Raspnanabran

Thanks, rain day.

Instead of slopping around in giant piles of triple-mix and getting sand granules in my ear, this morning I made these:

Me too, Montreal…

meeeeee too: 

 

La dernière photo que j’ai prise tandis que j’étais à Montréal

rhodon’t

i got attacked by one of these puppies today:

rhododendron

 

and by attacked, i mean i fell into it, and its branch scratched my arm open.

thanks rhodo.  you may be the most amazing coniferous tree ever, but you make an ugly fighting partner.

hey pool boy…

I mean…. Garden Girl, you got a little something there…

 

bringin sexy back

 

 

yyyyyup.

your morning awkwardness

The lovely lady at Xe Dapsicle inspired me to continue with the theme of Winnie the Pooh.

This inspiration brings you this gem from Awkward Family Photos:

wow.

 

Another favourite:

brave choice

documentarian art

Came across a really cool project that really sparked my interest.  It reminds me of a project I read about recently where a young man decided to take a picture of himself every day? week? for the rest of his life.  I think it’s called one day at a time or something.  Too lazy to look it up. . . yet.

Anyway. Also too lazy to describe this project called Exactitudes, so I am plunking the description from the website. Check it out!

Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 14 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.

Wim van Sinderen, Senior Curator Museum of Photography, The Hague

 

Some of my favourites:

I also particularly enjoy the game boys, think it’s hilarious that so many of the skaters wear Tommy, am slightly embarassed that how I used to dress in grade five is labelled as preppy, don’t particularly understand the title for these adorable children, and adore the title for these adorable young men.

OH, and I should probably mention that I most definitely have a crush on the majority of these handsome fellas, and these cuties too! AND these early birds!

Little Bites III

You may have explored littlebites I and littlebites II

but now it’s time for the third edition of what can waste my time AND yours for the low low price of… um.. no price.  Just click if you’re interested.  Oh man. That was anti-climactic.

• Bejewled – I am officially an addict.  I saw this on the sidebar somewhere and I had flashbacks from first year university.  Sitting at my non-ergonomic desk, in my old wooden chair with the decades-old scratchy fabric on it.  My roomie and I sitting there playing games while our overdue papers sat waiting for some attention from us.
• Fruit Leather – This site doesn’t take much time to read.  It’s not that exciting. But it DOES give some kickass instructions on how to make pocket fruit.  Considering how much fruit-to-go and other bars are, and considering how GROSS fruit-roll-ups are, this is a GREAT time-consuming task that I intend to complete in the next couple of weeks. 
• I Love You (x100) – At the risk of being a total corn-star, I have listed this one because it made me smile.  I hope that people use it not only for their romantic partners,  but also for their family members and friends.  It’s a great little list of things that you can do to show you care.
• How to Enjoy Paris for Free – All I can say is that this makes my desire to travel go through the roof (the sky?) Who knows. I like it. It gets my imaginatory juices flowing.
• The Arrow of Time -  This is a really neat idea.  I had some friends when I was younger whose parents had a picture of each of them and their two brothers on the fridge EVERY year from kindergarten to the present.  It was like seeing a little flash book of their lives.   My mom does the same thing around Christmas, when she puts up all my Santa Claus pictures.  It’s crazy to see.

Annnnnd to end: A beautiful photo by Lydia MacIntosh:

FAcK. that link didn’t work for the photo. and i’m done with this for the day. i’ll update later with one of her lovely photos. but you can just go to her site.

Actual intentions

Yesterday I posted a list of resolutions that are used by almost everyone.  It’s almost as though it’s a mantra that many people chant to themselves for the first two weeks of January.

I do actually have some intended goals/resolutions/plans that I want to put up here to keep myself somewhat accountable.

• Be less accessible on the phone - I’m slightly terrified at the expectation that if I get a telephone call, I must return it as soon as I get it.   Or worse; that I must answer it regardless of what I’m doing.  I’m going to take a lesson from my manfriend and leave the phone at home a bit more.  Turn it off when I’m sleeping.  Ignore it if I’m in the middle of a conversation with someone.
• Blog a bit more about real life – I like all the links I post, and the fabulous little finds that I put up on this blog, but somehow, I think I’m copping out and not getting in as much writing as I would like.  I would like this blog to take a turn for more the more personal.
• Be less attached to the computer – now this is a bit of an overstatement. It kind of relates to my first goal of being less accessible. I don’t neccessarily want to be ON the computer less, just less obsessed with checking virtual modes of communication.  I would like to ease up on the gmail, the facebook, the hotmail, etc.
• Go for more walks – around my city, around other cities, around my neighbourhood, around and around and around.  Just more.  I love it, so I don’t know why I don’t do it more.
• Take more photos – this part of my life has slowed down significantly, and I want to change that.
• Make more soup – I used to be kind of compulsive about making a soup every week. Now I can’t remember the last time I made some.  It’s the greatest way for me to do the next one:
• Save MONEY – ok. This one is predictable, but is neccessary.  But I guess this one needs description too. I don’t want to be frugal.  I don’t want to be a penny pincher.  But I don’t want to WASTE my money on stuff I don’t need… ESPECIALLY food on-the-go.  I want to make better money decisions so that I can go on more trips, do more tourism in my own city and others, take more classes, etc. 
• Spend more time with my mom – this is something that many people always say they wished they had done.  I lost both a Nana and a sort of Grandmother-in-law this year.  Both of their daughters were devestated.  I saw a bit of a sense of guilt in my own mom around the intentions to spend more quality time with her mom.  I don’t want to have that guilt.  Quality time, here we come!
• Read more hardcopy pages – I’m a recent university graduate and have become totally lax on the reading front.  I just don’t really do it anymore.  I had to renew a book from the public library that should have taken me less than 2 weeks to read.  I’m on my 5th week.  That’s a little sad.
• Get out of my bubble – in every sense of the saying.  This will be more explored in the weeks and months to come.

Okay 2009.  I don’t know if you’re going to be a happy one, an exciting one, or whatever.  But you’re going to be a tad more productive, and I’m going to attack you like a panda does eucalyptus… only because that’s pretty damn cute, and I wanted to end on a note that didn’t make me depressed.

Little Bites Two

I started this thing last tuesday to start keeping track of the websites I’m randomly stumbling across.

Issue two, coming right up:

When I was informed that someone clicked on thepicture in one of my former posts, I decided to look through their site again.  I found the first of this week’s little bites:

Noah Kalina - Apparently some sort of youtube cult star.  I have no idea. But I like his work.  I especially fell in love with this shot. And I’ve always wanted someone to take a picture of me like this.  There is just something incredibly alluring about the anonymity, despite the fact that it is an incredibly respectable nude shot.  I love the lighting and the framing and the general sense of ethereal-ness. (word?)

Uke Hunt – Oh my. What a find. My righteous dude stumbled across this video, of Will Smith singing Men In Black with Stefan Raab playing the Ukelele. I loved it. It made me smile on the inside. It made me feel nostalgic of Fresh Prince Days… and it was all-in-all, a great find.  So I looked up on the google, and came across this website.  Cute. 

Other Words for Said - Ever been caught in a conversation that goes something like this? :

Other person: ‘omigod you won’t believe what happend with me and my EX-best friend yesterday’

You: ‘oh yeah? tell me about it!’

Other Person: ‘Well she told me that ____ and I was like ‘_______,’ ‘and then she said ___, and then I said

_____, and then she said _______, and then I was like __________, then she was like _______’?

It sucks.  This website may help.

Little Bites worth looking at

I’ve started to explore the internet a bit more since my main squeeze introduced me to stumbleupon.

I figure that if anyone is reading me, they should know the sites that I have fallen in love with.

I guess this will be a sort of weekly blogroll that I will update throughout the week.

Red Nose Studio – UNBELIEVABLE talent in carving and puppetry and photography.  Truly stunning work.

One Word - What a great idea to get your mind in the mood for more writing. I visit it at least once a week. Sometimes I get anxious and check it too early and end up submitting two entries for one day.

Wesley Burt’s Drawing Samples - These came up randomly in my clicking in the morning and I’m SO happy. It’s refreshing to see real sketching done with pencils or charcoal or other mediums that actually show the brush strokes of the artist. It’s as though you get to experience and understand their proccess a little more.  Really great work.

Jerusalem by Matisyahu – I can’t get a link to work to any youtube videos, but this song is worth looking up. It made me very happy.

< baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahah. ok. i put in some links to beautiful art. this is just plain internet stupidity. i like it and i’m not afraid to admit it.