I want to hold your haa-aa-aa-aanmd! Which Beatle would you lay a wet one on?? I think Ringo Starr has nice lips. Also, I feel as though he's the forgotten Beatle... which naturally makes me like him more.
Okay. Before I say anything about the holidays I have to mention that it has been a year and four days since the birth ofmy blog! Big thanks to all my readers (the far and few!). Lately, I've been sort of falling of the wagon with things, and it's nice to be able to look back at my first post about the meaning of wabi-sabi, and my intent to use this blog to help me live by its mantra. It's time to get back on track, folks! ...and on that note, on to my thoughts about this Thanksgiving (p.s. here is last years thanksgiving post- that whole last year bit felt weird!!!)
Lately I've been on a total Wes Anderson kick, but I'm particularly obsessed with Fantastic Mr. Fox... again. I watched it for about a week straight when it came out on dvd, obnoxiously quoted scenes, and started to say What a clustercuss!!! Now that the holidays are rolling around, it's been on my mind a lot (and, yes, the same symptoms ensue). At first, I thought it was peculiar that that movie would remind me of the holiday because there are obviously no apparent alludes to Christmas or Thanksgiving. But then, yesterday as I was sitting at a tiny undecorated table with my mom and sister it hit me. As I quietly ate our Thanksgiving meal that tried so terribly hard to be American (made of turkey aand ham, white rice, corn, Hawaiian crab salad, an assortment of Japanese pickles and kimchi, rice balls, and stuffing), I realized that Fantastic Mr. Fox and most other Wes Anderson films (especially The Royal Tenanbaums!) reminded me of the holidays because they are all about families, and dysfunctional ones at that.
Holy turkey did I have an unusual Thanksgiving! My sister, mom, and I visited my Bachan who now lives in downtown LA (little tokyo, of course), but lived the first half of her life in the country side of Japan. She's not very American and doesn't understand our Thanksgiving holiday very well... needless to say, it hardly felt like Thanksgiving dinner at all. Thankfully, the tides turned after the meal, when we began to ask her about her childhood and where she grew up (very mysterious things to us since we can hardly make sense of most of the stories she tells). She told us about our family in Japan, where they live, and even showed us loaaads of old pictures.
Somewhere over the weekend, I read this really simple but honest quote: “The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things … the trivial pleasure like cooking, one’s home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.” This year's Thanksgiving was definitely not what I'm used to nor anything I'd prefer, but just like all of Wes Anderson's uncomfortable and unorthodox families, we always seem to come to terms with our family's uncouth quirks and even somehow learn to cherish them.
And, just like the movie goes, there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there...
...and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I'm shameless. Welp, this year I was an owl- I found a black, grey, and brown vintage lacy high waisted skirt and I spotted my face with gold leaf. I thought it was pretty clever and unique, but most people just asked me if I was a pigeon. Yeah, a pigeon. My friends and I always chat about how we think of amazing and quirky costume ideas all year round, but when Halloween rolls around we can't think of a single one. And of course, on Halloween night we see tons of fantastic outfits. Speaking of fantastic, I almost dropped dead when I saw this couple dressed as Mr. Fox and Mrs. Felicity Fox. Soo adorable, this is definitely going down under my costume ideas for next year!
I am a huge blundering fan of accents. The whole idea that each culture not only has their own language but also their own sound is fascinating. It is especially mind boggling when you come to the realization that you don't speak the "normal" way, that there is in fact no "normal" accent. I have always always tried to imagine how americans sounded to foreigners... and now I know. This short is brilliant... kind of weird, but brilliant.
"I must learn to love the fool in me--the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool."
These street art style installations of glitter and sequence are bananas! Artist Theresa Himmer created these beauties on building sides in the streets of Reykjavik (go ahead, try to sound that one out), Iceland. They were inspired by glaciers, volcanoes, and waterfalls- I love how Himmer alludes to the idea of natural and urban colliding. Brilliant!
For LA, this past week has been the first time we have felt the cold crisp air of fall. I love love love the beginning of fall, it is one of my favorite seasons. That is, the "beginning" part not the"fall" bit. The first few weeks of each season are my favorite times of the year. Right now I feel excited and giddy! I can't wait for scarves, crunchy leaves, sweaters, crispy wind, eating pho', seeing everyone's breathe when chat outside, holiday chaos, the sound of the heater running when I wake up in the morning, and (now that I've watched this video) hot chocolate!
There is absolutely no better season to eat chocolate than the holiday season! I love this dreamy video of the Mast brothers discussing the uniqueness and craft involved in their chocolate shop Mast Brothers Chocolate. I adore how they convey pride and passion for chocolate making. Their attention to detail and sentiment, from the way they ship their beans overseas by sail boats to the way their chocolate wrappers are made using printing presses, shows their absolute dedication and passion for honest craft. If I am ever passing through Brooklyn, you better believe I'll be stopping by for a taste.
