Aside from the Nine to Five

I love ImprovEverywhere.

Late last year I had a pow-wow with Jason, and we decided to pitch making a subway platform into an art gallery to the wonderful ImprovEverywhere people. Charlie Todd thought it sounded fun, and we all put it together. I wrote the art descriptions (except for Jason’s “Convergence”) and had a blast. Here’s one of my favorites:

“Telephone Line (2002)

Metropolitan Transit Authority in collaboration with Telecom

This homage to the urgency of communication is meant to highlight the recent necessity, from instant to instant, to maintain the potential for instantaneous, world-wide contact from any location, at any time. That a conversation from such a location would be abruptly interrupted by an arriving train suggests the artist’s intent to lampoon the perceived dependence on telecommunication.”

Why do portapotties tend toward puns?

Macaroni and Cheese Cupcakes

There was a ‘Smacdown competition in Williamsburg, and I figured I would combine a few of my favorite things: Cupcakes, Guinness, and Mac ‘n Cheese. It sort of worked. The cupcakes are adapted from this recipe:

http://www.bigcitylittlekitchen.com/2007/07/06/beer-cupcakes/

with loads of additional cheese and some pasta noodles. The frosting is a cream-cheese base with a huge amount of cheddar cheese and a packet or two of Kraft cheese powder. These were… interesting. I decided not to enter them in the competition after my tummy started aching post-tasting. Combining sweet and savory in one cupcake may have been too ambitious!

ProPants 2k9: Free Pants Test

This year we decided to do ProPants a bit differently. We set up a couple of ProPants tables in the style of the Free Stress Tests offered by Scientologists. We made Questionnaires to help people tell if they needed pants, made pamphlets about the wonders of pants, and had free pants for people to try on. It was freezing cold, but loads of people played along with us. They improved their hearts out, trying on pants, filling out tests, and reading our informational leaflets with a straight face. Thank you, No Pants attendees. We loved playing with you!

Jason has a detailed write-up here: http://jasoneppink.com/propants/2009/

I made penguin cupcakes!

They’re part cupcake, part donut hole, part marshmallow, part cookie, and all delicious!

(Recipe from this awesome book: http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Cupcake-Irresistibly-Playful-Creations/dp/0618829253 )

Mailing Experiment #2: Great Expectations

Seeing what the US Postal Service is willing to process is a fun game.

I did use packing tape over the edge to hold the book shut. Let’s see if this makes it from Denver to Astoria!

Mailing Experiment #1: Silver Platter

This dollar store purchase was left over after a recent prank. Jason lives an hour awayby subway, so I figured I would mail this back to him. But I didn’t have a box. So, I just stamped it and dropped it in a mailbox. Will it make it?

***11/25/08: Update: IT MADE IT! http://flickr.com/photos/jasoneppink/3055770541/in/photostream/

After 10 days? Very mysterious.

And to think I almost stayed home!

In a totally out of character move, I wasn’t going to do anything for the Halloween Parade this year! I made a set of Halloween Parade bingo cards, but wasn’t feeling too hot when it came parade time. By the time I got home, I was reenergizing and threw together a costume made entirely of striped clothes I had in my closet. Jason and a few friends met up with me, and we went in search of the Danger’s parade.