Not wanting to feel entirely out of place for the Robert Burns Dinner, my friend and I spent the afternoon searching second-hand stores for tartans. We had the best time trying on every color combination and fashion of tic-tac-toe fabric you could imagine. Plaid pants are a riot! And, after all the racks were scoured, we came out looking like two tasty tartan tarts, if I say so myself. We settled on the very standard, if not traditional, black and white, already having fitting accessories. Every girl has black tights, shoes, and a turtleneck. And I even found one of

The SPAS Gallery at RIT is on the opposite side of the breezeway from the Bevier Gallery, which is the one I’ve been to. Before even getting to the gallery, I was diverted by the photos from the school’s archives that line the halls. All blown-up black and whites from back when men wore suits and the very few women wore dresses to school. Then there were the Psychotic Shootout 2008 winners (cool!), and the student advertising shots of peeps in their skivvies. After all that viewing pleasure, I found out I was on the wrong floor.Up one floor in

I'm not much for poetry, although I do like hearing the occasional apropos quote. But, I wouldn't define Peter Cook and partner Kenny Lerner's "Flying Words Project" at RIT's Webb Auditorium on February 2 as singularly as the word "poetry" suggests. It's more like performance art incorporating stand-up comedy, theatrical dramatics, and audience participation, all under a poetry umbrella.Cook, who is deaf, presents his work accompanied by Lerner, who is hearing. Or maybe that's deaf-disabled, as illustrated by the stories Cook shared whereby Lerner's hearing was indeed a disability, like sleeping in the hotel room closest to the ice machine. Cook

I'll preface this with the fact that Tribeca isn't my sort of spot. And I don't think many, if any, of the suits present at the VIP opening on Friday, February 8, will be returning. It surely doesn't seem to be the sort of place you'd run into Mayor Duffy ever again. But, if it were my sort of spot, I'd be pleased. It serves up every flash and fashion a meat-marketing discotheque should have, from its projection of geometric designs above the main bar to its water falling bowl-shaped sinks in the ladies room.Getting into the place was a

After my late night of partying at Tribeca, I wasn't really in top form to get up early Saturday and drive to Charlotte for the Lakeside Winter Celebration. But I did. And I made my friend come with me. Misery loves company.I'm almost embarrassed to write this, but being the calendar gal, which means usually being in three different weeks at any given time, I'm giving myself a break. One mess up in a year and a half is forgivable. The first clue was the parking lot: empty. So then we drove to the bath house where a big sign

Not having true loves to bestow our amore upon, my two friends and I began the night with a Valentine of our dreams -- Johnny Depp. At the Cinema neither Johnny as the vengeful barber or Princess as the Kitty had any objections to being our Valentines, at least none that we heard. We then hit Lux to drown in our sorrows. Not really, but I've always liked that metaphor.We arrived a bit after 9 p.m. As we walked in there was a red furry box with gold trim and black bead tassels with a sign reading, "Pick a Chip & Win!" We

I think every student who spent the semester at RIT's satellite in Croatia was there for the Friday, February 15, opening of "Photography in Dubrovnik." Gallery r was stuffed. Overstuffed. It literally was difficult to move and almost impossible to see all the photos. Forget about carrying a glass of wine. The photos, of course, are wonderful, like looking through one of those "Day in the Life" books that I always ask for as presents and never get. Hint, hint. And, like rereading a book, I'll have to go back again because it really was overstuffed.

Tickets for the Upper Strong Auditorium were sold out for Bill Nye the Science Guy on Thursday, February 21. After I assured the event's peep that I wasn't some "random blogger" from the internet -- something my City Press Pass failed to do -- I was escorted down to the Lower Aud to watch the simulcast. My intern, on the other hand, walked right in with no ticket, no credentials, and carrying a camera. He said they probably thought he was a photog for the event, but I doubt that, as they announced about four times - LOUDLY - there

We saw the searchlights stroking the sky before we got to the George Eastman House for its 2008 Academy Awards Party. As we pulled up to the University Avenue entrance as instructed, the presence of flashing police cars was a bit unsettling, until we realized they were there for us, the beautiful people. As we waited in the car putting the finishing touches on our make-up and watching the valet guys running to and fro, our excitement began to build. Pulling up, our doors were opened and we were helped out of our seats, with wishes of a good evening as we were led to the