(source)

oh yes.
if i ever own my own vegan bakery, that will definitely be up on the wall.

currently lusting after

visuals of things i'm dying to have/do/have time to do...



camping! hence the smore-making from a few posts ago. i haven't been in years, haven't been with rick, and have never been here...



so clearly this needs to happen. especially before fall sets in and my dreams of outdoor adventure die along with the summertime.



this one needs no explanation, but i'll give it to you anyway. i'm actually in need of a new phone right now. we justify this purchase by the fact that we travel so much and an iphone is just infinitely more convenient to pull out to look for local resaturants/record stores/bookstores than a laptop.

and tickets to see these dudes


(aka, My Bloody Valentine)

in LA, specifically. when will this tour happen again?! i don't know, and that's why i can't take the chance on missing it. fate is so, so cruel.

ryan adams/oasis @ the wamu theater on tuesday was brilliant in a way. the booking agent that thought of bringing together the two very distinct, vainglorious personalities of liam gallagher and ryan adams deserves some sort of creativity medal for his/her genius. ryan adams was sounding excellent, and the cardinals' harmonies rounded out their set nicely. seeing oasis basically equated to one of my biggest junior high dreams come true. the 11-year-old Dawn inside screamed at the top of her lungs numerous times. i left that show quite content.

saturday = bumbershoot to see lucinda williams, neko case, m.ward, and pwrfl power. i've never seen neko or lucinda, so i am quite stoked. i've also never been to bumbershoot, so hooray for seattle rites of passage! everyone have fun celebrating labor day, particularly those who actually labor during their days.

Pound.

The 2nd best thing to come out of New Zealand...

since Flight of the Conchords, of course.

Behold...



Vegan marshmallow making kits! Genius! Why hasn't someone in the US already gotten on this? Marshmallows, (and thus, sadly, smores) are probably the last food item I have yet to find/make a delicious vegan substitute for. I hear rumors that co-ops/Whole Foods/other natural foods stores carry them, but they're always sold out. At Food Fight! in Portland, they even had a sign specifically letting shoppers know that no, they don't have any vegan marshmallows in. I am so stoked to get this, and have a massive smoresfest.

Rick and I have moved onto watching Freaks & Geeks in the time when he's not editing, and I'm not job-hunting/interviewing. I can't believe I'd never seen this show before, because it is so up my alley. Like a sort of updated Wonder Years, minus the inner dialogue and with sassier characters and even more awkward situations. The writing and actors are truly what seem to make the show work well, and I can't get enough of the painful teenage drama scenes that make me so thankful to be out of high school. Judd Apatow = genius.

some cool, borderline nerdy stuff

Lego Stephen Hawking! I've been yearning for Legos hard lately, but this just takes it to a whole new level.
(kottke.org)



For die-hard Donkey Kong and/or King of King lovers, only.
(whatisblik.com/nintendo)







(20x200.com)

I keep reading about this project everywhere, and it sounds amazing. Artists out of New York put up new pieces every week, one photo and one work on paper. Depending upon the size, you can buy 1 of 200 for $20, (hence the name), medium sized pieces for $200, or larger editions of 2 for $2,000...which I know, no one reading this can probably afford. But still! Anyway, some of the pieces are excellent, and the site seems like a good way to add art to a collection. Hooray for pretty, cheap art!


Today I made waffles for the first time ever, and they were lovely. Banana walnut, topped with blackberries to be exact. Rick's mom got the iron for me for my birthday, and I can't wait to create tons of other crazy concoctions with it in the future. The blackberries came from the Proctor Farmer's Market that we went to bright and early yesterday. 1/2 a flat for $12, quite impressive. We've basically just been eating them by themselves though.

The birthday was chill. No crazy party/dinner this year, which was a nice change up. I got some lovely gifts and spent the day relaxing with Rick. I couldn't have asked for a better way to ring in my mid-20's.

photographer of the day + life updating

I really dig this guy's style, simplicity, and choice of subject matter.

Jon Huck - breakfast

I'm down with breakfast.
I swear I read an article about this exact same photo set in the NY Times, but maybe I'm making it up. I was surprised by the facts that a) there's a lot less cereal than I anticipated, b) SO MUCH TOAST/ENGLISH MUFFINS, c) lots of coffee-only people. But I guess the last one wasn't as surprising.

Worth taking a gander at I think.

Also, Rick has helped me start my creative writing pursuits up again. He's probably one of the best teachers I've ever had, and he puts up with my bs excuses better that anyone! I'm 7 pages into a short story I came up with a few days ago. I'm stoked. Only good can come from this. Grad school portfolio completion, here I come.

The movie shooting has been going really well. I think as of yesterday it's more than 60% completed. Kind of mindblowing when you really mull it over. I had my cameo, and it wasn't nearly as tough seeing myself on film as I'd anticipated. I'm getting better at this, but I suppose that comes with the territory of dating a boy who's good with the camera.

Also, we're going to do a vegan cooking show to be posted on Youtube. This is kind of a ridiculous venture, but well worth the effort. I think the hardest part is going to be coming up with unique recipes that I haven't stolen from every first-class vegan cookbook out there. We'll see, but I'm pretty sure the first recipe will be my famous tofu scramble with spicy potatoes. Om nom noms.

A quick trip to Mecca...

Going to Portland for a time. I wanted vegan donuts and Portland sounded infinitely more appealing than Seattle at the moment. It was really that easy.

TTYL, Tacoma.

(Arguably) The best line to come out of Rick's movie:

"You read books, you don't fuck 'em.

...Unless, that's your thing."

on the subject of marriage...much ranting ahoy

I got news yesterday that one of my best friends from college is engaged. I can't say that I'm that surprised, (she's that kind of girl who grew up on and saw no problem with Disney movies and who's been waiting to be swept off her feet; also, read: is still Catholic), but Jesus, it astounds me how fast people my age are willing to jump into this. I mean, it is the 20-26 year old thing to do, and if both people are in the place to make such a move, then I don't think there's a problem with it. But some of the time, [and as is the case for 2 of my 3 friends who recently got engaged] one of the two does not have a stable source of income...not to mention, may not be emotionally ready for that kind of commitment. Moreover and more specifically to the aforementioned friend, the guy fucked up kind of royally not two months ago, and she's writing it off because a) he put a ring on her finger and b) they decided to go to couples' therapy. I think therapy could've come in handy for both separately before the whole engagement conversation ensued!

Like many of my Generation-Y (Bother?) counterparts, I'm a product of divorce. Thus, I feel inclined to try and stop my friends from being victims of it before it happens. Especially before kids get involved...kids could be an entire entry unto themselves. I told my friend that I was happy for her, because I couldn't really say "Stop! He's going to hurt you again, but this time you'll be married! Can you support yourself if things go awry?" Etc.,etc. I would say the same things to a male friend if his girlfriend was doing him wrong, because men are definitely not the only ones that fuck up. It just irks me that people at this age feel that marriage is what you have to do - that there's some sort of clock [especially for women] ticking that indicates your time for this experience may be up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely anti-marriage. I'm just anti-marriage when the couple in question has things to sort through, and/or are getting married under the wrong circumstances. If trust, communication or the tangible things necessary to enable marriage aren't there, I feel like it's a bomb waiting to go off. I see how some may argue that you just have to trust that things will work out and be open to the possibility, like anything else. But if you could prevent alimony/child support, years of heartache, and a broken spirit, from occurring wouldn't you? Shrug. Then again, I'm not completely anti-divorce in some circumstances either. Sometimes it's best for both parties, and oftentimes people change while being married.

I love the dress, the ceremony, the cake and unique locales that accompany weddings like any other lady. I love seeing really happy people who are ready to get married do it. But I'm also akin to the fact that marriage isn't the only option, and that commitment should matter more than anything else.

/rant

In other news, life is grand. No more bookstore, and I love this weather. Baseball, anyone?

so, it's now june. this shit's been neglected.

i so badly want to talk about the sex and the city movie, but i feel like i can't write anything about it without mentioning the whole boom mic debacle that apparently went on in it, which i, of course, had not noticed. gah. i could save a full review for later, but suffice it to say, the film was enjoyable. too much product advertisement [obviously], a bit too much lame humor, and a terrible soundtrack aside, it was definitely worth seeing for the hardcore fan. i think i NEED to see it again though, just to see if i'm straight-up blind, or if some people are exaggerating and/or wrong?

other pertinent news: i quit my job yesterday! the one i was so enthusiastic about in the beginning, the in the "realm of books" one. yeah. i'm done.
it's not that the place itself was terrible. it's more of what i did, or what i didn't get to do, and some of the people i worked with that killed it for me. i thought about it long, and hard, probably for a good month. but i knew after the first week there i didn't want to be there for long. i just realized that it wasn't a place i'd want to be, even if they gave me a better position. i want to be writing the books, not selling them. so i gave my notice, and breathed a sigh of relief.

this undoubtedly means that i'm back on the unemployed train, but i'm not too worried right now. i'm going to be production assistant-ing it on the boy's feature length film for june/july, and also applied to be a freelance writer for a local weekly. i really pray that works out, because if it does, it's hopefully my ticket into the freelance arena. and i'd really like to see my name in print again.

all kinds of change occurring. just the way i like it.