All Over Albany

Holiday wish list: Laura Glazer

The holiday season is a time for making wish lists, and shopping lists. In an effort to help you with both, we're asking a handful of people what's on their local holiday wish list this year.

Today's wish list comes from artist and Hello Pretty City host Laura Glazer.

Albany gives me many gifts everyday: architecture to admire, sincere friends who fill me with love, good radio stations, and mountain ranges that remind me of growing up in Virginia. These little items below are nifty, but they can't come close to outshining but my biggest wish that already came true: to live in a place that I love and makes me feel loved back.

A record player
And a wad of cash that magically appears in my hand as I walk down Lark Street to Fuzz Records where I would buy some of my favorite 2012 albums to listen to forever:
Lower Dens: Nootropics
Beach House: Bloom
Father John Misty: Fear Fun
Grimes: Visions
Damien Jurado: Maraqopa
Michael Kiwanuka: Home Again
Shearwater: Animal Joy
Sharon Van Etten: Tramp

A lovely necklace from local Etsy seller Sage And Brass.
She attaches crystals to used bullet shells and I can't take my eyes off of them. Each one seems to tell its own story that I'd love to wear around my neck and listen to.

Nikki McClure calendar
2012 was the first year I didn't use this calendar and the days just weren't the same for me. The simple messages on each page combined with the elegance of her papercut illustrations are inspiring and calming.

These new Modern Art in America stamps!
Putting a pretty stamp on the envelope is my favorite part of sending a letter and these new stamps will turn mailboxes into a mini gallery.

Tote bag that says "Troy Cloth & Paper"
This item encompasses some of my favorite things in life: paper, bags, city love, and cloth. It's designed and printed by Design It Together in downtown Troy. Someday soon I know I'll be there using their print-it-yourself screenprinting lab to make my own shirts and bags. (Maybe I'll make some that say "Hello Pretty City!")

Sign Painters book
Staring at fading letters on signs in downtown Albany thrills me. I always wonder how it feels to be a person who can make those marks and this book about professional sign painters may answer my questions. The more I think about it, the more I realize I probably shouldn't even own it because I'll be so excited to dream about the pictures that I won't be able to concentrate on reading it!

An excessive amount of time to daydream at Red Chair on Warren in Hudson
There is so much sensuality, utility, and visual feasting in this store that being there magically clears fog from my brain. I go home re-inspired to admire and use the simple things in my collections. (Their sachet pillows stuffed with lavender and made from vintage French linens are the most perfect little gift!)

A red Tivoli radio
I'll put this radio on my bedside table so I can listen to WEXT any time, day or night!

Poster for the exhibit at the New York State Museum
"Subway" by Lily Furedi is the image on the poster for "1934: A New Deal for Artists", which is at the museum until January 20, 2013. I think I'll go there tomorrow to stare it at some more.

Laura Glazer is the host of Hello Pretty City, a radio show on Sunday nights from 8-10 pm on Exit 97.7 FM WEXT. The show celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2013 and a big ol' party is the works. She's also spent the past three years photographing Phillip, a man who's handwriting the bible -- he'll finish doing so in early 2013.

More holiday wish lists from this year:
+ Duncan Crary
+ Laura McCarthy
+ Jim Larson
+ Jenny Witte
+ Deanna Fox
+ Tim Dawkins
+ Kate Welshofer and AnchorCat Brian Williams

+ Holiday wish lists from 2011