finally, someone who shares my distaste for lady gaga

i love joanna newsom. her music has always struck me in a peculiar way. but now that i've read this interview, i love her more.

and then i bought her new album, which could be my favorite yet. however, i may be blinded with adoration. it's hard to say.

art is present

i've come across a few posts about marina abramović on jezebel.com and have become rather taken by her most recent exhibit at the museum of modern art in new york. abramović is a performance artist who is performing a retrospective piece entitled, the artist is present. according to one of the posts, abramović invites museum goers to sit across from her at a bare wood table, in silence. the participants determine the length of time; the chair is open to any one who is willing, from the moment the museum opens until it closes its doors at night.

moma has a flickr page that documents each participant and the length of time they stayed. i highly recommend you take a look. each portrait is so compelling, you'll find yourself having a hard time pulling away.

one of the things i find most interesting is the powerful experience some of these participants appear to be having. many of them have been brought to tears over the past 41 days. the variety of expressions on each participants' face make me wonder what the opportunity to sit with abramović would be like.

Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

let's run to the f--king bar and other great things catherine keener says

this is just one of the reasons i love catherine keerner. other reasons include your friends and neighbours, being john malkovich and death to smoochy.

yea. total girly crush.

care for some tea?

i don't really know to much about the history of the neighbourhood i live in. i know our house was built in 1954 and there used to be a creek that ran through where the back alley now resides. i also know this area used to be a cherry orchard, but that's about it.

what i find most curious is that we cannot break ground anywhere on our property without unearthing some little artifact. normally they are small to medium pieces of china, porcelain and other dishware. some are plain white and others come with partial samples of their former beauty and elegance. once in a while we come across other household items, like old chisels or light bulbs.

recently matt had to dig a large hole to replace the old concrete stairs on the side of the house. during this particular excavation he came across some particularly interesting things like an old bucket, a perfume bottle and some old liquor bottles. however, the best parts where this tea cup, which is in near perfect condition and this nail polish bottle. the tea cup has 'made in occupied japan' which is interesting. i have not looked into the relevance of this, so if anyone knows anything, please share.

unearthed tea cup

made in occupied japan

nail polish bottle

oh, you look good

i wanted to reward myself for a recent accomplishment of mine. a dirty habit needed to be broken and i did it. naturally one must purchase something expensive and unnecessary to celebrate.

i came across mod cloth a couple of days prior and fell in love with the relatively cheap vintage inspired threads. i had been looking for a fifty's inspired bathing suit, something with polka dots, low cut legs and a halter neck for some time now. and BAM! mod cloth had it. so i bought it.

in short, i want to buy all my clothes from mod cloth now - for a few reasons. first, i ordered the suit on sunday and it arrived from pittsburg on wednesday, which is a pure miracle considering it's taking other things i've ordered from the states up to four weeks to clear canadian customs. the sizing was right on, i was worried about buying something that i couldn't return, so i measured and remeasured myself and my other one piece bathing suits and low and behold the bugger fits like a glove. lastly, they sent me a very cool pair of earrings for free - when you send me free stuff, i love you forever.

one day, when the weather gets nice, i'll take a picture of my awesome new bathing suit to share with you. until then - don't spend too much money on mod cloth.

lucy

this is lucy, she's my bike. she recently had a makeover - new handlebars and new tape. she used to be famous around halifax for her neon pink handlebars but now she will be famous in vancouver for her neon green handlebars.

i think i should do something about that rust, though. 

the key to my heart

i made a necklace this weekend. i found these wonderful vintage beads in a jar of treasure my grandmother gave me. i'm often inspired by the things i find in there. the origin of the keys are a mystery - my long lost diary, maybe. the bird is from a broken necklace (broken heart).

 treasures, care of oma

neckalce, detail

plastic bags with german accents

this is amazing. it's part of a really interesting series, called futurestates. werner herzog narrates.

bergman vs. burton

ingmar bergman and michael haneke sort of ruined hollywood movies for me but i'm going to see tim burton's alice in wonderland anyway. don't get me wrong, i respect burton. i mean, he made pee-wee's big adventure and beetlejuice. i just find hollywood films over-processed and lacking unique or original stories. everything is so formulaic these days.

i'll let you know how it goes. hopefully i make it out alive.

in the meantime, enjoy this trailer from pee-wee's big adventure. classic.



EDITED TO ADD: i survived the film and it was better than i thought it was going to be, which really isn't saying much.

grotesquely hilarious

i'm currently reading in persuasion nation, a book of short stories by george saunders. and i'm sort of in love.

i first came across saunders listening to the new yorker fiction podcast, which is a monthly podcast where your favorite authors read and discuss works of fiction from the new yorker's archives. you come across amazing things like tobias wolff reading denis johnson's emergency, or jeffrey eugenides reading harold brodkey’s short story spring fugue. it's absolutely, hands down one of the greatest podcasts of all podcasting time. if you ask me.

anyway, joshua ferris does this fantastic reading of saunders' adams, a grotesquely hilarious and accurate emotional analogy of the iraq invasion.  if you have a half hour, you should listen to it. it's engrossing and totally laugh out loud funny.

the stories of in persuasion nation are equally satirical. and if you like vonnegut, i highly recommend saunders. they share some of the best qualities, particularly the ability to balance pure havoc and over the top hilarity.

so, yea. george saunders. remember that name next time you go to the library.