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jenn schiffer's live laugh blog

weekly retro: spider feet have hydraulics

i just got back from a dentist appointment where i found out, unfortunately but not surprisingly, that i'm going to have to spend about 5 billion dollars to take care of a tooth infection. enough about this week, though, let's talk about last week.

photo of the sandwich board outside wonderville announcing robot karaoke was happening that evening

we were back at wonderville on monday. there weren't many folks leading up to show time, but i correctly predicted that within 20 minutes the place would be both hopping and bopping.

photo of the wonderville stage during robot karaoke, where someone is singing spider facts to the tune of killing in the name of. the lyrics repeating are "spider feet have hydraulics" in place of "some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses"

i am not trying to fuel more fighting within our continent but i gotta say that at pretty much every show, the first and/or most enthusiastic singers in the queue have consistently been canadian. there were at least three people named some version of "alex" - and that was just in the queue. jamie and i love all of you like you are our own neglected children in a bar.

photo of dried up pinkish foam on the gate of a subway station and it looks like krang from teenage mutant ninja turtles

i met krang on the way home. nyc is truly a big city in a small world.

photo of a patch of bright purple flowers. they may be irises, i cannot tell

the weather most of the week was shitty, rainy, both cold and hot. by thursday, even my aerial yoga instructor was venting about not seeing the sun in so long.

photo of dinner the other night: two plates with white rice, broccoli and buffalo tempeh covered in hot sauce

have you had tempeh before? buy some and cut them into strips. dip in some kind of alt milk (i use almond) then coat in corn starch that you've thrown a bunch of spices into - garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne, chili powder, etc. fry in oil until they are brown, drain on a paper towel, and then coat in frank's hot sauce. serve with rice and some green vegetable.

photo of two coke zero cans on my desk that were customized to say "Peanut" on them

i learned this week that you can buy custom coke zero cans with your partner's video game character on it as a funny bit.

photo of a large, gorgeous hot pink rose

the roses in the neighborhood have been blooming and looking really nice. i spent over 20 hours on the computer this week updating this blog's software and migrating it to a different host - but i have no photos to prove that, just lots of roses. if you see anything broken around this site over the next couple of weeks, pretend you didn't!

photo of a bunch of beautiful lavender roses

i think these lavender roses are my favorite. i walked by these on the way to the city for therapy. the nj transit strike had started that day and even the mid-day PATH trains were packed. it sounds like things should be running back to normal tomorrow, and i truly hope the union got what they needed and wanted. there's no doubt, especially after last week, that they are foundational to this entire area running.

mirror selfie of the back of my head as i was checking how my hair looked

here's a selfie of the back of my head. it had gotten so hot and muggy out at the end of the week, i needed to pull my hair back with my kerchief. i'm due for a haircut soon - i should ask my dentist if they also do bang trims.

things i enjoyed this week

  • the first issue of the internet phonebook is out. it's sold out online but there are some stores around earth where you may be able to get a copy. i'm a huge fan of this project and was stoked to be included inside.
  • prisonculture's latest newsletter on public libraries is a must-read whether you already believe in the importance of public libraries or not. the call to action for leftists to truly use and involve the library in organizing is a good one.
  • my main takeaway from this clip of the last njtransit strike in 1983 was that our buses were once ahead of their time as far as looks go - but then they just...never changed lol?

tomorrow i begin my 3-phase treatment to take care of this tooth infection, so next week's retro may just be "aaahh AHhhh aahgglglglg". wish me luck and a successful insurance claim!

xoxo jenn

this was published May 19, 2025 under living laughing working weekly-retro jersey-city nyc robot-karaoke flowers