Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

I feel like I have wings but my bones are bricks.

Skim is a graphic novel that follows “Skim,” a Japanese-Canadian “not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth” girl at a private girls’ school. Mariko Tamaki captures the mundane, everyday, secret things that shape people’s high school experiences; Jillian Tamaki’s sketchy lines and textures make the characters imperfect and real. Skim is about how friendships and people change. It’s about feeling awkward and confused, learning what you want and wanting what you can’t have. It’s about how high school and life shouldn’t be about fitting in, but accepting the space you make for yourself.

Sometimes when I read stories set in high school, I feel like I’m on the outside looking in, watching someone else grow up. Reading Skim, I watched myself grow up.

New York: Thai Iced Tea Thrills at TUE Thai Food

My friends and I were in the West Village with less than an hour to eat dinner and a $10 budget each. After walking by a few crowded and pricey places, we stumbled upon TUE Thai Food.

I figured I’d wolf down some pad Thai and be on my way. I wasn’t expecting the best Thai iced tea presentation ever:

I have an affinity for mason jar glasses. Most restaurants only use them to serve lemonade or regular iced tea. Once, I had mason jar bubble tea — now that was an exciting day.

The self-pouring and mixing process also added to my beverage experience.

And voilà! Thrills and chills!

Oh right, the food was pretty good too; once we were seated, service was fast. The Thai iced tea pushed my total over $10, but I couldn’t turn down a mason jar.

TUE Thai Food
3 Greenwich Avenue (between Christopher St. and 10th St.)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 929-9888

New York: Brunch at Peels

Peels, a restaurant from the folks behind Freemans, opened a few months ago on the Bowery.

Upstairs it’s sunny and spacious with booths and long tables; our party of six fit comfortably in a corner booth. I felt like I was eating in someone’s chic country kitchen.

Almost everyone ordered the make your own breakfast sandwich “build-a-biscuit.” Possible fillings are scrambled eggs, bacon, country ham, sausage, and four kinds of cheese.

A scrambled eggs and sausage combo.

The vegetarian build-a-biscuit, with just scrambled eggs and cheese.

I got the flap jacks — buttermilk pancakes with fruit compote.

The accompanying maple syrup slayed me with its cuteness.

The flap jacks were on the thin side. Good, but not memorable.

A side of shredded hash browns.

Peels Breakfast: fried eggs, house smoked bacon, toast. My friend liked her dish, but after seeing everyone else’s orders, she wished she got a build-a-biscuit instead.

A buttery pecan sticky bun. The pastry case on the ground floor offers all their baked goods plus sandwiches and beverages (like Stumptown coffee) for take out.

Peels
325 Bowery (corner of 2nd St.)
New York, NY 10003
(646) 602-7015

The NY Art Book Fair 2010 at MoMA PS1

Last weekend was the fifth annual NY Art Book Fair, a free event at MoMA PS1 in Queens.

My friend renamed it the Tote Bag Convention; there were tote bags galore, for sale and in use.

Hand-embroidered book clutches by Olympia Le-Tan.

When you turned a crank on the other side of this wooden book, the shoes “walked.”

Mugs at the Art Metropole table.

Keeping with the theme of the Fair, I bought a Nieves Books tote bag, a Vampire Rules zine, and Rome-antic Delusions.