a case of you...

the closing of a chapter

"The seasons remind me that I must keep changing. and I want to change because it is God's way...I want to keep my soul fertile for the changes so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind is made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently. Only the good stories have the characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page, as if to trick the mind into thinking it isn't all happening at once. Life has pressed you and me into a book, too, this tiny chapter we share together...Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was. This is from where the story stems, the stuff of its construction lying at our feet like cut strips of philosophy."
-- Donald Miller

earth hour 09

I'd had the best of intentions to have an Earth Hour hootananny at my place this past Saturday evening, but then decided that my flat still isn't visitor-friendly, seeing as how I have no chairs, no table, and really nowhere for any more than two people to hang out at any one time. I also had visions of knocking over tealights and setting fire to my neighbours bungalows, all in close proximity. Regardless, Earth Hour 2009 went on without us, and my friend Bridget and I did our best, sitting outside with candles lit and copious amounts of wine (my ecological response to most Saturday evenings, admittedly). If you're not familiar with the concept, Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007, and quickly grew into a global observance. More than 1,000 cities in over 80 countries observed Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday March 28th, as homes, office towers and landmarks turned off their lights for an hour starting at 8.30 pm local time to raise awareness about climate change and the threat from rising greenhouse gas emissions. Collected here are a series of before-and-after photographs - which (starting with the second one below) will fade between on and off when clicked. Pretty cool stuff.

off the planet

Am having a blast-from-the-past moment and remembering one of my favourite commercials.. Levi's Reach For The Sky, directed by Jonathan Glazer (soundtrack by Handel!), back in 2001. The most expensive advert at the time of release.

land ho...

Your Love Is The Anchor by British illustrator Ellie Cryer...

sewn in...

I Love You So Much It Breaks My Heart by Joetta Maue on Etsy...

mia delcasino

San Diego based artist Mia DelCasino is one of my favorite photographers. Her work is breathtakingly ethereal and really needs to be viewed up close and personal in order to appreciate the full force of its beauty (the pieces are rather large in actuality). Congratulations to Mia, who just won an honor of distinction accolade in the annual Photography Masters Cup for her piece Kerry Blue (top). May your photographic talents continue to reflect the inner and outer beauty that you yourself possess (whoop-whoop!).

paper source

When not leading the glamorous vida loca as assistant to a television producer, I can also be found working the register (or cutting a yard of ribbon, or providing a stamp embossing demonstration, or helping foolish young couples in love choose their wedding invitations...), at Paper Source in Pasadena. Seeing as how I've been a paper junkie from a very early age, it's pretty much like allowing a crack addict be a drug pusher. I clock in, look around me, and immediately my eyes begin to glaze over and I start to drool a little... and then I get really helpful and annoying and adopt a deliriously peppy attitude. Yes, I am that person in a store who will yell "Hellooooo" at you the minute you step foot in the door. I wear my Paper Source badge with pride, yo.

rob ryan

I randomly stumbled across Rob Ryan's book This Is For You one afternoon while browsing in the Muswell Hill Book Store, and I've been a fan ever since. This Is For You is a fairytale told through paper cut-out art, which explores the themes of love and loneliness. Rob is a British artist who specializes in papercutting and screen-printing, and who has a Masters in printmaking from the Royal College of Art.

'YOU HAVE ALREADY GONE TO BED. I STAY UP TO KEEP DRINKING AND LISTEN TO MUSIC AND MY GOD IT SOUNDS GOOD. PEOPLE KEEP ON MAKING GREAT MUSIC. BUT THERE ARE ONLY DO MANY NOTES AND ORDERS TO PUT THEM IN. HOW DO THEY DO IT?? HUMAN BEINGS SO RELENTLESS IT BREAKS YOUR HEART. JUST WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO GIVE UP ON THEM ALTOGETHER – THE SHIT WAY THEY TREAT EACH OTHER – AND THEN YOU HEAR A SONG SO TRUE AND BEAUTIFUL YOU INSTANTLY FORGIVE THEM EVERYTHING AND HEAR THEIR REAL VOICE “I KNOW I DO WRONG BUT I REALLY WANT TO TRY TO BE GOOD.” AND THEN I THOUGHT ABOUT MY DEATH AND ALL THE GREAT MUSIC THAT WOULD BE MADE FROM THAT DAY ON AND I WOULDN’T GET TO HEAR A SINGLE NOTE. AND I CRIED TEARS OF 100% SELFISH JEALOUSY. JEALOUS OF SOMETHING YET EVEN TO HAPPEN THAT WOULD NEVER AFFECT MY ROTTING DECOMPOSING CORPSE. THE HOT LITTL TEARS OF THE CHILD WHO WANTED EVERYTHING.'

''THIS BELL WILL RING WHEN I AM CRUEL TO YOU AND MAKE YOU CRY' and 'THIS BELL WILL RING WHEN WE GO BOWLING NEXT'

wall art

I've been looking around for some art work to adorn the walls of my new (and very bare) pad in Venice Beach. I am obsessing over these pieces that I came across on Etsy... 1. I Can't See Past You by Julia Pott, a freelance illustrator/animator based in East London; 2. Charmed, I'm Sure, a letterpress print by Honey Lux Press; 3. Screaming Bird, by Andrea Zuill, which makes me laugh every time I look at it; 4. Lina Stores on Brewer Street in Soho, which I used to pass regularly when I lived in London... Amazingly, the pieces themselves are all very inexpensive (they range from $5.00 to $32.00) - the framing will no doubt cost more than the art work...

paddle out polaroid

Love this polaroid transfer of a surfer girl by She Hit Pause on Etsy...

objects are our history

Went to a show of Katherine Gray's work at the Acuna-Hansen Gallery in Chinatown on Saturday evening. Katherine is a glass blower, and here she has created an installation 'built' out of drinking glasses (above, right), the effect of which is beautiful and lingering, as is her artist's statement that accompanies the piece: "Because skill is a trap, because the promise has faded, because no one told me about that trap, because our society is increasingly about the simulated experience, because creating is destroying, because we haven't learned from our mistakes, because it is all coming to an end, because I am out of sync, because objects are our history. And because glass is devastatingly beautiful."

happy valentine's day (for tomorrow)

I love this quote from an old copy of Natural Health magazine (February 2004). I scribbled it down in one of my journals, and it's stuck with me ever since: "This is the time of year when it's easy to succumb to the symbols and trappings of feelings, to love as defined by others. The rituals of romance, the rich foods and vibrant flowers, are gratifying in the moment, and we can take delight in their sensuous pleasures. But the greatest affection is tendered and received - with neither encumbrance nor expectation. It's the quieter rituals of the devoted heart, so often overlooked, that provide the security and the strength we need to embrace the wondrous opportunities of life."

quote of the day

“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive?
Love is everything it's cracked up to be.
That's why people are so cynical about it.
It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.
And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”
(Erica Jong)

i just. want everything.

I have had this song stuck in my head on repeat ALL WEEEK LONG, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's a good song, and Alicia Keys is damn fine. It's just that hook. I'm hooked. Some people want...

eco love

Surfrider have a great idea for Valentine's Day: show the ocean how much you love it. Become a member or make a donation and they'll send your loved one an e-card. This reminds me - Imax's Under The Sea 3D is out today - which I heard is like "snorkeling in the cinema."

remixing the ordinary

New York's Museum of Arts and Design has a new exhibition called Second Lives: Remixing The Ordinary (running until Arpril 19). The exhibition features work by 50 international established and emerging artists from all five continents who create objects and installations comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured articles, most originally made for another functional purpose. Paul Villinski, an American, creates beautiful butterflies out of his old record collection...

right on

I'm obsessed with this video. Roel Wouters is a graphic designer based in Amsterdam. He studied at the Royal Academie of the Arts, Den Hague and at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. Gradus is his son, and makes the best "B"s I've ever seen.

mix tape love

Making a mix tape online isn't quite the same as sitting cross-legged in front of your tape deck, loading tape after tape, lining up the intro to each song, hitting play and record repeatedly and then hand writing your own liner notes... but it sure is fun. Not to mention instantaneous. You can create a playlist, make a mix tape design of your own, geek out over this mix tape USB port (which, admittedly, would make for a pretty sweet and thoughtful gift), and then check out Rob Sheffield's book, Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, which tells of the relationship he had with his wife, via fifteen old, beat-up cassettes. And while you're at it, the folks at exopolis have made you a special mix tape... Enjoy.

nothing to lose