Music this week: aka music this Decemeber

Here are some tunes that have been helping me get through this month . . .

(1)  Froot - Marina and the Diamonds
Marina has a new album coming out soon!  The more I listen to this track the more fun I think it is and the more clever I find this lyrics.  She also has the haunting Happy on this album.

Progress Report: Week 14

I fear I didn't do much better this week.  I need to refocus.  Christmas shopping and netflix and self-pity have gotten in my way too much lately.

1.  Get a new job and move.  No progress.

Poem: the 20 best dressed women

Inspired by The 20 Best Dressed Women of 2014.

The Rules:  Each line is composed of words from one paragraph.  The words must stay in the order they appear.  I can use whatever punctuation I want.  (I changed one proper noun to a pronoun.)

Come On Get Crafty: Christmas Card?

I needed to mail a friend something in a larger envelope.  But I was worried that it would get bent in the mail, so I wanted to include a card.  But one can't include a card without decorating it!  So I did a simple design, inspired by this idea. 

I chose a yellow card so that my writing on the back would show up easily.  I chose red as my primary scrap color because it is almost Christmas!

Merry Christmas friend!

In the Papier: Correspondence from Time

During the summer I picked up a box of random postcards at a flea market.  There were all sorts of blank postcards and an assortment of cards that had apparently been sent to (and saved by) a particular family.  It is sort of fascinating to see all the places these people's friends and family traveled to over the years and read their accounts.  Some of them are simple greetings with reflections on the weather and lists of all the attractions the travelers had taken in.  Others are more personable and mysterious.

Luzern.  Hofkirche mit Pitlatus.

July 11, ???? (Year indistinguishable)
Dear F + R,

It seems funny to be communicating with you from over 3,000 miles away, when I always forget to call you at home, but you now know that I'm thinking of you.

I just adore Switzerland.  We climbed part of a mountain (the one on this card) today, and took a cog railway down, surrounded by ten singing Swiss boys, one more adorable than the next!

Staying at a charming hotel, and in a day we'll be heading for Italy.

Love to J.

L 

Progress Report: Week 13

Meant to get this out on Sunday.  But after Thursday I got extremely lazy.  We had a big work event on Thursday and much of the week was spent stressing about that and then wanting (and actually) completely vegging for the several days following the event.  I'm afraid I didn't make much progress on most of my goals this week.  BUT I did get a lot of laundry done and many Christmas presents sorted out.

Let's see how I did . . .

1.  Get a new job and move.  No progress.

Do Something That Scares You: Voice Memos

Photo from here.

There are so many things I never did or have not yet done because I'm afraid.  By afraid, I don't mean seriously in fear of death/harm/destruction (i.e. I have never swam in a shark cage and don't intend to) . . . I mean fearful of what other people might thing, of not doing something perfectly, of being ridiculed, or feeling self-conscious or unsure if I would succeed.  That sort of fear.

Often, later, I realize how silly those fears that stopped me were or realized that any negative experiences would probably have outweighed the enjoyment I might of gotten out of doing something I was interested in.  Other times, I've realized I don't care about the negative consequences or no longer value the opinion of those people I thought would judge me.  Many times, I've realized that a lot of the things I feared happening were extremely unlikely and how foolish it was for me to let those imaginings get in my way.

I like to remind myself of things I now do comfortably that at some point in my life I thought I would never be able to do.  It helps me remember that I am a capable person, that it's ok not to do something perfectly on the first try, and that I have proved many times that I can overcome fears--- especially all

Progress Report: Week 12

I got thrown off by ennui, preparing for the holidays, the holidays, and Christmas shopping over the past few week.  Some weeks I really didn't do much but this past week I tried to step it up again.

1.  Get a new job and move.  No progress.

STEP 1 more job searching
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications
STEP 3 develop some more skills

2.  Make my own postcards. No progress.

STEP 1: do some MORE research on the cost of ordering some cards.
STEP 2: identify 5 photos I would like to use on the cards
STEP 3: look into how to design my card (using Photoshop, using a online template from a print service etc.)

Poem: robed

robed

with softness
and dewy eyes
let's lay down upon
that leafy cloak

the sky above
with its infinite sighs
I'll watch
taking solace from the clouds

my ear pressed
to the cool landscape beneath
hearing and kissing
all sounds of life flowing

There in the nooks
of the mountains
I can only sleep

and sleep a sleep
that ends with violence
canopies torn above me
and skin ripped by jaws

dipped in blood
from creatures charred who
crawl from fissures in the earth
and still walk among us

Hypnotized by . . . She & Him videos

She & Him just launched a new album of covers.  With the launch, they also have some great new video!  I love them! I can't stop watching!

The color!  The style!  The choreography!  The sound!  The ambiance!

Stay Awhile

Guide to Standards

I want to Learn . . .

Image Credit Link

There is so much I want to learn.  How is it I so rarely make time for things I am deeply interested in? Sometimes I forget what those things are and just end up doing something boring that other people do.  Sometimes it is helpful to write things down so you don't forget them

Some Things I Want to Learn/Learn About:

1. how to play drums
2. painting watercolors
3. to speak French (again)
4. sewing
5. car maintenance
6. how to dance
7. web design
8. photography
9. how to write a song
10. history of fashion photography/fashion
11. history of Russia
12. poetry
13. study art history/art
14. basic computer science (?)
15. Photoshop & InDesign
16. sketching/drawing
17. all about fabrics
18. weaving
19. Tarot reading
20. study Native American religion
21. PR/Marketing lingo
22. Basics of entrepreneurship
23. how to press flower so they don't look ugly

 I'm sure there are more.

Progress Report: Week 9

This past week and a half has been nothing but a crazy, disorganized stressfest.  If I made progress on more that 2 things I will be impressed.

1.  Get a new job and move. **PROGRESS**
I did two applications!  I got one offer for an interview which is being scheduled.

STEP 1 more job searching
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications
STEP 3 develop some more skills

2.  Make my own postcards. No progress.

STEP 1: do some MORE research on the cost of ordering some cards.
STEP 2: identify 5 photos I would like to use on the cards
STEP 3: look into how to design my card (using Photoshop, using a online template from a print service etc.)

Thoughts on Selfie (the TV show) and fashion

I have been getting a big kick out of the new fall ABC show (unfortunately) named Selfie.  The show is loosely based on the story of Pygmalion.  Although initially, there was a lot of concern that this was going to be a show about a man telling a woman how to behave according to societal rules and policing her sexuality.  But as the episodes progressed, the show quickly moves away from that and to a more well-rounded idea of what this mentorship/friendship/relationship(?) can be.

As much as Henry is striving to smooth Eliza's rough edges, improve her image, and shape her into a less shallow, self-obsessed woman, Eliza challenges him when she thinks he's being truly narrow-minded and shows him that there are many ways in which he can improve.  One of my favorite parts of the show (besides John Cho being funny, Karen Gillian being carefree, Henry's monologue outbursts, and the joke about Henry misunderstanding the meaning of the song Working For the Weekend) comes at the close of a show, after both leads have learned their lesson for the episode: Henry chides Eliza telling her not to be so sexual . . . to which Eliza immediately responds by telling Henry to stop being so uptight and anxious.  This is not the same Eliza naively doing whatever Henry Higgins tells her to do in My Fair Lady--- and saving any disgruntled feelings for a private song about homicide.  This Eliza is not afraid to speak up for herself, and often times it is Henry who changes his ways.

Another fun part of the show is of course Eliza's crazy outfits.  She wears a unique blend of sexy, glamorous, and ostentatious business wear.  Fashion blog CollegeFashion did a great post about the fashion of Selfie and captures Eliza and Henry well  (plus offers some great tips for using their style as inspiration for your own #OOTD).

Come On Get Crafty: Blow Winds Blow Waves

I did this during the summer with colored pencils on watercolor paper.  I'm not sure drawing in pencil on watercolor paper works so great.  It was fun to play around with all the hues of blue though.

Now that the weather is turning cold and wintery and stormy, it seems fitting to post this one now!

Progress Report: Week 8

I spend a lot of time this past week sort of recharging.  I've been feeling a bit run-down and disorganized, constantly bouncing between one thing or another. This week I guess I slowed down.  I did some serious cleaning (my bedroom was getting out of control), I posted a bunch more items to my online clothing store (trying to de-clutter and get rid of a lot of it before the end of the year),  I caught up on some tv shows and movies, I packaged and mailed a bunch of birthday gifts to friends, I got some new music and finally organized my downloads the way I wanted them, and spent most of Saturday catching up with my sister on Skype.  Although I didn't make progress on as many goals this week, I think I needed a bit of a reprieve.

1.  Get a new job and move. No progress.
I didn't do the applications I was planning on doing over the weekend AGAIN.  I did find another application I want to do.  THIS WEEK.  NO EXCUSES

STEP 1 spend some time job searching (by email updates have not be turning up too many good suggestions
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications.

2.  Make my own postcards. No progress from last week.

STEP 1: do some MORE research on the cost of ordering some cards.
STEP 2: identify 5 photos I would like to use on the cards
STEP 3: look into how to design my card (using Photoshop, using a online template from a print service etc.)

Music this Week: Bastille, Ben Howard, Stevie Nicks

Music this week is a short list because I've pretty much been listening to the same three artists over and over and over again!  I watched Stevie Nicks' documentary about the creation of her In Your Dreams album, so I was listening to her album a lot.  But Bastille and Ben Howard both have new music out so I've been alternating between them and getting sick of them NEVER.

(1) The Driver - Bastille
BBC Radio 1 recently launched a project to create another soundtrack for Drive with different bands and artists contributing.  Bastille contributed this song, and it's on their new mixtape VS. (out Dec 10).  The more I listen to this song, the more it is everything.  It's the perfect example of the type of full music that I love that I think of "unapologetically loud, but not noisy."



(2) I Forget Where We Were - Ben Howard.
This song is heaven.  After my first listen, it instantly went on repeat about twenty times.  I haven't even had time to analyze the lyrics but this song stirs up so much emotion.  Sometimes joy.  Sometimes rapture.  Sometimes calm.  Sometimes weeping.

Progress Report: Week 7

1.  Get a new job and move. No progress.
I didn't do the applications I was planning on doing over the weekend.  BAD.

STEP 1 spend some time job searching (by email updates have not be turning up too many good suggestions
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications.

2.  Make my own postcards. **TINY PROGRESS**
I spent some time on a couple sites looking at their templates and seeing if that was something I wanted to try.  That would certainly make it easier.  I discovered that while the picture side is relatively straight-forward, I am picky about how I want the back to look, so I'll probably have to design the back myself or work with someone to make a custom design.  I really DO need to pick a couple photos I want to start with.

STEP 1: do some research on the cost of ordering some cards.
STEP 2: identify 5 photos I would like to use on the cards
STEP 3: look into how to design my card (using Photoshop, using a online template from a print service)

Poem: there's something in my closet

A silly poem I wrote in my writing prompt group.

The prompt was "There's something in my closet . . ."


there's something in my closet

There's something in my closet
it's there, if you are not afraid to see
it's big and scary, an issue so glaring
it reflects quite badly on me.

There's something in my closet
alright, I know, don't cause such a fuss
I just need some time, and a crate of some kind
and a broom to sweep out all the dust.

There's something in my closet,
by now, I bet you've called my bluff
it's no horrible monster, no spooky night terror
it's just a load of my old stuff.

Progress Report: Week 6

1.  Get a new job and move. **PROGRESS**
I finally found 2-3 things that I want to apply to.  I plan on doing the applications this week.

STEP 1 spend some time job searching (by email updates have not be turning up too many good suggestions
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications.

2.  Make my own postcards. No progress.

Progress Report: Week 4

1.  Get a new job and move.
Ugh, so little progress.  I am having trouble finding things I want to apply to.  The mundanity of my daily life/job has been getting me down a lot this week.  I really need to get back on this application thing!

STEP 1 spend some time job searching (by email updates have not be turning up too many good suggestions
STEP 2 is to crank out those applications.

2.  Make my own postcards.
No progress.

Progress Report: Week 3

Here is my first progress report.  I was supposed to do one of these last week and I did not.  I really want to try to keep up with these, because it will help me stay active with my goals.  I need to carve out some time to pre-schedule when I am going to do them, so I do not keep pushing it off until the next day.

Music This Week: aka music this month

It's been a million years since I've done a Music This Week Post.  So a more accurate description for this post is probably more like: Music This Month!

I pretty much listened to Bastille non-stop for three months, with maybe a little F+tM thrown in there.  I also discovered the bands St. Lucia and Kongos over the summer.  Lately, I've been totally taken in by all those pop songs conquering the radio (A Sky Full of Stars - Coldplay. Boom Clap - Charli XCX. and BAILANDO - Enrique Iglesias . . . this song is soooooo addictive)

But here are some other things that I've been listening:

(1) Changes - Sigma (feat. Paloma Faith)


Fun electro-pop song featuring a great vocalist.  WHY THIS NOT BE AVAILABLE IN THE US???? 

(2)  Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith


Since we are on the subject of Paloma Faith, she has a new album out.  This is the main track that is being promoted.  This is a faster version, but is also sounds great slower and at a fashion show.  Also, now bragging: going to see her live!!!

26 Things Before 27

Another birthday has come and gone.  I have given myself one month to think about what I want to accomplish this year.

I've been thinking a lot about how to accomplish more of my goals.  I have definitely accomplished some things that I wouldn't have if I hadn't started setting goals.  But there are a LOT of goals that I didn't accomplish.  A big part is lack of trying.  A small part is losing interest in those goals.  But another medium size part I think is not setting intelligent goals.  Someone told me about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals---- as a way to set goals that you are more likely and able to accomplish.  So bearing all this in mind, I'm setting my goals for the next year and also setting a couple new rules:

1. I can tweak and modify goals a bit if I want, to make them more specific and directed or to take them to the next level if I want to expand upon something I have accomplished.
2. I can throw out a goal if I feel like it is not serving what I truly am aiming to do.  For example last year I had a goal about make-up, but as time went on I realized that this was incredibly unimportant to me.   So I can throw out a goal, BUT I have to replace it with a new one.
3. Every week, I have to report on here about my progress on 2 of my goals.  I'm hoping this will help me keep engaging with my goal and planning for accomplishing them.

Now for the goals.  I'm going to try to provide some preliminary steps that I can take to get started accomplishing these goals.  I can add steps as I progress and report on my progress getting through those steps.  So here is what I'm going to be trying to do over the next 11 months:

Poem: now young woman

Today I did another poem made from the standout words or phrases in a magazine article I was reading (about Ellie Goulding in the July issue of Nylon). 

now young woman

Sold out,

she needs a boost

--- still going for the real thing.

Stake out. Pursue. Statement:

"I like to keep people happy."

Come on Get Crafty: Coffee Rings?

A couple weeks ago I started fooling around with card making again.  I had this sort of idea of circles colliding but also being undefined, so that's what I was pondering while making this one.

Once again I think I over embellished it.  I think the shading on the edges pulls focus from the circles and reduces their prominence, when really I wanted them to stand more starkly alone in space, like planets.  I have got to stop second guessing myself.

On Color, a writing exercise

I don't know if I have already mentioned this, but I started going to a writing group that meets twice a month.  It is a pretty informal affair, and the group is mostly made of 40+ aged novelists.  What happens at this group is we free write for about 20-30 minutes, and then do 1-2 min short writing prompts and share our creations (good and bad!)--- and this goes on for about an hour.

It is a good way to get comfortable with yourself and writing, get a little bit of feedback/support, and just practice using your imagination.  And it is usually fun and delightful to hear what hilariously bad or surprisingly good thing you and others can come up with.

Anyways, I wanted to share one of the more promising things I've produced during writing group so far.  I sometimes feel silly at the group because tonally and stylistically my stuff can be a little weird, especially when compared with the very normal, narrative-oriented, novel-esque scenes, dialogue, and prose the other writers came up with.  I often feel like I cheat on the prompt because I feel like I don't really do what it asks.

The last time I was at the group, I think the prompt was something like "Describe a color to someone who has never seen it before."  For some reason I started thinking about the colors of yellow and yellows in nature.  There are so many different colors that fall into the category of yellow.  And all those colors exist in millions of places all over the world, meaning different and the same thing in all those millions of places and contexts and experiences.  And even as those colors exist in those places and context, things change and those colors bleed into and become other colors, and even become inseparable from the other senses like smell, heat, movement etc. . . . .  so on that subject, this is what I wrote on color.

Come on Get Crafty: Spring Pastels and Stars

I did this one earlier, messing around with paint and magazines.  It's a bit sloppy but whatever.

Music this week: Nashville Returns plus some British divas

It's been ages since I did a Music this Week.  But here are some of the tunes I've been listening to a lot recently (in addition to Bastille's Laura Palmer).  Generally I've been trying to jam to some upbeat songs to uplift the mood.

1.  Don't Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet - Nashville Cast (Hayden Panettiere)

This song has quickly become one of my favorite song (along with Something More) to blast whenever I am feeling disrespected and unappreciated.  Somethine More is for wallowing, this song is for yelling at the losers who are keeping you down and then getting on with making your life incredible!  You push on me, I'm gonna push back harder!!

Come on Get Crafty: Ring around

The stamps have been at it again!  I think this one turned out rather well! (Although my scanner seems to have added some grid lines that are not actually there.  Technology is an ever-changing mystery.)

Progress report: March

1.  Read Lean In, The Beauty Myth, Survival of the Prettiest, A Handmaid's Tale, and Gone Girl

Even though I started reading Beauty Myth and Survival of the Prettiest a while ago I've stalled on these two.  I should just hurry up and finish Prettiest because I'm finding it a bit disappointing.  However, I am also now reading Gone Girl and I LOVE IT.  This book is intense, thrilling, and so so engrossing.  I will probably finish it by the weekend.  And a friend of mine lent me Lean In so that will probably be next on the chopping block . . . although I'm finding reading the fiction books a lot easier.

I also read Bossypants last month, which was very very (laugh out loud) funny but also had some very interesting elements hidden in it.

2.  Finish reading Anna Karenina and Howards End.
I finished Howards End a while ago, probably before Christmas.  I enjoyed it.  Forrester is not my favorite classic British novelist but his writing is very amazing and breathtaking.  I do find some of his social analysis a little over my head at times though; I wish I knew more about the history he is dealing with, because his novels always deal with very interesting themes.  I found his examination of 'culture' in Howards End particularly fascinating.

3.  Learn some basic sewing and alteration.

Come on Get Crafty: Blue & Roses

It has been a while since I've done a crafty post, but I've been tinkering around with some card making and cannibalizing my fashion mags and catalogs again.

I originally wanted to do red nail polish drops but I couldn't find my red nail polish (I think I gave it away actually).  But I'm rather pleased with how the red paint came out instead.

Giving up my shopaholism

Lent rather sneaked up on me this year.  Tooling around on the internet, I started to wonder why everyone was suddenly discussing Mardi Gras.  Turns out it was because it WAS Mardi Gras.

2014 has not started out smashingly for me.  There are many major things in my life that I am not contented with and am frustrated with.  I have to work hard to find/make things to look forward to, and the slow linger of winter (no matter how normal and expected it is . . . March has always been wintery here) makes it hard to find the easy mental fixes and recharges that nature can offer.

I have noticed that as these troubles have arisen and also lingered, I have started to turn towards shopping as a temporary happy time in my (many) glum days.  I enjoy fashion for something-like-these-reasons:

BAFTAs 2014

The best & silly things about the BAFTAs this year (if we ignore who won and lost):



#1   Stephen Fry.
#2   Stephen Fry's introduction to Emma Thompson:

"In film, a goddess.  In real life, a stinking piece of offal."

Poem: Spring, for some people

I am trying trying trying to do more writing. I ordered myself to write one poem this weekend. So of course, ever the contrarian, my brain actually made some significant progress in two story ideas I am developing for screenplays.

But I did manage to do a little poetry experiment and come up with this poem, based off of the best words from page 131 of Lucky magazine's 2014 March issue.