Summer school

NY Mag published a list of seventeen summer classes, ranging from burlesque dancing to herb gardening. If you're bored with your day job or are in the market for some new dinner-table conversation, check out the options here. I'd like to add one more to the list: the JCC's cooking classes, some of which are being taught by my very talented friend Galee Kalikow (she's only 19!). Get your learn on, New York.

TWSS

Before Michael Scott, it appears Alfred Hitchcock was the king of sexual innuendo and double entendre. The first known recording of a "That's what she said" quip (the old-school version apparently being "as the girl said to the soldier") came during a sound test for Hitchcock's 1929 film, Blackmail. With a surname like that, no wonder he can crack a pervy joke.

Word nerd

Remember flipping through SAT flashcards? I can still see harbinger written in scary red letters ("a sign of bad things to come"). I tried "word of the day" for a while ... it didn't stick.

Working in publishing, it's easy to fall into the trap of dialectic snobbery, but this list of 2010's most frequently looked-up words on NYTimes.com schooled me good. Minus maybe eight or so, every one of these entries is a new addition to my vocabulary.

I will be spending my weekend seeking out ways to use profligacy in a sentence. I suggest you do the same.

Wedding bells

One of my co-workers got engaged last night, so today has been filled with girly giggles and warm & fuzzies. A warning to my male readers: you might want to skip today's post (if I'm not mistaken, the marriage thing doesn't inspire swoons for those equipped with boy-parts).
So, to satiate your romantic side (spring is in the air, after all), here are two very sweet wedding-related pieces.

An engaged couple was gathering photos in preparation for their upcoming wedding when they noticed something in one of the bride-to-be's childhood snapshots: they were both at Disneyland on the same day, twenty years ago! The photo shows a man in the background pushing a stroller with a toddler inside. That man was the bridegroom's father, and the boy in the stroller was none other than little baby groom-to-be. Cue "aww" sound here:
And now for something completely different: a wacky, wacky man proposed to his woman in Madison Square Park on Monday, and he didn't hold anything back. I can't decide whether this is completely mortifying or totally adorable.

Museum on the moon

Did NASA plant a top-secret, teeny-tiny art museum on the moon 40 years ago? The PBS series History Detectives investigates the case in its season eight premiere episode, airing June 21. A miniature ceramic chip embedded with sketches by artists such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and Robert Rauschenberg (pictured) may have been stowed away on the Apollo 12 vehicle launched in November of 1969. The artist who dreamed up the project, Forrest "Frosty" Myers, had a dream "to get six great artists together and make a tiny little museum that would be on the moon." Far out!

And speaking of art museums ... the 32nd Annual Museum Mile Festival is tonight from 6-9pm. This mile-long, traffic-free block party grants free entrance to nine of America's finest museums, all along Fifth Ave.

Retro renegade

If it's feeling like one of those Mondays to anyone else but me, I have something to share that should blast the doldrums from your desk (provided you have a set of headphones). My brother recently returned from a semester in Barcelona, and has just finished his second half-hour demo tape that, sibling obligation completely aside, I think is pretty freaking rad. The jumped-up jams mix old and new school (think Jay-Z and Johnny Cash) and blend the badass with the downright bizarre.

Download here, check out more of his beats, mash-ups and photos here, and if you want to hire this young gun for the summer, he's available for everything from Photoshop tutorials to poolboy duties.

Say cheese

Happy National Cheese day! Go to Zabar's for some free samples and cooking and pairing tips from Beemster Graskaas gourmet cheese reps (the UWS store will be rolling out the world's largest wheel of this Dutch springtime specialty). Seasonal dairy - what could be better?

Quilting bees

These rare, solitary Turkish bees use flower petals to build their nests, resulting in colorful quilt-like cocoons that are like teeny little works of art.
How very Martha of them!

Lazerproof

Redheaded synth-pop princess Elly Jackson of La Roux has teamed up with Major Lazer (comprised of dancehall DJ duo Switch and Diplo) for a free mixtape called Lazerproof. The name is a combo of Major Lazer and La Roux's single, "Bullet Proof." With Jamaican-inspired blends and dubplates, and a star-studded guest list that includes the likes of Drake, Gucci Mane, and Amanda Blank, it's no surprise that Diplo has done it again. The Floridian mixmaster is a true musical savant - not that Jackson isn't utterly breathtaking on her own, but he knows what to exactly how much space to give to allow her unusual, breathy pout to shine. Lazerproof does for La Roux what Top Ranking did for Santigold, and what Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 did for M.I.A.

Speaking of M.I.A., whose latest effort feels show-offy and ultimately unoriginal - maybe she needs some help from ex-flame Diplo once again. Not to say girlfriend deserved that nasty blast of a NY Times mag article, but it does feel like she's lost a bit of her je ne sais quoi.

Cop Lazerproof fo' free at the Mad Decent site.

Your summer calendar is here

This is going to be a short post, both because there's enough in one link to last you more than a few procrastinatory hours, and because this blessedly abbreviated week means more work in less time. Without further ado, I present Vanity Fair's infamous all-access guide to all things summer in NY - the 2010 edition.

Also, I kind of love this Summer Goals blog. Working on my own - so far I've got: a tan, a positive balance in my bank account, and a functioning liver. What are yours?