my first AutoCAD drawing

i seem to be having a lot of firsts these days..

seeing vicks

is always worth the trip.

all things go

including me! i'm off to sacramento to visit darling vivian, and on my way up i'll probably be listening to this song a lot (thanks sam!).

chicago - sufjan stevens

sufjan stevens kind of snuck up on me.

it's a cold day here

and i was woefully under-dressed for most of it. i just got home, and as i climbed into my warm fluffy bed for a well-deserved nap, this phrase sprang to mind:

"it warms the cockles of my heart"

which led to the inevitable question:

what is a cockle, anyways?

this, it turns out, is a cockle



cock·le
1. Any of various bivalve mollusks of the family Cardiidae, having rounded or heart-shaped shells with radiating ribs.
2. The shell of a cockle.
3. A wrinkle; a pucker.
4. Nautical. A cockleshell.

perhaps they're referring to definition #3: it warms the little folds and creases of one's heart. i'm not sure, exactly.

but i do know this: it's good to be home.

i may have a ten track mind

but there's only one track when it comes to food.

and these days it's set to:

rye toast with blackberry jam and cottage cheese.

yum.

this makes me sick

wal-mart memo

i mean, honestly. i may be a liberal, but i'm in business school for god's sake - i'm no bleeding heart idealist. i understand the pressure that companies are under to turn a profit. i understand cost-benefit analysis. i defend the business world all the time.

i was reading this article earlier today in which wal-mart claims to be "doing good by doing well."

oh yeah, wal-mart? really? is this how it's done?

this kind of blatant hypocrisy makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

i spend so much time and energy working on socially responsible business issues - sometimes i wonder what i'm really hoping to achieve.

i feel so...disillusioned.

oh the irony

of posting this on my blog. but it's an interesting article, nonetheless.
and something i actually worry about, despite (because of) my own virtual tendencies.

and maybe listen to some more hot chip while you're at it.

defeated by technology - hot chip

secret band

i saw nada surf play at the el rey last night. i always think of them as a secret band. they had that one hit song back in the 90's (and no, i didn't request it last night), and then just kind of fell off the radar screen. my radar screen, at least.

and then a couple of years ago i was wading through the many gigs of music that somehow appeared in my computer, and i came across Let Go. lovely music for walking around the city. this song, especially:

blonde on blonde - nada surf

everyone i know who likes nada surf has a similar story.
no hype, just a happy accident.

drawing on a rainy saturday afternoon

is the perfect time to light candles and listen to silly old jazz music.

your feets too big - fats waller

and sometimes you're lucky enough to have a friend who makes the perfect mixes for such an occasion.

i'm still shaking a little bit

on the inside.

wow.

the thing is

sometimes you just want some action.

baby said - hot chip

this morning on my way to get coffee

i stepped onto a freshly painted curb and left little red blots down the street as i walked away.

you might say i've finally 'made my mark' in venice

or or

that i really 'painted the town red' this morning

oh somebody stop me...i'm killing, here

i can never sleep after i hear live music

i saw iron and wine play with calexico tonight.

i want to crawl inside sam beam's beard.

they did a lovely cover of all tomorrow's parties. i do like that song, but i'd have to say my favorite nico/velvet underground songs are the sweet

i'll be your mirror

and

after hours

i'm starting to feel sleepy...

it is raining so hard right now

the rain is dirty and leaving thick grey streaks and spots all over the place.
i wish i didn't have to go out in it.

but i know when it's over the city will be clean and shiny and infectiously optimistic.

it's growing on me, this place. los angeles.


oooo thunder!

thirteen in los angeles

on saturday night i attended a $26,000 thirteenth birthday party. there was an open-bar for the adults, a candy 'bar' for the kids, a tarot card reader, henna tattoos, a dj, professional dancers and an ipod photo station. the kids had hipster haircuts and designer clothes, and the mom's were all but plastic.

julie and i took full advantage of the amenities.


but the thing is, the kids were still thirteen. they scurried around in insecure packs and fled the dance floor at the first chord of a slow song. they flirted awkwardly yet remained half-children.

i try to remember being that age, but it seems so long ago...

anyway, a beautiful song about being thirteen (elliott smith).

grey

finally, the weather begins to cooperate.

i don't usually go for cars

but damn.



in my headphones: konichiwa bitches - robyn

why are my friends so amazing?

i must have done something spectacular in a former life...

it's not raining yet

but it will be soon

kathy's song

i am a rock

happy birthday, paul

bland yet pretty

lixo

pingo

musical detective

i found it!

blame it on on the bossa nova - eydie gorme

and while i was at it, i also came across this little gem...

eso beso - paul anka

paul anka is my aunt's ex-husband's cousin, don't you know.

i made madeleines yesterday

i've always loved madeleines - partly because they are so tasty, and partly because of proust:

The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it; perhaps because of those memories, so long abandoned and put out of mind, nothing now survived, everything was scattered; the shapes of things, including that of the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds, were either obliterated or had been so long dormant as to have lost the power of expansion which would have allowed them to resume their place in my consciousness. But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.

beautiful, isn't it?

pacific avenue between windward and market

what if

the winter solstice never comes? what if the days grow shorter and shorter until we have the last day, the shortest day - a flash of sunlight before darkess? what if the laws of time and space and planetary motion adjusted just enough to let such a thing happen?

perhaps the real question is: why not?

playing around

i love it when photographs take on the quality of abstract art. photoshop helps.

buildings from buses

hoppípola

made me smile last night.

thanks, sigur rós.

hoppípola - sigur rós

arf

i love covers

the kind you can pull over your head and shut the world out with, but also the musical kind. i was tempted to post these songs separately because they're each so fucking amazing. i want to make out with them. or to them. enjoy.

together in electric dreams - lali puna

fade into you - doveman

jolene - the white stripes

camouflage

the common potoo (nyctibius griseus)



he blended so perfectly with the tree - he was like a one of posters you have to stare at and stare at before the real image appears. it took me forever to see him.

hello there, little friend.

just a country girl

these days, the shows i go to mostly consist of sullen indie rockers, posturing about on stage, rarely deigning to address the audience directly. i stand in the back and nod my head in time, craning my neck and shifting my aching feet.

last night, however, was totally different.
last night i saw dolly parton.


she's this tiny bird of a woman on a big big stage with enormous hair, a spangled dress and a voice like spun sugar. she sang songs about her momma, her daddy, and her tennessee mountain home. i had no idea she'd written this song originally, nor this one. she played at least 7 different instruments. she charmed the audience like no one i've ever seen before. and she did it all in five inch heels, with a smile on her face and the sweetest disposition.

let's just say i bought a t-shirt.