NYE\\"I don't want to go to sleep either"

Happy new years eve. Let's all sing together and reach new levels of exhaustion.

fun crafts\\this is just the beginning!

Try making these garlands and streamers to drape around your house for this holiday season. Now that I subscribe to Jesus on Facebook, I now know that Christmas is just the BEGINNING of the holiday season! This means there are still so many crafts and baking that can be done! Channel Will Farrel in Elf and drape every inch of your abode with paper decorations and colorful sparkly things.

[ 1, 2, 3 ]

it's christmas eve and I've only wrapped 2 ******* presents

iss chrismiss yo. Indulge yourself in that gingerbread house that's been collecting dust and slowly but surely becoming rock solid for the past few weeks! Here's some kind of Christmas music that will put you in the mood. WARNING: may not be appropriate for the whole family- songs w lyrics like "Jingle Bling" or "every day I spin stacks like it's christmas" could be considered sacreligious by some.

JD McPherson\\Northside Gal

Happy day before the day before xmas! JD McPherson sounds like the real deal. Northside Gal has holiday cheer without ever referencing the word "santa baby" or "i saw mommy kissing santa clause" ANYWHERE. If I never hear those previously mentioned xmas classics again, I will refrain from getting physically agressive. But keeping with a positive vibe, I thought it fitting to quote my favorite holiday movie; (other than the Jim Carrey Grinch) Elf: "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." So that basically confirms that any music could be holiday music...but I trust your judgement so please don't abuse this revelation (...that would be a NO on Insane Clown Posse, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, etc).

3:30PM\\TheNational "Abel"

I'm always excited for that time of day. I know you know the time that makes every colour of eye look sparkly and eyelashes look really transluscent. It makes the fuzz around peoples' heads look like a halo whether the person's angelic or not. The one cosmo mag tells you to sit in front of when you're on a date so that your company will become conscious of your angelic beauty (I'm talking to both guys n girls here). Being more literal, it's like 3:30PM.

I don't have a favorite colour but I do have preferred colour palettes. This is my favorite of the moment inspired by the National's (yep 2 days in a row) video for Abel (directed by Blogotheque's Vincent Moon). Like me, Mr. Moon loves sun shadows, still cups of tea, and this golden shade of yellow that borders on olive. Approval!

[imgs from metalaseff]

Lit Up\\Star Projector

Learn how to play Lit Up by the National on guitar- it's easy, trust me. Uplifting uncheesy inspirational music is what is probably called for if you suddenly find yourself with an overabundance of free time on your hands. Whatever it is you want to do, just do it NOW. NOW is the right time, trust me on that as well. Hey! NOW has never been a better time to learn guitar.

Speaking of inspiration, this "romantic star projector" is at the top of my list (it's funny actually, I just typo'd "life" instead of "list"...freudian slip?) SO BEAUTIFUL.

BALLOON ART\\Wavves

Lacking in creative inspiration lately? Get your butt to the dollar store, blow some dollas on a packet of balloons, go home, pump music and draw whatever on them. The cool thing about balloons is that they deflate like pumpkins after Halloween; becoming even more gnarly. The deflation makes the Sharpie lines delicate and precise on the shrunken surface. Today I plan on filling my bedroom with floating fleeting art. This is basically me telling you that it's ok to party by yourself.

[Photos from this radical balloon art book which I forget the name of...I'll get back to you on this one]

Crépitement des foules

[Ethan Rose's reversed time/underwater soundtrack for Paranoid Park is the soundtrack to the morning sun shadows moving on my wall]

Wonderland

Photos taken at a former amusement park construction site, meant to be called 'Wonderland', on the outskirts of Beijing. "Construction work at the park, which was promoted by developers as 'the largest amusement park in Asia', stopped around 1998 after funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers." [The Globe and Mail]

Sketchbook\\Shabazz Palaces

This song is dope. Turn on that strobe light I know you have and loosen up you uptight yuppie!

COMFY CHRISTMAS

Christmas list for those of you that don't get out much. Or if you're the kind of kid who does get out, then why not get into comforts of home even if you're not! I'm pretty certain that the wearable sleeping bag would have rolled with the 90s rave scene...not sure about now though.

Speaking of raves and excitement and ecstacy,  the idea of cat cookies is really exciting to me for some reason...oh yeah, probably cause I like cats a lot. I'm more into Christmas "vibe" lists this year as opposed to actual material lists, so yeah. Inspiration.

Christmas list of comfy:

• Books on tape
• FOOD! Like blueberry seltzer pancakes, CAT COOKIES, and salted hot chochlate (yes CHOCHlate)
• Warm smells other than the gentle waft of freshly baked CAT COOKIES. Liiiike this baltic amber candle...or tobacco, or incense, whatever.
• Comfy sweaters like this gray one by No.6 that looks like some braided thang from my sketchbook..
• The Napsack! This will make snuggies obsolete...no offense! I just am really into the fact that this acts as a sleeping bag as well.
• Shel Silverstein poetry is a good representation of my childhood...better yet, ON TAPE!

modding

Look at these modern mods. Then check out the legitimate mods in the video. Then read this book: I'm One: 21 Century Mods. MOD. I'm pretty sure Mods don't have any cares whatsoever...like studying for art history. I want to be a mod too :( Hey, maybe I can start Saturday!

You Get What You Deserve\\Big Star

This song is too catchy and makes me want to dance like Jane Birkin.

illustration inspiration

Just starting my new project...here is my inspiration! Hope to combine various elements of these works of artists who inspire me. Use of blank space, flowing movements, delicate lines, choice bursts of colour, and cutouts.

Simon Prades, Jennie Phan, Ian O'Brien-Docker album cover by Hort design, Reed Danziger, Phaedra Longhurst, Eleanor Wood.

pyjama dressing

Waking up is getting harder and harder as it's getting colder...and darker. Jeans feel way too cold, no thanks. If we all band together and start wearing our PJs out in the open it can HAPPEN. Be snuggly wuggly like a cinnamon bun aaaall day long!

√BIG CHUNKY SWEATER

√Matching/mismatched pj sets. Or Button ups and clashing pattern pants. [Karen Walker FW11]

√Smoking robes or looong sweaters..you can tie them at the waist to have a more "housecoat" thang [Maison Martin Margiela]

√Static-y silky simple dresses or onesies or camisoles [Charles Anastase FW11]

 

food\\Vanilla, strawberry...

Vanilla, strawberry, knickerbocker glory\\vanilla, strawberry, knickerbocker glory\\vanilla... Ice cream colours are nice and this song is funny. After seeing twirly soft serve in Momofuku nyc's Milk Bar cookbook I now am craving it like mad. Do you think there's a difference between their soft serve and McDonalds? I do know for sure that McDics definitely doesn't have "crack pie" flavour (whatever that is, it sounds guuuud).

Momofuku milk bar's (NYC) awesome soft serve in crack pie, cereal milk, and candy bar pie flavours. \\ raspberry and mango sorbet topped off with blended berries and cream. \\ Origin's (Toronto) frothy pink float made w. Crush cream soda, grenadine, and their house soft serve. \\ Mint choco chip ice cream...new favorite flavour.

hibernation CHECKLIST

The weather outside is frightful. So stay inside. Even if you don't have a delightful fire, try these methods of distraction from possible snowfalls to come..

√ Scalding hot beverages- coffee or tea accepted.

√ Free tv on the innernet. Shows like Workaholics and 30 Rock make me laugh out loud, even when I'm watching alone...good signs

√ A good read to build back the brain cells lost on watching too much television. Tom Robbins will get you excited about philosophy and will make you want to write down (not tweet) every other sentence in Still Life With Woodpecker. When asking for this book at either the library or your local bookstore, please do not confuse Tom Robbins with Tim Robbins; the main actor in the Shawshank Redemption. But even if you did get confused, I'd never judge, as I can't seem to keep Leonardos DaVinci and DiCaprio straight when referring to either or..anyhow life's confusing, moving on.

√ heavy duty moisturizer like NIVEA.

√ Warm parka with a furry hood preferably. That's how you guage whether or not it'll be warm enough, trust me. I'm not necessarilly suggesting you wear a parka while reading or watching television, but I do entertain the idea that reaching body temperatures high enough to pretend you're in a hot tub could be a nice time.

√ Knitted things like bulky socks, thug-life toques, and gloves (Thinsulate fingerless gloves are CLASSIC- both hipsters AND hobos can agree on this one).

√ Last and not least, to fully achieve your HIBERNATION look, you definitely need a SWISS ARMY KNIFE. You never know when you'll need one of these bad boys- just look at James Franco in 127 Hours. But  that's worst case scenario..how about when you need to play bass but your nails are just too long..or someone needs a bottle opened while you're walking down the street? Helloooo? You can be a hero. Just know that with great power comes great responsability- Jamesy should have thought about that before turning to the dark side to avenge his father's death in Spiderman 2. Keep that in mind.

do whatever..

Lazy Sunday plans of doing next to nothing were accomplished. [Espresso, David Shrigley, comfort Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Last Days by Gus Van Sant]

boudoir

BOUDOIR: [boo-dwahr, -dwawr] a woman's bedroom or private sitting room. Origin: French: literally, a sulking place ( boud ( er ) to sulk.

FRECKLES

Freckles, frosty pink, mod eyes: [brown undereye line, bronze in crease, chalky black lashes]

"Tomboys don't wear makeup...or do they? Focus on even skin and psudonaked lids, then add a swipe of iridescent shell lipstick because, after all, you're a girl." I still miss Elle Girl.

Gardens & villa pt. 3

Hey it's Tuesday. I'm drinking 2% milk. Looking out the window thinking how warm it looks outside. Contrasting with our jumping the gun (in the best way possible) on a Christmas tree. I'd rather extend the holiday season before Christmas rather than keeping a tree up for months after. It's more inspirational and less depressing, which is always a nice. Hey, I'm noticing a parallel between this post and my last gardens and villa post where I featured "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead...our tree is fake and plastic..it's come full circle.

Oh, and I bought a giant piece of card stock at the $store yesterday and plan to doodle all over it in ballpoint pen. That's all.

Psyche! Here are some pictures I took at Allan Gardens a couple weeks ago..imagine if this were your house..

It's a breezy beautiful day, the air is cool and there are plenty of things to do

collage artist\\Virginia Echeverria

album art\\ bjork- vespertine

The album packaging of Bjork's Vespertine is so intricate and delicate; a total reflection of the actual album, composed of "microscopic beats, intimate lyrics, and extremely introverted songs." Bjork always has really unique album art. And yes, the dress she's wearing on the cover is the same notorious swan dress that she wore to the Oscars.

Howard Tangye\\visual artist

Check out this Vice feature on Howard Tangye. His choice use of unexpected colour and elegant fingered figures are especially appealing to me.

 

daylight savings

[Starman Mike | Brian James]

watery hands