Mar 17, 2011

Look, Ma, I'm teaching!


Loyal readers, all sorts of exciting news today.  First, I'm delighted to announce that at this very moment I am blogging directly from my bed.  That's right, friends, my home internet service has been restored and I couldn't be happier.

Though I never want to even smell another bagel ever again, I would like to thank the kind staff at Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company for allowing me to type away for hours on end for nearly a week, all at the cost of a daily cup of coffee.  You're the best!

And now some even more exciting news...

Starting in May I'm going to be teaching!  (Sewing -- not men's grooming)  I'll have much more information shortly but it looks like I'll be offering three month-long elementary and intermediate-level classes in men's clothing construction.  Nothing's written in stone yet, but the Play-Doh is hardening.

Live teaching is exactly what I want to be doing now, though my longer term goal, as you already know, is to have my own sewing/musical-comedy variety TV show -- a cross between This Old House and Donny and Marie.  I just hope it happens while Steve and Eydie are still kicking, and will someone please get Charo on the phone?

It's going to happen, I just know it.  I'm doing my daily visualizations.  Are you?

Friends, sometimes I wonder how many of you know what I'm talking about.  I mean, I know you're reading and all, but I fear some of my younger followers, as well as those on other continents, are often at a near-total loss.  Google Analytics assures me I'm a favorite among the Pygmy and !Kung tribes, but do they get the jokes?

Finally, I want to apologize publicly for yesterday's epitaph to the secretary which, based on your passionate comments, was clearly premature.  I also learned why so many of my followers have time to read blogs in the middle of the day.

Administrative assistants, office managers, and other committed team members, you are appreciated -- and I take mine black, no sugar, please.


I'm keeping it short today but I wanted once again to thank all of you for your ongoing support and encouragement.  I couldn't do it without you.

Have a great day, everybody!


Picture something like this...but with sewing machines.




4 PM UPDATE: If you're craving more, read my latest article over at BurdaStyle (reworked from an earlier MPB blog post).

29 comments:

  1. Man! Too early in the morning to watch that Charo video!!! My eyeballs almost exploded!
    Congrats on your sewing job....but I have a question: are you giving up your day job? And yes, being the same age as you I get all your references and howl when reading them...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Having recently turned 40 (and having trouble coming to terms with writing that down), but residing in the Antipodes, I get probably about half of your cultural references. But when they sound interesting enough I am keen to learn. Like... Charo... WTF?
    Congrats on the teaching gig! If your students behave really well, do they get free time playing with the Vinyls before hometime?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just looked at the link to the bagel shop. Important Question: do the bagels have holes in the middle? Bagels in Australia are distinctly donut-shaped with prominent holes. But maybe we have it all wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane..yes bagels have holes here too. Especially in Brooklyn.

    What exciting news. I hear Charo saying what a "hootchie cootchie hot thing you are".

    Carry on and continue to make us love sewing and laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, Peter! Charo! I can't wait to see you in your own sewing variety show! And I'm soooo excited to hear that you're teaching. I've often wondered what your "day job" was, and now I know.

    I do get your humor, but I'm afraid I have to explain some of it to mom. Yes, I read your blog to mom as well as Michael's. I wish she'd join the 90's and get a computer, but she enjoys you quite a bit and ususally calls several times a day if you are late posting. I have had to print out the pics of Cathy, who she says is a very handsome woman but who should smile more.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on your new sewing job! Is it instead of your normal day-job (i.e. a career change) or a fun-to-do addition too it please(just curious LOL!)?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Whether or not one gets the jokes, your blog is a goldmine of inspiration. For example, I think Charo's outfit could be interpreted for athletic wear. I know it would impress my Zumba classmates.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think whenever you do your sewing-variety show, you should totally show us how to make jumpsuits with beaded fringe. I found the fringe strangely mesmerizing when combined with the extreme flair of the pants... lol.

    Congrats on the news about teaching some sewing classes! How exciting! Once again I totally wish I lived somewhere closer so I could actually go to these sorts of things. Can't wait to hear more about it!!! :D

    ♥ Casey

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Peter, I could not think about you when I saw that :

    http://storage.canalblog.com/93/98/143564/62845829.jpg

    You definitely will have to come to Paris....

    T

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats, Peter! You'll make a MARVELOUS teacher.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks, guys! Holes in bagels -- that made me laugh.

    Yes, yes, lots of fringe on my show!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congrats on your teaching job!!! You're going to be a wonderful teacher!

    I love that Charo clip. When you have your own show Cathy will have to make an appearance in an outfit like that... I think she could pull it off.

    ("pull it off" as in she can make it work, not pull it off her body, that's another show)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats on your teaching job Peter! You will be "extraordinary"
    Terry

    ReplyDelete
  14. peter! where is charo these days? we don't get enough of her anymore. best of luck to you. if only PBS would give you a show... their sewing programs are lame-o.

    ReplyDelete
  15. My dad had a "thing" for Charo (and Raquel Welch … and pretty much every woman who was … er … "gifted"), and I get all of your references to the pop culture stuff from our childhood since we're the same age, but when you wander into the older b/w movies, you lose me on the specifics. But that only means you're already teaching. ;-)

    If you give up on bagels, NYC will want its membership card back.

    ReplyDelete
  16. So happy for you Peter. Keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You will be a great teacher. And yes, I get all your references from the late 60's and forward. (Mr. Mooney!) But I never watched those old black & white movies.

    I remember being very puzzled about why Charo was on all those variety shows. I guess I was too young to recognize her "gifts". :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congratulations on home internet, teaching, and bagel free-ness!

    I fear I don't catch a lot of the pop culture references, but that probably has more to do with my hazy connection to mainstream anything...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congratulations on your new job!!! You are my sewing teacher online, but now is official. Ahhhh and congrats on your article in Burdastyle!.
    And about Charo: I am latina (from Venezuela) and every time I watch Charo I think: "from what country is that woman??? She does NOT speak like us heheeheheh!". Well, stereotypes.....

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congratulations, Peter!!! That's wonderful news!! Taking one of your classes would definitely be worth the road trip from Canada. :)

    I was a medical secretary for 12 years and I enjoyed your post yesterday. Made me a bit nostalgic for the office days.... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ooh teaching sounds exciting! And I'm sure you'll make learning a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congratulations on the teching gig!!

    I don't get all your references, but like Jane I'm antipodean. I'm also younger and had a relatively sheltered upbringing so that probably contributes too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Congrats on the teaching. If I lived in NY, I'd be signing up in a flash!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I wish you much success with teaching. I think teaching is fun. I will get back to blogging about the time I get back to teaching.

    ReplyDelete
  25. That's wonderful news about the teaching opportunity, Peter! I don't get maybe half of your references but I still get a chuckle out of the rest!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Congratulations on the teaching gig!

    ReplyDelete
  27. As a History Geek with a Thing for old movies I don't think I've missed anything *so far*...but I trust you'll come up with something...

    And congratulations on your teaching gig! You'll be wonderful at it and enjoy it immensely, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations Peter. Now will you become the kind of teacher that Robert Donat portrayed in 'Goodbye Mr Chips', or would you rather emulate Sydney Poitier in 'To Sir With Love'? Sewing-teacher movies; that's a genre we NEED!

    ReplyDelete
  29. May I suggest you re-create Charo's sequin/fringe jumpsuit for your next MPB sew along project? I could get on board with that.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.