D is for DESTRUCTION

I showed this to my class today and they lost their marbles.
They chanted along with each letter.

Can you guess which letter was their favorite?

The Alphabet 2 from n9ve on Vimeo.

SEDUCTION

Ok guys, I buckled.

I tried to take a vow of plastic celibacy, but last night these shoes 

were chillin near the googly eyes 

and they used their combined seductive powers to entice me to make these:

They're SO RAD!!!

Especially when you have them all together, the TRIFORCE power of hat/shades/sneaks:

My mind is boggled and torn. I absolutely LOVE the whole creative process of making stuff like this. Actually, scratch that, more than love: I GET OFF ON the whole creative process. How do I continue this path without supporting industries that harm our Earth? Like, I'm not trying to be an a$$hole and shove these issues in everyone's face, but it is something that we need to think about and make efforts to change. And since I've always been an advocate of ethical consumption and living self-sufficiently it would make absolutely no sense for me to construct my business without considering the impact it would have in ripple-effect. 

As I continue to battle this problem, I will keep on with my other projects and hopefully find a way to consolidate these seemingly opposing matters.

This video completely encapsulates my perspective. 

(I'm very wordy today, aren't I?  Must be lack of sleep.)

Back to the Start - ad for Mexican food chain Chipotle (food with integrity)

"Questions of science, science and progress 

don't speak as loud as my heart"

Like Leaves and Pages...

 Books suspended above an entrance to the Istanbul modern art museum by Hanif Shoaei via thisiscolossal.com

The Joy Of Books

"Books are a hard-bound drug with no danger of an overdose. I am the happy victim of books."  

 - Karl Lagerfeld -

Anagram Bookshop in Prague (now closed) - promotional images from Kaspen

The writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads...

- Dr. Seuss -

Beautiful photographs by Cara Barer

I love library porn even more than I love cabin porn.

I found Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal through 

Bookstore Guide - An amateur guide to bookshopping throughout Europe.

Ok, you NEED to click this link and see the library in 360' which is just the coolest thing EVER! Scroll down a bit and use the cursor to look around.

And this is Ireland's Trinity College Library:

Lucille Moroni's book sculptures

Exploded Books by Betsy Jayne

I'd like to thank Scott for sending this to me: 

It started suddenly. Without warning.

Last spring, Julie Johnstone, a librarian at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, was wandering through a reading room when she saw, sitting alone on a random table, a little tree.  It was made of twisted paper and was mounted on a book.

It looked like this was a one-off, a beautiful and delicate piece of art created by a fan of the Poetry Library. Until, in late June, the National Library of Scotland found themselves the recipient of a similar piece.

Read the INCREDIBLE whole story HERE. The artist remains unknown.

Using old books, Su Blackwell creates beautiful landscapes.

And this photograph is by Angélica Vis.

Read more about amazing art HERE at thisiscolossal.com which has become my FAVORITE website and I can't stop exploring it. It is IMMENSELY inspirational.

Baby I Like It Raw

"ODB gives less fucks than Honey Badger" - LOL!!

ODB - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Massive Goal Shift

 
I bought clear-lens nerd glasses at the night market.

Then I bought a glue gun. 

And a pair of purple shutter shades.

Gess loves unicorns, so I made her unicorn sunglasses. 

And I made googly eye glasses for me:

Then I "google-i-fied" this hat and I bought black patent sneaks for future
"google-i-fi-cation":

I bought pink plush shoes with a teddy bear head on them at the night market,
(a Jeremy Scott inspired design, click here to see the originals)
and I painted a cap pink:

I got my trusty glue gun and away I went!

BAM!!!

 Here's the part about the Massive Goal Shift:

     I came to Taiwan with many goals. Starting my own small clothing label was one of them. Prior to leaving I photo-documented my scrapbooks and journals, carrying my many ideas across the sea. And when I started making all of these prototypes I was having a blasty-blast. I was drawing and designing and planning and getting everything ready for lift-off.

     I love creating things and I get HIGH when I’m making stuff. I love freaking out on inspiration in a craft store or a thrift store or a night market. Then I put on some tunes or a documentary and go, and I end up with some crazy $hit. And then planning the photoshoot for the thing? MAN. I love it. Any creative person who has worked with me before knows how I get when I’m in this mode. My brain just blooms.

     As soon as the ball was rolling on this clothing project a thought slowly embedded itself into me. It wasn’t a new thought, but it reemerged from my subconscious and caused me to reevaluate my plan. Through the manufacture of these products, as cool and limitless the ideas are, and as much appeal as they would have, I would be supporting the manufacture of materials that harm our Earth and I would be turning a blind eye to the environmental problems that humanity is facing today. And it sucks. I wish that it didn’t have to be this way, and I wish that plastics weren't so harmful, and I wish that all fabrics and dyes came from ethical sources. But I can’t ignore it.

     I found that my move to Taiwan pulled me far away from the “materialistic desperation” that surrounded me in Toronto, and I’ve been able to thrive as opposed to survive. I’ve slowly reconnected to every dream I had when I was younger because I now see viable ways of making these dreams REAL. My bucket list keeps getting check marks on it, and so many of these little buckets are getting done, one by one. But I am aiming for the big bucket. That big glorious dream and I have a plan and a way. I just had to shift my focus.

     My scrapbooks and journals are filled with a multitude of other things, so I’m going for them. We talked about leading by example, and living in a way that inspires others to do the same, so I’ve geared up and restructured my plan. Same big bucket, new way to get there.

Happy Birthday - *one box of tissue down*

   Today would have been my Opa's birthday. Back in Canada my family is at Swiss Chalet celebrating his memory and eating delicious french fries with that amazing spicy gravy they have. I miss Swiss Chalet, and I miss my family, and I miss my Opa. 

   His picture is the only one I have up in my bare apartment, right in the middle of my living room wall. My Mom hid it in my luggage and I found it when I was unpacking last August. Today I re-read some of my previous posts about him, and I still can't listen to "You Are My Sunshine" without crying.. That song is really sacred when it comes to him. We'd sing it together and I'd do the harmony. It doesn't help that the lyrics are about loss.

   I thank him for so many things; Snow forts in the winter, and showing me how to garden, teaching me to skate and boat and clean a fish, playing hide and go seek with me, driving me to piano/girl guides/swimming/art lessons, roasting marshmallows on rainy days in the fireplace...

Those are blessed childhood memories. I am so fortunate and so lucky to have had him there with me when I was growing up. I was the first grand-child born so I got to spend a lot of time with him one-on-one.

    I have simple and wonderful memories of his maroon flannel shirts, his safari gardening hat, his love of old cowboy songs, and how he wrote down "Dragon" as a Christmas word for Christmas bingo (a tradition carried on every Christmas now).

   He was an exceptional person and has truly set the bar so high for all of my social relationships. 

Maybe this is why I expect so much from myself and from the people around me...

   By simply being an example, he showed me how to be a good listener, and a patient friend. By being a good husband he showed me how two people can work together with loyalty and honesty, and make a great relationship happen. He showed me how to be generous; in spirit, in heart, and in help. He was a calm and simple man who loved fully, and I thank him for teaching me to love. I endeavor to follow in his spirit in what ever I do; in my work, in my friendships, in my goals, in everything.

   I don't know what happens after you die. Maybe we just unravel into the collective energy and flow atomically into everything. But I would like to think that an element of our consciousness still remains, and that a thread of his is with me always.

In your memory, Happy Birthday Opa. 

Here are some songs that you loved:

Connie Francis - Tennessee Waltz 

Woody Guthrie - Red River Valley

Jimmy Wakely & the Sunshine Girls - You Are My Sunshine

Make A Wish

Tonight Anet and I watched Juno, which left us feeling bouncy and positive

as opposed to last night's movie, Black Swan, which left me feeling

distressed and itchy and lesbionic.

When I heard this song

"Tree Hugger" - Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants

I was inspired to draw this (lyrics below)

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree,"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree,
The cat wished that it was a bee,
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky,
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea.

And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.
And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert.
And the desert,
So dry and lonely,
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort.

Et le jackalope a dit
"Je voudrais Étre un yÈti
Pour voler dans la nuit
Et m'en aller loin d'ici"
Mais le yÈti a dit
"Je voudrais Étre un monstre marin
Pour pouvoir rentrer dans la mer
De tous les requins."

And the rattlesnake said,
"I wish I had hands so
I could hug you like a man."
And then the cactus said,
"Don't you understand,
My skin is covered with sharp spikes
That'll stab you like a thousand knives.
A hug would be nice,
But hug my flower with your eyes."

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree,"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree,
The cat wished that it was a bee,
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky,
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea.

And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.
And in the sea there is a fish,
A fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it.

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert.
And the desert,
So dry and lonely,
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort.

A Self-Sufficient Life...

In a cabin in the woods...

Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" (Das Kapital Rerub)

I love lots of green growing on a roof...

 

Essential to happiness: canoeing on a lake...

In a cabin in a wood,
A little man by the window stood
Saw a rabbit hopping by, knocking at his door.
"Help me! Help me!" the rabbit said,
"Or the hunters will shoot me dead!"
"Come Little Rabbit, come inside.
Safely you'll abide."

Living a self-sufficient life...
information about living off the grid

A ski access only cabin in Colorado

 

 Free Cabin Porn