Just Finished: Lydia Davis

I read a LOT.  I was even voted Super Reader in 3rd grade (I cried because I was hoping for Best Dressed).  I often get requests for good recommendations, so I'm going to start writing little blurbs about books after I finish them.  Here's the most recent:

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis

Davis compiles heaps of short stories in this 700 page behemoth - but the best thing about a book of short stories is how easily you can skip around.  My favorite section was "Break it Down;" her stories written in 1986.  Davis has an uncanny way of describing exactly how she feels in certain situations without mentioning actual emotions.  Love, lust, shame, hatred, and embarrassment are all subtly relayed through the character's thoughts and actions and the reader is left to freely interpret them.  Although very different from the rest of her short stories, this is one of my favorite passages:

Head, Heart
Heart weeps.
Head tries to help heart.
Head tells heart how it is, again:
You will lose the ones you love.  They will all go.  But even the earth will go, someday.
Heart feels better, then.
But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.
Heart is so new to this.
I want them back, says heart.
Head is all heart has.
Help, head. Help heart.

Kind of a downer, but touching AND grammatically correct.

Bodega Girls

Check out this awesome Boston-based, rock, motown, disco, toe-tapping, finger-snapping, shoulder-shrugging, shimmy-shaking, driving around in a cadillac, sequin-wearing, smokey-eyed badass band that I love. (download at your leisure, friends)

Yerba Mate: Drink of Champions

One of the best things I learned about in Argentina (besides Gardel and Maradona, of course) was Yerba Mate.

It's a delicious tea/coffee alternative that is traditionally drunk through a metal straw from a gourd filled with loose leaves, but I prefer my tea in a bag - so much easier.

Some of it's perks:
- contains a natural caffeine, similar to green tea
- tons of antioxidants
- metabolism booster, appetite suppressant
- fights bad breath! (who knew!?)

You can find it in health food stores and fancy-schmancy grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  I highly recommend trying it out - it may even improve your tango!

Drink Mate.  You can look just like him!

Garfield Minus Garfield

These Garfield comics without Garfield are about 657 times funnier than the originals.  No one ever notices poor Jon Arbuckle.

         

       

       

Garfield Minus Garfield

F%$@ a dime. I'm a silva dolla. Holla.

Trina . . . Missy . . . Lil Kim . . . just a few of my idols.  I even had a pretty mean answering machine rap when I got my very own phone line for my 13th birthday. ( . . . so since you called let your name be known . . .  when you here that beeping tone. Word.)

The early 2000's killed it with amazing female rap talent. It's hard to compete with songs like B R Right, Work It, and The Jump Off, but these girls come daaaang close.

My favorite, Spank Rock's right hand woman:



Chicago's finest:



New girl on the block (only 17 years old!):



These new girls bust it out . . . and they can tide your over until Misdemeanor puts out a new album.

Only the wax, ma'am.

I recently "candled" my ears, which means I stuck a long, hollow candle through a paper plate then put it in my ear and let it burn down to about 2 inches. I've always prided myself in ear cleanliness, so I was surprised to see that the candle was FULL of orange gunk when I was finished.

Upon further research I learned that the orange gunk doesn't actually come from the ear, but from the candle itself. My ears have about the same amount of clarity after this experiment (only so-so . . . too many ska concerts in high school).

What do you think about candling? The next best thing since Wet Willies or another weird hippie-dippie sham, like global warming?

Travel Love

Sometime I miss traveling so much my heart hurts . . . and then I watch this and it hurts more . . .



Inspired by Kels :)

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Check out the rest of his interviews: Between Two Ferns

Tina Fey, You're My Hero.

She has long been wowing us with her wit:

A Harvard Medical School study has determined that rectal thermometers are still the best way to tell a baby's temperature. Plus, it really teaches the baby who's boss. 

Now check out her hot bod!

Tina Fey's Esquire spread

Zac Posen for Target

I know I was just talking about the Gaultier designer series, but Target already has another major name ready for the picking (or, more aptly, the pushing and hair pulling) in select stores this spring.

Manhattan native, Zac Posen, who besides being absolutely gorgeous, has been making iconic clothing since stepping into the fashion world in 2000.  He already debuted a hugely successful line for Target Australia in 2008 and his USA line will be in stores April 25, 2010.

This line is said to be inspired by recent controversy involving lesbian teens not being allowed to attend prom together.  Well, his Snap Tape Dress (Look 6) will definitely be coming out of the closet and onto ME once it hits stores!

Click here for the Zac Posen for Target Lookbook

Free Music from RCRD LBL

***WARNING!***

This is the coolest website I've found in a really long time and it could cause hours of downloading pleasure.

RCRD LBL posts free music downloads from emerging and established artists.  I found some amazing remixes from Miike Snow, The xx, Florence + The Machine, Lady Chann, and Passion Pit.

The Rabbit Hole

Chicago's most recent nod to the speak easy, The Rabbit Hole is an underground supper club where you either have to know one of the primary owners or be sponsored by one to gain admittance.  Needless to say . . . I want to go SO badly.

It's one long table set up for a communal dinner in a dimly lit room full of delectable goodies. The owners refer to themselves as The Cheshire Chef and The Queen of Tarts and the whole thing sounds like something straight out of a Tim Burton movie.

The Rabbit Hole  

Does anyone happen to have a reservation?  I'd loooove to join you . . .

Phoenix's Lisztomania

I love this video - and I want him to be my music teacher.

Ortolan - Time on a String

This 4-some of sisters just released their album, Time on a String, last week and I'm already in love with it. The album is so new and small that it doesn't even have free torrents out, so I had to BUY it on iTunes, like some sort of sucker. Their music is self-described as "a musical bed time story" and I think I'll see if it's true while I'm dozing by the pool today.

Ortolan's MySpace Page

Favorite Song: Sticky Situation

Kundalini Yoga

I've taken my fair share of yoga classes (Hatha, Bikram, Vinyasa, Power) and after all this time I think I've finally found a favorite way to harness my chi. It's all about the Kundalini, baby.

Kundalini literally means, "the unlimited potential that already exists within every being" and that is exactly what it helps you tap into. You WILL be able to walk the next day, so if you're looking for a hardcore workout stick with power yoga.

This type of yoga connects the mind, body, and spirit with a lot of breathing techniques, poses, and movement. I can't believe how calm and rejuvenated I feel after each session. My friend, Jessie, introduced it to me, but since she lives in California I've found the next best thing in Maya Fiennes. I absolutely love her DVD set and have only been able to find it here. If living room yoga isn't your cup of chai, there are also bound to be some classes at a yoga studio near you. I highly recommend you take a journey through the chakras.

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Namaste to all y'all.

Kitten Heels and Tribal Print!!!

I just finished the March Vogue and two things are clear for this spring.

1. You can scale down the 5 inch stilettos - kitten heels are back in a big way.

2. Tribal print - the more layers (and the more random), the better.

Free SXSW iTunes Playlist

Click here: Free Playlist!!!!!!!

Playlist includes:

“Written in Reverse” by Spoon from Transference
“The High Road” by Broken Bells from Broken Bells
“I Learned the Hard Way” by Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings from I Learned the Hard Way
“Canadian Girl” by The Walkmen from You & Me
“Girl In Love” by Smith Westerns from Smith Westerns
“Airplanes” by Local Natives from Gorilla Manor
“Everywhere I Go” by G-Side from Starshipz And Rocketz
“Cleo’s Song” by JBM from Not Even In July
“Achille’s Heel: IV. Shur Landing” by Brooklyn Rider from Dominant Curve
“Hannah” by Freelance Whales from Weathervanes
“Swim” by Surfer Blood from Astro Coast

MGMT's Newest Song: Flash Delirium

MGMT's new album, Congratulations, comes out on April 10, but here's a new song off of the album to tide you over:

Flash Delirium

Download it here for free:

Free Flash Delirium Download

Passion Pit with Marina & The Diamonds

Marina & The Diamonds and Passion Pit have teamed up for an amazing dance remix of Marina's song "I Am Not a Robot."

I Am Not a Robot (Passion Pit Remix)

If you haven't heard of these two already, check 'em out!

Passion Pit

Marina & The Diamonds

Handsome Men's Club

One of the funniest Jimmy Kimmel skits in the history of the world:

Handsome Men's Club

Jean Paul Gaultier for Target

I'm obsessed with a lot of things, but Target's guest designer series is pretty high on the list. Thanks to their last line I happily own about 6 pieces from Rodarte . . . normally of whom I couldn't afford a scrap off the cutting room floor.

The latest designer is one of my absolute favorites: Jean Paul Gaultier - I have my eye on a couple of the dresses, but since they're only at 250 stores nationwide, and the Daytona Beach Super Target is not one of them (surprising, isn't it?) - I may miss my big chance.

SO - fellow Chicagoans!!! Get to a select Target asap!!!!!!! It opened on March 7!!!!

Mumford & Sons and Florence + The Machine

That's a whole lot of weird "and" signs for one little blog title.

My top 2 favorite bands of 2009:

Welcome to the BEST Blog in the UNIVERSE!

Monumental. Awe-inspiring. Cosmic. Ground-breaking. Bodacious.

These are just a few the words that accurately describe this blog.

I'll be covering some very controversial and cutting-edge topics, including (but not limited to):

- cool books that I like
- cool music that I like
- cool clothes that I like
- other cool stuff that I like

What can I say? I'm a trail blazer. Luckily for all of us, I find some really great, really random stuff that we can ALL benefit from. You get to have something to click around on while you're sitting in your cubicle and I get to post stuff without cluttering my Facebook wall (I hate cluttering my Facebook wall).

Enjoy!