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settling back in with pinky leon in sf. it's quiet now after my mom has left.
from 2007:
bands i'd like to listen more to (after hearing a couple songs by them in 2007):
camera obscura
lali puna
broken social science
the books
movies i enjoyed:
juno
darjeeling limited
lars and the real girl
miss potter
half nelson (on video)
united states of leland (on video)
the lives of others
the namesake
the last picture show (on video)
books read and that i recommend:
animal, vegetable miracle by barbara kingsolver
the intuitionist by colson whitehead
hm, i read quite a few books, but i wasn't crazy about any of them like i was last year when i read the known world by edward p jones. recommendations anyone?
favorite eats:
heather's leek soup with blue cheese
carmelized brussel sprouts
laurel's key lime pie
what were some of your favorites?
happy new year friends/readers!
i hope 2008 is a more peaceful year for the world.
i'm off to my parents.
will be back here near the end of december.(the card this year is pretty illegible (text on flickr). i changed my mind at kinkos last minute when i was preparing my transparency for screenprinting. in my rush to make the transparency, go buy a screen and get to the MCC to print, i reduced my lettering too much and didn't think to make bigger snow. ah well.)
keep cozy!
god jul o gott nytt ar svenskar!
i passed by this strange building and while taking a picture of it, this man was parking in front of the building. as i was still clicking, he got out of his car, crossed the street and asked me if i knew what the building was. i said no, and he told me it used to be where they kept horses for the carriages (he said cable cars, but i'm thinking he meant carriages?) that ran along mission street!! he said the window seen here was the hay loft, and that when they excavated the building to make it into a church, they found all sorts of old horseshoes! so cool. in europe maybe this kind of info wouldn't be so exciting since the cities are older and there is more of a sense of history. but it made my day to hear this old timey info about SF! and just that this man would share the story with me was nice. he obviously thought the history was super cool too. the building is on San Jose (one block up from Mission St.) near 24th. (the man then went into his house right across the street from the stable-church.)
screenprinting tables at the Mission Cultural Center
when i left the screenprinting room, i passed some kind of ballroom dance class first. further down the hall an african dance class. in the lobby downstairs people were gathering for an event or art gallery tour? and right outside, a musical performance was underway, with a crowd gathered around the musicians. the whole building was so lively! it made me think about how much goes on in SF all the time, and about how i need to get out more. and screenprint more.
i'm not so happy with my screenprinted cards this year. but as usual, i learned some stuff about screenprinting for next time.
now comes the harder task, finding all the scraps of paper with people's addresses on them. my address "book," is all too lacking in bookness. it isn't real or virtual. it is torn corners from envelopes, moving cards and scribbled notes carefully saved and put, where? it's about time i start entering these things in this fancy machine i spend so much time in front of!
trying to get in the drawing groove for my PL holiday cards. going to do some screenprinting at the mission cultural center. fun! will show the results (not sharpie style) at the end of next week hopefully, if i mail them off quickly.
flickr favorites this week are greys and whites:
by manwinmodesty
bookcase
under the sun (and her words are similar to words on my holiday card!)
picnic (check out the whole picnic set. this gal knows how to have a picnic!)
lloyd hotel
this colorful website is beautiful. i'm not even sure what it's about, but the photos, the landing page video and the design are outstanding. i like it a lot. found it through red.house.
have a good weekend!
this afternoon on the way home from class.
i was also appreciating mrs. meyer's packaging (in a similar style) today at rainbow.
i was THIS close to buying the mrs. meyer's laundry detergent for the packaging. maybe next time. for now i stuck with seventh generation, which works well and is environmentally friendly. it's vegetable based instead of petroleum based.
i've been preparing and freezing cookie dough for this coming sunday.
speaking of cookies, my mom doesn't bake cookies for xmas anymore, so i asked if i could have the cookie cutters she's had as long as i can remember. just seeing these shapes again makes me smile (so sentimental). i remember the pepparkakor baking my mom and i did when i was little—how hard it was to get the dough super super thin. the clacking sound our rolling pin made when it hit the dough. the vigor with which my mom struck with the roller. all the dough i ate! all the poor men's arms and legs breaking off in the oven (especially that smaller man {see above}, the brother in the gingerbread family in my mind). and this song of course:
vi komma, vi komma fran pepparkakeland, pa vagen vi vandrar tillsammans hand i hand, sa bruna, sa bruna vi aro alla tre, korinter till ogon o hattarna pa sne
translation: we're coming, we're coming from gingerbread cookie land, on the road we wander together hand in hand, so brown, so brown we are all three, dark currants for eyes and hats on top askew.
this is where the cookies (not homemade pepparkakor, but other homemade kinds), homemade glogg and homemade art + wares will be on sunday:
Mati, Annie, Jenifer, Kayoko, Armani, Shash and Heather doesn't have a site (yet), but she makes lovely knitted hats, scarves and socks!
(now i have that echo and the bunnymen song in my head where they sing, spare us the cutters!)
i have so much to do these days and yet i seem to fritter away my days doing other random things. not sure if it's procrastination or what. i sense that overwhelmed feeling coming on, but i'm going to try not to let it get the best of me! will make some lists and start really getting things done! and not worry about two weeks from now. anyhow, in lieu of a photo, here are some flickr faves for thanksgiving.
pods are the best, and look at how nice these ones are! and so nicely organized.
mirjan has so many beautiful self portraits. (it helps that she is beautiful too.)
from mary amor
i finally saw darjeeling limited. that wes anderson is one of my favorites. a calm contentment fills me when i'm in the theater in front of his colors, staring into rooms and out of rooms. the windows. ah. what people look like in slow motion. and that adrian brody is especially beautiful in the movie. such soulful eyes and expressions. i don't understand why people are giving the film bad or lukewarm reviews. it's no royal tenenbaums or rushmore, true, but it's pretty damn gorgeous. and funny too.
i am thankful for wes anderson films, for having shelter (albeit a drafty one), for friends and family and my cat of course. for other worlds that people create and allow us to enter (on flickr, in books, in music, in movies). to see our own reality anew through these other worlds, sometimes in the tiniest ways and sometimes in huge ways.
happy halloween you witches and goblins and fairies and all!
above are my last minute masks, for myself and a friend. i used to dress up much more for halloween. i love to be in disguise.
today i was very forgetful. i had to make two trips to rainbow grocery because i left my wallet at home the first time. and had to make two trips to school, because i left my jacket, with house keys at school. absentminded day i guess. distracted by the excitement in the air.
this morning i saw many subtle costumes—a woman in a fancy pillbox hat, a guy in normal clothes, but with florescent orange nerf material-like tubey horns in the front of his forehead, some people with just wings or just pointy ears, a woman bicycling by in petticoats. i'm sure tonight there will be many more FULL OUT costumes.
time to go people watch!
i rarely go downtown in SF. when i do, i'm usually at the embarcadero, the movie theater that shows independent films. today at the embarcadero i saw (besides randomly mati and her hugh!) lars and the real girl, an unrealistic, though sweet and well-acted movie. i think ryan gosling is fantastic. (loved united states of leland and half nelson.)
anyhow, on the way back to the mission district, the sky was pinkish with puffy clouds, and the light was all glowy on all the tall buildings. when you don't see them all the time, those tall buildings look especially beautiful. all glassy and shiny and different shapes, and creating new shapes depending on the angle one looks down a street. so geometric. anyhow, the photos don't capture it, but here they are anyway.
super nice site: dream and awake
and lovelydesign is now sharing her lovely blog. and it is lovely.
ceramic-ish site: coe and waito
i want to go see this exhibit!
i seem to have decided to host another holiday glogg party+craft sale at my house in december. meanwhile i have almost nothing to sell. i've got a month to get crackin'! haven't had any creative spurts lately either. i hope one comes on soon. maybe having this deadline will help? maybe not being addicted to the computer screen would help too...
if you're looking for a book rec, i'm currently reading the inheritance of loss, and it's very good. great and unusual descriptions.
happy friday!
yesterday was the Rare Device opening. as you would expect from a lisa-and-rena-made store, the store is beautiful and charming. and many bloggers' pieces could be found in the store. i will be going back when it's less crowded. here are some pics from the evening.
flickr favorites this week, mostly about light:
just a shadow
one of those photos that makes me ache in a good way.
morran fikar (this photo has about 10 things that automatically lead to favoriting—morran, morran's ear, morran sitting at the table, ekologisk mjolk paket, fika, jatte stor bulle, chocolate (if i'm not mistaken) beautiful room and light, lovely cup and glass, from above view of table).
a homey scene, also with beautiful light
oh, also, i posted a little something on sew green.
if it's there in the morning, maybe i'll get a daylight photo...
this song, rescue, makes me cry. (there is one on every lucinda album.)
this picture makes me chuckle. (and speaking of eggs...)
this picture makes me miss sergels torg in stockholm. those triangles inspired this rad designer's schnapps glasses. (i know her through my cousin.)
(this piece is WAY better in person. much more colorful)
i went to see the Joseph Cornell exhibit today at the SF MOMA. wow! the exhibit felt so intimate (partially due to the low lighting, the many small sections/rooms of artwork and the art itself) and magical. i didn't know anything about Cornell before seeing the exhibit, and i didn't take away any brochures or anything. but from what i read at the show, from seeing his works and from this info online, i feel a tenderness for him. i actually got teary at the show. (this happens to me a lot these days when i go to art exhibits.) it seems like even though he was reclusive, he really loved/was intrigued by people and by the mysteries/strangeness of the world. from the little i read at the show, he would become kind of inspired by/obsessed with various people, learn a bunch about them and collect information/magazine articles, etc., and devote numerous artworks to those people (Emily Dickinson being one of many such). and the fact that his first show was one for children, presented at their height, is very sweet. a lot of his works have to do with him remembering his own childhood as well. in addition to being beautiful, his collages and shadowboxes are so playful—a reminder that creating is a playful activity.
anyhow, if you are in SF, i highly recommend going to see it!
the art also seems very relevant to a lot of art happening nowadays—whimsical, surreal, otherworldly, layered. (not that i have my finger on the pulse of the art world, but i'm basing this on what i see on blogs/flickr and around town.)
carrot fields forever i love this one.
billowing
amazing pattern and so beautiful
and some great dog photos:
from marta plastica (love the light in this one)
skirt chaser
bella
hot dog
friendship
and a link to anna emilia's new website
i bet you've already been to gracia & louise's new site
and jen's new simply photo site
are you all listening to in rainbows, the new radiohead? i had it on most of the day thursday, sinking in. their music really does feel like it's physically seeping in, doesn't it? like it might enter lightly, dew on your pores. then absorb deeper, while you might not even notice. and then there you are, saturated with vibrating, tingling, ringing, humming, echoing.
agitating, lulling. softness and edges and sadness and all.
also printed up some fika postcards. i think my silkscreen is shot now though. now to sew the tablecloths onto the tables! (going to sew the fabric on top instead of peekaboo style like before.)
ps. happy belated national coming out day!
today i met ash, a fellow sew green contributor, for the first time. (notice our matching skirts and tights!) while we were at doe, someone from flickr recognized us. what a strange, small world—to be meeting a fellow blogger (an entirely lovely, charming and easygoing one by the way) for the first time, and randomly meet someone from flickr too! it's funny to think that for kids growing up now, this kind of connection might seem normal. i am constantly amazed by it.
ps. lovechild bike of bikes from my last post???
cute turquoise and blue bikes.
hello! it's so beautiful out today. i stopped by the bi-rite creamery and got myself a sugarcone with strawberry balsamic ice cream and ritual coffee toffee ice cream. mums! (swedish equivalent of yum). also noticed the new store, the curiosity shoppe on valencia. can't wait to go in and see what they've got!
now i'm going to make a brussel sprout soup (mums again), do some homework and apply for a job. maybe i'll squeeze a nap in too, since pinky leon woke me up several times in the night, the little turkey.
i posted on sew green too, if you're sew inclined....
a different view, slightly bigger here.
another fall bear for another little baby friend. the left one's colors remind me of jess hutch.
been hanging out in my flickr favorites lately. a new to me photographer i'm really liking, is parachutgirl. m and m.
also liking minato's spare photo here.
and discovered these rad staches, some of which are apparently going to be in the new rare device in sf. neat-o.
in other news, i have a new housemate. she's super nice. it's funny how excited i get about other people's stuff. it's just interesting to see what, out of all the stuff floating out there in the world, a person chooses to buy/have/keep. and then i get so inspired by people's colors. everyone seems to have their own colors. i dig that. (i think i've mentioned this before.) AND i spied a lineup (!) of strappy sandals in a range of white, beige and cream. they make me think of the 70's. i'm restraining myself from taking photos. for now anyway. :-)
my first attempt at a mobile. i've always been hesitant to try to make them because they seemed difficult to me. but i've loved mobiles for a while (who doesn't!), and i was especially enchanted by them when i saw the big Calder exhibit at SF MOMA a few years ago. it was like walking through a forest of mobiles and kinetic sculptures. such a cool exhibit.
it was not as hard as i imagined to make this. but of course, i want to make better ones. i think i need to get thicker wire and figure out a more elegant way to attach the pieces to the wire. also need to experiment much more to understand the balancing thing better.
have you seen these beauties on flickr? i've linked to them before, but they're worth looking at again and again!
wow, so much for all that fall talk. it's blazing hot today in sf.
but look, there are a lot of leaves (and trash) on the ground...
time to go have some straus mint chip ice cream. and then maybe some dinner.
do you find that you get more sentimental at the change of seasons? i was feeling sentimental with the onset of fall weather/light in sf this past week, but then i realized i feel extra sentimental each time a season turns. i guess the change knocks something around in the brain and triggers memories of past seasons and similar light, similar smells.
above is a fall bear for a friend's new baby. i forgot how fun it can be to make softies. got this fabric at bolt in portland, oregon last fall. i love it. that bolt is such a temptress. they don't have a ton of fabric there, but whoever picks what they do get in the store, has great taste.
some flickr faves on a monday!
i like these colors from tuula.
curled and upside-down kitty from rocketina
and speaking of fall... from shari
strange. in most areas of my life, i stick pretty closely to a schedule. i am one of those punctual people. i like to have a routine (though i often stray from it). so it's strange for me not to blog regularly. to blog daily for a week and then not to post anything for stretches of time. but that's just how it is here. my phototaking has all been for homework, and not so much for blogging lately. i continued on my own personal feet week by doing a project for typography class, taking pictures of the ground. we were supposed to look for things that looked like letters, using a theme and making a whole alphabet. my theme is the alphabet at our feet and includes many feet shots. (example above.) sf people: there is a cool book arts exhibit on the top floor of the main library. 13+ Contemporary German Artists' Books. really varied and interesting book design. second listing here.tonight i started reading a book mav wrote about, evening. the way the author portrays illness seems really realistic to me (not knowing what being fatally ill feels like...). real and surprising. the book is also very romantic. but it seems like maybe it will be about the meaning we give to various encounters by how we remember them. i can tell this book is going to absorb and tug at me. i also finished animal, vegetable miracle last month and want to write about that on sew green at some point. going to read cradle to cradle soon too. have any of you read that one?ps. i switched to a mac and safari, and i have no formatting options now in blogger. have to enter all formatting in the code. it sucks. i have to figure something else out!
totally staged. i realized as the sun was going down yesterday that i hadn't taken a feet photo. i quickly put on some shoes i never wear, and ran to the yard to catch the last light. but really, i guess there are just different levels of staging in feet week. (alternate one)i'll post some favorite feet photo links from all your terrific toes and shoes tomorrow!
