Thursday, July 23, 2009
New Beautiful Banner!
I'm so excited to finally have something bright, colorful, and mint&pomegranate-esque at the top of my page! And I have my good friend Daryl to thank for it. Thanks Daryl! Check out his business - he's great.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
There is nothing new under the sun...
except for Facebook, perhaps...or blogging. (Though didn't monks sometimes "blog" by writing in the margins of manuscripts?) But still, it seems like we are destined to re-use the same ideas, the same designs, the same plotlines, the same core stuff again and again.
I used to bemoan the impossibility of coming up with anything truly original, but I've come to terms with it now. You don't have to have the most mind-blowingly unique idea in order to create something magnificent. The cliche "make it your own" is actually very freeing! Creation is already beautiful, so I'd just like to add my twist to it...
I think an entry on what makes a good cartoon should be forthcoming. Some of the most creative viewing experiences out there may be found in visual animations. Especially the bizarre ones.
I used to bemoan the impossibility of coming up with anything truly original, but I've come to terms with it now. You don't have to have the most mind-blowingly unique idea in order to create something magnificent. The cliche "make it your own" is actually very freeing! Creation is already beautiful, so I'd just like to add my twist to it...
I think an entry on what makes a good cartoon should be forthcoming. Some of the most creative viewing experiences out there may be found in visual animations. Especially the bizarre ones.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
You slacker
Installment 1 of my personal let's-try-to-learn-not-to-be-so-materialistic shtick: slacker.com!
What does a free radio website allowing you to create your own personalized radio station have to do with anti-materialism, you might ask?
Well, let's just say I've realized that for me, much of the allure of acquiring random, esoteric, funny, quirky, *insert adjective here* music on my iTunes is so that other people can look at my library and see how random, esoteric, funny, quirky, *insert other adjective here* I am. I devote extra energy and money to acquiring more music so that I can "own" it and show it off. So that I can play it for my friends (subtly, not acting like it's any big deal).
They'll be all like,
"Oh, how eclectic she is. She listens to Amy Winehouse AND Sufjan Stevens AND the Beatles AND Imogen Heap. AND Jim Croce AND India.arie AND Gorillaz AND some random Christian Contemporary bands. And she doesn't even know how eclectic she is. How cool."
With a site like slacker.com, you listen to the music. Period. And it doesn't record how many times you listen to a certain song, and you don't "own" what you listen to (although you can request songs and they play them relatively frequently). In the words of many a tortured artist, "It's all about the music, man."
And hey, I've discovered some really cool music through this site. (You can modify the settings to allow a certain amount of music that you haven't selected yourself to pop up and play.) Romica Puceanu, anybody?
What does a free radio website allowing you to create your own personalized radio station have to do with anti-materialism, you might ask?
Well, let's just say I've realized that for me, much of the allure of acquiring random, esoteric, funny, quirky, *insert adjective here* music on my iTunes is so that other people can look at my library and see how random, esoteric, funny, quirky, *insert other adjective here* I am. I devote extra energy and money to acquiring more music so that I can "own" it and show it off. So that I can play it for my friends (subtly, not acting like it's any big deal).
They'll be all like,
"Oh, how eclectic she is. She listens to Amy Winehouse AND Sufjan Stevens AND the Beatles AND Imogen Heap. AND Jim Croce AND India.arie AND Gorillaz AND some random Christian Contemporary bands. And she doesn't even know how eclectic she is. How cool."
With a site like slacker.com, you listen to the music. Period. And it doesn't record how many times you listen to a certain song, and you don't "own" what you listen to (although you can request songs and they play them relatively frequently). In the words of many a tortured artist, "It's all about the music, man."
And hey, I've discovered some really cool music through this site. (You can modify the settings to allow a certain amount of music that you haven't selected yourself to pop up and play.) Romica Puceanu, anybody?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Knitting humor
So this blog pretty much sums up much of what is wrong in ugly craft pattern books out there. (Pardon the language in said linked blog.) Thankfully there are more and more "cool" knitting books coming out, including some that ACTUALLY are fashionable and not just someone's old-fashioned idea of what is "cool." Like, ones that speak to current trends of frugality, vintage, recycling, etc.
Ah, the knitting culture. I am relatively new to this one, but it's fun to be a small part of it in my own private way.
I have a "knitting mystery" book that I read once. It involves alpacas and an alpaca farm and an alpaca farm farmer who is murdered. And the detective loves to knit (hence her connection with the wool-harvesting alpaca farm farmer) and had a knitting group with her friends, that meets in the knitting / weaving store / studio that happens to be right next to her house - actually, a place which reminds me of that fabulous Pennsylvanian entity, the Mannings. Many of her friends work on patterns that sound not quite my style, to put it mildly. And there's a pattern at the end of the book.
Am I a pattern snob? Probably. Should I have an inflated opinion of my own fashion sense? No, I shouldn't. And heck, I fully admit that I have never designed anything as complicated as a garment. But still I find many designs in the craft world pretty frumpy and unexciting. Which is why fresh developments in the art / design / eco / lifestyle worlds excite me. Particularly ones that inspire creativity without needing to dictate every last detail. Yay.
Ah, the knitting culture. I am relatively new to this one, but it's fun to be a small part of it in my own private way.
I have a "knitting mystery" book that I read once. It involves alpacas and an alpaca farm and an alpaca farm farmer who is murdered. And the detective loves to knit (hence her connection with the wool-harvesting alpaca farm farmer) and had a knitting group with her friends, that meets in the knitting / weaving store / studio that happens to be right next to her house - actually, a place which reminds me of that fabulous Pennsylvanian entity, the Mannings. Many of her friends work on patterns that sound not quite my style, to put it mildly. And there's a pattern at the end of the book.
Am I a pattern snob? Probably. Should I have an inflated opinion of my own fashion sense? No, I shouldn't. And heck, I fully admit that I have never designed anything as complicated as a garment. But still I find many designs in the craft world pretty frumpy and unexciting. Which is why fresh developments in the art / design / eco / lifestyle worlds excite me. Particularly ones that inspire creativity without needing to dictate every last detail. Yay.
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