Sometimes I feel like I’m the most productive over the weekend. I have more energy, more access to sunlight (on the rare occasion that the sun decides to peak out through the ever-present San Francisco fog), and usually get more sleep (yes, I’m 28 and still like to sleep in until 10am. Don’t hate.).
Here are some of my goals for this weekend, the last few days of 2012:
Clean my apartment – I was out of town for about a week and it needs a good scrub down. The thing about cleaning aside from it being annoying is that it is also time consuming. BUT, it is also exercise. AND, it would be really nice to start the new year with a clean apartment. This is really important in some cultures.
Finish reading for Book Club – My good friend started a book club. My good friend lives in Long Beach. Normally that would be a problem, since I live too far away to attend meetings, but thanks to modern technology (i.e. Skype) I can attend said meetings! This month’s selection is Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. I’ve seen the film 3 or so times and loved it. I’m about 40% through the book and am loving it even more than the film. (Although I’m imagining Frith as Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey. But whatever — it’s my brain, I can imagine whomever I please!) My goal is to finish this bad boy by Sunday night.
Upload Photos from my DSLR – About a month ago I bought a Canon 30D DSLR and a 50mm lens. I also bought this sexy camera strap at Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles (except mine is mustard). My sisters are photographers, so I took advantage of their knowledge when I was at home last week to finally learn the basics. I took about 200 photos and can’t wait to get them into Adobe Lightroom (and learn how to use that!). A lot of learning happening this month.
Finish my Online Portfolio – ‘Nuff said. I just need to get everything loaded to my Cargo Collective page and I’m sure I’ll make an announcement here and EVERYWHERE via social media. Because that’s how I roll. For now I’m happy to finally have a PDF of some of my work available.
I think this weekend will be cold and rainy in these parts, so staying indoors to accomplish all of these things shouldn’t be too difficult. Hope you all have a great weekend! Enjoy the remainder of 2012, and make the most of it!
One of my little goals for 2011, and hopefully the years to come, is to keep a little record of the tidbits of my days. I’m really proactive about keeping my Google Calendar up to date with upcoming events, so I thought it would be a nice change to keep record of things that happened during my day. Just a few things – filling out nothing in advance. I decided to use this Sanrio pocket calendar that I got for free.
This was inspired by my friend Jane’s mom. She was given her mom’s purse from the 1980s which contained, amongst other cool remnants of the past, her mom’s daily journal. It was a simple datebook in which she jotted down a few things that happened each day. We were both really inspired by this little historical relic.
It’s Friday! That means, we’re all counting down to the weekend. It also means, downtime! (Or, at least we can hope). And in my down time, I like to read. I got “tagged” to fill out this reading survey on Facebook, but I figured it would be more fun to slap it in a blog post. Because I’m crazy violent with words like that. Also, it’s 1:30am right now and I may or may not know what I am typing. I’m somewhere between conscious and subconscious, so let’s see what happens, shall we?
1. What author do you own the most books by? Probably Sohpie Kinsella. Don’t hate.
2. What book do you own the most copies of? I don’t own more than one copy of any book. Although, on my desk right now I have two copies of Prison for Bitches, which is a Lady Gaga fanzine. I bought one copy for myself, and one for my sister who is a HUGE fan. Can’t wait to give it to her for Christmas!
Here’s a fun video featuring Twinkie making one of her scrumptious cupcake scarves. So cute! I can’t wait to pick up her book and start making yummy things.
I haven’t visited my fam in four months (which is the longest I’ve been away from home! Ack.) and in that time my Taschen catalogue arrived! I finally got to flip through it while I was waiting (for 3 long hours) to board my flight. But anyway, these images kept me company, as well as the lady next to me who kept glancing over. Sorry I didn’t scan these, but I think the iPhone worked just fine. Enjoy! [click to continue…]
A few months ago my roommate and I joined Book Club. The first rule of Book Club was not to talk about Book Club, but I just think I broke that rule. Mah bad. Our current selection is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which is pretty amazing so far (I’m halfway through). The problem is, I opened my laptop to turn on some music. Then I decided to look up an Erykah Badu video “really quick” on Youtube. The next thing you know, it’s 10:30pm and I’m writing a blog entry about it. Anyway, I wanted to share one of my favorite songs/videos and I hope you enjoy the adorable couple that once was, Common and Erykah Badu.
I have been meaning to buy a new sketchbook. I always keep one in my purse in the event that I need to jot something down or sketch a quick idea. My current 5.5″ x 8″ Pro Art black spiral sketchbook is slowly running out of pages, so it’s time to move on. (*tear) You’ve treated me well little sketchbook!
So, today I bought this from Jaime’s fabulous Etsy shop Sparkles and Sticks:
I can’t wait to get it! It’s a nice new blank-paged Molskine notebook perfect for summer doodling. And I love how Jaime’s design was inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett‘s The Secret Garden. I remember reading both The Secret Garden and A Little Princess as a young girl, and I think I might read them again. It’s always neat re-reading the books I’ve read, in this case, over a decade ago. I like finding new ways to appreciate them, and sometimes finding new nuances and underlying meanings.
So, this weekend I did what every other tween in America probably did: I saw Twilight.
Now before the mockery begins, I took my little sisters. That’s my excuse. :o) I did not read any of the books, but after seeing this film, the second book seems to be calling my name. Having not read the books, I thought the writing in the film was borderline poor. The acting was very melodramatic at times, but I really loved the cinematography and the costumes. Particularly the baseball scene. Everything about that scene is great. And I must say, I kind of think Edward is dreamy.
In other book-to-film related news, my sister informed me this morning that she saw a movie poster for none other than the Confessions of a Shopaholic.
About two years ago I tore through these books. Well, the first two at least. The rest of them were kind of lame. I never read Shopaholic and Baby just because after reading the second book I was a little frustrated by Kinsella’s predictably formulaic style. But I’m thinking this will be one example where the film will be better than the book, which usually does not happen. We’ll see.
Anyway, going with the book theme of this post, I’ve included my latest review on Goodreads. No offense to my super cool friend who recommended this book to me. :o) It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m almost to my goal of reading 24 books in a year. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is for me. That’s about 2 books a month. I’m going to try to up my goal next year to 3 books a month.
rating: 2 of 5 stars
My good friend recommended this book to me one day when I said I was in the mood for good chick lit. But, you know, opinions are subjective. This book was as another reviewer said, quite predictable. I thought the flow of the story was a bit choppy and not woven together very well. I found the main character Molly to be a little too air-headed for my liking. The book wasn’t horrible; I did find it tolerable enough to finish the whole thing. I wouldn’t recommend it.
So, yesterday, Feministing asked the following question:
“I wonder what your personal take is. Why do you think adolescent girls, in particular, but women, in general, resort to competition, body snark, and passive aggressive manipulation? And most importantly, how can we stop it?”
This is something I have ALWAYS questioned, particularly recently. Why is it that girls who already, more often than we would like, find themselves in oppressive situations, feel the need to oppress and degrade other girls? My 17-year-old self contemplated this a lot my last year in high school. It was that year that I decided that drama with other girls for the sake of being dramatic was never ever worth it. I was never really competitive in that way in the first place. Who would think it was worth it anyway? Perhaps girls who don’t have enough self confidence to not care? I have no clue. I think those types of behaviors really reveal the core of one’s character, to go out of one’s way to intentionally afflict mental harm on another person for means of personal gain or gratification. But, I guess this is how the world works? Ay ay ay.
But I was really happy to see this brought up on the Feministing blog yesterday. It makes me feel like my attitude regarding these catty and often immature behaviors has been validated. :o) That makes me happy. I totally want to pick up the book they talk about in their post, Rachel Simmon’s Odd Girl Out.
“BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self defeating girltype behaviors.”
In keeping updated with the web world, I have a handful of credible, wonderful sites/blogs I read on a daily basis. One of which is Best Web Gallery. Maintained by the same guy who writes Web Designer Wall, this is a great way to see the latest and greatest in web design. Today, my attention was brought to this site:
Power to the Poster which, obviously, is a well designed site, BUT it’s the mission of the site that pulled me in. Anyone can download their political posters for FREE, and utilize them to make the members of their communities think about the issues we are facing as a nation. I love it.
THEN I stumbled upon Smashing Magazine’s feature for today, which ties into this whole concept of sharing our thoughts or showcasing ideas in a public space.
Although, sometimes grafitti is not always 100% political, I think that the simple act of reaching outside of social norms and utilizing space that is not meant to be utilized for expression is in and of itself making a bold statement. A very brave one, at that.
This idea of rebellion got me thinking of one of my favorite anarchist collectives, Crimethinc Ex-Workers Collective. Although I cannot forsee ever not having a job and being content with that (unless the U.S. decides to provide Universal Healthcare, which it should), I really respect Crimethinc and admire what they do. They’re such a giving group of people. I’ve probably written about them before. They don’t care about profits, or publicity, all they want to do is spread their message of ultimate autonomy. One of my favorite books Off the Map was purchased from their website (for a measly $2, seriously! seriously awesome), and not only did I get a handful of free posters, stickers and zines, someone from Crimethinc wrote me a handwritten message thanking me for my purchase. I can’t say enough good things about them and the work that they do for no money. Again, love it.
Lastly, going with my theme of bad-ass-ness, I think more people should know about the SPRFKR line of apparel. Why more people aren’t as crazy about them as I am is a mystery to me. I am a plain kind of girl, but the only graphic apparel I seem to like and want to support is SPRFKR.
Their illustrations are amazing, and I love that they don’t put their label name all over their clothing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy paying money to be a walking billboard for clothing companies. And that is why I like SPRFKR. Good design. Smart design. Great conversation starters.
