amalapropos

i've been slacking on posts, i know

2010-03-11T15:50:00.002-05:00

image from EpiCute

...but getting everything cleared so that I can finally go somewhere for spring break is overwhelming me-- so today will just be a quick poem by e. e. cummings:

i carry your heart with me
by e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Simple and sweet for today-- have a lovely Thursday, people!

party favours: 3.9.2010

2010-03-09T22:27:00.005-05:00

Party favours was meant for me to spend LESS time formatting pictures, and more time putting up links to text, yet somehow I have degenerated into this picture churning machine. Regardless-- today's party favours will hopefully have a good balance between interesting images, objects and articles

11 Characteristics of Highly Influential Bloggers: I always have a hard time remembering that my writing is just as important as my content-- er, in fact, my writing IS my content! Easy to forget when you spend a lot of time regurgitating other people's work.

Squids in a sculptural web comic? These cephalopods (that means pretty much any 8 tentacled creature) are so cute, it almost makes me forget how delicious they can be in my sushi. Almost [Via Craftzine]

Speaking of fish, believe it or not, this gorgeous interior of the Beijing Noodle Company No. 9 in Las Vegas has actual fishtanks and fantastic design all over every inch of every object there. The play of light and water is probably breathtaking in real life-- but I wonder how the fish feel about the seafood noodles? [Via Bits of Beauty]

The Law Of Japanese Food Consumption dictates that anything miniaturized makes it 10 times cuter and surely, also 10 times more delicious. These scans of The Book of Little Sweets by Yuki are making me hungry... and they would probably leave me hungry if I could actually get my massive paws on them. [Via Happy Lady Eats]

What would happen if you ordered something at a cafe... and didn't get it? That's the premise behind Japan's Ogori Cafe, where you get the order from the person before you, and the person behind you gets your order. Sometimes, kindness happens when someones splurges a crazy amount of food for the person behind them. Cute!

Apparently there is a Buffalo Powder Keg Winter Festival. (Don't worry, I had no idea either.) But for this year's festival, the inhabitants of Buffalo (Buffalonians?) have constructed the world's largest ice maze (12,855.68 square feet!), using 2,200 donations of 300-pound blocks of ice. [Via Makezine]

WHAT?! Jim Halpert and Pam Beesley wedding photos?! HANDS OFF MY M-- I mean, uh, cute. Right. Totally adorable. [Via Sara]

Insta-pools, to quote: Hydrofloors® are vertically movable floors -- vertically, not horizontally. The floor actually moves upward to the surface straight from the bottom. This allows you to exploit the surface area taken up by an indoor or outdoor swimming pool. The movable floors convert the associated terrace or indoor pool room for other uses such as recreation, social events, dining and dancing. [Via Blame It On the Voices]

Proof that pastry and icing skills can come in handy otherwise: if you pipe bags of plaster, you can get these gorgeous snowflakes on the wall of a little bake shop in Singapore! [From Kuidaore]

That's all for today-- I'm working on this massive slew of guest posts for next week, where you will be regaled with random posts from random people. Everyone will get to meet each other, like an awkward cocktail party-- it will be fantastic. Have a lovely week, peoples!

quote of the weekend-- inspired by retreat

2010-03-08T02:29:00.003-05:00

img via flickr user adwriter
everyone face the sun!

Loving someone who loves you, when it’s easy, is Convenience.

Loving someone who loves you, when it’s hard, is Patience.

Loving someone who doesn’t love you, when it’s easy, is Charity.

Loving someone who doesn’t love you, when it’s hard, is Sacrifice.

This is the root of true love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

No idea where this is from-- I had it saved as a draft for a while, but I always forget that my love tends to be full of Convenience, Patience, and Charity. I love True Love.

if you shop with coupons, you can pretend you're saving money

2010-03-07T17:11:00.004-05:00

image via ffffound

I realize now that coupons have a tendency to... un-save my money, because they present such a "good deal" that I just "can't resist". But, if you JUST SO HAPPEN to need something which JUST SO HAPPENS to have a coupon....

Target
Click HERE for a list of printable coupons, updated frequently.

Ulta.com
2 Free Urban Decay Eye Pencils with any $20 UD purchase
Click HERE for details

John Frieda Hair Salon
Free samples of shampoo and conditioner with sign-up
Click HERE to register

Urban Outfitters
Free shipping [expires 3.8.2010]
Code: SHIPIT

Shutterfly
$10 off any purchase
Code: MARCH10

RiteAid
$3 off any $15 purchase
Click HERE for the coupon

Steve Madden
15% off $50+ purchase, plus free shipping, Code: MyShoes15
Free shipping, Code: SMFREESHIP

Kohl's
$10 off any $20+ order [expires 3.14.2010]
Click HERE for the coupon

E.L.F. (eyes lips face)
50% off Studio Makeup with $15+ purchase, Code: STUDIOSAVE
$1.98 SHIPPING with $15+ purchase, Code: SHIPFOR198
Free $1 brush, any purchase, Code: FREEB

Bath & Body Works
Free travel size item with any purchase
Click HERE for the coupon

Kodak.com
100 Free Prints: sign up and get 50, apply code 50FREE for 50 more

Express
$30 off $75+ purchase, or $20 off your $40 purchase [expires 3.28.2010]
Click HERE for coupon, must show student ID

Edible Arrangements [expires 3.7.2010]
$10 off select bouquets
Click HERE for coupon

Have a lovely week, people!

simple typography makes it all better

2010-03-05T10:48:00.008-05:00

One of the hardest things for me to remember is that simplicity is really the best way to go, and sometimes that means reducing the idea down to the most basic type. There's a huge tendency for design to obsess about stuffing in details, details, details, but these videos all showcase how a focus on "the big picture" (as in "one singularly focused big picture") can be the most impactful.

Ok, It's Alright With Me
First off, a music video from Eric Hutchinson, whose pop/rock/folksy sound is crisp and cheerful-- the use of plain black and white typography is perfect (and really, not plain at all)!

The transition from phrase to phrase is phenomenally smooth, and that little wobble that happens when each word pops up from his piano gives it a dynamic quality to make it more interesting. (Thanks, Mel!)

Typographic Valentine's Video from Someone Who Is Broke
If the catchy tune doesn't get you, then maybe you should try a more romantic overture, like this Valentine's video from Doug Chang-- he was too broke to buy an expensive gift for his girlfriend, so he made one out of typography. With light colors and a face-paced tempo, its very slick and super, super sweet.

A Very Vimeo Valentine from Doug Chang on Vimeo.

[Via DoobyBrain]

V for Vendetta in Kinetic Typography
For a more sinister touch, this typographic video takes the extremely convoluted and heavily alliterated speech from V for Vendetta-- and breaks it down in readable words. The speech itself is extremely fast-paced and hard to follow, but this does a great job of converting the rhythm and tone of the speech into text.

Things To Learn
Finally, a video that includes some graphics with the typography-- but really, the simplicity of the style makes the pictures function like type. Christian Borstlap made this for a Dutch children's charity named Kinderpostzegels, and he uses shapes to suggest ideas, much in the way that type does.

things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

The squidgy and squishy sounds effects help immensely, as does the quirky background music. Very cute!

Ok, I'm off to a retreat for the weekend, so no post tomorrow (but maybe one on Sunday of a little hobnobbin' animal I made). Have a lovely weekend!

"a monster of depravity"

2010-03-04T15:40:00.005-05:00

image via ffffound

Short post today, but a poetry post that just tickles me to bits when I read it. T.S. Eliot used to write these cat poems for his godchildren, in a book called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Later, this was adopted into a famous musical called (ta-duh) Cats, and I remember reading about Macavity when I was little and thinking that he was absolutely marvelous.

Macavity: the Mystery Cat
by T.S. Eliot

Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw--
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there's no on like Macavity,
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air--
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!

Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly doomed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square--
But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there!

He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's.
And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair--
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!

And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scap of paper in the hall or on the stair--
But it's useless of investigate--Macavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
"It must have been Macavity!"--but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macacity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, or one or two to spare:
And whatever time the deed took place--MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!

Haha, "there never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity"-- awesome. Want. That. Cat!

photodump for the past month or so

2010-03-03T17:17:00.002-05:00

sand art in union square

I am terrible at posting photos-- mostly because I am an amateur of amateurs when it comes to photography, so everything manages to come out blurry (or indecent). Whatever is left on my camera that is neither of those things gets dumped into this blog. This past month, below:

Chinese New Year
This year, we had a Chinese New Year hotpot feast at Lauren's with lots of underclassmen. My personal hotpot sauce recipe (well, my mom's, really) is soy sauce, scallions, shacha sauce, raw egg yolk, and a dab of creamy peanut butter. Weird, but very, very good-- the peanuttiness is akin to pad thai, not an actual pb&j sandwich! Only a couple of brave (or FOB) souls tried it, but its a pretty standard recipe in Taiwan, I think.

the two sides of the pot? spicy and non-spicy... ie korean and chinese.

Lauren prepped so much stuff that we actually had two separate tables to hold everything. Delish.

Small Group and Cigars
Our small group leader George went to Hong Kong recently on a business trip, and naturally he brought back for our small group... cigars?

Juuuuust kidding-- those are spiral Hong Kong wafers, with little tags to make them look like cigars. Clever, clever.

Happy Birthday, Danny!
Danny's surprise birthday involved hiding Kevin (arguably one of the biggest guys in church) in our closet (arguably one of the most cluttered closets we know). After the surprise we had pizza, games, and ENDLESS dessert, courtesy of Mal and Nancy. (Nancy alone made two containers of banana pudding and a key lime pie!)

three men, one light up bunny, and pizzas

left: mal's marbled nutella cake; right: nancy's banana pudding

going... going... ahhh we're too full to finish!

danny was so happy that night

Supplies! Or... not so supplies.
We tried to throw Esther a surprise going away party, except it wasn't really a surprise, since she knew the whole time. Regardless, there was an excellent moment when we jumped her outside of her apartment in Stuy.

plotting faces, while we were waiting outside

supplies!

On our way back to Sam/Betty/Nicole's apartment for pizza, Sam took me around to the back of her building to show me her newest artwork: a massive momma snow bunny, complete with babies on her!

fixing it up

how freaking cute is that?!

want. baby. bunny.

Ok, ok, enough for today. Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone!

party favours: 3.2.2010

2010-03-02T14:13:00.004-05:00

Link list of the week-- somewhere, somehow, all my links end up being somewhat food related. Trend, coincidence, or a terrible addiction to food? I'm going to chalk it up to the addiction...

Ring pop art! The pop part is meant to melt slowwwwly under the gallery lights, making sweet patterns of deliciousness on the walls. [Via Design You Trust]

10 Creative Moustache-Obsessed Products: Why yes I love moustaches! Not in real life though, just in concept-- it adds a dash of ridiculousness to everything. [Via Design You Trust]

This is a papercraft rhombidodecadodecahedron by flickr user fdecomite-- Wikipedia has specifics on the shape, but I just want a tutorial for how to make it (and how to get those corners so crisply smooth!) [Via Makezine]

GUMMI BEAR CHANDELIER?! OH YES PLEASE (alas, they are made of acrylic, not real gummi bears): [Via Swiss Miss]
I wonder how horrified Norman would be if we used his Carcassonne tiles to make this hanging earring display... Its a easy DIY if you're interested in ripping apart a perfectly functional game.

80 Free Iphone Wallpapers from Unstage-- I'm a fan of the cartoon Obama one:

This gingerbread house was inspired by the house in Up-- the perfectly layered yellow shingles and white picket fence have such clean edges, yum! [Via Craftzine]
You dropped food on the ground-- should you eat it? This chart answers it all. [Via SFoodie]

Looking into the Past is a great set of photos by flickr user jasonepowell, which layer old photographs onto current locations: ingenious!
Arjan Benning has created a new font using... skin. And clothespins. And what looks like a lot of pain. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this (readibility is sacrificed, because yes, that's my biggest concern here). [Via Ignant]

Ahh, enough, enough! Perhaps going from food to photographs to fonts made of skin was a bit too much. If it didn't upset your stomach, have a lovely Tuesday; if it did... I'm so sorry.

perfect sriracha stiching

2010-03-01T23:59:00.003-05:00

A short post today because Mondays are unkind to me, sigh. Craftzine posted up this great stitching of sriracha by flickr user christ(ine)-- Mike actually did a double take when I showed him this, because he thought it was just a picture of sriracha sauce!

Crazy, right? Crazy hot-- I can barely dab it on my food, but I remember watching Paul and Joel riddle their pizzas with unbelievably large amounts of the sawce. As Esther and I framed it:

Chinese people say, "It's hot, it has jalapeno peppers on it."
Korean people say, "It's not hot, it ONLY has jalapeno peppers on it."

Hooray for the end of this week's long Monday! Onto Tuesday, now...

sushi + cat = sushi cat

2010-02-28T00:02:00.009-05:00

I know, simple formula, but really-- why haven't I thought of this earlier?! By combining my favorite food and my favorite animal, this little flash player game has really captured my heart; I actually finished the entire game within half an hour.

The game features a fat little cat that wants a purple stuffed animal-- so he needs your help to get fatter and fatter! (The goals somehow correlate...) Drop him down at the right places to fill up his tummy to the max, and sometimes there are special sushi to help you along your way.

From Armor Games, via Kitsune Noir.

At one point, my sushi cat got so fat that he was stuck and I had to restart the level:

Yes, that round blue thing in the middle is, in fact, a cat.

With every level, there are sushi explosions surrounding the "SUSHI FRENZY!" banner-- an excellent way to end this game, in my opinion. May many minutes of your precious time be wasted here, hooray!

Have a lovely Sunday, folks!

don't bake, just photoshop

2010-02-27T15:53:00.003-05:00

A quick video for today's post-- I adore this stop animation that explains exactly how cookies would need to be photoshopped, if Photoshop was a baking program!

Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo.

[via Craftzine]

I'm particularly fond of the star cookies with raisins. This is precisely how I'd imagine a Adobe Photoshop Cook program.

Have a lovely weekend, people!

guest post: can I get married yet?

2010-02-26T17:13:00.002-05:00

{This is a guest post by Esther Lee.}

I don't know what it is about giant sparkly rocks, but seriously - it's enough to make me want to get married. Sort of. Well, no. But I just really want an engagement ring.

Earlier today at Jeannie's apartment, at point or another everyone had their laptops open in an attempt at productivity (although personally, I don't know if watching So You Think You Can Dance videos are exactly "productive"). Sometime amidst Jeannie and Mal making jokes about kissing indirectly and Gabby looking horrified, we ended up sharing our favorite internet videos, amongst other things.

Now, when it comes to favorites, Jeannie and I share the exact same taste - especially when it comes to incredibly quirky pieces of jewelry - that little taste of different, but not enough for you to stick out like a sore thumb. But when we were looking through my favorites list on Etsy, Jeannie looked at me and gave me her 'are you being serious?' face. You know which one I'm talking about. The sharp eyes and the downturned mouth with a quirk in the corner in disbelief. Yes, that one. I think it was because I was showing her photo after photo of rings. Particularly ones that look like engagement rings.

Now, let's not judge but be upfront and honest with ourselves; what girl doesn't like looking at pretty things? And living in New York where everyone seems to want to stand apart from the cookie cutter mold of all things traditional, it's hard being unique. Ironic, no? Quite, actually. So when Jeannie mentioned that I should guest post (which I've been meaning to do since forever) I didn't think that she'd actually plop me down on the couch, thrust her laptop into my hands and walk away for me to blog.

So here, I share with you, my favorites from Etsy along with some not-jewelry pieces, but lots eye candy as well. Enjoy!

(Okay, I suck at blogging. I can't write anything. Jeannie put me up to this. Here. Just a lot of pretty pictures.)

Via etsy seller Fox and Clover:

This recycled glass glass necklace features a lace doily motif.

I handpaint the lace motif with a fine-tipped quill pen. The paints I use are traditional glass enamels, similar to china paints or ceramic glaze. I fire them in the kiln at 1300 degrees F, where they fuse permanently to the glass. The image will never scratch or fade.

The glass in this necklace is 100% reclaimed glass, salvaged from a discarded picture frame. I cut, shape and fuse the glass by hand, then polish it to a smooth, glossy luster.

Via etsy seller One Garnet Girl:

Via etsy seller Incalesco:

Via etsy seller beyondtherockz:

The fluid, lava-like nature of gold in its molten state, transformed into a cooled and gleaming solid ring - - all captured in this design.
And then, like a vein of crystals in the earth, yellow and black diamonds are flush set into its 18k white gold surface.

Completely designed and handmade by me from 18k white gold (approx 9.2 grams in weight), including: Four natural black diamonds (each .08ct), totaling approx .32ctw, and four natural diamonds tinted yellow (SI1/LM and each .02ct), totaling approx .08ctw.

Via etsy seller Jesse Danger:

(Esther: "I love the image of this ring with the next one, Stellar, not on the same hand but just contrast between the two of them. There is just this incredible balance between the two. Love!")

Via etsy seller noformdesign:

(Esther: "I think what I like most about this ring is how it looks so effortless. I'm sure it isn't and that it must've taken hours, but it looks so incredibly feminine without trying too hard.")

Via etsy seller amieplante:

(Esther: "Put your hair in a twist and put this comb in. With a classic black dress, you'd be making such a statement-- it sets you apart without making it obvious. I like the first comb, but the more I look at it the more I like the second one. It's much more wearable.")

Via etsy seller creativedexterity:

(Esther: "Quirky! I feel that die-hard Mac fans would be a little more scandalized...")

And that concludes today's guest post-- this is Jeannie again, by the way-- Esther will be frequently guest blogging for amalapropos throughout the year (and by frequent, we mean "when enough things catch her interest"). Her eye for details and color has often inspired me-- and I hope that her passion for design can similarly inspire you.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

om nom nom nom nom SWEETS

2010-02-25T15:09:00.002-05:00

My most bitter realization this year was when Mike finally turned to me one morning and spoke truth into my life: “That’s the fourth packet of sugar you’re putting into your coffee, dear. It’s not the caffeine that’s causing you acne, it’s the sugar.”

A little bit of me died that day. Since then, I’ve been faithfully (ie, fruitlessly) trying to cut back on sugar, but really, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE when I see things online LIKE THIS:

via Creature Comforts

This Message-In-A-Cookie set from William Sonoma—do you not see how it is taunting me?! With its endless messaging possibilities and my perfect cookie cutter recipe, I could, potentially, gain 15 pounds in 2 weeks from this monstrosity of cute deliciousness. Norman’s girlfriend Steph used it for their Valentine’s Day cookies:

Want.

Better yet, cupcake round-ups by Simple Blueprint have had me craving figgy goodness (the other cupcakes on there are delicious, but the fig ones, oh the fig ones!)

And really, if we have to talk about cupcakes, what about this chart from Cupcake Stop, "NYC's first mobile gourmet cupcake shoppe"?

via Heart vs. Heart

So I've decided. If I'm not allowed to eat sweets, at least I will get to play with them, like Carl Warner does with his (healthier) foods:

I will always, always vote for salmon seas. Look at those gorgeous ripples.... mmmm.

That's me. An om-nom-nom-nomagon.

coupon cache: a small one for the week

2010-02-24T16:01:00.004-05:00

Its a completely irrelevant photo to the post-- but don't you remember how sweet this movie was? What a great screenshot.
via ffffound

Not a lot of coupons out right now, but that's to be expected-- post-Valentine's day and pre-spring break leaves room for a whole lot of nothingness concerning online deals. What's left:

Borders
30% off any one item [expires 2/25]
code: BSD7279Y

Betsey Johnson
40% Off Sale Clothing [from 2/25-3/1]
code: JUMP

ELF (eyes lips face)
50% off studio makeup, minimum $15 purchase [expires 3/15]
code: STUDIOSAVE
50% off entire order (up to $15 off)
code: WWYBFIFTY

Stila
Free shipping this week on orders over $20
code: SPARKLE

Bath and Body
Free item with any $15 purchase
click HERE for coupon

Urban Outfitters
$10 OFF ORDER of $75+
Code: JUSTFORYOU

Macy's
15% off on Select Sale & Clearance Lingerie at macys.com
code: SAVE15

ULTA
Free shipping on orders $25+
Code: 53495

Aeropostale
$10 off your purchase of $50+
click HERE for coupon

Have a lovely Wednesday, people!

party favours: 2.23.2010

2010-02-23T02:15:00.004-05:00

via yanoakiko
Hello friends-- this week's party favours features a wide and random range of things, so enjoy!

East Meets West: check out Yang Liu's amazing infographics about the difference between Eastern thought (right) and Western thought (left), gleaned from living in both Germany and China. My favorites:

"Attitude towards punctuality"

"How to stand in line"

"Volume of sound in restaurant"

This might be a bit late, but Threadbanger put up a great list of FREE downloadable calendars, designed by some great artists. Irene Nam's is fantastic:

AHHHHHH a Van Gogh Painting in perfectly frosted cake form?! Hold me back, for the love of my arteries!

Had I known about this college major flowchart earlier, it would have... no, I'd still be an English major. Sigh.

Remember the photographs of tilted people that I posted last August? (No?! HOW COULD YOU FORGET.) Well, here are more fantastic photos from the same photographer, Romain Laurent.

Clutter + Butterflies = Clutterflies, which are Michelle Stitzlein's giant butterfly sculptures made entirely from scraps, "including piano keys, broken china, license plates, rusty tin cans, electrical wire, bottlecaps, and other miscellaneous items." [via Dude Craft]

How to Ace Exams Without Studying: No, its not cheating-- its called rapid learning!

Green Street's newest single "Moonlight Groove" is out-- and you can download it for free HERE! This is from their upcoming project, Crossroads, which is coming out sooooon.

Finally, the cutest cartoon of a little monster named Munch, by my friend Kristine Marsh:

click to enlarge!

Ok, that's all for now, folks. Have a lovely Tuesday!

be warned: ChatRoulette is hilarity and horror

2010-02-22T23:00:00.004-05:00

So if you haven't discovered the horrors of ChatRoulette yet... don't. Unless you go in well prepared, that is. The randomized video viewer is unsettling, as it pairs you up with a complete stranger anywhere in the world who is equipped with a webcam-- our apartment managed to survive 2 hours of hilarity/horror, featuring:

at least THREE ridiculous signs

(Trust me, the requests for nudity far outnumbered three.)

(These were the only three that are safe for the general public.)

(And please note that some girls did in fact flash for Haiti, as evidenced by pic #2.)

(Our room was horrified.)

(This last guy, however, was much more of a gentleman-- he offered advice rather than breast requests.)

at least TWO naked (dancing) dudes

(Most naked dudes on ChatRoutlette were not dancing.)

(We became very adept at recognizing nudity before Mal, to protect her innocence.)

(We were still, horrified.)

but only ONE awesome korean dude

(Who got really excited about k-pop.)

(He was so excited he started dancing to the music on his laptop for us.)

(Check our that awesome Fair Isle slash granny slash cartoon character sweater.)

(That first pose is from the Wonder Girls' "Nobody".)

(We were amused.)

So be warned, my friends. ChatRoulette is not for the faint of heart-- in other words, if you can get past the breast requests and the extreme nudity and the multiple rooms of frat boys, you might actually be very, very entertained.

walking forward with failure: why i have a hard time with boxes

2010-02-18T14:30:00.003-05:00

via flickr user releasingorange

In the last few weeks, my apartment’s recycling had overflowed into four separate boxes, and yesterday night the four of us made a communal effort to bring everything down to the recycling room of our building. After sorting through glassware, plastic, cardboard, etc, we were left with the big boxes that carried all the recycling—they were bulky, taped down, and hard to flatten. In the end, I had to physically crush the largest one with my feet, but not before I noticed something: when Mal and Jenn handed me one of the boxes, my first instinct was to try halfheartedly. That is, I tugged on the sides a little and realized that they were too thick to rip easily, then turned to Gabs and asked her to pull on the opposite end, hoping that our combined effort would do it.

Gabs, on the other hand, simply looked at it, picked it up, readily went at one of the corners, and flattened the side within 20 seconds.

She is half my size, and she ripped that sucker open with ease.

This is something that I’m seeing more and more in my life—I often walk forward with failure, with the assumption that “I can’t do it.” I see it in other people too, when they predict things like: bad responses from others, judgment and condemnation, low grades/demotions, illness, failure, awkwardness, incompatibility, unhappiness, depression, anxiety, etc. etc. We say that our goals are success and happiness and passion and other good stuffs (and I don’t doubt that we desire these things), but our mentality remains locked into failure.

It won’t work.
I can’t do it.
No one can do it.
Everyone hates me.
It’s bound to fail.
It’s not possible.
I can’t change.

Sometimes, we blame other things for our future failures: habits, conditions, diseases, bad luck, karma, our parents, God, chemical imbalances, experience, addiction, our past, ex’s, people who have hurt us, lost chances—you name it. And sometimes, we just blame ourselves. We believe that we are incapable and insufficient and just not good enough to accomplish whatever it is that we need/want to do.

I’ve noticed that the people who end up doing (and succeeding, too) with things are the ones who walk forward despite these nagging voices in their heads, who decide that they are, in fact, able to do this. Even if that “thing to do” is just ripping open a box, they’ve pinned their minds on the concept that “One way or another, this is going to happen. I am going to make it happen!” And equally importantly, they know that the “how” of it happening can happen in multiple ways: Gabs pointed out that the corners of a box are the easiest to rip, and that’s where she started, but when an even bigger box had to be flattened, she decided that stepping on it would be easier. And that’s what we did.

I know it sounds like an overblown analogy, comparing a box to life’s problems, but the principle remains. When you walk forward with failure, you’re not really walking forward: you’re just plugging away at the box halfheartedly, wondering if you’ll get the job (“Probably not”) or repair your relationship (“Its too broken to be fixed”) or succeed with a project (“Its impossible”). Even if the good thing does pull through or get achieved, you’re more inclined to chalk it up as a fluke, a random lucky accident, rather than something that you were capable of achieving all along.

But walk forward with boldness, with a little faith, and without failure already projected onto the box—well, you’ll flatten that sucker, one way or another.

a poem that sums up what i realized about the rest of my life

2010-02-17T17:27:00.005-05:00

More About People
by Ogden Nash

When people aren't asking questions
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something.
All of which results in a nasty quirk:
That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work.

quotes to ponder for the day

2010-02-16T02:32:00.001-05:00

People who matter are most aware that everyone else does, too.
-Malcolm Forbes

Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.
-T.S. Eliot

party favours: 2.15.2010

2010-02-15T19:36:00.009-05:00

helvetica cookie cutters! via design you trust

Random link list of things I'm loving this week, begin!

Mnmlist is a fantastic site based on (of course!) minimalism by Leo Babauta, the same guy who writes Zen Habits, and he posted up a list of his personal belongings-- which only number to 50! Crazy, and very, very admirable. One day, I too shall minimalize my closet... Hahahahaha (I wish!) [via Minnow]

Meomi is the 2-person design company that came up with the Winter Olympics logo this year, and they have the cutest teaser short for their smallest mascot, MukMuk, who is a Vancouver Island marmot, in case you were wondering.

flickr

the Meomi site

[via Gene]

Need great mood music? Check out Ken Ross' new EP, "Zzzz", which you can download for free HERE-- and check out track no. 6, which features our old friend A-live from Green Street. Very slick and wonderfully listenable, yum!

Argh, cute cupcakes from EpiCute are KILLING ANY RESOLVE I HAVE FOR A DIET. Not that I started with any resolve to begin with.
Worse yet, Mal buzzed about these Bacon Cheese Turtleburgers that had me craving bacon all weekend:
Diet? HAHAHA.

On a more somber note, this is a great article on self hatred beneath sugar-coated criticism and self improvement. To quote:
Self-criticism is not "love", and it is certainly not indifferent. It's a form of hatred. And when I name that, when I see it for what it is (raw and uncomfortable and saddening...) when I refuse to sugar-coat self criticism, judgment, agitation, and constantly trying to improve myself, then I'm one quantum leap closer to freedom. Out of the swamp. Grounded in love.
Same thing goes for criticism for other people, I think. Just something to consider... [via Gala Darling]

So instead of hatred, let's go for love instead, oui oui? Gala Darling posted up 100 Ways You Can Love Start Loving Yourself Right Now, and I'm really fond of a lot of these-- but I would suggest doing it out of more than just self-love: these are things that we should be doing as well-rounded and balanced people who reach out to others.

This awesome photoshoot for Vogue Korea was done by Kim Kyung Soon, and I'm astounded by how the lighting and the poses (and oh yes, the hair!) make the hanbok look so fresh. [via Style Files]

Annnnnd that concludes this week's Party Favours, yum.

3 am trysts with paint, hearts, and soho

2010-02-14T02:14:00.006-05:00

Gabbie's version of a "covert operation" involved bundling me up in underarmour and shipping me (and her and Gil) into Soho at 1:30 AM on a Friday night. We went with New Mind Space (the same people who do the Union Square pillow fights) and they provided us with a pasty mixture involving:

Plaster of paris
Red acrylic paint
Water
and Lovvvvvve (collective sigh of sappiness)

prepping once the popo left

They also handed us hearts cut out from kitchen sponges, which were nice when they were dry...

my sponge matches my scarf!

...but my God, when they were covered in paint, it was MISERABLE. The paint would cake and shed and crumble (hooray for plaster of paris), and every drop of moisture in there made the wind 20x colder.

Hard at work up and down Broadway-- except halfway through, we found out that we were painting THE WRONG SIDE. We were assigned to be on the east side... and we were on the west, of course. So we switched over, after already finishing an entire block.

In between moving from the west side to the east side, Gil and I had the worst bathroom hops (you know, when you're practically skipping in dread because that's how badly you have to go) and thank goodness for 24 hour delis in the middle of Soho, because they had 1) BATHROOMS and 2) hot chocolate cups with bears on them!

Gil and I each had a cup, and it was the most glorious cup of hot chocolate.
Negative-something windchill helped the taste immensely.

Happy trail of hearts!

And we ended the night completely covered in pink/red paint. On our clothes, cameras, hands, jewelry, everything. Thankfully, it all washes off.

So yes, go visit Soho in these couple of days before it all washes out, and

Happy Valentine's Day!

this month in peekchures

2010-02-13T13:34:00.005-05:00

I've been completely skimpy on posting because my schedule runs me to the ground Mondays to Thursdays, and then I just end up sleeping 12+ hours every day on weekends so that nothing, absolutely nothing, gets done by the end of the week! After last night's little 3 AM adventure, however, (which will be posted this weekend!) I discovered all these photos on my camera that I entirely forgot about. So. Photos galore it is, and of course I'm mostly on foods, as usual...

LES DESSERTS

Top left: Mal and Mike bought these mini cupcakes from a place called Baked by Melissa (on 14th between University and 5th) and they were only slightly bigger than a quarter at the base, and oh my word, they were so freaking good! The prices are crazy, but the flavors are perfectly bite-sized (6 cupcakes for $5.50).

from their website, with a quarter as size reference! click to enlarge

Top right: And that, my friends, is perhaps the most glorious invention to hit our hemisphere, the Symphony Cup from Black Hound [swooooooon]. Dark chocolate molded cup, filled with fresh Bavarian sweet cream, and topped with juicy berries? Yes, and yes, and here, you can have my firstborn child, yes.

Bottom: The blueberry crumble I posted two weeks ago, baked and individually wrapped for convenience, and the failed nutella banana cake I tried to make for SG. There is almost an entire jar of Nutella in and around that sucker.

stunned Korean small group members

GOURMET DINNERS

DvD and Jason whipped up the most ridiculous (and by ridiculous, I mean amazing) gourmet meal ever created in this apartment: orange-marinated baked salmon rolled in toasted coconut, with organic orange marmalade-mustard sauce, over coconut milk rice, paired with white wine. We girls were rolling with joy after this meal, no joke.

Abe's sisters threw him a belated surprise birthday party-- and by belated, we mean 23 days after the fact, but hey, it was such a fantastic meal, I don't think he minded at all. We had dinner at the Pio Pio in Hell's Kitchen, and it was the first time I have ever had Peruvian chicken: delicious.

Top right: Pio Pio's salchipapas-- deep fried hot dogs on top of french fries, meant to be dipped in cilantro sauce. They are as wonderful (taste-wise) and terrible (health-wise) as they sound.

Top left: Lauren showcases the lovely decor in Pio Pio; the entire restaurant's decor is a "homage to pre-historic Peruvian culture" by architect Sebastian Mariscal.

Bottom right: Awwww, the Tseng men! The Tseng ladies, by the way, are equally adorable, but my camera failed to capture them in good light. Mr. Tseng is a gentleman-- we always have dinner with him when he comes into the city, its awesome.

Bottom left: This does not remotely capture how much food there was on the table. Please quadruple this amount of food in your mind to get a much more accurate understanding of that meal.

horrendous lighting, and by this time we were more than halfway through the meal

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

OK, so it's not actually combustion, but rather entirely random meet-ups that kept popping up all over the place this past month. I love bumping into people unexpectedly or having spontaneous moments around the city with them.

Top left: Esther looking confused in my apartment (she dropped off so much eye candy I nearly cried from joy).

Top right: A random lunch with Phil Kim-- ladies, he is single, ready to mingle, and really, really enjoying that sandwich from Baoguette on St. Marks!

Bottom left: Paul came to visit me all the way from Oh-hi-oh, and we had dimsum together with his friends at the Golden Bridge Restaurant in Chinatown.

Bottom right: Sam and Jia at St. Alps last night-- I randomly bumped into their post-small-group Parsons dinner on my way back from studio, and I was so thrilled to see them that I actually sat down and ate with them.

MM, EYE CANDY

My addiction to lovely paper and books and such has only been fed more and more this past month: on the right, Esther's eye candy of planners and books, and on the left, my recent stationary purchases (Crane & Co. at half off?! Yesssss). If you look closely, the books are the New York Look Book and The Sartorialist-- I'm thrilled, really.

What is this paper-thin, translucent, pale white circle that I am holding up, you say?

Well, its eye candy for sure (are the slices gorgeously thin?) and it tastes awesome-- its a granny smith apple that's been through the deli meat slicer-- which is what happens every time I order an Alice sandwich from Toasties. The Alice is turkey breast on romaine in wheat bread smothered with honey dijon mustard and topped with brie cheese and granny smith apples-- and at 1 am, if you ask nicely and buy an apple, the owner might just slice it up for you, sans sandwich, just so you can have apple paper. For kicks and giggles.

It is at least 10 times more delicious this way, I swear.

Lastly, to end this post:

That, my friends, is the sand art guy who frequents Union Square-- we pass by him all the time, but this picture in particular was necessary because he was doing it in a light rain, and the wet pavement made the colors really pop on this one.

All by hand, my friends, and free-style too. Crazy.

PS. Tomorrow-ish you'll find out exactly what happened in the late-night covert operations that took place last night-- pictures included! A sneak peek:

"that sort of article is so you"

2010-02-12T15:40:00.002-05:00

That's what Chris said when I put this Craigslist article up as a my Gchat status, and I figured that now would be a good time as ever to post it here. I am a huge fan of "best of Craigslist", but this one really stood out to me, with its surprisingly phenomenal advice and comprehensive list:

FROM AN OLD WOMAN TO A YOUNG WOMAN

1. You are not a victim. No matter what happens to you, don't take the pussy route and blame the world for your misfortune. If you were sexually assaulted, verbally abused, etc and lived to tell about it; take your pain and help those who need it. Writing emo poetry isn't going to solve anything.

2. Invest in your education first, your looks second. Anyone can pay a plastic surgeon to look hot, but not everyone can read a book and do simple math.

3. No matter what you call it, having a 'man to take you shopping' is glorified prostitution. He wants you for your body, you want him for his wallet. Cut the crap and call it what it is.

4. Do not seek confidence in other people. Magazines, celebrities and most pop influences are there to make you feel like you're nothing. Don't buy into it. Those celebrities need your money to look fabulous. Invest in yourself, not hype.

5. Stop fueling gossip mongers [Perez Hilton, TMZ.]. They have nothing to talk about and if you follow them for long, neither will you.

6. Be modest; why have all your goods unwrapped and leave nothing for the imagination?

7. Know the difference between fucking and love. There is a major difference and if you don't know it, pick up a book or ask someone who does.

8. Do not have children just because you're lonely or insecure. Your child will end up hating you for it and you won't get the emotional blanket you hoped you'd get.

9. Get a job. Seriously. Just because you're a woman doesn't mean that you are excused from work. Find a trade, get a job. If you are a house wife, be a good one. If you are a career woman, put your heart into what you do.

10. A respectable companion is rarely at a 'bar' or da club'. These places are meat markets and will only set you up for a douchebag or a wimp. If you go, refer to rule 7.

11. Learn to cook. Cooking is a dying skill that needs not be. You'd be surprise how much weight you lose and how you can get a decent companion if you know more than picking up a phone and calling for dinner.

12. Get off your phone. If it's not your best friend, your job or your family, your cackling is not important and the rest of the world does not want to hear it. Listen more. Talk less.

13. Stop putting so much of your money into things [purses, shoes, make up] and start putting it into a savings account, a 401k or an IRA. Those shoes are not going to vest when you turn 65.

14. Stop using men to get you stuff. Have some self respect and buy your own drinks, meals and entertainment. A date will respect you more if you show them you are not helpless.

15. Perfume and baby powder does not make up for good hygiene. Shower, do your laundry, clean your place. Body odor is not excusable for either genders.

16. If you are a Lesbian, respect yourself and stop trying to find acceptance in the world. 9/10 they will not accept you. Tell them 'fuck you' and be your own woman.

17. If you are a Lesbian, you are not anymore special or important than anyone else. You love other women and you have that right, but do not flex your preference thinking it makes you unique. Your mind and experiences make you unique, either gay or straight.

18. Buy clothes that fit. Be tasteful with your clothing be you big or small.

19. Don't eat for comfort, vomit to make yourself beautiful, and starve yourself to feel loved. Exercise, be sensible with your food choices, don't deprive yourself but never eat too much. The quickest way to a size 30, and to the grave, is past your teeth.

20. If they say the love you, ask them to earn your heart through good deeds, genuine kindness and respect.

21. Romance is not dead; but if you're not willing to give it, don't expect it in return.

22. Stop being a bitch to other women and other people. If you are not happy, go get therapy. No one deserves to be berated because you don't have the guts to berate yourself.

23. Do something new every day. Pole dance to learn about your sensuality, paint to express your creativity, write a blog to express your soul. Evolve and never stop learning.

24. Look in the mirror everyday and smile at what you see.

25. Stay safe. Learn to defend yourself against one or multiple attackers. Jackals do not attack if they see a big stick. If all else fails, run. There is no shame in running if it keeps you safe.

26. Love yourself. Always. When you love yourself to the fullest, the world will open with opportunities

I think I'm going to print this out and put it up on my wall.

introducing: party favours!

2010-02-06T01:19:00.000-05:00

image via ffffound!

In an effort to give you more amusement in a shorter, flash-mob-like format, I've decided to introduce to you a new tag, titled "Party Favours." We're going for the Wikipedia definition here:

"A party favour is a small gift given to the guests at a party as a gesture of thanks for their attendance, a memento of the occasion, or simply as an aid to frivolity."

So here we go, with lots of links to thank you for coming, to mark silly occasions, and most importantly, to aid any and all frivolity.

Eggwatchers is an egg timer that entertains you-- just plug in the size/conditions/desired taste of your egg, and then boil it for the length of the Youtube video it shows you! I like my eggs squidgy, mm. (Added bonus: the eggs are mad cute!)
When in dire need: press for NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Sushi petit fours? A "Hey Arnold" pancake? Ham, steak and t-bone plushies? Katamari bentos? Iphone sandwiches? I'm not too focused on food, am I.

Top of the list of the useless and wonderful things that will be in my dream house: SPIRAL STAIRCASES. Here's a gorgeous pink one, and wait for it-- a SLIDE spiral staircase! Want!

Another category of gorgeous and entirely frivolous things that I want often involve paper: like this slanted notebook, for example, which lets sideways-writing-people like me save space. Or how about the brilliantly designed book jacket covers that coordinate with bookmarks? Or best of all, the BookBook-- a leather cover for Macbooks that look like... actual books.

Ok, enough for now! But yes, future party favours will be entirely dependent on my mood, the apartment's supply of chocolate, and whatever I can glean from the interwebz. Enjoy, and if you have anything you find remotely interesting, throw it in my direction and it'll pop up here. Yep.

50 oxymorons

2010-02-01T22:10:00.003-05:00

50. Act naturally
49. Found missing
48. Resident alien
47. Advanced BASIC
46. Genuine imitation
45. Airline food
44. Good grief
43. Same difference
42. Almost exactly
41. Government organization
40. Sanitary landfill
39. Alone together
38. Legally drunk
37. Silent scream
36. British fashion
35. Living dead
34. Small crowd
33. Business ethics
32. Soft rock
31. Butt head
30. Military intelligence
29. Software documentation
28. New York culture
27. Extinct life
26. Sweet sorrow
25. Childproof
24. “Now, then…”
23. Synthetic natural gas
22. Christian scientists
21. Passive aggression
20. Taped live
19. Clearly misunderstood
18. Peace force
17. New classic
16. Temporary tax increase
15. French bravery
14. Plastic glasses
13. Terribly pleased
12. Computer security
11. Political science
10. Tight slacks
9. Definite maybe
8. Pretty ugly
7. Twelve-ounce pound cake
6. Diet ice cream
5. Rap music
4. Working vacation
3. Exact estimate
2. Religious tolerance
1. Microsoft Works

via

Should I be sad that #2 is on this list or happy that #1 is also on there?