11

These photos pertain to #10.

Janet tagged me to answer 11 questions. I'ma just pretend I haven't not blogged for 3/4 a year + just jump right in!

1. What is your favorite type of cheese?

Talk about Sophie's choice! They are all my babies; all my favorites! This hurts, Janet, but I'll go with a melty, Swiss fondue. Like Gruyère. Yes, Gruyère.

2. What are you excited about?

SUMMER VACATION begins in a little over a month.

3. How did you celebrate your last birthday?

I was visiting family in Texas, and my little Grand-cousin hosted a party for me. A party of rainbows + unicorns. 

4. What is on your bedside table?

A milk glass lamp, a glass of water, Badger sleep balm, an REI gift card (I still haven't spent since Christmas), a black Sharpie, a notepad, a couple bills, Disney's Frozen DVD (from the library), and my cell phone.

5. What do you order from the movie theater concession stand?

These days, nothing. Back in the day it was Junior Mints and a Dr. Pepper. Always.

6. Do you have a garden? What’s growing?

No, but I have a collection of indoor house plants that I am obsessed with. And I want the plant party to just keep growing.

7. Any summer plans?

Sew some clothing for myself, purge my belongings, rewatch Community from season 1 (and possibly Buffy, too), hike at least once a week (must get to the Olympics + Mt. Rainier!), and be the best darn Seattle tour guide when my friend Caitlin comes to town!

8. Which TV couple(s) are you rooting for?

Ilana and Lincoln on Broad City. And I want Dr. Mindy Lahiri to be happy + find her perfect RomCom dude, but I do NOT want it to be Danny. So, pretty much Mindy and ANYONE ELSE. I also would like someone to appreciate Tina Belcher for who she is, but then again, she's perfect as is, and I fear how having a regular beau would change her. Would she still have fantasies of unicorns, zombies, and butts swimming around in rainbow champagne? Would she still write erotic friend fiction? Would she still moan/grunt...OMG...light bulb! Is a groan a combo moan and grunt???

9. What’s the last thing you bought?

Various food items at the grocery store. (Janet, you'll be proud to learn I got some wine + beer!)

10. What’s one thing you are passionate about?

Currently, I am consumed with printing out photos and getting them into photo albums. I know that temporary obsessions are not quite the same as passions, but that's what's on my mind.

11. What are you grateful for this week?

Summer vacation. And good friends. And wine. And my kitty.

I tag Betsy, Caitlin, Amy, and YOU! Yes, you! Just leave me a link to whichever online platform is hosting your answers in the comments. Here are your 11 questions:

1. What's the last fantastic film you saw?

2. If you could travel to any city in the world tonight, where would you wake up tomorrow?

3. What's your favorite blog? Is there a regular feature on said blog that you LOVE?

4. What songs are on your "I'm gonna clean the shit out of my home!" playlist? (Or your "I'm cookin' up a storm in here!" playlist.)

5. Do you have a fav podcast? Do tell.

6. Without worrying about whether you could "pull it off" how would you cut and/or color your hair?

7. Have you ever lied about reading a book that you haven't? Title? Explain the sitch.

8. Do you have a fav smoothie? What are the ingredients? (If you hate smoothies, what's your fav summery drink?)

9. If you could be at a performance of any musician throughout history, who would woo your ears?

10. I like Janet's #2, so what's the next thing you are looking forward to?

11. If you could accomplish just one more goal in 2014, which would it be?

If it seems like many of my questions are all ploys to get recommendations for cool shit from you, well then, you are pretty observant.

Wanderlust: I haz it

L: Dalí shushing us R: Partner in Crime's Opposite & Me @ La Tour Eiffel

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Hell yes, Mark Twain. Hell yes.

Stravinsky Fountain

*Note: I don't necessarily believe these photos illustrate Twain's thoughts. I just didn't want a quote up there solo, so I grabbed a few photos of wonderful people-watching spots in Paris. From my travels.

Speaking of international . . .

Inspired by this post, I thought I'd snap and share some photos of the papers I saved from my Euro Tour 2011. In my mind, I saved more scraps than I actually found--all must not have survived the most recent purges.

Yes, I saved the little waxy paper envelopes in which store keepers wrapped the post cards I purchased.

When I found this post card in a cuuuuuuuuuuuuute shop in Copenhagen, I knew I was purchasing it for myself to keep. IRL the colors are more muted.

I purchased a few postcards at the Salzburger Marionettentheater, which is a fancy (or German) way of saying the marionette theater in Salzburg. Friends and/or fam actually received said post cards, but apparently I bought an extra and decided to keep Der Nussknacker (The Nutcracker for all of you who aren't familiar with German and/or able to crack that cryptic code) for myself.

Here we have some notes I scribbled on a guide to the Belvedere Museum in Vienna (which I loved loved loved and highly recommend), and business cards for a DE-licious vegetarian restaurant in Amsterdam (which, incidentally, had a resident cat back in '11), a Mediterranean restaurant in Brussels, and a lomography joint in Amsterdam (which I didn't actually visit--I acquired this card during an event at the Van Gogh Museum where I took a lomography workshop + got to shoot a roll of film with a Diana).

I saved this bag (yet another post card purchase!) from this little shop in Paris:

I believe L'univers de Léo roughly translates to: dog thinks of cat, cat thinks of mouse, mouse thinks of cheese, cheese thinks of cow. I could be mistaken.

IGGPPC

Totally awkward acronym aside, I support the mission of reviving letter writing, geeky interests, and connecting people from all over the world. Head on over to the International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club and sign up for the next round if you feel the same. Or you know, you & I could be pen pals, too. I've been known to enhance an envelope with Sanrio stamps and washi tape a time or two. But I totally understand if the thrill of receiving a letter from a like-minded stranger in, say, Argentina is more compelling. The thought of an INTERNATIONAL pen pal is so romantic, no?

Because cute

I give you my most favoritest animal videos of all time. A straight ninja. A baby just tryin' to keep pace. A bringer of peace.

Though this one is animated, and doubtless deserving of its own post, it's possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen, and therefore included:

You may wish to bookmark this post for when you're having the worst day ever. Should these videos not pull you out of the depths of the doldrums, by all means throw one (or 2) of these in your honor.

This is gonna be made, right?

You can't just tease us with a trailer for a live action Daria flick, College Humor, and then not turn it into a full-length feature film! You can't. The laws of physics (or something) will not allow.

When I first caught wind of this (thanks to BUST), I believed we were going to get a live action, full-length Daria tale. Oh, how I wanted to hear her commentary on class reunions! Alas, when I read the first sentence of the second paragraph, I learned 'tis but a cruel joke perpetrated by College Humor. (Imagine the range of emotions I experienced in those consecutive moments. From this to this and/or this.)

So then, my next thought was to google, "Daria kickstarter" because Veronica Mars. I don't know who Robyn Pennacchia is, but we have very similar takes on this whole sitch (possibly due to the fact that I also fit into the "not quite Gen X, not quite a Millenial" generation-label-gap):

• Why would younger sister Quinn be organizing Daria's reunion? Maybe that's her full-time gig? Organizing reunions for all who attended Lawndale High. Or, I've also heard of joint reunions, so maybe Quinn is organizing one gathering for all who graduated from 2002-2005? But there was that banner behind the valedictorian as she addressed her former classmates...
• Jane--a mom? Really?
• I was waaaaaaaaay more into Brian Krakow too. Until he became a rapist on Felicity.
• THIS HAS TO HAPPEN, THOUGH, RIGHT?

Miranda July is my religion

Though I wish I could claim to have participated in her original Joanie 4 Jackie video-tape-chain-letter project, I think I first became aware of Miranda July when I somehow stumbled upon Learning to Love You More circa 2004. I've followed her artist journey ever since, and am continually inspired by her immense imagination and empathy.

So, apologies for sharing the latest Miranda July project, We Think Alone, a wee bit late. But, better late than not at all, yeah? Read the About page to learn, well, about it. Nutshell: MJ has aggregated emails from 10 different folks on 20 different topics. You can sign up to receive said emails. If you're a curious (read: nosy/snoopy) person like I, you may wish to sign up. We're only 3 weeks in, so you'll still receive 17 emails (from the likes of Lena Dunham!) that address the weekly topic.

So far the topics have covered: money, advice, and Barack Obama.  One of the many things I dig about this project is where the idea can lead us unexpectedly. When I finished reading all the emails re: Obama, I wondered, Do I have any emails that mention Obama?...which led me to search my gmail archives. Which led to the rediscovery of this gem. A lil' somethin' I sent to commemorate a dear friend's day of birth.

 

And now, consider this gift yours. You're welcome.

How do I work this thing?

I totally forget how this thing works. Do I capitalize every letter in a post title? Or treat it like a sentence? Grammar vs. style. The ultimate showdown. In my mind, at least. I choose style. Yeah. So.

I finally started watching Adventure Time after admiring its aesthetic for a few years. (Remember this?! Ah!) All this time, I had no idea that Jake the Stretchy Dog is a kindred.

p.s. I usually don't include images unless I can give proper credit. Unfortunately a Google Images search didn't help me find the original source. Fucking tumblr culture. If you happen to know which AT fan created this, please let me know!

The Trading Tortoise

It's no secret that I am a fan of 

• art
• travel
• exploration
• spreading the beauty
• stories
• documenting said stories, and
• all things awesome.

If you also love any of the above, I encourage you to watch Monica Choy and Souther Salazar's Kickstarter video, and be inspired.  The duo imagined a way to combine all of the above into a unique experience called The Trading Tortoise.  I love that Ms. Choy and Mr. Salazar created a way to give (both to those who are lucky enough to witness the sure-to-be-stunning installation in person, as well as the pledgers who earn rewards for donating via Kickstarter) and to facilitate giving, among people from communities far and wide, at their traveling trade post.  Not to mention, the stories behind traded items will be a gift available to all on the website.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels The Trading Tortoise is an absolutely necessary project, because their Kickstarter campaign met its funding goal last night, with 17 days to go.  Even though the project has been funded, you can still contribute (and earn super cool rewards like postcards, mixed CD's, and zines created while the Tortoise is on the road!).  Extra dollars will go toward making extra stops on the tour.  I hope they stop in a city near you, so you are able to see the Tortoise and trade something special for something marvelous.

What would you bring to trade?  Would you make something for the occasion?  Do you already own an object you'd like to share with someone from somewhere else?  Just thinking about the possibilities makes me giddy!

That's the spirit!

True fact: I love receiving texts from Alicia.  Alicia tends to text me when she notices awesome things—street musicians with fancy instruments and the like.  As though she's a magic scout, keenly attuned to detect wonderful things, compelled to alert me to the beauty that abounds.  A couple weeks ago, she spotted this charmingly embellished advertisement on a BART train, and gifted it to me.  Behold the Googly Eyed Gnome!      

I believe we should start a movement to make 53% of all texts, messages of this sort.  (The other 47% can be the practical kind, of course.)  Agreed?

Sweet.  The next time you're out and about, I challenge you to 

1. recognize when you're witnessing something worthy of your admiration,
2. take a moment to appreciate whatever you see,
3. snap a photo, and 
4. send that photo to someone you think will share in your joy.

It'll be like one big, never-ending scavenger hunt for awesome.  We can assign points for various sightings: 25 for spotting an origami dinosaur on a park bench, 50 for a yarnbombed bike rack, 996 for a unicorn noshing on an ice cream cone.  We'll call our game Magic Scout.   

p.s. My cousin Melissa also plays this game.  She found a purty pink-haired gal in San Francisco.  How many points should we award her?