet a new friend today.” So read my fortune cookie message from the Vietnamese place where I ate lunch today… I enjoyed many an adventure that afternoon, so it’s hard to tell to which new friend it referred. My day started early with a morning show appearance with host Denise, who proudly refashioned a halter top on air!One of my favorite stops today was at the Elliot Bay independent bookstore. What a place. For someone who finds bookstores to be especially magical places, this one definitely makes my top ten. It was a special stop for me since, if you turn to pages 94, 138, and the last page in the color insert in the book, you’ll notice the Double Crosser skirt is made from none other than an Elliot Bay T-shirt! (Mind you, the shirt made quite a journey in getting to me—I originally bought it off eBay along with a few other hand-me-down tees.) The sisterhood of the traveling T-shirt? Hm. Very full circle. I love it. I met Peter, the owner of that fine book establishment, and he indulged me once more with a new T-shirt to make into something special… Now, what will I do next? Any suggestions? The book event was lovely. We refashioned a few tees, handed out free scissors, and then I even got to play in the photo booth—one of my favorite pastimes—there in the bookstore. (Right next to the giant chess board.) After my totally adorable model, Bailey, was kind enough to stand on a chair for twenty minutes while I refashioned her a tank top, she was kind enough to make me feel like a rockstar by having me sign it. I think this may be the first T-shirt I've ever signed—thanks Bailey!). My bookstore host for the evening even made her own version of project #31 Queen of Braids. Fantastic! I love it! PS: A big Happy Birthday to Luke from the other side of the country! I couldn't be farther away right now... March 27, 2006 – Manifest Destiny I finally hit the west coast. Just flew in to Seattle from Portland on a tiny little plane. I almost missed my flight tonight, after chatting with all the lovely Portland peeps for a little too long! I had the most marvelous welcome—when I first stepped off the plane, I came face-to-face with a copy of Generation T in the airport Powell's Bookstore! And Then—how awesome—over 50 people showed up to rock it out at Powell's proper (on Hawthorne) that night! (Including my friend, Gary—so nice to see a familiar face!) Unfortunately, my camera’s juice ran out, so I have no photos from the actual event to share. Sad. Portland was a special stop not only because it was my first trip to the great city, but because my favorite member of my favorite band happened to be touring through my new favorite Northwestern city. Give up? He also happens to be my favorite brother. That’s right, folks, the World/Inferno Friendship Society (and my big bro Franz) are touring down the west coast at the same time I am! Driving around with my media escort, Marilyn, I looked up to see this lovely omen of my strange west coast family reunion, this rotating bread loaf in the sky:Turns out, "Franz" is the name of a local family of breadmaker. Marilyn pulled a U-turn, and we drove up next to the "Franz Bakery Outlet" (who knew bakeries had outlets?). Well, this one does, and after I took pictures of everything in the store, they even gave me a couple of mini-loaves as a token of my visit. Sweet. I love free stuff. Plus, my brother usually doesn't get enough food when he's on the road, so it'll be a nice snack. For those of you interested, check out the band web site www.worldinferno.com—or my brother, at www.franznicolay.com. He and I should be overlapping again in San Francisco. So how’s this for a plan: Refashion a T-shirt during the evening and wear it out on the town that night. Good, I'm glad you're in. Another fun stop today was the big Powell's bookstore—the original—it's both incredible and incredibly huge. Check out the great titles on their staff pick list. Here's a book by Jeffrey Yamaguchi, a cool Brooklynite who likes to get his creative on, too. March 26, 2006 – Stopping for the Roses After a late wake-up yesterday (it’s hard work hanging out late night with poets and rockers!), I wandered around to explore South Congress. Walked the length of Congress from my hotel, met Matthew who scooped me some ice cream at another Amy’s (stop 2)—as I described the surreal night I had had, he filled me in on the awesome scoop (pun intended) on Trent Resner—how he’s a DIY god. I filled him in on the awesome scoop (another pun, totally intentional) on Saul Williams. And then I had the famous Mexican Vanilla mixed with the Dark Chocolate crushed with heath bar crunch. Yum. Here's a fairly tame shot from my traverses along SoCo. From old T-shirts to old tires...I was quite taken by these sidewalk planters that are made from slashed up old tires. I stayed with my-friend-Lily-from-Brooklyn’s family Saturday night, attended some local theatre (Lily’s sister Jessie-sometimes-called-Beanie is quite the actress. I can’t wait for the day I get to say I knew her when…), went to a farmers' market and bought some hot grilling sauce. And then I stopped to smell the roses. Literally. Lily’s mom grows some sweet smelling roses. I also met an ill-tempered cat named Blanca, and a droolly dog named Gracie. Sadly, I missed my friend Ellen’s bachelorette party last night, but I was there in spirit. Her maid of honor, Emily, and I refashioned an outfit for her to wear out that night. Here’s Emily modeling the creation! (Yes, I'm wearing a cape. No comment.) Hope you had fun, Ellen! March 24, 2006 – T-shirts Are a Different Kind of Poetry… The city of Austin has been so talked up by natives and visitors alike, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It is home to what is now my favorite independent favorite bookstore (thanks, BookPeople!). The staff were so helpful —even gave me a checklist of things to do during my “extended stay” (read: 2 days!) here. Amy’s ice cream, circle lake tour, Waterloo music, South Congress and all it has to offer (I could just set up camp in that store Uncommon Objects)… They didn’t even make (too much) fun of me when they saw me taking pictures of the sign outside that had my name on it—it’s one of those movie house display signs. So I felt like I was a movie star (until I remembered that I wasn’t). We had a fun Tee Party—a very creative bunch—and I got to meet a second cousin of mine who happens to live here! He showed me around the UT campus where he’s a professor, ate some local grub, and helped me check Amy’s ice cream (stop 1) off my to-do list. Yum. And, as if it couldn’t get any better… Today, my favorite poet/spoken word artist in the whole world, Saul Williams, happened to be doing an event at BookPeople for his new book, The Dead Emcee Scrolls. I told the folks at BookPeople I’d be back, and I there I was! The place was packed. Frame of reference: I had 30-plus in attendance for my event. Saul had 300-plus. But that’s Saul. Got to meet him afterwards—he signed my book, I signed a copy of Generation T for him, then I convinced him to take a picture with me under the BookPeople sign that displayed both our names. And THEN, he invited me to the show that night where he was opening for Nine Inch Nails. I know, a poet who opens for a mosh-pit, crowd-surfing scene show….it was insane! And I moshed it up with the best of them. Met up with everybody backstage, talked poetry (you see, I had another crush before my obsession with T-shirts, and it was poetry), and ate chocolate and dried mango. March 23, 2006 – Don't Mess A little reverse in my travels west had me cut back to San Antonio, TX (via Las Vegas, yet again!?) today. We had a super fun live segment this morning, where three hosts simultaneously transformed no-sew projects from the book—the Twisted Sister halter top, the Pleasantly Punk tee, and the Broken Hearted tee. Here are two of those ladies, looking positively delightful in their creations. But I didn't stop there. I Texas is a big state, and I had many a T-shirt to recycle, and as they say here, don’t mess. By the way, in case you cared to know, the phrase “Don’t Mess with Texas” was introduced as a slogan promoting environmentalism in the Lone Star State (i.e. “Don’t litter because that messes up our fine state.” But conveniently, they shortened it and made it catchier.) So in that spirit, pick a T-shirt up off the floor, and—don’t toss it!—reuse it. Save some space in that old landfill. Tee Party tonight in Austin! March 22, 2006 – The Crafty Chica A brief layover in Las Vegas (en route from Tampa), and I’m in Phoenix. After a slew of morning shows, I got to relax at a coffee shop to meet and chat with one of my very favorite crafty gals Kathy Cano Murillo (who, by the by, just came out with a new book—it’s called Art de la Soul—check it out!). She is, as I suspected, quite darling in person, and we discovered we both share an affinity for Frida. Now, getting ready for the Changing Hands Bookstore event, I’m looking forward to catching up with one of my best friends from growing up–Hannah and I were in playgroup together up in rural NH! Anyway, she was able to TiVo one of my morning appearances. How painful to watch oneself on screen. And I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been TiVo’d before. Weird to be TiVo’d. And what an enthusiastic crowd at Changing Hands—a number showed up to the Tee Party already sporting gussied up T-shirts…a skirt with a pleated ruffle, a tied up halter top…. And, apparently it’s a bookstore tradition to offer guests either a book or a T-shirt on their way out the door. The event coordinator didn’t even give me a choice. I’m so predictable… March 22, 2006 – Catch me if you can! What a schedule this tour has me on! I was off the plane at 9:15 a.m. yesterday and in a car by 9:30, on my way to a local live television segment that aired at 10:00! Yipes, we were cutting it close. After a few media pit stops, we made time for a few local secondhand clothing stores to stock up on some more tees for the live demos. Thrift store shopping—is this really part of my job?? Sweet! The B&N event last night was a whirlwind of fun—and the event coordinator herself was my lovely model for the day. I refashioned the Outer Lace tank top live for the audience—and people followed along in their seats. And what a turnout! We’re setting records all down the east coast. And, then, just as quickly as it started, I had to run out at 7:30 to catch a plane to the next city. At 7:37, I was hightailing it out the door—literally running. On my way out, though, I just had to stop at a table where a young lady was still working on her project. The whole evening I had seen her stitching away, off to the side, with her needle and thread…and sure enough, rather than follow along with the Outer Lace project I was demo’d for the rest of the group, she was tackling Cover Girl—the aptly named halter featured on the front cover! Congrats, little miss thang for coloring outside the lines. What an overachiever! PS: On the TV segment this morning, I shared the stage with a giant in the ice cream tasting business. Not only are this fellow’s taste buds insured for 1 million dollars (something like just over $900 per bud), but he invented the flavor Cookies ’n’ Cream (in 1982, in case you were curious). Unbelievable! March 20, 2006 - Welcome to Miami/Bienvenido à Miami! A nice mixed crowd of dudes and ladies came out to play tonight at Books & Books—arguably the hottest bookstore in all of Florida. Seriously, the architecture of the building is amazing. The store is arranged in a square with an outdoor café/bar in the center courtyard. After being there all of 15 minutes I announced that I had to live there. And I meant, literally, in the bookstore, surrounded by all those oh-so-romantic sliding ladders along the floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Amazing. And thanks to the few, the fierce who made it out to a bookstore on a Monday night (during spring break, no less)! A special shout-out to Melissa-transplanted-from-Brooklyn who gets the prize for the longest trek—she braved the public transport system (the what?!?) of the greater Miami area to make it out tonight. (I feel nothing but love for the F train after hearing her adventures.) Onward—next stop Tampa! March 19, 2006 - Next Stop Miami! I'm on tour with Generation T, refashioning T-shirts and hosting Tee Parties across the country. Check out the dates posted at the right, come on out, and bring a T-shirt (we'll provide the scissors)! We'd love to see you! Going from 40-degree weather in blustery New York to 80-degree weather in balmy Florida wasn't so bad at all—and I now have proof that it's actually T-shirt weather somewhere! We'll have a Tee Party tomorrow night, so everybody in the area, grab a T-shirt from the back of your closet and come on over—we'd love to have you for TEE! (Yes, I enjoy making that pun again and again...and again.) March 16, 2006 - A Brooklyn Tee Party Thanks to everyone who turned out in full force at the kick-off event for the Generation T book tour at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble! We rocked the house with a record-setting 77 people in attendance! My friend Sara was a fabulous model, as I refashioned her two-sizes-too-big boxy "I heart NY" shirt into a cute, fitted tank top. Folks followed along in the audience, and got to leave with some pretty hot party favors. Thanks everyone for being so supportive —what a great hometown crowd! I think that may just be the largest Tee Party yet. Of course, we've still got a few more cities to party it up in... February 21, 2006 - Swap-O-Rama-Rama After the massive and beautiful blizzard that hit NYC last weekend, the Swap-o-rama-rama at Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was rescheduled for Presidents Day. The giant clothing swap-plus-DIY fashion lost no momentum—it was a fascinating whirlwind of recycling, spring wardrobe shopping, screen-printing, sewing, and composting galore. I met a charming woman who runs a "Re-imagine Style" fashion design contest to celebrate Earth Day up in Ithaca, NY. (Check out her web site reimaginestyle.com to enter a recycled design -- hurry, deadline's almost here!) Also, a fellow from the Botanic Gardens taught us about composting your textiles. (So, next time you're wondering what to do with the T-shirt scraps you have left over from the skirt you made in Chapter 5, and you've exhausted the smaller accessories projects, don't throw them away! You could help fertilize a garden come spring!) And, of course, we had a very merry (and cozy) Tee Party on the stage. About 30 of you squeezed in to refashion an old T-shirt found among the piles of sorted clothes. At the end of the day, Wendy and Swap-O-Rama-Rama donated about 5,000 pounds of clothes! Good work, everybody. And, for all of you West Coasters, check out swaporamarama.org for details on the upcoming event at the end of April in San Fran! In the meantime, I'll try to post some of the photos I took at the Brooklyn event soon! January 29, 2006 - A Pre-party Tee Party Welcome to the Generation-T blog! Tonight I attended a party hosted by two of my dear friends to celebrate both a late New Year’s as well as their respective joblessness. It also happened to mark the date my book released from the warehouse (yes, I'm a dork, I mark these things on my calendar and daydream abut them incessantly). I imagined it something like the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when all the Wonka Bar-laden trucks leave the factory (in a gracefully choreographed and edited segment) bound for destinations across the land... Anyway, when I mentioned the significance of the January 28th date to my friends, they cheered the fact that we'd have yet another reason to toast... Little did I know, they had a little something up their T-shirt sleeves. When I showed up for the shindig, the girls were sporting projects they had made from an advance copy of Generation T—a little pre-party Tee Party. Very hot, ladies, very hot!