just a little lazy blogging

Some words of wisdom, random thoughts, and things I've been up to:

Some people do not believe the madness part however.  Side story: B and I lived across the street from this crazy guy who would stand outside of his building eating spaghetti noodles out of Tupperware for extended periods of time in the same pose.  I'm saying I would drive past to run errands and come back an hour and a half later and he would be in the exact same position, shirtless.  B suggested that he might be making meth and would stand outside to avoid too much time around the chemicals.  I suggested it was performance art.  Big mistake..."ONLY YOU would say that!" he said.  Ha ha.  He's right, though.  Some people aren't genius...they're just making meth.  

sick of doing these awful monochromatic collages in design class.  I want to make colorful ones that look like this...

Ben Taylor's The Legend of Kung Folk album cover

Which reminds me of this song B and I keep playing over and over in the car...

Which brings me to my favorite record (need a CD copy so I can listen to it in the car) of the moment--Flag by James Taylor...

Very cool album cover (mine is in great shape--its like art!) and the inside is really cool too!

Thinking about getting an Etsy account and making a bunch of different prints to sell...is this worth my time? is this a good idea?

Speaking of prints... here's the latest

My little Dutch shoe (carved linoleum block print)

    

A more complicated version to turn in (part of my edition of 5)

It took me a good twenty minutes to find the cord thingy that puts the pictures on my computer...thinking I probably should email this to mom before I have the chance to lose it again :)

So I bought this today...and now my apartment smells realllly good...

and this little book that had some neat ideas for printmaking off the $1 table at Black Bear Books...

Apparently Black Bear has a website: http://www.blackbearbooks.com/blog/
Hate that I missed Sharyn McCrumb there a couple weeks back!

So, I finally ordered a pair of Vans for B's belated birthday...

 They should be here tomorrow via FedEx and in order NOT to miss them (I hate getting that stupid little note left on my door! errr!) we are going to make sure to stay at my apartment all day tomorrow and not leave until they get here.  I have some school projects to work on but we have planned a long movie to watch to pass the time...

Really excited about this one! Seen some of it on TV before , ready to see it all the way through finally...we've been talking about renting it forever.

Well that's about it for now.

Man, nobody reads this thing.

Oh, well.

  

Fall Favorites

Fall is just about here and I'm thinking about the shift my wardrobe needs to make.  It's time to dig out all my cozier clothes!  I can't say how much I love this time of year...there is a freshness to it (even more than spring i think) that feels like a brand new day!  I love dressing for fall.  Here are my staples:

A slimming pair of cords. 

 

These are from Anthropologie but my two favorite pairs came from Kohl's (Chaps RL) and, believe it or not, Kmart (Route 66).  The Chaps pair is the most recent (bought them last fall) and are chocolate brown, stretchy, and give me a really great shape with their high waist.  I'm keeping an eye out for colored ones from Levi's this fall. 

Oxford Shirts.

    

    

As you can see this can go so many different ways.  With basic oxford shirts (the kind that brands like Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers are know for) you get a really ivy league look, while flannel is more rustic and casual.  A tuxedo or ruffled shirt is something that's more polished achieves a sophisticated, sleeker look.  I love all these looks, they're so effortless.  Wear them fitted for a tailored look wear them over-sized (raid boyfriend's closet) for an artsy, casual look.  However you choose to wear them make sure to add feminine touches to balance the masculinity of a button-up.  

Clogs, Flats, Riding Boots, and "Something Utilitarian."  

I'm a life-long lover of the clog! I wish I had a gazillion pairs.  Right now all I really only wear a pair of brown Danskos (and a really embarrassingly old pair of Birkenstock-style things).  

   

Moccasins, ballet flats, loafers, whatever! Just make sure they are special to you and bring some style and poise to your outfit.  That way you're feet are comfy, and you're not wearing sneakers (not a big fan of sneakers).

  

Riding boots--a no-brainer! Looks great with super slim pants (reminiscent of riding pants) or leggings (cheaper and, to me, a little less pretentious).  I mostly wear mine with skirts of any length but they look so cool with a skirt that hits you about an inch or two below the top of your boot!

When I say "something utilitarian" I'm basically referring to duck boots.  Another one of my favorite things are making a comeback!  They're comfy, warm, and keep your feet dry, but really cute too.  They come in a ton of colors and you can even get super-feminine slip-on and ankle styles.  Mine are traditional navy Western Chiefs, but Sperry Topsider and L.L. Bean sell these too.  Also I'll mention Hunter wellies, even though I'm personally not a wearer of rain boots, lots of folks wear them with tights and skirts with sweaters or tucked into jeans.    

Tights and leggings.

  

I'm one of those girls that needs her dresses and skirts even when it's cold out.  I wear opaque tights a lot skirts, dresses, boots, and even fuzzy moccasins.  I also like wearing leggings under a slinky dress or just as pants with one of those men's shirts I was talking about previously.  One thing I want to do this fall is wear plush corduroy shorts or jean cutoffs with tights, flats, and a turtle neck.  My mom dressed me that way when I was little and I never got how cool that was until I was older.  

Mini Skirts.

The colder it gets outside the more masculine and heavy a wardrobe can get.  Balance all the dark colors and neutrals and warm sweaters with a pretty little mini skirt to show off those stems (with tights because it's cold out there, you'll catch pneumonia!).  

More things I love for fall.

    

      

Creative living

The last time I talked to my daddy on the phone, he told me that when I got home next we'd have a talk about my future.  I never got to have that talk with him.  It breaks my heart but I know what he was going to say.  He had told me before and my mother confirmed this...What he saw for my life's work was making art.  He always thought that's where my future was.  He thought that I'd be good at simply making things and selling them.  He always wanted me to keep weaving baskets...thought that I had this capacity to market and sell.  It has worked once before for me, with the DMB posters and this idea gives me such a rush.  Well, he was giving my brother and me a pep talk once about us being lazy or bored or something.  He said you can't really do anything of worth without passion.  It probably didn't stick with John but it meant something to me.  I'm coming into that idea finally...that you have to feel strongly about what your doing or you will fade away.  I don't want to fade away.  He wouldn't want me to either.

So now this is the goal...to express a lot of things inside of me that very few people have ever seen from me.  I have a reason, a place in this world, even if it is small and unpublicised.  I feel the strong need in the pit of my stomach to be something, to make him proud, to have passion, and to be a legacy in a world that forgets him or maybe never knew him well enough at all.  My dad was an artist and a really sensitive guy.  So funny and warm, and so susceptible to sharing. I know that he felt everything so strongly because his blood runs through my veins, and we are so similar.  I really do feel that a creative person's senses are so much stronger than anyone else can comprehend.  This is how creative people can manipulate a medium so well.  We are those kids that are just so affected by things...more than the other kids.  We are those people that seem sad a lot but we "do" happy so well.  Every sensation is heightened and they're are all these layers to life that can be so hard to get through--just a mess--but you can't replace that excitement and variety and quality to life with anything else but those messy layers.  We often have a hard time but it's worth it to me to be present (ask B, this is a very big thing for me) and see the good and the bad in a way that only I can see it.  

I really just want to start working so that I can show the world as I see it.  No one else can do it the way you  do it--not quite the same and sometimes the smallest, strangest perception makes a huge difference to a stranger, your family, or just yourself (for your well-being/development).  EVERYONE is capable and everyone is different--this is one way I know God is real and still working among us.  

                                                                                                   

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." -Maya Angelou 

Just a few fun things to look at...I've been going through this really basic nostalgic phase.  Concepts like childhood, home, education, magic and miracles, probably just because it’s that time of the year when we all sort of get like that :)

Chris Van Allsburg, Author/Illustrator of "The Polar Express" and "Jumanji"

The Morton salt girl--almost 100 years old!   Thinking about carving her into linoleum and making lots of prints! Blank cards in interesting color schemes, maybe?