If we don’t take my Christmas playlist into account, it’s been an entire year since I last posted a playlist. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been making them. When you least expect it I’ll post my best of 2010 or something like that. But till then, here is a little playlist that I made during the past couple of months when I could summon the energy to listen to something other than The Muffs. Click on the cover to listen to it on Spotify.

Tracklist:

01. Joyce Manor – Chumped

02. The Muffs – Saying Goodbye

03. Archers of Loaf – Wrong

04. Big Eyes – Tired All the Time

05. Hüsker Dü – First of the Last Calls

06. Sonic Avenues – Throw It Away

07. Cheap Girls – Ruby

08. The Wedding Present – Dare

09. Propagandhi – Gifts

 

 

Hello there, remember me? Once upon a time I used to blog and take photos and make stuff, but then life got on the way and I lost the will to live. Scratch that, I just didn’t have the time. It’s been all work and no play for me lately, which is good or bad depending on where your priorities lie and how right you think you are about them. I think I was right. Sort of. Or maybe not, but who cares? It’s nearly summer, and summer’s for lovers bloggers. So here I am.

And because I’ve been through the sort of crisis that makes one read self-help books about positive psychology and want to mix prescription drugs with alcohol, here is a list of some things that have made me happy while I was gone.

Listening to The Muffs non-stop. And wanting to start a Muffs cover band. Because they are awesome and they make me feel like I am in the opening scene of Clueless.

The new season of Mad Men. Because I got hooked in summer while I was writing my Master’s thesis and I watched it all in about a week and I missed it like crazy and it is the highlight of my week.

This lipstick. Because it’s awesome and it makes me want to sing “I feel pretty and witty and gay” even when I’m having the worst week.

Norma Jean Magazine. because it’s brought me lots of joy and LOLz and I’ve met some amazing people through it and it’s not even a year old.

Daniel Johnston. Because seeing him live was really quite special. And seeing him with my best friend made it even better.

Hanging out with old friends. Because it’s awesome to have LOLz and beers. Even if the beers make me a douche.

This boob cream. Because it smells amazing and every time I look down I get a whiff and it makes life better.

Getting a kindle. Because even though I will never give up paper, the joys of reading with the lights off and travelling light are worth the purchase.

Douglas Coupland has been one of my favourite writers for the entirety of my “adult” life. I can safely say that I like all his books and I’ve re-read most of them. Until last year Generation X, his most popular work, was perhaps my least favourite one. Thankfully, I re-read it when I was writing my thesis and I a-d-o-r-e-d it. It was one of those rare occassions when you prefer a book the second time round. I don’t blame this on the book itself, but on me. The first time I read it I was 18 or 19, I’d never had a job and I lived a sheltered life with very few worries, I just didn’t get it. Fast forward nearly 10 years and I find it all terribly relevant. If you haven’t read this I honestly have no idea what you’re waiting for. Buy it on amazon.

Little pink sketch of the Sacre Coeur from the back. Come March I will be visiting again, this time with my mother, who’s never been to Paris before. I can’t wait.

I am in love with this project by Mike Joyce. Inspired by his love of punk rock and Swiss Modernism, he’s gone and mixed them up. The result? Swissted, these re-imaginations of  punk rock  and indie rock shows that actually happened in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. According to Wikipedia “the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity”. Quite a departure from the rough diy style of the original flyers. I find them unsettlingly beautiful. And I would obviously give my right arm to go to any of these. You can see them all here.

The train line that joined Segovia with Medina del campo was opened in 1884, bringing the industrial revolution to my grandparents’ village – the deep, deep Spain – a few decades before they were born. This line stopped working in 1985, after improvements in the region’s roads vastly decreased the traffic of passengers. The station, located in the outskirts of the village, hasn’t seen any travellers for over 25 years, but it still stands proud, and it is a wonder to see. However, it is not fully abandoned. Can you imagine living in a 125-year-old train station? I imagine it’s not the most practical living arrangement, but there’s some lucky person who rented it for a really low price. It’s such a great way to keep these beautiful buildings from becoming derelict.

I didn’t know the station was still standin. Hell, I didn’t even know this town had a train station, but our hotel was next to it and we decided to take a look. It was amazing to imagine what it must have looked like in the old days. I like to imagine my grandparents getting really excited about little trips to neighbouring towns. It’s strange to remember how much bigger the world was back then.

I’m still not sure whether this bookshop belongs in the Amazing Bookshops Around the World series, but it certainly is remarkable. When Clemens and I were walking around some backstreets in Bologna looking for a place to eat (after we were refused in a place where we wanted to eat merely because Blink182 had once eaten there), a shop window caught my eye, it was full of books related to the Pope. I went to (and work in a) Catholic school, but Catholicism is not my thing at all and it makes me feel sort of uneasy. So there I was, staring at the Pope wondering whether Italian people are nuts when I looked into the shop and saw the till. A nun. A nun at the till. A nun working. Did you hear me? A NUN!!! I thought everything nuns ever did was run around from one church to another and teach little children. It appears I was wrong. I must say that not every book in the place was religious, but I didn’t dare to go in. A nun smiled at me when I took a photo. Maybe she thought I’m hot for Jesus.

 Drawing for our future zine & yummy tiramisu

Punx

Paris, Texas, Italy

Back in September I wrote a blog post about outfit posts and about how I pick what I wear depending on how I feel and now on where I’m going/what I’m doing. As I’ve mentioned a few times, my Christmas spirit was low this year, which means that instead of rocking golden glittery tights (my Christmas tights) and dresses with bows I wore my everyday clothes, holes and dirty shoes included. But the other day I had a little Christmas dinner with my friends and I hadn’t seen them for a couple of weeks, so I decided to make a bit of an effort and wear a festive skirt with a bow on it and throw in a bit of colour coordination. I’m basically the nicest person around. Not being cheerful enough to dress up entirely, I dressed it down with a band tee. I call this Descendents smart. I expect fashion magazines to steal this term from me any time soon.

Cardigan & tights: H&M
T-shirt: Wasted Rita
Skirt: Pull & Bear
Shoes: ??
Totoro pin: Handmade

I’ve linked to this amazing embroidery project before, but this piece just blew my mind and stole my heart to the point that I’m hoping I can snatch it when it goes on sale. Everybody knows how important teenage films are in my life.