ok

it's a little early for the real thing, but cocktails in letters are nice.
good morning.

flickr friday

fuzzy photo of a poster i designed for the student chapter of AIGA at my school.

my friend oona's amazing artwork and fashion on apartment therapy!

friday flickrs
shari's flowers
datura's apples
mirjan's tree

1, 2, 3

a bit closer

such pretty mailboxes.

that reminds me. did you see feist on the muppets singing the monster version of 1234? i warn you that it will get stuck in your head. (she looks like charlotte gainsbourg here.)

good morning

on this monday.

i was indoors almost all weekend doing homework. i'm looking forward to taking a walk today outside in the beautiful becoming-fall weather. i do have to do more homework, but i feel much lighter today than i did through the weekend. i did manage to watch amelie yesterday. it had been a while. love that movie. a good friend of mine doesn't love it, which i find baffling. how could one not love that movie?! seems impossible.

mav's and stephanie's year of mornings arrived a couple days ago, and it is so wonderful (of course). exciting that sandra and famapa are taking up a 3191 inspired project, how we say hello.

friday flickrs

friday flickrs (early again)

three silvery ones
* (i love the dress pattern)
tumbling hair's
cat nap

you won't find a ton of kids in my flickr favorites, but sometimes....
i really. really like --erica's photostream. she takes beautiful photos of her kids (and in general).
anna on the steps
what i'll remember (pretty amazing, right?)

shapes: green and pink

bingo! some ephemera jenny sent along with this triangle dress i bought (for the fabric).

ug. this weekend i fell into the time sucker of facebook. (or ansiktsboken as my cousin calls it. ha! i love it when swedes translate english words to swedish. so often they just use english words interspersed in swedish, so it's fun to me when they change it up. or spell english words in a swedish way, like emajl instead of email {though i could be wrong about that one}.) it is fun (and weird) though to find high school folks and my cousins on there.

friday flickrs

from terra firma farms, this week's medium box.

flickr favorites (on thursday already!) this week:
all of these
triangles
outside

random

i don't know what is going on with the pink, but here's some more. maybe i just need to give in to it.

these gals seems super cool. what a great trip idea!
funny

graphic links +

night-time neighbors
(only because i didn't manage to take photos during the day.)

RADNESS (click on mossenger!)
bolsadeosos (purse of bears?! the only reason i remember this from spanish is because during the spanish ap test in high school, the picture story i was supposed to describe for the verbal part was all about a bear. i of course panicked at the site of the tape recorder and forgot the word for bear {oso}. so i was saying gran animal quite a lot. i figure that probably contributed to my just getting a 3 on that test. but now i never forget the word for bear, so hey.)
brandon lesley's

saw the movie in search of a midnight kiss this weekend and quite enjoyed it. also saw vicky cristina barcelona a couple weeks ago and really liked that.

friday flickrs

so much pink on my blog lately. strange.

friday flickr favorites:
atlantic
34
jisung and succulents

good weekends to you!

yellow zipper

there it is. the really poorly made pen, pencil, exakto, crayons, scissors, pad o'paper, etc. bag i just sewed while i procrastinated. ehem, i mean while i took a break from doing my homework. the zipper clearly doesn't match and is sewn in all wrong. but it's gigantic, lined with jeans for sturdiness and the fabric is cute, right? so it will do the job. my last pencil case was a cardboard box, so i'd say this is an upgrade. pinky leon likes it.

tendrils and shoots

pretty plants outside of scarlet sage.

i hope this summery weather lasts a little longer, although it does make it harder to do homework.

smoothie chairs + slow food

look, smoothie-colored chairs!


sometimes i feel so proud of sf. above is a slow food festival event in dolores park. what a perfect day for a long table in the park! i wish i had bought tix to some of the slow food events. their festival poster is nice too. i would link to it, but can't find it on their site.

flickr friday

got lots to do today. it is SO hot here.

so just a couple watery friday flickr favorites:
from snowroom
from tomato senya

blooming in red

gould's 'duke of york' carnation, by edwin dalton smith


dianthus cultivars, anonymous illustrations


protea repens by henry andrews

images are from the tiniest of botanical illustrations books (really too tiny @ 5 by 6 in. pages), flora by brent elliot.

when skies are grey, a new to me pretty blog
ray fenwick's new the illustrated guide to a life of mystery
fin foils + crafts (bay area friend's surf/polaroid/projects blog with nice background music to it)

good links today!

art on flickr
how rad are these!?
softie cameras
holy moly. she gives paper dolls a whole new meaning! wow.
shannon rankin wowow.

some loch lomond words:
last night i had a dream
that i was a stripe
running up your arm...

and loch lomond on youtube
bird and bear

furry + flickr friday

pinky leon and his clothed alter ego hank, both showing off their pink toes.

friday flickrs are furred this week:
louie
jack
finlandia

oh, and then my housemate got me searching for faroe islands photos. i love the colors there. and the landscape of course. maybe someday on the way to sweden i can stop off at iceland and the faroe islands.
gjovg, faroe islands (and whole set)
tinganes, torshavn (and whole set)
looks like a fairytale

happy weekends!

leafy again

some leaf earrings i made for my housemate heather. she picked the fabric, which she thinks may be called psychedelic tomato. groovy. they are pretty big, but they look good on her. i'll have to snap a pic of her in them too.

i switched my keyboard viewer to swedish to write an email, and though i've switched it back to english, it won't stick. it keeps reverting to swedish, and then my shortcuts don't work and semicolons become ö's. my computer really wants me to write in swedish to you. så är det! väldigt irriterande. more later. or mer sedan.

good saturday + rant

made this for brunch from the recipe mav posted.

bought some thread for some earrings i'm finally making for my roommate as a trade for a lovely hat she made me long ago.

doing some sewing and relaxing. may also rent the swedish film tillsammans (together). i've seen it like 3 times, but for some reason i'm really in the mood for it today.

rant: i watched bill moyers journal last night. i always get so riled up when i watch that show. it's scary good. last night it was about american imperialism and the wars we're in right now. it was also about how presidents (democratic and republican) and many americans want to believe america will be able to continue to prosper if we can fix the problems out there in other countries. when really we need to change america and how we are living/consuming. we're too dependent on other countries for our imports and oil, and this dependence makes us totally vulnerable. and we go along with it all because we want to consume cheaply. but there are so many horrible costs to the way we consume. basically the guest, andrew bacevich, said we need to change our energy policy and stop being imperialists. but the way he explains it all so articulately is great. you can watch it online.

it's interesting how much of what andrew bacevich talked about, even though he spoke largely about war, relates to these books i've been reading about the industrial food system. seems to me it all comes down to the fact that americans value money and cheap goods more than we value the quality of the food we put in our bodies, more than we value the earth and each other and community. of course no one believes this about themselves, but take a look at how we consume. we turn our backs on the negative impacts (including war, the destruction of soil and water, the destruction of small farms, the proliferation of sweat shops/child labor, the destruction and endangerment of plant and animal species) of the way we consume.

personally i think if we were taxed more and the government actually helped the people of the country by providing universal health care, education, energy infrastructure, public transportation infrastructure, support of small, diverse farms, support of the arts/humanities, etc., then people wouldn't need to consume cheaply because we would not have to worry about paying for all these other necessities. then we could buy (ideally a lot fewer) quality goods and foods produced/grown locally, while supporting our friends and families and living healthier lives. well i could go on and on, and obviously these topics are all very complex, and each topic has numerous books written about them. my point is, the show is good and worth watching/thinking/arguing about.

friday flickrs

thought my posting would be more prolific this week, but no such happening.

some friday flickr favorites:

1. monofobia's
2. maria ek's
3. flint knits'
4. amanda pulley's

my last semester of graphic design classes starts next week. i'm looking forward to savoring it.

delicious books

i just finished reading plenty and was considering which i like most of these food books i've read of late: animal, vegetable, miracle, the omnivore's dilemma or plenty. i really can't decide. they are all terrific, well-written books. they all kept me rapt. they are funny, VERY informative, fascinating and mostly uplifting.

now i just want to keep reading books on these topics of the industrialization of food, global food issues, environmental issues related to food, local food/small farm issues, organics, the appreciation of flavor and food traditions, awesome chefs/cooks and the importance of diversity of crops/seeds.

it seems to me that the way we ("developed" nations) produce/consume/transport food (both in "developed" and "undeveloped" nations) is at the core of so many of the world's problems (hunger, obesity, disease, pollution, oil dependence, the end of thousands of small farms, spiritual disconnect). and as these books all touch on, food is one of the things we in america can control, on an individual basis anyway, to some degree. these books are uplifting because they are about people empowering themselves and their local farmers and food service folks. they tell of ways to avoid/battle/subvert/alter the gigantic, evil corporations and industries that control food production. plus there are mouthwatering recipes in these books.

i recommend them all! i am confident you will find them to be delectable.

have you read any related books i should add to my food book reading?

friday flickrs

hi there. my mom is visiting, so maybe more posts next week.
we went to see the frida exhibit today. SO good. (frustratingly crowded however.)

friday flickrs:
hello, handsome
polaroid sky
Details, details!

singing pickathon praises

pickathon was even better than i expected—so much good, new to me music. i particularly enjoyed the red stick ramblers, pokey lafarge, crooked still, the everybodyfields, samantha crain and the midnight shivers, the old believers and loch lomond. (also saw sasparilla, sean hayes, jolie holland, hackensaw boys, martha scanlan, justin townes earle and the bad livers. whew!)

the sound board blew a fuse on loch lomond, and that of course was the best thing that could have happened. everyone scooted up and they played acoustic. they were terrific and their good energy was contagious. and such perfect-strange-funny-sad lyrics.

the festival was not at all packed with people. one could sit however close one wanted to the music. there weren't any drunken loudmouths. it was super pretty, with mount hood showing herself behind the main stage all the sudden on saturday. and it was the eco-friendliest festival i've ever attended. go pickathon go! i recommend it to you!

liz and i got up early saturday and drove into portland to go to broder and bolt. portlanders are just so nice.

also nice are jenifer, bob and dixie loo, our lovely pickathon companions, taco makers, vw spot sharers and chillin' kids.

more photos here.

packing + flickrs

you'd think i was going away for months to the other side of the world. nope. just off on a little road trip to the pickathon and hopefully to broder's for breakfast in portland. back on sunday or monday.

diary of a growing pile:



directions, batteries, maps, blanket and sheet (for picnicking or for warmth), clothing, hat, tarp, towel, sun screen, hat#2, cds, little notebook, holga, books, umbrella, holga film, box of pens and pencils, headlamp, rain clothes, backpack, sleeping bag.

and not shown: cell phone, warm clothes, toiletries, cd tape converter for car, socks, sunglasses, tp (you never know), food (many bags of it), water and the tent.

the chocolate:

(and this probably isn't enough.)

the wine:


i think we are prepared. rain, snow or sunshine.

i leave you with some flickr favorites of late:
grandma
121 (i love these colors.)
farmor o farfar vid fryken
then
sandra

see you soon!

sunday morning

walking to st. francis fountain for breakfast.


blue house


sidewalk garden


lace curtains


counter eaters

my digital camera really sucks these days. i want a new camera bad.

flashy friday

(bad photo of computer screen)

well, here it is. my final project for my summer flash class. bear in mind, i'm not so into animation. and i don't have much coding experience either. though i must admit, in the end, i enjoyed puzzling out what code to write to get the interactivity to work.

you must have the sound on to enjoy my "game."

also, getting the characters to return to their original positions will be irritating. you may have to drag, click and double click, or do some magic combo of those to get the hipsters back into place.

i was inspired to make this by the hipster scene in the mission district of san francisco. i am alternately annoyed and amused by the hipster scene. (luckily these days i'm mostly amused/fascinated by it.) my hipsters look a little too friendly and soft and not quite hip enough.

i was also inspired by lisen adbåge's fantastic line drawings (which my characters look nothing like). she manages to convey so much personality and gesture and story in just a few lines. very hard to do! (and even harder when using a mouse, instead of a pen or a wacom pen even).

anyhow, it's a bit of silliness i hope you'll enjoy.

(seems i was into orange and pink for this class. my midterm animation, kitty alone {also sound dependent}, was in similar colors.)

i'm glad the class is over now. just two classes left for my graphic design certificate. and then what!?

portland pickathon!

more melon. this time cantelope. completely unrelated to the below.

my friend liz and i are headed up portland way in august for the pickathon music festival. (hopefully we'll be meeting up with miss sprout, her bob, their dixie dog and their extra sweet vw bus if they make it up {fingers crossed}).

my question for you is, do you know of any fun places to stay overnight approx. halfway (or a bit more than halfway) between SF and portland? maybe in ashland? any adventure stories (related or not) welcome!

thanks!

homework and food weekend

saturday's mouthwatering watermelon


and tomato toast


and cold cucumber soup.

melon, tomato and cuke, compliments of terra firma farms, and all completely delicious.

friday flickrs

front and back. here you can see those naughty neighbor cats better.

friday flickr faves

i am loving these browns. from monophobia.
some more brown.
dot play
more orange kitty!
a VERY good cat.

this way out west music festival in göteborg looks really good. (skall ni gå på den?)

i want lines and shapes. lena and mav capture and make such beauty.

renegade

thanks for all the bday wishes folks! i'm touched.


the above weaving is from the window of 18 reasons, a place that intrigues me.

i wanted to mention how great the first sf renegade craft fair was. so much better than any other craft fair i've been to! i really liked the majority of the goods on sale, and it was so fun to feel how much more vibrant this art/craft scene is than the (pretty much non-existent) scenes at other fort mason craft fairs i've been to. truly a renegade spirit about the place. and so heartening to see so many friends out there selling their extra fine goods: mati, hugh, jenifer, annie (+hubby) and lorena's booths all were fabulous. and then fun to see folks whose work i've only seen online on flickr or in blogs. also exciting to find some new to me, awesome artists. i was especially inspired by the fabrics/designs made by jennifer at raeburn ink and by the posters of sonnenzimmer, a studio made up of nick butcher and nadine nakanishi. (the posters are much more beautiful in person.)

oh and this marching band's madness added to the already high energy of the marketplace (found katie's photos of the band on flickr.)

what a great time! congrats all you renegade crafter-artists!