Swann's Solo

It's the freakin' weekend. . .

. . .and that's Marcel Proust playing air guitar on a tennis racket, c. 1892.

via

Whale

The cold weather is messing with my sensibilities.

I feel strangely insular and apt to lose track of time--and myself--in the minutiae of any given task.  Case in point: the above whale on which I spent far too much time, to memorialize a favorite line of "tv poetry," (which sure, isn't a thing, but whatever).

Also, as to my recent discovery of CVS brand peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets? -- Lord, Denise.

Sew Amazin

Alright,  so I'm emerging from my laziness cocoon to post about this lady's blog:

This summer I began watching Mad Men which resulted in me rabidly consuming the entire 4 seasons on Netflix and becoming obsessed.  Of course I fancy myself a Peggy Olson, and it was in searching through image banks Peggy's costumes for Halloween ideas that I found Julia Bobbin's blog.  The quality of the replica clothing she makes is pretty impressive, and they're all made for fun in between working her 9-5 job--inspiring!

Happy Monday!

Here's Jason Schwartzman talking to a puppet:

Le kitty-kat

!

I need these shorts.  

But first I need to:

1. Work it out and tone 'em up.

2.  Get schoolwork under control to facilitate d.i.y-ing them.

Shorts found here

Happy Monday

Here is a baby reciting Billy Collins:

Twitticisms

I'm thinking of getting a twitter solely for the ability to follow this girl's tweets.  (Full girl-crush post to come).

J.J. Isidore Grandville

In the research I'm doing for my bachelor's essay, I came across the early 19th century french caricaturist J.J. Isidore Grandville.  Besides having a bitchin' name, he did amazing illustrations of animals as caricatures of the bourgeoisie figures of his day. Now, I love a good anthropomorphic engraving, and his are some of the most evocative I've every seen:

All images from here

Girl Scout Cookies

So, the other day was a good day:

Girl Scout Cookies were in!  In the pauses between devouring all four boxes, I realized something I had never payed attention to before.  Despite additions to the cookie types, (lemon ginger?,) and re-imagining of their names, ("Samoas"became "Caramel Delights", "Tagalongs" became "Peanut Butter Patties,") one thing hasn't changed as long as I can remember:  

The box photos!  It struck me that the photos haven't been changed since the early-mid 1990s(check out those scrunchy-headbands in the first photo).  This memorialization of my childhood made me happy until I thought of how sad it will feel when they replace the photos.   

Preach Mister!

"I've known many women with this girl's story and what I went through in that transition to adult-hood is thankfully missing that added layer of misery that comes from having to accept what the society at large says is the definition of attractiveness is not something they can attain. For guys, we can entertain notions that we can be funny, bad asses, powerful, rich and musicians to get women.
But what do girls like Lena Dunham tell themselves when it becomes clear that their physical maturity has arrived and they're stuck with their genetics?"                                                                                           
                                                            --Left in response to this which, oddly                                                                                     enough, provoked an interesting discussion on                                                                       women in comedy/the media

But seriously. . .

Her name is "Purrrfect."

OMG

Catching up after a busy week

After a busy/productive week I'm finally finding the time to catch up on posts a little.  I am heading into my spring break which will be spent working on my bachelor's essay and (hopefully) procuring a dress for graduation--whether by making one or finding one to buy.  But to make up for lost time here are some bits and pieces of interest:

These might be the best looking grilled cheese sandwiches ever.

I'm thinking I should work backwards from shoe-choice to dress choice for graduation. Here are contenders  un, deux, and trois(um, if money wasn't an object.)

This just goes to show how hilarious this guy is, and how shockingly eloquent-when-drunk.  And makes me miss Bored to Death :(

I also just saw Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In, which was CRAZY, deeply disturbing, but somehow still beautiful.  I guess I would recommend it?

 


Image of "Dejeuner sur L'herbe" a la mode de Bow Wow Wow courtesy of Meerae via Sarae.  

Best Part of. . .

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World:

Aaaaaaaah! Somebody buy me this, quick!

Wanted:

A striped orange shirt (and a trip to Italy).

from Sart

Until next season. . .

all from here

art in fashion

Rachel in Fur by John Currin

Michael Kors fall/winter 12 via

Venus, avant et après

So, these are via Cup of Jo but I had to repost them.  They were done to show famous depictions of Venus if she were "photoshopped" to fit today's mainstream standards.  Obviously not hating on slender girls--but here's to some booty, am I right?!  Many more here

When promo campaigns deserve awards. . .

There is no reason for these spots for the Grammy's to be as good as they are:

Props to the designers of these things, seriously--like, the Bon Iver should be extended as a music video at least!

from vulture

21st Century Problems. . .

Can't I wear this to graduation?

Oh my

I need one right this minute!  recipe here

Happy Valentine's!

     Valentine's Day has always seemed like a holiday that is more fun to observe without any commitment to participation.  After all, how can any "grown-up" form of the holiday compare to the thrill of those spent in grade school unceremoniously exchanging valentines picked from the many cartoon-character-branded drugstore versions.  These were always carefully chosen weighing popularity of character over the risk of choosing the same one as all of your classmates--only to find the next day that 3/4's of the other girls in your class also selected the Lisa Frank set.  

     Too bad we still don't tape little paper bags decorated with hearts to our desks in class, particularly considering how much more important asserting our pop-culture preferences is to our adult identities.  Just think how effective these would be:

tom, job and tobias from here

more downton here

What did you ever do?

In sweet, sweet Georgia for the weekend. . .

In the meantime--probably the prettiest thing I've ever heard:

"Imagine what it must be like to have beauty literaly(sic) falling from your mouth!"

                                 --maclennan73(youtube commenter, Mountain Man fan, poet)

(Thanks to Jed via Jessica for the rec!)

       All the while you lit your streets for me,

      I cursed the pavement that I walked.


     All the while you loaned your nights to me,
     I was unable to forget. . . .

       picture from here

Just saw the Madonna half-time show. . .

. . .it was weird.  She's too old.  


BUT, how does MIA continue to be so cool?  She has a baby?!  She shouldn't be allowed.  Now I have to go watch this on repeat for the next 6 hours.

Lunch for 25

The best thing about Scott Schumann is how ridiculously far he takes things. . .

This video!!

Awww, William and Daisy!

Dancin

more here

These gifs made with old stereographs* are so intriguing!  What an interesting way that something as weirdly niche and irrelevant as a gif can be coupled with a correlating oddity of media from a century ago. Though they are a little vertigo-inducing to look at. . .

Main corridor, White House. 1859?-1910?

 Bicycle Parade (Safety.), Rochester, N.Y [ca. 1895] [1860?-1900?]

L. A. W., bicycle race, ordinary, the finish. 1865?-1880? 1890

More info for the curious here.  You can even make your own, if you're so inclined!


*double pictures taken simultaneously, a couple inches apart in an effort to replicate the binocularity of human eyes)

cheerio to you!

Applicable to Certain New Years Resolutions:

Let's pretend. . .

. . .that we live in a world when he never lost his baby fat and likeability.  le sigh.

Another year, another failed attempt at any semblance of a reliable routine with this thing!  But what better time to finally update then when I'm sitting in the library and should be working on my ever-looming bachelor's essay?!

Anyway, here's to a new year:  guaranteed to be one of transitions, but hopefully one that will be full of proactivity and growth, or at least the pursuit of many intentions! 

(Camelia Tree, by Michael Kenna)