Laughing With Regina Spektor

I love Regina Spektor's new video for her song "Laughing With" because it reminds me of my good old angsty teenage years when I replayed my favorite Fiona Apple video "Paper Bag" over and over again and it broke my heart then healed it. Embedding the video is disabled but you can watch it on YouTube here.

Stella Im Hultberg's Moleskine

I love love love when artists post images of their personal sketchbooks! It makes me feel so connected to the artist and helps me to understand their work better. Recently on her blog Stella Im Hultberg revealed to us ink sketches from her Moleskine journal. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I'm a big fan of Stella's. She's part of my favorite female Pop Surrealist triad, consisting of Stella, Audrey Kawasaki, and Amy Sol.

Thanks Stella for sharing!

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I'm too late! I'm heading to Edinburgh, Scotland in August and while I'm there I'm lucky enough to catch the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival! Tons of authors will be giving lectures but you have to get tickets for them and as is to be expected they're selling out fast. I JUST found out about this and of COURSE the one author that I'm absolutely crazy about, Carlos Ruiz Zafon author of The Shadow of the Wind, has sold out!! Nooooo! I'm pretty devastated.

If you haven't heard of Shadow of the Wind before just an interesting little fact: Did you know that this book from Spain has outsold JK Rowling, John Grisham, and Dan Brown put together?! -link

So basically my point is number one, read this book. Number two, pray that any other authors appearing at the festival I like will not be sold out.

Film To Watch: Phoebe In Wonderland

I'm writing this post immediately after watching the new film Phoebe in Wonderland on Netflix (it's available on instant). I was not expecting myself to be so moved with the film, based on what I got from the trailer, and I found the experience to be quite therapeutic actually.

The story line combines the rich literature of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a look at mental illness, specifically in children with Tourette Syndrome, within the household and society. In researching the film a bit I noticed that it has developed quite a following of people with neurological disorders themselves who related to Phoebe's struggle. I personally am effected by a mental disorder and as I watched Phoebe deal with fear and her parents try to cope, I felt comforted in a strange way.

Point is YOU NEED TO SEE THIS FILM!!! Oh and p.s. the casting is brilliant.

It seems like the movie can actually be watched in parts on youtube. Click here for a clear video of part one.

Abandoned

Abandoned dwellings have always held so much mystery and fascination for me. It's that strange ghost town effect you know?

Well here are some lonely little places I found through 100 Abandoned Houses and If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger... take them into your heart and dream about their stories tonight. These places make excellent dream backdrops don't you think?

I Want One!

Cute Corgi puppies!

Via Cute Overload

SNACKS

If you live ANYWHERE close to the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle you have to make a special trip to the newly opened Snacks! right now.

I've been complaining forever that there are no places around here to go for quick lunch breaks because the area is basically all sit down restaurants. And now there is an answer to my prayers (took me 8 minutes to walk there and get a dog) and that is Snacks! If you've ever visited Dante's Inferno Dogs hotdog stand during Sunday Market then you'll die to see that your favorite veggie dogs are served all day (and weekend late nights) long!

Inside you'll find a casual set up of cheap candies, beer, snack foods (duh), ice cream, and other grocery staples. Plus there's a special notepad for customer requests!

5219 Ballard Ave. NW, Seattle, WA

Fin.

I've graduated and now I'm contemplating job prospects and grad school. Eek!

Good news: I'll be updating my blog a whole lot more! Yay! I've missed it....but you can imagine with graduating and all how hard it's been. And now I've just gotten back from a relaxing few days with the boyfriend in Sunriver, OR. (I'll post some pics and stuff from that later) and on Monday I leave for Las Vegas. More fun to follow.......

For Grassroots Creativity

Yay! New N.E.E.T magazine available for everyone's viewing pleasure. It seems so rare when it's updated that each issue is just that much more special. Get to it!

Greenwich Decor Amour

I recently stumbled upon this Design*Sponge (click on link to see detail and more pics) sneak peak into the home of Salvini-Swanson, co-creater of Greenwich Letterpress. I'm absolutely taken with the crafty design of this place and all of the unique found pieces that are incorporated into it's eclectic style. I've definitely come away with quite a few tips and ideas and I hope that by posting this so will you! Enjoy my dearest readers!

Las Vegas, I Never Thought I'd See You Again

So last December my parents surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas for one night to see the Beatles Cirque de Soleil show for my birthday. It was great to have just a little taste of the city, the sparkle was so captivating, but I don't think I would have been able to spend more than one night there.

As a certified homebody, the hustle and bustle of The Strip was just too much for me.

But here I am finding myself going back AGAIN! The only difference is that this time I'm celebrating both graduating from four exhausting years of college AND a major reunion with my best friends from high school! I'm determined to embrace the city this time. After all, with college life over as I know it I think I can afford to let loose for a few days right? Here's where I'm staying. Yay!

Oh and just as a side note.....Westboro Baptist Church is picketing my graduation!!!! What the...? Apparently they are on a tour of the U.S. picketing all those that they feel are going to hell. This is a church that's website is honestly godhatesfags.com. These people are terrible, hateful people. I hope that someday they realize the truth of that.

Tribal Fusion Belly Dance: Sharon Kihara

So earlier last month I blogged about my interest in trying out tribal belly dancing and I finally invested in a DVD called Tribal Fusion Bellydance With Sharon Kihara: Technique and Conditioning. I thought I would give all of you who might be interested yourselves a little review because I'm not sure if it's available for rental anywhere, I had to take a risk and just buy it. Only $13.49 on Amazon!

If you haven't had experience with belly dance or aren't familiar with learning choreography I wouldn't recommend this one but is you ARE then it's perfect! The gorgeous Sharon combines yoga and belly dance technique for a great overall workout the first half of the disk. The second half is separated into a 3 part combination sequence and later brought together to create a BEAUTIFUL dance routine that I've had a blast learning. The following video gives a great preview of the routine you would learn. Let me know if you decide to try it out. Promise it's worth the $13 bucks!

You Don't Get Much Cuter Than This

Poor Waffles the kitty got his paw stung by a bee so it's all swollen up! Haha when I first saw it I didn't read the captions and I thought it was just cutely deformed. But no....it's sad but oh so cute. 

Found on Cute Overload 

The Official White House Photostream

How cool is it that our new administration has it's own Flickr photostream? I guess the last administration might have had one...but I don't think anyone would have cared to look at it. These photos in the Official White House Photostream are really quite interesting to look through if you have some extra time. What I love about this collection of images is that they aren't press photos at all. They simply catalogue small moments in the President's life that reveal so much more about the whole of Obama's presidency than what we can capture from mass media. Often sweet, often silly, these photos make me so happy. 

I do have a crush on Obama though if you can't tell...so that doesn't hurt either.

Link via Librarian Avengers

Nonsense Assemblages: Chad Hagen

Thanks to dear ada, I stumbled on these amazing assemblages by Chad Hagen who created all these mathematical, scientific looking pieces that are so truly beautiful and natural. Check out his flickr account here. 

There are even more incredible ones in his photostream but I couldn't save them to my computer. They are well worth a look though I promise. 

Films To Watch: The Real Dirt on Farmer Joe & Eagle vs. Shark

So last weekend I saw some pretty cool films from Netflix. One, The Real Dirt On Farmer Joe, was a documentary about a farmer who's struggling to make things work during a time when farms are suffering and the locals are calling him a Satan worshipper. It's a very inspirational film and really brought me into a culture that I'm completely removed from. Watch it! 

If you're a fan of Flight of the Conchords, you'll love Eagle vs. Shark. This New Zealand film featuring Jemaine from FOTC, is a quirky, hilarious romantic comedy about two of the most awkward people I've ever met falling in love. If you're looking for a weekend film to watch for a date night or with friends this is the perfect film. Plus, if you have Netflix you can watch it instantly on your computer! Enjoy!

Remember Her?

I don't know how many of you remember the Lula magazine that had these images a year or two ago, but I remember them clear as day. When I stumbled across them at !? I was so excited because I was so absolutely captivated by them, and still am, when I opened the first pages of that Lula. I think I'm just mostly jealous that this model has pretty much the cutest facial expressions EVER! Aren't you? She's like a grown up Shirley Temple!