a change of pace

I'd call these... abstracted outfit shots, a little like in this old post. Can you spot each item? I realize how useless these are as they severely lack the context of a person wearing the clothes, but as always this is just me musing aloud to myself.

1. Thrifted Bally loafers, AA seed stitch socks (mustard!), BDG cigarette jeans, hand-me over pullover from sister, Gap hoodie layered under Gap anorak.
2. Topshop jeans, flea market studded belt (which you cannot see here), thrifted black & white striped pullover.
3. 8 eye Dr. Martens, Cheap Monday jeans, Uniqlo sweater, YSL necktie as pseudo scarf because I was cold and don't know how to tie a tie. All thrifted except for the Docs.

As a creative type I'm as moody as they come and so often last year when I felt like nothing but lazy my outfits would consist of black jeans, Vans and a pullover. My personal style was nonexistent because I was too busy juggling school, work, visits with my boyfriend, and adjusting to living with a new roommate, and though I always thought about dressing better I never put my heart into it. Now I'm not claiming that I'm doing any better - I still feel as clueless as ever but I've definitely been experimenting since the year began and I gained this weird new thirst to express myself through what I wear. More often than not I don't look exactly the way I want to but what's important is that I'm having fun and staying comfortable.

nature's textures

The other day I realized how wonderful the sense of touch is, how great it is to experience textures. How a meal is so much fun when it is crunchy, smooth, silky, crisp, soft, airy. How luxurious it is to step into a hot shower, scrub yourself clean with a loofah and emerge with squeaky clean hair & body! Textures make our everyday experiences amazing with the infinite possibilities of sensory stimulation we can receive. I guess this is really just a love letter to variety and how wonderful it is...things like fuzzy leaves, meshy cast-off seed pod material, and lichens & moss just really excite me...

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Terry Gilliam's 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' closely resembles a fairy tale, centering on ambiguous morals, a deal with the devil, and of course, the power of imagination. Set in the modern day, the 'Imaginarium' is a traveling show featuring Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), sleight-of-hand expert Anton (Andrew Garfield), and Percy (Verne Troyer), the Doctor's loyal confidant. Doctor Parnassus has the wonderful gift of revealing and guiding the imaginations of whomever enters the Imaginarium, though at a terrible cost. Having challenged the Devil, or Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) centuries before, he gained eternal life as he had won over 12 souls with the power of stories and imagination, before Mr. Nick won his through the temptation of desire and addiction. However, when Parnassus falls in love with a mortal woman, Mr. Nick grants him youth, but any resultant child from the union will belong to Mr. Nick once they reach the age of 16. The stakes are raised again as the wager is now 5 souls before Valentina's 16th birthday - whoever reaches 5 first gets Valentina. When the troupe saves a hanged man (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell) who is revealed to be a disgraced philanthropist, changes occur within the show and the troupe, as well as the dynamic of the last wager.

flea market fun

Some snaps from the Rose Bowl Flea last weekend, right after which I fell into getting sick again. I didn't get much except for my new favorite ring and an old army sewing kit I'm thinking of converting to a wallet (?) but it was great spending time with my sister and being visually overwhelmed by the goods, the people and the atmosphere.

to a fresh(er) start

An amaryllis plant I gave to my mom for Christmas; a thrifted thermal that my sister found that became a sort of cocoon for me when I was feeling most ill - don't you wish all clothing labels still look like this?; a glass beaded flower I made.

I've been so sick this past week... Growing up my mom always took great care to ensure that near the end of winter/summer vacation my sister and I were germ and virus-free, to start the new school term afresh, without absences or tardies. I didn't do so well this year. It's almost as if the fall semester finally wreaked its havoc on me by destroying my immune system. Loss of energy, constantly stuffed sinuses and cough, headache, body aches. I think several bugs overlapped because after feeling alright on Saturday I was useless on Sunday, and pretty much was on the road to recovery til now. I feel my strength coming back now, and just constantly drinking fluids and taking vitamins and medicine to combat whatever is lingering. I hope it goes away soon... I already have a lot of work I need to begin!

mystery present

I know who this is from, actually. It is a great surprise to know that an old friend keeps you in mind, despite not having talked in years. I actually never read this as a child, and am excited to now. Thank you, friend.

december tidbits

Happy 2011! The last few days of the year involved much roasting of chestnuts! Italian chestnuts and Korean chestnuts, all delicious...all throughout December, really. And here is a shot of my boyfriend reading up on all things Japan on Christmas Eve, as he's over there right now. He's coming back on Tuesday though, yay! Today I need to finish up this painting for my stepdad - almost done... and the last shot is of BB snoozing before the fireplace on a particularly chilly night. I had pho with my friend Peter who is flying back to St. Louis tomorrow morning, a good start to the new year so far :).

highlights of 2010

January was full of adventures - I went to the 2010 Rose Parade for the first time in my life, after years of watching it January 1st on TV and enjoyed watching all the floats in real time with my mom and sister. Went to San Jose to visit Tommy and his family and visited the Winchester Mystery Mansion and the San Jose Flea Market! Since I had the semester off I started tackling the gigantic mess that is my room and simultaneously went flea market/thrift store hopping with my mom every chance I got. Also - lots of art, mostly linoleum block print making that month.

February I started working as an intern at an architecture firm, finally getting some structure in my daily routine. Worked on a competition and outside of that frequented art museums with Dan, hung out with Tommy, helped my mom with art classes, took care of the poopies and cooked a lot!

In March after the usual with work, flea markets, etc. I went to San Jose again! We visited San Francisco, explored Golden Gate Park, the Aquarium, and ate lots of good food. This visit marked my Pizza My Heart obsession as well as my newfound love for artichokes!

In April I went to Chicago, en route from Kansas City and St. Louis by Amtrak. My first time in the Midwest! Saw lots of great architecture and saw Frank Gehry give a talk which made me like him! Back in L.A., got laid off of my interning duties, and soon after got a job at Trader Joe's. Started going on lots of hikes with Tommy and got a bike to start riding around.

As the weather continued to get better in May, hikes were more frequent as well as trips to the beach. Tommy graduated, and for a while we had more time to spend together before he headed down to San Diego to start his job. My friend Joe started gaining more exposure doing his music thing and I accompanied him at times to his gigs.

In June I went to lots of museums and this is the time I painted the most. I think I began to understand colors in a more profound sense and wanted to express that knowledge. Work, paint, boyfriend, eat, sleep.

July equaled lots of outdoor time, good food and the beach. And prime flea market time as Tommy my mom and I went looking for furniture for his new place, oftentimes quite successfully! Started my t-shirt quilt which is pretty much done now except for some major hemming.

August! Went to Mammoth and spent time with my pop fishing and enjoying nature. Went to Spokane shortly after with Tommy and had a great trip before the inevitable mental trudge back to school. For my birthday Tommy got me a beautiful typewriter, which I used to type him letters in San Diego.

September. I wasn't in love with school, and having a mini crisis in realizing most all of my friends had graduated and left. Readjusting was slow... I just threw myself into my work at school, work at Joe's, and got another work study job on campus.

October was a little more enjoyable - the calm before the storm before schoolwork began to explode. I enjoyed having to read for class though, had a bit of roommate trouble but that's over, and started really getting into my metal sculpture class. Visits to Tommy in between classes and work!

November, Thanksgiving, work, midterms. A crazy month. I started going home a lot, despite the high cost of rent...

December was a mixed bag. I was so burnt out from school that I didn't get into the Christmas spirit at all, until a day or two before when I prepared the secret santa gift I had to bring for a coworker... I only really got gifts for my family and boyfriend, which is all that really matters I think. I am just happy that I have one semester of school left, which also means I need to find a real job...

2010 was a great year. Lots of creative stimulation in the first part, the second part was different but still a good learning experience and I think I learned a lot about myself. Lots I can improve upon for the future, anyway.

rain! & hail!

It's raining again! Strangely it's nice, even after the weeklong gloom and damp we endured before Christmas this year. It's still too dark to watch the rain but it's loud enough to listen to... I can't fall back asleep! Maybe I can get some things done now. I leave you with some shots of the thunderstorm that brought hail exactly a week ago! Hail is delicious :).

Wings of Desire (1987)

'Wings of Desire' by Wim Wenders, set in Berlin towards the end of the Cold War, follows Damiel, an angel (played by Bruno Ganz) as he and fellow angel Cassiel (Otto Sander) observe humankind. Unseen by all except for children, the angels can hear peoples' thoughts, fears and desires but otherwise have no physical power in their one-sided interactions with humans. Damiel tires of his endless, immortal existence and upon becoming human marvels at his new experiences - he bleeds, sees colors, drinks coffee and warms his hands by rubbing them back and forth. As an angel he had fallen in love with a trapeze artist, Marion, and in his newfound experience as a mortal, seeks to find her. The film is also a series of ruminations on Berlin's past, its current state and what is in store for it in the future, which felt like what Andrezj Wajda did with Poland for Ashes and Diamonds . Said thoughts are profound and overall the film is dreamy and beautiful, and no surprise, for the director of photography was Henri Alekan (who was responsible for the groundbreaking camera work in Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête). Peter Falk (The Princess Bride!) stars as himself, in a nice twist of a role which grounds the film in its fantasy land. The first 2/3 of the film feels mostly expository, as we move around the city and watch characters, whereas in the last part we see how Damiel deals with being human. An interesting film.

my day yesterday

I've been helping my mom watercolor-ify and outline a ton of kid's artwork for a big event at the elementary school. It had rained the night before, it's raining now and it's supposed to rain all the way to next Wednesday. Awesome/awful, depending on how rain makes you feel. I've drunk so much tea these days it's my main source of hydration (almost). I haven't started anything for Christmas and I am okay with that. I have a long day of work ahead of me today. Time to bring out my rain boots!

recent thrifting finds...!

These were from two weeks ago and in my stress leading up to the beginning of this week neglected to show. I got the ceramic Scottie dog at the PCC flea market. It's marked at $14, but when I picked it up the hilarious vendor said "Oh! You just picked that up so now it's $12." I smiled and put it down then picked it back up after saying something to my mom, and he said "Every time you pick it up the price goes down!" So for $10 it was mine, I couldn't resist his charms. Later on I fretted a little about impulsively buying it (even though as of late I've been fascinated with 1960s/70s kitschy American ceramics) but after hearing my aunt, my mom and sister note how the scottie resembles our girl dog BB when she was a pup made me not regret the decision anymore.

I found a copy of Meditations at a Goodwill for only $3! When I suffered a glare from the librarian at the local library at home for renewing Meditations 3 times (we're only allowed 2 renewals, which I forgot) I was saddened at realizing I could no longer read as quickly as I did when I was younger. But Greek philosophy versus Greek myths? Obviously a discrepancy there...