Seattle

I miss my city. Luckily, I'm headed home in just a few days! Don't have any anticipation of seeing the market, but it is lovely to look at.

Christmas #3

Been a long time since my last post. Still recovering from finals and GRE nightmares. This installment of the Christmas pics is a wonderful snowball fight in Times Square. Those east coasters are at least attempting to make the best of their horrible snowstormy weather.

Christmas #2

Though not strictly a "Christmas" image, it still evokes thoughts of chilled Norwegian winters and sleigh rides. This is the Fantoft Stave church in Bergen, Norway. The church was built around the year 1150, and burned down by a Norwegian black metal band in 1992. Thankfully it has been fully restored. An image of the church post-burning was used for the cover of black metal band Burzum's album "Aske" (ashes).

For Christmas #1

Trying to find weird and cool Christmas pictures to post (one a day) until the holiday arrives. (I *love* Christmas, and am about to rush out to get my tree in a few moments. Will post pictures of its glory later.)

First up:

Mr. T and first lady Nancy Reagan. A Christmas memory we shall never forget.

Also...

Found this wicked bed. Doesn't quite knock the racecar bed from my top choices in retro-chic bedframes, but very high up there indeed. Reminded me of Caitlin.

Be Adam

I wish I could see this in person.

Recreation of the Sistine Chapel ceiling on the side of an elevator puts you in the role of Adam! My dream come true!

What I'm Reading

Just finished two books this week--Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. I know it sounds like an odd combination, but if you know me you'll see how fitting it is. I'd never read either of these texts, though I've sorely wanted to for some time. Thompson's text made me feel...kind of like I was crazy or delirious. His language is harsh and lovely, and I've certainly found what is to be "my" quote for some time to come:

"A flashing of Knives and Green Water"

and also perhaps (in a different context):

It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era — the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run... but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant... 

History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of 'history' it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time — and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened

My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights — or very early mornings — when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour... booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turnoff to take when I got to the other end... but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: no doubt at all about that...

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda... You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning...

And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply PREVAIL. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave...

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

Thompson's language here is just...beautiful and haunting and incredibly fitting for the text and the context. I encourage everyone to read it. Also, for those of you who accompanied me on my previously-alluded-to Vegas trip--the carousel bar in Circus-Circus is totally the same one from this book/movie. Just thought you should know. I'm sad I didn't know this when I was there, or I'd have a picture.

Peter Pan, on a different note, is completely enchanting. None of the film adaptations I've seen has quite captured the feeling this book gives you when you read it. It's full of the romance and thrill that I almost remember my childhood encapsulating. I can't even quote from it because I feel you should be in your own right place when you sit down to read this for the first time. And you all should. (It's short!)

Incidentally, the illustration above is part of a collection of lovely Peter Pan illustrations I've found online. See them here, you won't regret it!

What I'm watching

In addition to the papers I should be writing, I've been catching a few films here and there. Two recent ones were Federico Fellini's Amarcord, and Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring. Fellini's film was riotous and hilarious, and made me want to buy vintage hats and romp around the cobblestone streets of Italy. Bergman's was dark, beautifully photographed, and haunting. It also featured one of the brutal rape scenes I have yet seen in a film (apart from Irreversible, which I cannot recommend you view, though it is important.) I enjoyed both of these films, though Bergman's made me want to hurt something at the injustice of it all.

Finals week

New favorite people

I just realized how completely awesome Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are. Seriously. They're beautiful, eloquent and strong advocates for gay rights. Completely awesome people. I saw a clip of Portia's appearance on The View and was blown away by how smart and wonderful she is.

Here is that clip:

Lollight

Stumbled upon this lolcat version of Twilight: New Moon. Not so much a fan of the series of books or fandom or whatever...but this is funny. Read here.

Pretty Shoot

The photos of Crystal Renn in the January issue of Elle Canada are simply stunning. Seriously. Check them out here.

I have few words...

This ad is just all kinds of wrong. But you know how I love vintage photography and advertising...right?

Gentlemen of Bacongo

I wish I could find more photos from this upcoming photobook online. It seems really, really cool. Kind of like the Japanese street fashion book "Fruits" for the Congo maybe? Anyway, I'm a total sucker for photobooks. I spend far too much money on glossy covers and ridiculously oversized tomes.

Rotating Kitchen

This art installation by Zeger Reyers started rotating last Friday, and will continue to rotate until February 28th, 2010. It's quite strange and interesting, and I'm still not sure entirely what to make of it. Thoughts?

Embroidery!

I've been practicing my hand-embroidering, even though my sewing machine has an embroidery function. I just think it's clever and sweet to have things embroidered by hand. Such a wonderful tradition of old. Anyway, my first few attempts were too...interesting...to post. This one turned out pretty well though. And from the subject I suppose you can tell what I'm reading at the moment. (Or just finished I guess.)

Another (close-up) picture after the jump.

Roles Revisited

Possibly one of the cooler photoshoots I've seen. This is from Empire magazine's 20th anniversary issue--they had film stars photographed in creative recreations of their (arguably) most famous roles. I can't find all of the photos, but you can see the ones I've found after the jump.

Pretty blogs are pretty

You may have noticed how excitingly new and pretty-fied my blog has become of late. This is entirely thanks to my good friend Ana, graphic/web designer extraordinaire. My English-major brains are not suited to photoshop and the like, but Ana is wonderfully talented--and with very little inspiration from me came up with this rocking layout. I'm over the moon about it.

Check out Ana's awesomeness at her blog (also linked on the side): oh ana.

Highlights

Possibly the coolest site I've seen in days:

[Crappy Taxidermy]

Summer longings

 Just realized I had no pictures on my blog from my wonderful summer trip. I spent two weeks driving down the Pacific coast, along Highway 1. We even spent two days in Vegas on the way home! It was a complete blast, with the best friends a girl could ask for. The first is from an ice cream break at some creepy truck stop in Oregon. The second is at the incredible Beatles "Love" Theater (for Cirque du Soleil) in Vegas. We took an awesome fab four picture in commiseration for our not being able to see the show.

Keyboard Daft Punk

Pretty much the coolest thing I've done all day.

Keyboard Punk

Epic Beard

Ok, this is awesome. Also disgusting. Not sure which one is the dominant reaction here.

Money Hats

So cool. Possibly the coolest thing ever to do with money.

When I feel down...

I like to look at nice things when I get stressed. This week has been particularly difficult, so these pictures have helped me chill out a bit. Yay. (The first image is the individuals voted "Prettiest Eyes", Mounds View High School class of 1960.)

Best cover ever?

Introducing...

My new computer! His name is Hazel-Ra, and he's quite the charmer. With 8gb of RAM, a 1TB hard-drive, and a really sweet graphics card, I'm completely taken with him. Isn't he pretty?

Muses or Idols

Two of mine (Joanna Newsom and Shara Worden).

And some pretty music (not by either of them, ironically).

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions--Sets The Blaze

What I'm Reading (#1)

As always, I'm reading several things. I thought it might be interesting to show them to more people than those I ride the bus with in the afternoons, and the frustrated baristas who try to understand my order while my nose is buried in a book.

Forgive me, ye baristas of the world.

Anyway, this week I've picked up The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne for some wonderfully light reading between Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Melville's momentous Moby-Dick.

As ever, I am astounded by how beautiful Milne's books are. Simple, yes. Silly, certainly. And yet, despite the silliness and Disney-fied versions of the stories, I find that Pooh and the other residents of the Hundred Acre Wood can be especially poignant, and perfectly profound some of their statements can be. It reminds me of my childhood, and how everything and everyone was beautiful and good--because really...how could they not be?

And happy...

For my horror films class last summer, we watched both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. The wedding dress from the film was so elegant and wonderful. I've been thinking about that kind of floaty, ethereal quality of clothing that makes me feel both dainty and delicate, as well as completely old-world. Like a 20s flapper, tired after a long night of dancing, curling up to sleep on a velvet chaise wearing crumpled chiffon. I think I'll wear something gauzy tomorrow.

Neko Case--Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth

Ivana XL--Ex. Oh.

Cosmos

I just want to sit home and watch Cosmos all day. It was Sagan's birthday recently, and I realized then more than I ever have what a great loss it is that he isn't alive today. He was such a brilliant, wonderful man. Every photo I found of him when putting this post together showed him smiling and marveling at our universe. I imagine he was a deeply kind and intellectually piercing individual to interact with.

Chubettes...

Makes me wonder how this would play out today...

#10 Make a flier of your day

The next installment in my ongoing work with Learning to Love You More. For this one, I put together a fairly brief description of my average day (with illustrations) and hung them up all over campus. It was exciting and rewarding to walk by the various bulletin boards for the next few days and see people reading them.

This whole project is making me feel so much more in tune and connected with people. I genuinely want someone to see one of my projects and have their mood lifted, have them laugh, whatever. That's the most important thing to me in all of this.

One of my professors actually saw my flier on campus and asked me in class about it. After telling a bit about my project and how this fit in with it, she asked me for a copy. Now it's hanging on her office door! That really made my day.

Whoa...

Howl's Moving Castle out of legos!

So...so...

Amazingly gorgeous music.

Grizzly Bear and Feist--Service Bell

(image from here)

Kittehs

This is what I want for Christmas. Well, this and the Nook. Bengal kittehs!

Tiny tiny

I thought this was lovely. Wouldn't you like to receive a bee in the mail? It's just what I've always wanted!

Dollies

Another arty post for the day...

Caitlin sent me a link to a blog with weird doll work from various artists. It introduced me to a few new people, and made me recall old loves (the Brothers Quay, Svankmajer's Alice, among others).



"The Moffet Twins" by D.L. Marian (found here)



couldn't find the title for this guy, but it's by Shain Erin (and can be seen here)

I also love, love the Brothers Quay. My favorite has to be their "Street of Crocodiles", but this shorter (and earlier) piece is exemplary of their work.



and finally, a clip from Svankmajer's Alice, too weird for words (but I adore parts of it...just can't get through it in one sitting).



Thanks Caitlin!

Art projects

Caitlin and I shared pancakes and sausage and craft-time yesterday, so I thought I'd post a bit about what we're working on, and then update later with finished pictures!

Basically we want to make one of these out of cardboard:



Only, not quite as large...and without the taxidermy man in the background. Anyway, after an hour of work I had almost successfully finished one antler, and Caitlin had the beginnings of the base and neck. Cardboard is hard to work with...

beauty queens

From an upcoming photobook on child beauty pageant contestants (High Glitz):





I'm pretty sure this will be my next coffee table book. It can sit next to the Vice photobook Caitlin bought me.

(from here)

If you know me...

Then you'll know why this is ironic...