southpark strikes

i found this site a while back, but was reminded after seeing a character creation on the how design blog. here is the collection i've gotten from friends so far, next, i want to create my southpark family. hours & hours of fun... i swear.

wallpaper hypocrite

i remember talking to my mom on the phone about a year ago, cringing as she let me know that her big weekend event would be wallpapering the downstairs bathroom. ugh! wallpaper! i was not surprised, i was sure it would be forest green & cream colored with a coordinating border of loons or wildlife. i was right, i went home to visit last summer and found exactly what i had anticipated.

why do i write about this? because i have spent many hours searching online for the perfect victorian inspired wallpaper (preferably the exact wallpaper from the apartment in lucky number sleven). i have become a wallpaper hypocrite. i always swore that wallpaper was the devil's craft (bear in mind i also mocked my mother's cross stitching obsession)...well, no longer.

i still rent, so full wall covering is not an option. a carpenter friend of mine cut me three 16 x 16 panels that i hope to cover and hang. that way, my lovely victorian wallpaper can travel with me. i will post pics as soon as complete my project & find antlers to compliment it.

breaking up with gmac

today marks two weeks without using my car. it's been liberating, relaxing & not as difficult as i thought it would be.

for the last couple months, i had noticed that the only real purpose my car served was driving to work & the occasional trip to target or the mountains. don't get me wrong, i drive my car a lot, often to places that make more sense to get to via bus or walking. i will also openly state that i drop about $500/month on my car (car payment, insurance, gas). in my opinion, $500/month is way too much to spend on getting to work & going places within walking distance.

i blog for the firm i work for. we have always had a green focus in design, and in the last year taken our involvement to the next level. our firm became carbon neutral, bought a hybrid for the office (to encourage public transportation to work) & encouraged staff leed accreditation. carbon neutral is a huge buzzword right now & there are many large green movements in the design industry (fashion, architecture, retail, automobile, etc). i was on the sightline institute's blog, researching for work when i noticed that one of the authors (family of five) decided to go carless for a year. it really inspired me, so i put away my car keys, got a bus pass from work & have been riding the bus ever since.

there are so many benefits of being carless (something my parents & gmac rep are completely miffed by). no traffic, no gas money, no carbon emissions, as well as more time to think, read, listen to music & people watch (in my personal opinion, the best part of public transportation). now it's time to finagle my way out of the lease that haunts me until august!

another carless resource; carla saulter writes for the seattle p.i. "bus chick, transit authority."

drawstring dream

this is a gorgeous bag. crystalyn kokorowski is an amazing designer. i've been grazing this site for a while, thinking that this very bag, may be my next big purchase. but, it wasn't until last week, when i saw the bag in the flesh, did i truly fall in love. the quality and colors are as rich as the site tells and the texture of the fabric is like butta.

strong like one

a mantra is defined as a religious or mystical syllable or poem. mantras originated in the vedic religion, hindu tradition, buddhism, sikkism & jainism. the focus of the mantra is on the pronunciation and the sound. while the use of mantras varies in the modern world, they are thought to instill concentration in the devotee.

in terms of modern use, personal mantras seem to have nothing to do with traditional religion. are they a good idea, do they calm us down, do they make us focus? or are they all hype, are they simply tattoos waiting in the wings? i tend to over analyze situations, my character, my skills, my situations. someone told me a while ago that i should start meditating & repeat a personal mantra while doing so (ie, chanting). i found that i had little time to meditate, because all my quiet time was spent over thinking the aforementioned items. my thoughts have changed. i think that some of life's situations require mantras, or as i like to call them "slogans." they let you retrack your thoughts, concentrate on the big picture & get you through your little road bumps. i will bring myself back from spiraling over analyzation with a simple three word slogan (thanks for the text).

radical knitting

Althea Merback, Gloves, 2005, Wire-knitted silk, Collection Kentucky Gateway Museum Center

as knitting, crafting and diy in general are making their way out of grandma's house...the projects get more interesting, more difficult, more "radical." the museum of arts & design in new york will have an exhibit called "radical lace & subversive knitting." it will feature 27 international artists, doing all sorts of crazy stuff.

another post on craft:
UPDATE: nytimes article "flair & flash, not frumpiness"

colbert vs o'reilly

first colbert on o'reilly, then o'reilly on colbert. i just can't say anything other than "i think owls are a waste of time."

credible, opposing views

out of control (a term in heavy rotation these days).

condoms & al gore have something in common... not belonging in a classroom. that is according to federal way parent, frosty hardison, whose child was shown al gore's "an inconvenient truth" in their classroom. after an email was sent to the school board, restrictions were made that required a "credible, legitimate opposing view will be presented" alongside the film.

freedom of speech or science? global warming as fact or a controversial mumbo jumbo? the basics of the position taken in the film are backed by the american meteorological society, the american geophysical union, the american association for the advancement of science and the national academy of sciences.

from the seattle p.i., "condoms don't belong in school, and neither does al gore. he's not a schoolteacher," said frosty hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the earth is 14,000 years old. "the information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the dvd."

knitty headscarf for me

i must stop...i have about 10 things i want to craft this weekend, but this headscarf may have won. i was doing my daily visit to craft: and it caught my eye. a simple knitting project that could probably be done during one or two movies (sexy beast & in her shoes, this week). it only takes one skein of yarn, which is always nice for my pocketbook (does anyone use that word anymore?).

the best thing about finding projects on craft: is that is usually means a new diy website. a new website with tons of projects, patterns & ideas to clutter my wishlist of things to do. this particular one led me to knitty. which provides patterns, project reviews, shopping and diy chatting.

skinny

a friend forwarded me an article in the seattle times today titled "rest in peace, pumps; buh-bye, boot-cuts." the article is written by ap member, samantha critchell. the premise of the article states that the two fashion staples flattering all women's body types are now taboo. seriously, pumps & boot-cuts aren't just "not the latest trend" but a faux paux. my heart dropped.

i hate to sound like a girl that would change her entire style because some guy in new york tells her she should. but i do like to feel fashionable & young. i also hate to submit to a trend that is unflattering & that is exactly what skinny & straight leg jeans are on me (i was once told that i am not the type of girl that should wear skinny jeans, although this person insists it has nothing to do with body type...mmm hmm). i ask myself again, "why does the fashion industry design for the 5-9, 110 lb woman?"