Rosey's Covid-19 Diary: #Adulting | Taxes Filed | Yard Fun | Boy Girl Party Offers Self Care Gifts | Hijas de Maiz | Chicano Nuevo

I was completely off the news cycle today. It was more of the same---states reopening, spikes in national cases, nearly 3,000 new deaths nationwide in 24 hours, covidiots protesting and flouting the laws and guidelines. Instead, we hung tight at home. I super-slept in because my bed felt so nice, then I buckled down and filed my 2019 taxes. My personal financial health has always been one of my biggest personal flaws. My dad worked in finance for over 30 years in the government, still I've always felt so poor and uneducated in this area for so long. So it was a nice little gratification to deal with that one portion at least. Props to free filing at TaxAct which seamlessly navigated me through W-2s, 1099s, and deductions. Going to still have to deal with past issues and whatnot, but as Erika Jayne said in a recent RHOBH episode, problems have a way of getting bigger the longer you avoid them. So while my plans to buy a new fancy camera are put off indefinitely, I feel a little better that I won't wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweat tax nightmares.

Once that was done, we played in the backyard. A little volleyball, then some football. My dear friend Jeff dropped by with some goods for the 'speakeasy'-- some Alpine beer, a bottle of Bulleit Rye, some ginger ale, the new Heavy Hawaii and Hazel English albums, and some gum for the kiddo. Then we made a nice dinner of links, corn on the cob, and sauteed baby bellas. It was definitely a good day and my spirits are up. Now I'm in the speakeasy with Darren having some cocktails and we're trying to decide if we should keep the smaller window A/C unit or set up the larger one we were gifted. Absolutely feeling 'hashtag blessed' at the moment. We'll eventually start getting out of the house for some time at a park or the coast or a bike ride, but we're just waiting for the weekend to pass and see how things suss out. For now, the backyard will serve us just fine. I'll share a couple links after the jump just for good measure.

Wednesday: "Extinction: Gone The Way of the Dodo" Art Opening/Reception @ Blind Lady

I'm going to sound like a broken record in telling you that there is so much going on this week because of Comic-Con, in spite of Comic-Con, and just because it's summer in San Diego. For those of you who want nothing to do with the convention center or who won't be participating in preview night, my friend Susie Ghahremani has an art opening at Blind Lady (as if you need an excuse to go to Blind Lady). She's the artist behind Boy Girl Party and she's an awesome illustrator and painter. This show is a collaboration with Irene Stone who has taken Susie's portraits of extinct species and turned them into cross-stich renderings. I've always loved Susie's style and whimsy and I think you will, too. The art will be on display through July 18, but tonight is the reception with both artists on hand to chat.

Local Author Zohreh Ghahremani Nominated for KPBS' One Book, One San Diego

My amazing artist friend Susie, of BoyGirlParty, sent me this email from her sister Lilly. I would like to share it with you and it takes less than 30 seconds to vote. The short of it is that her mom's novel, Sky of Red Poppies, is a finalist for KPBS' One Book, One San Diego contest. Click here to vote.

I am proud to be the first to tell you that SKY OF RED POPPIES, my mom's debut novel (based on a true story), was announced today as a finalist for KPBS's One Book, One San Diego!

Having seen this book grow as she reworked it over the past 20+ years, I'm sure you can imagine how thrilled we are. However, the final step involves a public vote: this is where you come in!

If you could take a moment to please vote for SKY OF RED POPPIES on the KPBS website, we stand to make one author's dreams come true.

http://kpbs.org/one-book/

Whether you vote for her because:

1) this is the only finalist novel written by a local author
2) this book has been the little engine that could and you want to see its continued success
3) you believe in promoting Persian literature
4) you believe in promoting really cute little Persian authors
5) you believe in promoting underrepresented points of view (Iranian. woman. prisoner. need I say more?)
6) you have tasted my mom's cooking
7) you really, really don't want to get back to your work email
8) you like the cover
9) you are impressed they got the spelling right on her last name

Whatever your reason, I hope you will take one moment to click and vote, and possibly change her life forever.

Many thanks for your time and for anyone you choose to forward this to!!!

Love,
Lilly

San Diego Artist Heads To New York

I'm not really sure exactly when I met Susie, but I'm pretty sure it was through Twitter (@boygirlparty) after I bought a phone from her brother (@spinecraft). Susie Gharameni is a resident of Normal Heights and is just an all around awesome person, but her art is phenomenal. The art has overlying simplicity but is truly meticulous and complex. Her site has beautiful gifts, so much so that some asshole stationary company tried to bite her style. She's been featured all over the place, in design mags and on the front page of Etsy and most recently in Real Simple, and this weekend she'll have 50 paintings at the Giant Robot New York gallery. You can check out some pictures of a few of the pieces here.

I know most of this info probably doesn't help my friends in San Diego, I happen to know a few people living in NYC who should check out the show. Plus you can buy her goods anytime you want from her online shop.

For the full press release, click 'keep on reading'.


Giant Robot is proud to present Out and About, featuring new works by Kelly Tunstall and Susie Ghahremani.

Kelly Tunstall's experimental yet classically grounded portraits of stylized, leggy female figures with their pets, prey, and powers live in a captivating space between concrete reality and the dreamscapes of the supernatural. Integrating graphic expression, stylized representation, surrealism, and sketch, the California College of Arts and Crafts graduate has shown her work in galleries across America, Europe, and Japan.

For Out and About, Tunstall promises 20 to 30 original works capturing the magic of the mundane, with stylized representations of the people she encounters in her everyday life--"all ladies and most wearing fabulous necklaces." Using acrylic, pencil, pen, and ink, Tunstall explores the charming incongruities of the modern and not-so-modern woman.

Susie Ghahremani creates patchwork-inspired illustrations that are simple in design, complex in execution, and all-around pleasing to the eye. In addition to making two-dimensional art, she crafts tote bags, buttons, wallets, stationery, and other goodies. The RISD graduate has contributed work to Nickelodeon, Chronicle Books, and The New York Times, and was featured in the 2010 The Exquisite Book art book.

Inspired by patterns, crafts, and the natural world, Susie is creating super-detailed works for the show. Including a series of framed works, miniatures, and a few paintings on wood, the cool, retro-colored collection will also feature paintings from Susie’s recent stationery collection with Chronicle Books.

Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, as well as an online equivalent.

A reception for the artists will be held from 6:30 - 10:00 on Saturday, September 4.