The Restless Bum

Okay, I haven't been anywhere except New York in over a year. I'm getting The Restless Bum.


It feels like this:

 

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When it looks at pictures like this:

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It gets turned on by this: 

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And it is wearing these pants:

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I really gotta get out of here.

Missing Summer

I miss summer so much that I have been going through the pages of Vogues and staring crazily at the pictures involving the ocean. And bathing suits. And short skirts.

I have been listening to Yellowcard, and MIKA, and other rock-ish kinds of stuff that reminds me of summer vacation. I'm listening to 3 Doors Down, for crying out loud. I don't even know where I got 3 Doors Down. (Katy, if you are reading this, I need new music. Anything MIKA--I'll tell you what I already have. And if anyone else feels like exchanging mix cds, I would be down. Ahh, mix cds! Another thing that reminds me of summer!!! Or maybe just high school..)

 Soo here are some pictures that make summer feel a bit closer when I look at them...

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Source: Because of this blog, ladders are my new favorite things.

Source: Pretty sundresses from Dolce and Gabbana spring 2012 collection.

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Source: Santorini Blog. Only the most beautiful place on Earth.

Same source as above.

So if you, like me, are sick of wearing the same warm pair of blue jeans all the time, leggings under your pants, and nothing with flowers on it, I feel your pain. And I hope we can all find some summery things to pull us through these crazy months.

Watercolor inspiration

I've been thinking about doing watercolors again. I did a ton of them when I worked on my fairy book for Mixed Media, but since then I've pretty exclusively used oils. (Although some of those have been really watery, so maybe it halfway counts.)

So here are some inspirational watercolors, to get me excited about maybe painting again.

 

Source: artist's website

I love making my own cards. I've never seen this technique before, with the watercolor and then the metallic cutouts over it. They must use a special stamp and emboss, or maybe it's metallic paper glued on top? Very crafty. If I could figure out the technique, it would be sooo easy to make variations.

Source: someone's blog

Source: Design M.AG. Some really awesome watercolors here.

Source: Keith Williams' Behance
This is probably my favorite from this post.

If you've never heard of Behance, it's an artists' network where you can post your work, and I think you can also buy artists' work. I have an account, but it's really a fan account so that I can check out art I love. This is my favorite artist on Behance: Sveta Dorosheva. I love his/her (foreign name..? Boy for now.) art so much that his profile is on my bookmarks bar. Here's one of his paintings, which I think is ink and watercolor, although I honestly can't figure out which materials this person uses...

Sveta Dorosheva book illustrations

Source: Stina Persson's Watercolor Portfolio

This one has to be partly digital. But even besides that fact, how can someone have this much control when painting with watercolors?? And get colors this bright? Maybe it's a different medium. Like gouache. Which I've never used, but it sounds really fun. Just the word gouache. Right?

Funny Food

Every now and then, when I am in the kitchen or at the market with my mom, or just moving through life, I come across some funny food. There are no rules. It could be a coincidence that the food item looks the way it does. Or it could be that an opportunity for a comic edible arrangement has presented itself, and I am not to be denied in this situation.

I know there are a few famous carrot pictures floating around out there. I may not have anything quite that groundbreaking (hahaha groundbreaking...carrots are roots...get it?), but I humbly submit my own findings for your viewing pleasure.

Sometimes when my mom makes hard-boiled eggs, she drops just one of them into the pot a little less delicately than the others...hence Spermy Egg.

No caption necessary.

This is just an arrangement I did at a dining hall in Binghamton one day. Dr. Pepper's weird older brother--Green Pepper. (With a 'stache.)

This is from when I worked at Thanks a Latte (RIP). I came out into the parking lot one day (clearly in the middle of winter) and this cupless frozen soda was too perfectly soda-shaped to pass.

Okay, like the green pepper face, Hummus Yoda is man-made. Note the chip mouth.

This zucchini looks like a bird who's embarrassed about something...I'm naming him Bashful Bill.

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh Butt-shroom! Yeah, I just pulled out the Batman theme for this.

Eggbert.

These are from this Thanksgiving. My mom made Soup in a Pumpkin--an amazing, delicious recipe--and it turned out that the squash was the same size as the turkey. Awesome. And delicious.

 

And, last but not least, introducing the food item that started me off on funky food photography....


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This is my good old friend, The Happy Tomato. This picture is from 2008? 2009? Either way, this is the veggie that got me going, and to it (him), I will always be grateful.

To Do

1: Stop feeling sorry for myself about being too poor to fly off to Italy right this minute. 5 months is not that long from now. I CAN TAKE IT. Gahh I just want to walk around Venice so bad...

2: Find someone to go to Italy with me in 5 months. If you, or anyone you know who is a decent person (i.e. not shrill-voiced, good personal hygiene, wants to go to museums and pretty places, carries no weaponry, preferably female) is interested in going to Italy sometime in May and staying...I don't know, for the summer? Indefinitely? Please get in touch with me. I'm not kidding.

3: Clean the apartment. At least it's not as beige when it's buried under laundry and dishes.

4: Play Super Mario World. Playing this game makes me feel better about life. All my problems become turtles that need crushing and angry-looking hampsters that can be obliterated by turning a midair somersault and stomping on them.

5: Do the dishes. Wahh.

On Hugh Grant's Walk

So I'm watching CNN. Hugh Grant is about to testify against some tabloid that hacked his phone (I think. I'm a bit foggy on the details) and they keep throwing in footage of him walking down the street with some other men. Now, I really like Hugh Grant movies. Even the fairly one-sided ones, like Two Week's Notice. And when you like Hugh Grant movies, you are going to see him walk someplace. And probably look sad. And kiss somebody. You know, all those token images from  romantic comedies that dear Hugh makes so... British.

So it was just funny to turn on CNN and there's Hugh Grant, walking like he's on his way to a wedding and happen to run into the woman of his dreams. Except this isn't the plot of Four Weddings and a Funeral - it's real life.

In Mean Girls, Janis, played by Lizzy Caplan, says that seeing teachers outside of school is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. Well, seeing Hugh Grant on a news report is like seeing Hugh Grant in a movie. (Take THAT comparison, Tina Fey.) Just heading to a trial to testify against some online tabloid, lookin like a sweet English puppy dog, as per yooge. (There isn't really a good way to spell out the first syllable of "usual." Fyi.)

And he actually walks like that! 

Disclaimer: I am aware that Hugh Grant does not just have one way of walking. His going-to-a-wedding walk is totally different from his I-just-lost-the-woman-of-my-dreams-and-little-do-I-know-that-I'm-going-to-get-her-back walk. Which is also clearly distinguishable from his I'm-on-top-of-the-world-and-there's-nothing-missing-from-my-life-because-I-haven't-met-the-woman-of-my-dreams-yet-even-though-I-will-in-five-minutes walk. AND the I-have-to-get-back-the-woman-of-my-dreams run.

Mushrooms

A whole bunch of mushrooms have shown up in the backyard...so here are some pictures of them.

 They're in a couple different places around the house, which I think is awesome. Obviously, they remind me of excellent pieces of children's literature like Thumbelina and Alice in Wonderland.

Also, I think that the funny shape of mushrooms somehow enables them to spread joy. I'm not just talking about hallucinogenic joy. I mean, anybody who grew up watching Fantasia sees mushrooms and thinks of happy childhood times, tiny dancing Asians, and the Nutcracker ballet. Or even if you didn't grow up with Fantasia and you just think they're cute. Like how acorns are cute because they're wearing little hats.

On another note, I am up to 13 pages on what will hopefully become my first book someday. Yesterday I just sat here at my desk for a few hours, drank a whole mug of tea (an impressive feat for me; I rarely finish hot drinks. Or soda.), and wrote. Something I am hoping to develop into a habit. Unlike fungus photography.

Please enjoy my funny mushrooms.