elephantine

Happy Carving

Mixtape no. 1

Putting together a mixtape has been something I've wanted to do for a while and haven't seen much of on blogs and such. Sooo, here's my first go at it (and a visual snippet of album covers, above). The songs are linked to their slot in the iTunes store if you don't have them already, or want to listen to that teasingly short preview clip. The exception is also my favorite song of the bunch, #4 (if you don't know about Radiohead's new album yet, read about it here).

Please, feedback is welcome!

1. Black Mirror - Arcade Fire
2. Last Living Souls - Gorillaz
3. Teardrop - Massive Attack
4. Nude - Radiohead *
5. Napalm Love - Air
6. Needle in the Hay - Elliot Smith
7. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 2 - The Flaming Lips
8. The Outer Banks - The Album Leaf
9. Dayvan Cowboy - Boards of Canada
10. No I in Threesome - Interpol

*you'll have to download this from Radiohead's site.

They're coming around the bend...

Camilla Engman's 2008 Calendar is, as of about ten minutes ago,the top contender of the unofficial calendar competition for my desk at work. There is something both somber and endearing about her art, and the color palette is gorgeous.

Things that go squiggle in the night

In a sort of analog, non-refereed Layer Tennis match, Jayne and I have been passing back and forth a Moleskine and filling it with mostly nonsensical doodles & drawings. We'll fill a page a third or half-way, maybe put in empty dialog bubbles or leave frames blank in invented comic strips. It's cool and quirky, and who knows how long it will take to finish or what will happen to it then. This could be a good excuse to invest in some wonderful handmade journals I've been finding on Etsy...

Such a tart

A couple weeks ago when I was visiting my parent's house, we picked a few grocery bags' worth of apples from the trees in our yard. Despite it just beginning to rain, I remembered the summers ago when I'd be hunting for cherries in the lawn after my dad had shaken them from the trees. We also have pear trees, blackberry bushes, and one semi-unreliable blueberry bush. There used to be other types, too, but the deer came by and had their way.

Anyway, many of the apples are smaller than my fist and are decorated with little brown spots, but they have that perfect quality between crisp and soft, just sweet enough. Via Tastespotting, I found this recipe for easy fruit tarts. They were, as it claims, really easy to make. Mmm, good. The apricot-lemon glaze makes me love it even more. These seem like the perfect thing to serve to company, and I can't wait to try it with other fruits.

Made

I've always wanted to wrap presents with butcher paper and twine, the way it's done in foreign films with the little kid tucking it under his jacket on the run home or the enigmatic delivery on the front step. Came a little close a couple days ago with brown, faintly striped giftwrap and chocolate-colored ribbon from Target. (Inside were tickets to see David Sedaris, part one of four for Stefan's birthday gifts.) The good thing about using fabric ribbon is that I can reuse it for some other little thing, or at the very least tie it around a doorknob. I made a small felt pouch that has no obvious use and sewed a strip of ribbon for kicks, but the project was pretty crappy as a whole so I didn't want to photograph it.

And, ahem, I'm super excited about my first plushie. I have to give credit to My Paper Crane for inspiration, not to mention tutorial photo sets on Flickr. He doesn't have a name, but I'd imagine it would have at least one "o". I also don't know how he would get anything done with those stubby little arms...

Lookbook no. 1

I wish that dresses were the jeans of my wardrobe. I already have flats galore, so that excuse won't fly -- plus there's Runway Monday at work. I'm loving the green of the Fluet dress from Sway & Cake (and I don't think I have a single piece of green clothing) and, on the flip, the black & white ensemble in the shot from The Sartorialist.