Consistency

(via designsponge)

            Sometimes, when everything around us seems so absurdly uncertain, it feels so nice to have something consistent. Even if that thing is as tumultuous and foreboding as the unruly waves of the sea. This is the curse of comfort.

Ice Cube and Eames

          If you live in LA, you should have deffinitly heard about Pacific Standard Time by now. "Pacific Standard Time is an unprecedented collaboration of cultural institutions across Southern California coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. Beginning October 2011, over 60 cultural institutions will make their contributions to this region-wide initiative encompassing every major L.A. art movement from 1945 to 1980. Celebrate the era that continues to inspire the world." So basically, a whole bunch of galleries (including every damn major gallery and museum you can possibly think of) in LA are holding exhibitions that are dedicated to recognising art and artists from 1945 - 1980 (aka the dawn of the LA art scene and what has led to the wonderful world of LA art that we all know and love today). 

        To promote the collaboration, Pacific Standard Time has posted short videos of musicians and actors giving homage to artist showcased in PST. (Brilliant! Artist celebrating artists!) I have a mild (ok, not so mild) obsession with midcentury design, and my all time favorite is the video above of Ice Cube talking about Eames! It's absolutely fantastic! Who knew Ice Cube studied architecture??!? He just jumped a few notches higher on my cool scale. He talks about the hidden beauty in LA, bougie traffic, and compares making music to making the Eames :

 "It's not about the pieces, it's about how the pieces work together. Taking something that already exists and making it something special- kind of like sampling. In a world full of McMansions- where the structure takes up all the land, the Eames made structure and nature one. This is going green 1949 style, bitch. Buhhleedat. Who are these people that have a problem with LA? Maybe they're just mad they don't live here."

And those are words to live by, kids......

Faber Castell

(Faber Castell from eric yeo on Vimeo)

          I'm sitting on my bed listening to Tegan and Sara, and I'm too exhausted to write anything witty or interesting or pretty, so I'm going to post this video. I'm about to bust out some FB's and lay on the floor, draw, and drink tea. Catch you on the other side, kiddies! 

Insatiable

(via Wednesday)

          George Burns said "I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate." But I say that if you find something you love so much you're willing to look like a complete blundering fool for it, you've already succeeded. Passion, in its insatiable state, is everything.

A nice reminder

(via wednesday)

          I just remembered, that a good friend of mine once told me that it's important to remember that everyone feels the same as everyone else, just not at the same time. That's a really nice thing to be reminded of. Sometimes, she's really insightful- thanks Nicole!!

What a beauty!

( via honestly wtf)

          Today, my sister and I decided to kick off the new year with our habitual trip (which almost always turns into a camp out) at our usual Starbucks in Pasadena. For some bizarre reason, it didn't even cross our minds that tomorrow is the annual Tournament of Roses parade on Colorado blvd. We drove up to find a tons of people already camped out in front of our beloved coffee house! Parked on the street right next to our Starbucks was a totally rad Airstream. I've always loved the retro design, and I'm convinced that some day I will own one. For some reason, Airstreams (and teardrop trailers!) seem to remind me of the carefree California lifestyle. I've lived in Los Angeles my whole life and never have I once camped out to see the parade on new years. Every year, for a few days leading up to new years the streets are packed, literally with happy campers. How awesome would it be to wake up in this meticulously restored 1954 Airstream Flying Cloud and step outside to watch the parade live??!?! Can you say bucket list?? 

Happy New Year!

(via lantligt) 

(via tomboystyle) 

          Go ahead, ask me if I made a new year's resolution just like every other totally unoriginal human does on the first day of the year (you know, like when you go on first dates and to break the awkward silence he/she asks you questions like "What's your favorite band?" or "What do you like to do in your spare time?") The thing is, it was about ten seconds till the ball dropped when my sister and I started discussing what our resolutions should be. We were obviously a tad short on time and we didn't want to make the usual vows to increase the number of laps we run a week or decrease the amount of unnecessarily spent dollars, so I decided to decide tomorrow (obviously, I didn't resolve to stop procrastinating).  To be honest, I don't think I have ever made a real New Year's resolution in my life, but there I was the next morning, feeling pretty empty and unsettled because I wasn't starting off my year with a kick ass declaration on how I'm going to improve my life. Then, I remembered that exactly one year ago I had written a letter to the new year of 2011. 

Dear 2011,

    While you're visiting for these next dozen months, we dare you to challenge us, to terrify us. We'll welcome irritation, inspiration, exasperation. We won't let fear paralyze us. We promise to follow our OWN instincts, rather than the instincts of others. We vow to break from what we feel most comfortable with, all for a chance to say to ourselves, "You know, that really wasn't for me after all.." We resolve to always do what we are most afraid of. We will overlook what we cannot love in others. We swear to never tell ourselves our lives are in shambles, when the train has not yet reached the broken track. And most of all we will never overlook a chance to start from scratch, because arrivals and departures aren't the only times to make new resolutions!

          I think that was a pretty damn good resolution! And as it turned out, 2011 was a pretty good year for me- by all means I pray that it's not the best year I'll ever have and I doubt it will be the worst, but it was a pretty decent one. I "found myself" a little more, I learned how to keep my chin up, and I figured out that faking it till you make it actually does kind of work. Remembering where I was exactly a year ago and realizing where I am today is almost inconceivable (totally and embarrassingly cheese balls, I know- but also kinda true). And, it's not because of some quickly forgotten promise I made to myself, it was because I kept making new promises after I forgot the old ones. Usually (I said usually, as in not always), if resolution has left our thoughts it's because it is no longer relevant to our lives. It's time to make a new set of commitments for our new challenges.
         Like I said, I usually don't make real resolutions... but, I guess this year I resolve to constantly resolve. So, yeah, today I made a small resolution- one that I know I won't keep (or probably need to keep) till the end of the year. And, if on February 7th I want to make another change in my life, I'll make a February 7th resolution to do so. The point being, I didn't challenge myself because it's the first of a new year and blah blah blah, but because it's today and any old day is a good enough day to make myself a better me.

Zeitgeist 2011

           I love that Google puts together a little video at the end of each year to remind us of all that has happened around the world. Every time I watch this, I feel that swell of tiny tingles inside- the kind where you can't really tell if you extremely sad or extremely happy. I think that more than happiness or sadness, it should give us an intense sense of camaraderie no matter what country we live in or what social class we belong to or even what sexual orientation we identify with. We may not have experienced personally each others struggles, together we have all experienced and lived (/survived) this year.

Wine, wine, wine!

         I love these quirky illustrations done by Gemma Correll for A Cup of Jo, and I love wine! And it just doesn't get much better than illustrated wine etiquette tips!  Here are 8 great tips to arm yourselves with before heading to that fabulous New Year's eve party!

1. Fill red wine glasses 1/3 full, white wine 1/2 full, sparkling wine 3/4 full.

2. Twist the bottle at the end of pouring a glass of wine, to prevent drips (and to give it a flourish!).

3. Cheers! When clinking glasses, make eye contact with the other person. Otherwise, according to French superstition, you'll risk seven years of bad luck (read: bad sex). You also should clink glasses individually with each person at the table without crossing anyone's arms.

4. If somebody is toasting you (your wedding, your birthday, your general awesomeness), don't take a sip. Just smile and look humble.

5. Always hold your wine glass by the stem. Many people mistakenly think you only need to hold white wine by the stem (so you don't warm up the wine), but experts say you should hold red wine by the stem, too, so you can see its color and clarity, as well as to avoid smudging the glass with your fingerprints. Otherwise, wine snobs might call you a "bowl grabber"! :)

6. On the table, your wine glass goes to the right of your water glass. 

7. While taking a sip, you should politely look into your glass. (And not at another person, if you're in the middle of a conversation.)

8. The host's duty is to make sure glasses stay filled. "My eyes go to empty glasses immediately," wine expert John Thoreen says. "It's a real radar thing for me."

9. Or happily forget all the tips mentioned above, and just eat, drink, and be merry!

Ps. How to properly introduce people & the lipstick trick: how to prevent those ugly lipstick prints on glasses. I shared this trick with my mom and grandmother on Christmas eve, and they LOVE it!

(via Cup of Jo)

Thing we say which we owe to Shakespeare

(via tumblr)

        ....the man's a genius. 

Madness

(via flickr)

          The madness is over!!! The past few days were filled with cooking, and visiting grandparents and dads, and presents, and wild little cousin, and family feasts, and playing apples to apples.... and we have to wait another whole year to do it again! (Thank heaven's) My holidays were fantastic, exhaustingly fantastic. Now, it's time to sit down, drink a cup of tea (or if, like me, you prefer something more stiff) and reflect on all that's happened in the last year. New years is a really serious thing for me, and I really like to use the calm after the Christmas storm to really mull over the idea of a brand new year. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

Beatle lips

(via cup of jo)

          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. 

Side note: Eleanor Rigby is my favorite Beatles song!

Thanks for a fantastic year!

(via dinner a love story)

         

          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...

A fantastic haloween

(via black eiffel)

      I totally failed at my blogging duties this Ween.

Not.

A.

Single.

Halloween.

Post.

...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!

Bustin' moves

:57
adorable as hell

I wish I had moves like that little boy...if I did, I would be bustin moves all day.

Tipsy Turkey

(The Tipsy Turkey Thanksgiving Cocktail from LEAFtv on Vimeo)

       This girl is going to be one tipsy turkey this thanksgiving. Can't wait to try this out!

What English sounds like to foreigners

     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.

Sunday night pick-me-up

(via richard heller gallery)

"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."

-- Theodore I. Rubin, MD

Reykjavik street art

(via because im addicted)

       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!



Mast Brothers

        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.