NOTW: Noble Town Vintage fish spine brass necklace

Image via Etsy

I really love this stuff. Noble Town Vintage creates "jewelry made up of vintage brass findings and raw gemstones with geometric and southwest influence." I have lots of favorites, including this bad boy.

Snowed In

Image via flickr


With the impending Snowpocalypse/Snowmageddon/Snowprah/Snowcial Distortion, I wanted to make sure your asses were covered by compiling a few quick tips that you will need in the event of getting stuck in your house. YOU'RE WELCOME.

1. I recommend a concubine. If one is unavailable, you can rely on your significant other. If that is unavailable, I've found that a firm pillow will suffice for urgent sexual needs.




2. Entertainment. A plethora of reading material should be accessible. For my Snownami reading materials, I have selected two favorites: vintage pin-up gay boy porn, and my chicken catalog (pictured).








3. You're gonna need to eat. The best thing you can do is order pizza, laugh as the delivery boy falls on his face trying to get up your front stoop, and then undertip him.
(See #2: Entertainment.)

4. I don't recommend booze, which actually draws blood away from the surface of your skin. Instead, you should opt for stimulants + vigorous activity. If cocaine is unavailable, snort six of those "5 hour Energy" bottles and then jog in place until your nipples begin to chafe. Rosy cheeks and burning nipples, toasty as a sammich.

Good luck. And now shut up about the goddamn snow already, wussies. This is the fucking Midwest.

Ode to Lynne Stone

If you are a girl from my generation, it's rather plausible that you too obsessed hard over the iconic 1985 flick, Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Starring a youuunnnggg SJP, Helen Hunt, Shannen Doherty, and Jonathan Silverman, it was my visual bible.

Although SJP (Janey Glenn) was the darling of the movie, I totally wanted to be Helen Hunt's character, Lynne Stone. She was funny, she was mischievous, she was an INDIVIDUAL. She could velcro her way from Catholic School Girl to New Wave Fashionista on the goddamn school bus. I could've totally worked those looks. I even had the blonde bob to go with it.

The best:

The Double Dimetrodon (I had to look that one up)















The Giant Cricket hat and ochre-striped, off-the-shoulder, oversized, backless top.





























Skyscraper Side Pony













The Daniel Boone





















If somehow you lived in a CAVE in 1985 or just have a Y chromosome, please view and enjoy the trailer embedded below. ENJOY IT. I'm off to go buy oversized plastic bugs.





Images via House of Self-Indulgence, The Decadent Decade, No Good For Me, Dilemma Knows Fashion.

Cairo, June 2010

Two women enjoy a tranquil moment at The Citadel.


Husband was lucky enough to score a free trip to Cairo through his job this past June. He absolutely loved the city, and the tumult now is difficult for him to see. Here are some of my favorites of the lovely images he captured. More can be seen (a lot of architectural and structural shots) on his flickr photostream.



Bedouins near the Pyramids



Young entrepreneurs collecting metal



A boy examines a map



Al-Hakim Mosque at dusk

Little Red Riding Hood, Re-Interpreted

Little Red Riding Hood may be the new Twilight (eyeroll), but Catherine Hardwicke version aside - Another Swede makes me swoon. Watch this puppy in full-screen.

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Week-end happies

Image via The World's Best Ever











The debut of Portlandia.

Oh yes, there is a Beastie Boys movie!

Most horrific hickey ever.

Pee Wee Herman shared this: How to cook lasagna in your dishwasher.

Girl crushes, My So Called Life style.
(Thanks Kara!)

Updated friendship bracelets you can MAKE at a PARTY with your GIRLZ.

I'm sure by now you've seen Betty White naked, but if not, have a gander (NSFW).

Oh no, not the first, but the SECOND round of Justin Bieber nail polish shades are now available.

Bangable Dudes in History. Dibs on the assassins. #badboyz (Thanks Bridget!)

In fashion this week it was couture mohawks for the ladies and Amish duds for the fellas. Ok.

Boy Crush: Dallas Clayton

You should know by now that the best way to appreciate a band is to write their name on your shoes. - Dallas Clayton



Image via Like a Desert Prophet

Dallas Clayton wrote my current favorite picture book, "An Awesome Book!" You can even read it and all it's dreamy happy on his website. And you should. It is lovely.

Please also enjoy some of Dallas's poems, more of which can also be found on his website. Not to mention that he's kind of a Baldwin. Mwah.


AFTER WASHING

Never used moisturizer.
I read the directions and paid careful attention to keep it away from my eyes.
Gotten soap in there before.
Caught under the lid.
Burned so badly I had to go to the hospital and wear an eye patch.
Told everyone a bird ate my eye.
Of course later they saw that I was lying.


SPIRIT ANIMALS

There’s a very unique feeling
that happens in your stomach
when you clean out your car
and decide to throw away
a dreamcatcher.


SIMPLE

When talking to a young child about death
take comfort in the fact
that to him
much of what it means to die
involves laying down with your eyes closed
and waiting for someone magical
to come along and kiss you.

Mama Coyote

By the time you read this, Mom will be under the knife (or at least, under the needle), having a double mastectomy and reconstructive implants as treatment for breast cancer. I kinda wanted to post something just to talk about how awesome she is, so you are encouraged to send her all your positive vibes right now. If you have negative vibes, go eat a sandwich and come back.

Mom is the original manic pixie dream girl in my life. 1/3 Edith Bunker, 1/3 Annie Hall, and 1/3 Punky Brewster. Despite being bubbly-silly-wonderful all the time, she is hands down the toughest member of the family. While she has her neurotic moments (which I've certainly inherited in full force), she has managed to take care of three LaForce nutjobs and special ed preschool children for decades.

When I was in 5th grade, I had one of my sobbing-because-I'm-ugly-and-no-boys-like-me days. My mom sat with me, stroked my permed hair, and proceeded to tell me all the girls in my class that were uglier than me, and why. She knew she needed solid data to convince me. It was the best thing she could do. I felt so much better.

I hope sometime soon you get to hang out with my mom. You can watch a movie with her, and two-thirds of the way through she will remember and inform you that she has in fact seen the movie before. And then she will make you a pancakes with your initials on them. You will share a glass of wine and she will laugh and sympathize with everything you say. Depending on the time of year, you will probably get a holiday-themed preschool teacher song out of her. If you're really lucky, she will play bubblegum 1960s boy-band 45s and hold your hands and dance.

I'll let you know when she's out of surgery. She's probably gonna say some wackadoo stuff. I love this pic of mom in high school with her poodle, Smokey. Note: She's still a babe.

On panic, fainting, and bleeding eyeballs.

I'm about to head off to Ohio for my mom's surgery (got a post ready for tomorrow regarding THAT). I'm starting to get nervous because hospitals/blood/injury/campy gore and I do not get along so well. I'm a fainter, and a panic-attacker, and combined that generally equals disaster.

Consider my brother's deviated septum surgery a few years ago. I was totally set to be the big-sister-figure and accompanied him to the hospital. In the recovery room, I began to feel a bit nervous while he was generally occupied with how much he had to piss post-surgery. And then his EYEBALLS STARTED BLEEDING. BLEEDING. FUCKING. EYEBALLS. It was stigmata all up in there. Naturally, I slumped in my chair and passed out. Sorry, lil bro. We both ended up in the recovery room in separate beds being attended to by the nurses, and Husband had to pick both of our sorry asses up.

So...I'm keyed up about the coming days. There will be bodily fluids. There will be that awful smell of sterile latex and hospital soap. There will be fluorescent lighting.

My only solution will be to rely on heavy sedation to ward off the pre-fainting anxiety attacks. Bloody stuff is not the only issue, I often rely on a little narcotic help. I'm at the airport now, and had to mildly sedate for the whole crowd molestation orgy that is O'Hare. Any kind of professional presentation = Minimum 2 Xanax. Meeting new people, especially hot dudez = 1 Xanax + 1 cocktail. (See, I wasn't flirting with you it was JUST THE DRUGS.)

But blood/injury phobia definitely gets the spotlight in my anxious brain. So, there will be much druggage, and my personality is about to get even more awesome. It will be kind of like afternoon drinking on the beach! Except in pill form, and surrounded by orthopedic shoes.

If you need me the next few days, I will be drooling on the floor next to my sweet mama at Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield, Ohio. Hopefully she will still feel my support through my dull, clammy hand and slurred speech.

And now, a video of fainting livestock set to the Benny Hill theme song.

O- Fucking- HIO!

Fellow Ohioans: Hurry up and get this little piece of awesome- only 10 prints left as of 1/25. The print is only ten bones from Northcoast Zeitgeist. Zoom in, or you can see a much better quality image of the print on the website (stupid iPhone). Turns out the artist/designer/general creator of awesome, Joseph Hughes (along with his wife, Casey Myers), is a fellow bobcat, and we even kinda-sorta-ish knew of each other in college. And now, naturally, we are interwebz BFFs.
Another awesome find from mah lady Kelly at Design Crush.

Note: Hot girl in Blackhawks t-shirt and pajama pants not included.

NOTW: Stone and Honey Vida

Stone and Honey's current line focuses heavily on agate and stone pendants with intricate gold and silver overlay. I love these, but am totally smitten with this pure agate and amethyst crystal piece.

Happy 30th birthday, Dustin LaForce

Happy birthday, little bro. There will be more fun times playing with empty plastic bags in moccasin socks soon. You've come a long way since your speech-impediment-crying-after-getting-your- nuts-kicked-in-karate days.

My next hipster career: Cinémathèque

Images via Topshop

Since I'm losing my job in a year anyway, I'm currently seeking angel investors for this amazing freaking business plan.

LOOK. It's a solar-powered cinema in a 1972 camper.

Rich schmucks would pay big dough to rent us out and impress their fancy hooker dates.
Corporations would hire us for their block parties to appear "trendy" and "Portland."
We could park it at weddings for guests to watch romantic movies like Casablanca, It Happened One Night, and Full Metal Jacket.

Or, we could just park it, food-truck-style, and charge passersby $5 for 20 minutes of Looney Tunes and free popcorn. NO MIKE AND IKES.

These guys are based in Europe, so I'm sure they don't have a patent or anything. Silly foreigners. Let's do it! Who's in?

Week-end Happies

Image via elizastan's flickr


Drapey, fabric covered houses. Like an oversized rich grown-up's version of your blanket fort.

Beautiful images of the decayed, feral North Brother Island in New York. Typhoid Mary once called it home.

I don't even know how to describe these. Nathaniel Whitcomb makes "music videos" of collages from old National Geographic magazines. To ethereal Holy Spirits' tunes.

A former Japanese chemical weapons factory becomes: BUNNY ISLAND!
(Thanks Kentucky!)

In "This exists": Whiskey in a can.
(Thanks Lawrence!)


Who knew? Jurassic Park Theme Song slowed down 1000% = dreamy peaceful.
(Thanks Marcus and Sam!)

Learn to speak like a prairie dog!
(Thanks Eliza!)

To Thine Window, To Thine Wall. cc Hell's Belles
via Sam Abernathy Tumblr

Eye Makeup trends that will make you look like a dumb ho, draw laughter.

I call this one "Art School Juggalette."



























Via etsy



Sharpie Eyes




















via Refinery 29






Equine eyelashes
















via Badder Homes and Gardens

Fashion! Sorority Living!

This may very well be the first time I've publicly admitted in 10 years that I was, in fact, in a sorority in college. And not just any sorority. The SLUTTY sorority.

Why did I join a sorority? To meet boys and go to parties. Guess what? It worked. I met lots of DoucheBs with backwards baseball caps and spent 4 years with the blood alcohol level of a drunk horse. (Note: I did not scientifically test this. The horse died.)

Despite my disdain for Greek organizations as an adult, it wasn't all bad. I got to spend all my pocket money on sweatshirts with plaid Greek letters and jewelry that someone stabbed into my skin at a ritual. I even learned a secret handshake. Oh, and yeah. I met my husband. He washed dishes at the sorority house. It was a good gig for the fellas.

Being in a sorority in the late 90s required serious fashion strategy. So you don't fuck up and wear something stupid, I have compiled the most important points below.



1. You must own a sexy Catholic school girl outfit for the once-quarterly Catholic School Girl parties.

2. Iron your jeans. With starch. No one wants to see those wrinkles around the groin area that we affectionately referred to as "dickage." Yeah, I don't know. Apparently I hadn't seen a lot of penises at age 19.

3. Wear makeup at all times, especially at the gym and in your sleep.

4. Bras will only hinder you and your quest for dickage. I mean, penis.

5. Low cut jeans, having recently come into style, will perfectly accentuate your killer lower back tattoo. (You don't have a lower back tattoo? Go join the business fraternity.)

6. Don't wear your high school prom dress to formal. DON'T.WEAR.YOUR.PROM.DRESS.TO.FORMAL.

7. Sparkly dragonflies and butterflies are fashion gold.

8. Spend an hour each night tweezing your eyebrows so that they resemble fishing line.

9. You CAN wear an over-sized t-shirt... but only if it has a boy's fraternity letters.

10. You can skip lipstick, as your mouth will soon be stained red with grain-alcohol-laced Hairy Buffalo served from a dirty bathtub.

11. Tits.

You are good to go. Go forth, young lass. I will pray that a boy with straight teeth holds your legs during a keg stand.

Note: I recommend zooming in on the first photo so you can learn how to adequately mimic my "drunk-girl-coming-out-of-the-porta-potty" expression. Critical.

Please take me to Sweden. K?

You guys, I want to go to Sweden now. I'm rapidly becoming obsessed. Here are 5 reasons you should take me.

1. Swedes make the dopest horror movies. Case in point: Dead Snow (Nazi Zombies!) and Let the Right one In (Androgynous Child Vampires!)

Pic via Only Good Movies Blog.










2. They put hotels in the trees. When you take me to Sweden, I want to stay at the Treehotel, where each room is in a separate building suspended in the canopy of the Boreal forest. Magic!






















3. Lingon-fucking-berries. What are they? No one knows. I want to eat them.


4. If Lykke Li is any indication, Swedish clubs must be off.the.hoooook.






5. Niklas Hjalmarsson. I don't want really want to be pregnant, but I could make an exception. And when his body fails and he has to quit being a defenseman for the Blackhawks, he clearly has a future as a commercial actor. I feel he would make an excellent tour guide through his hometown of Eksjo. Pic via Talk-sports forum.

NOTW: Peter Pan Copper Collar Necklace from Super Duper Things

Image via Etsy

Working out of Norwich in the UK, Louise Evans (aka louloudo on Etsy) is my new go-to for affordable unique pieces. Much of her work is made from re-purposed metals and fabrics. I love this piece: draped copper over naked décolletage. HAWT. And only $14.50! Her shop is here, her blog is here.

Screw you, cupcakes. It's muffin time.

Image via Flickr

Since Husband is by far the superior cook in the house (Actually I place third- Husband, then the deaf dog, then me), I took up baking. Also domesticity is trendy, and I am a whore for the trends.

Despite having many friends who excel at baking cupcakes and having tattoos of cupcakes, cupcakes piss me off. Mostly because everyone seems to go apeshit when presented with them. Cupcakes are so 2008.

So muffins. I make muffins. Muffins are easy and make me popular at staff meetings. They can be sweet or savory. Not to mention the fun use of "muffin" as a sexual innuendo, and inadvertently prompting many "That's what she said" moments. Mark Bittman just did a great piece on muffins for the New York Times. I think he got the idea from me.

I make good ones. When a recipe calls for milk, I generally use half and half. I always add another 1/5 or so of butter suggested. Fat globules make shit good.

Muffins are always best the first day, so just eat all 12 and wash those puppies down with some Boone's Farm Coconut Wine. Guaranteed amazing day. There's a sweet and a savory recipe here for you to choose from.

You make these muffins now.

PECAN PIE MUFFINS- easiest thang ever. Super rich and tasty. Only 5 ingredients.
(Makes 8-9 muffins)

Ingredients:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
12 tablespoons of butter (yes, this makes it awesome), softened
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan (I use a canola oil cooking spray).

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, and pecans. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and butter together until smooth. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Spoon into muffin tin. (Tin should be about 2/3 full.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 20 minutes should do it- stick a toothpick in one, if it comes out clean, you're good. Cool muffins on a rack when done.

Adapted from allrecipes


CHEDDAR CORNMEAL MUFFINS- A carnivore could did these up with bacon. Just reduce the salt.
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse cornmeal
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I like to use the larger amount- these won't be spicy anyway, just have a kick)
1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup half n half with 1 tbsp white vinegar (allow to sit 5 minutes)
8 tbsp butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup grated cheddar
1/8 cup grated Parmesan
Optional- 5 or 6 splurts of hot sauce (I like Valentina)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease (canola cooking spray) a muffin pan. Combine the first 7 ingredients into a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk buttermilk, butter, and egg. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Mix in cheese.

Fill muffin tins 2/3-3/4 full, equally. Bake about 16 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan or on a rack.

Adapted from epicurious.

Week-end happies

Photo via pantagrapher's flickr.


I'm having a grouchy Friday morning. But these gems perked me up.

Threadless's amazing Skee-Lo "I Wish" T-shirt.

Bob Goldstein's rockstar gig posters for scientists.


The Ninja Hamster of Doom! Amazing. Found for me by my future BFF, Kelly of Design Crush.

I am dying for someone to cook me this Cauliflower-Cheese Pie, adapted from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook. What the hell. I might even make it myself.

After I leave Chicago, I want to live in this ancient fortress house in France. I'd like to see the neighborhood kids try to gang tag THAT shit.


I am going to wear these pants from L.L.Bean's signature collection on a date with a 1970's investigative journalist.


Artist/Designer Nathalie Stämpfli got a lot of press this week for her soap flake-makers, but I'm a bigger fan of her bed for books.

The Demon Rug and The Octopus Chair from Badder Homes and Gardens.

The best Val Kilmer movie evah, Real Genius, got some love from The A.V. Club.

My girl Karen aka Scarlet Bloodletter aka @thecanarycrayon taught me a cool nail tip. Her instructions: Paint nails. Let dry totes. Dip nail in rubbing alcohol. Press & hold tiny pieces of newspaper in place, peel off. Clear coat!

I made you a mixtape.

One might also just call it a "playlist." But you can close your eyes and pretend that you are listening to it on my pink boom box. Funny story- I once used my pink boom box in an attempt to record my neighbors a la "Harriet the Spy." When they returned the boom box to my mom, I cried.

I get a lot of music from Future Perfect radio and Chirp Radio, especially the Middle Fidelity show. Check em out.

This mix is full of love, because I love you.

Piles of Snow mix

Let me get you a painkiller from my elbow purse.

I totally get the practical basis for this, and I don't totally hate it, despite the sort of Failed "Fifth Element" vibe. However, I can also see myself, as well as other ladies I know (cough, CF) using this as a weapon on the dance floor. Dangerous but also useful. However I can't even imagine the looks I'd get from the beards at the Hideout.

That said, yeah. I'll probably get one. In black, natch.

Images via Dornob.

Fuck Yeah Slumber Party

It took me until about 6th grade before I could handle slumber parties. I was an anxious kid and the overwhelming excitement of all my friends and being away from home often sent me into a tizzy and I ended up with a stomachache, calling my parents to come get me.

Once that phase (if 12 years of life can be considered a phase) passed, I rocked the sleepover like no other. Some of my favorite memories include giggling at the transsexual parts of Soapdish at Allison Fox's house and barfing up homemade pizza at Mandy Quirke's.

In 2011, I want to have a killer slumber party. Here is my fantasy.

First, we rent out a suite at the Peninsula. Why the Peninsula? Because it is so swank that it has fucking lion statues. FUCKING LIONS. That's high end, yo.

Here's my guest list:

1. Liz Lemon. Someone needs to wear a cardigan and write awesome prank call scripts.



2. Princess Adora, alter ego of She-Ra. Adora was cooler, and this is a party for just the popular kids.






3. Andrea Randall. She was my BFF in 2nd grade. She had long silky brown hair and could lipsynch to Starship like nobody's business. She also had 4 older brothers, which was pretty rad. She can bring them too.

4. Meryl Streep. Imma try to get her to go lez.





5. Leslie Hall of Leslie and the LYs. Because she helped cultivate the modern hipster and this party needs a lot of spandex and lamé.






And then of course, I will also invite the cool "common people" in my circle of awesome. Like you.

I'm devising drinking games for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. This will ensure that we are pretty lubricated before we start prank-calling boys. Then we'll put on Labyrinth to undo all the weirdness from the previous two movies.

There will also be food. I will hire a fancy chef like Graham Elliott or Rick Bayless to make us sandwiches or tostadas. They will have to make them cookie cutter small, so us girls don't mess up our dope manicures.

I'm not sure yet who will DJ our dance party, but I'm leaning toward Slash. I think he'd bring the right vibe.

Date TBD.

NOTW: White Nest Shop

More necklace lurve. I'm totally biased on this one because I own this necklace already (in green)- a gift from Dave, and I'm a friend of the lovely lady who made it. This necklace caused my boss, who has never once reacted to any piece of my wardrobe, to drop her jaw. Meg Stevens, pictured, of White Nest Shop has been making her beautiful pillow covers for a couple of years and recently added intricate wood-bead necklaces to her line. Meg rocks. Check out her blog too.

Week-end Happies

Kelly over at Design Crush always lists her faves, and they are my favorite part of her blog. I took a cue and am listing my favorite things on the interwebz this week:

Awesome song lyric tattoos, via Flavorwire

This particular wall art at the Classics Department at U of C really spoke to me this week. Hmmph.

There is going to be TRAVELING LOBSTER MAC AND CHEESE in Chicago soon, via Grub Street Chicago.

Dave found this one: A cutie turtle with paralyzed back legs gets some wheelz, via Boing Boing.


Mary Temple's gorgeous shadowy art, via My Love For You

Raw meat couture, yes. Meat clothes, from artist Pinar Yolacan, via Etsy.

The new Walter Meego album- downloadable for FREEEEEEE. Via Chicagoist

(photo via Kitsune Noir Tumblr)

Boy crush: Pogo

I've been stalking Pogo's work after seeing it on Booooooom a couple months ago. Pogo is Nick Bertke, and he creates trippy beautiful remixes of our favorite childhood memories. The vids are such a happy mix of nostalgia, hallucinogenic wonder and beats. Also, he's adorable and an Aussie to boot. Love, love, love. Some of my faves:









Pogo's YouTube Channel

Anonymous love notes. Suck it, Stress.

According to the well-known scientific journal that arrives at my house each month, Better Homes and Gardens, January 5th is the most stressful day of the year. The holidays are over, we are back at work, and the weather blows.

In an attempt to counteract a little bit of awful, I wrote a bunch of letters and decorated them with stickers and stamps. Each letter read:


You are an attractive, intelligent beacon of light.

That is a fantastic shirt!

2011 is going to be your YEAR.

Hey. I love you.




I put the letters in envelopes labeled "HEY YOU" and left them around random locations. Since I believe in not pissing on the earth when possible, I recycled old pages of articles from my dissertation dayz to write the letters on. So people who picked up the letters were also lucky enough to receive a snippet on "Individualism-collectivism, self-efficacy and other factors associated with risk-taking among gay Asian and Caucasian Men" (Mao et al, 2004). After consideration, I decided to leave the envelopes unsealed to lessen the perception that they might possibly contain anthrax.

I left the letters around throughout my morning activities, at such places like New Wave Coffee in Logan Square and the Classics Department at the University of Chicago. I sent a couple with my downtown minions to place too. One ended up with the St. John's Wort at Trader Joe's. I didn't stick around to see who found them and read them, although I believe that those who did were probably most touched by my amazing sticker arranging skills.

Haute culture that will make me panic, pass out.

We all know that the kids are dropping like flies at Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Here are some additional pieces of fine art and society that would likely leave me clammy and pale on the floor. Seriously, my heart is pounding.

BLOODLINES

At an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, you can observe Hermann Nitsch's "blood- and pigment-stained canvases hover between the poles of material decadence and the mystery enacted in the sacrificial/redemptive drama of the Catholic Mass."
No thanks. Image and story via Flavorwire



American Psycho (THE GD FREAKING MUSICAL) on Broadway.

Working on making Patrick Bateman the "headliner of Broadway's bloodiest show" is playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, along with none other than Duncan Sheik composing the score. Aguirre-Sacasa expects the script to be done early this year. Tempting...but hell to the no. Image and story via Popwatch

Presents: Making Mondays better since right now.

Despite shaky breathing on the way into work today, it could be going shittier.
Thanks in part to my lovely co-worker BFF Amy who HAND-FUCKING-KNITTED me some lovely handwarmers as a belated birthday present. I'm so glad I have skilled friends.
PLUS I got some tasty fancy chocolates from Kristin's trip to Galena.

Here I deftly model both.

Mondays in 2011 don't suck. Here's your Monday present from me: James Franco kissy animated gif. You're welcome. (via GIF Party)

Stop Motion + The National = Gold.

I'm often searching for stop motion animation on Vimeo and You Tube. Instant happy. I came across this video by Tobias Gundorff Boesen set to The National's "Slow Show" and fell in love.

Out Of A Forest from Tobias Gundorff Boesen on Vimeo.

Necklace of the Week

I am a necklace junkie, with a particular penchant for pendants. (That alliteration was unintentional, really.)

Since I'm always looking for beautiful necklaces anyway, I decided to highlight one each week. This week's is the Cobb Web Spider Pendant from Dollybird Design. Kate of Dollybird is located in Chicago, and everything she touches is heaven. She's also a sweet lady whenever I've encountered her at craft fairs, etc. I love all of her pieces, but the cobweb series is just beautifully, creepily ethereal. The 3-inch pendant which I really love, is sold out. The one-incher will have to do. :)
The Cobb Web Spider Pendant can be found on Kate's website, Dollybird.