friday faves: 6.3.11

can you believe it's june already?!  i sure can't...  june.  june as in beginning-of-summer, june as in no-more-work-on-weekends, june as in china.  yup, the time has come - i'm off to fly across the world the day after tomorrow.  hong kong, here i come!  it will be quite the experience and i will be sure to fill you in.  until then i will just have to try and calm my nerves and prepare myself for whatever china feels like throwing my way!

and until then, i will share with you a few tidbits found and bookmarked this past week ~

design/decor

~ books, books, books ~

i simply adore this little reading nook - a.d.o.r.e., adore.  love the plush cushion, the symmetry, and of course - the wall of books!  ohhh yes, adore.  my (future) child shall have his/her own little reading nook just like this one day.

from house beautiful, via shelter by julie richard ~ head on over to see more book-filled spaces

fashion

~ summery dresses from anthropologie ~

want.  and more.

etc.

~ a motorcycle ride ~

i like to try new things often but i am also a big fat worrywart so that can create some problems.  and i have always been scared of motorcycles.  let's just chalk it up to the time spent teaching first aid and watching scary videos.  but i'm proud to say that as of monday i can cross riding motorcycles off my bucket list.  and what's better...i loved it!  i guess i'm a bit like a dog - i loved the feeling of the wind against my face as we rode!  the best part was going through the country, just being surrounded by lush green everything.  oh, and it was a huge harley so that's even better!  can't wait to go again :)

[picture above is of the louis vuitton motorcycle.  oh yes, it exists]

giveaways

~ shopbop giveaways ~

{if i won, i would get this watercolor dress by free people}
lucky lucky time for us - there's not one but two $100 shopbop giveaways going on right now!  one is at the zhush [ends this sunday], and another on miles of styles [ends june 9]

link love

~ some seriously beautiful lace dresses [lovely happenings]
~ joffrey ballet in action.  pure beauty. [a spot of whimsy]
~ julianne moore's fabulous nyc apartment [design addict mom]
~ mirrors, mirrors - everywhere mirrors! [miles of style]
~ porch swings & pillows [6th street design school]

one last pretty thought . . . 

wednesday night my friend (actually, he's my high school boyfriend believe it or not!) and i went to the little lake in my neighborhood and just sat and watched the stars over the water.  i've been under massive amounts of stress lately - "lately" as in the past 6 months, and this is one of my all-time favorite activities.  we just sat and talked and laughed.  but the best part of it all was the new bon iver album that we listened to all night.  if you haven't just sat and closed your eyes and listened to bon iver while the rest of the world is silent, then you're really missing out.
and if you haven't heard bon iver at all before, then it's time to fix that!
let's start with calgary, off of the newest album --

have a lovely week!

reblog: dear edward cullen

read this and just could not stop myself from sharing! ~

sorry all, but i'm not a twilight fanatic.  i read all the books, mostly because i'm a reader and because i wanted to see what all the hype was about.  i was sadly underwhelmed.  just not my thing.  wanna know what actually is "my thing?"  see here.  also include in that list peter pan.  


hope you enjoyed this little blurb as much as i did :)

*found on one of my fave tumblogs, booklover

a personal post: photo challenge - 11

Day 11 - a picture of your favorite book

i'm going to make this brief . . .

the history of love by nicole krauss

like i said, i'll make this brief :: go read this book.

my mother tried to get me to read this book for years but i refused, assuming it would be a nicholas sparks-esque sappy read.  finally she guilted me into reading it by giving it to me as a sweet gift.  

so i read it.  and it was so beautiful that i immediately started reading it again.

read this book.  it just may change your outlook on life.  

or it may not.

either way, you'll love it.

xx,

kait

p.s.  i have many, many beloved books so if you'd like more suggestions let me know - i'd be happy to share!

manga sale (at B&N), a video and some postcard pics

I wanted to let you know about a sale going on at Barnes and Noble. It is for in stock graphic novels and manga, and is 4 titles for the price of 3 of them (price taken off in your cart), including the discount, so if you want Ayako, the New York Times recommended title of a story of a family during and through WWII in Japan by the artist Osamu Tezuka, which is $17.97 instead of $27.95, that in your basket with other items saying ‘4 for 3’ will be free, and anything over $25 is free shipping.

PLUS: they take paypal. If you want more than 4 items, like if you want the hardcovers of the Walking Dead (recommended, as I got them from the library), which are $19 instead of $35, but in 6 volumes, you will need to do two transactions of 4 books each. I hope that makes sense.

The sale ENDS on Tuesday March 22/23 at Midnight, so if you would like to try some manga, or graphic novels, ‘capes and cowls’ or indie artists, this is the best sale I have seen.

I could go total crazy in this Barnes and Noble sale, except I can’t. I have about $30

You can see most of the stuff I would like to get in the Amazon Wishlist, most of the manga is in the sale, but some of the indie artists and a lot of the yaoi is not (sadly).

The books I want to get include: The secret notes of Lady Kanako, a new manga which is plotted like Harriet the spy falls in love (interesting no?) and demon Sacred 3 and 4 as those are the cheapest.

I have read vol 1 of Grand Guignol Orchestra - and have to decide about vol. 2, If you want some interesting manga you might like it, it is a France where Paris is safe and the rest is left to towns where zombies roam, and only the grand orchestra can sanctify a place, but that is under the control of the church - so a 'black mass' orchestra, a bunch of 'not official' go from 17th century town to town and offer services, and this is who we follow.

Linda and I have looked at the preview of Flight, which is family friendly and uses everything from oil painting to ink, in the all colour volumes: Flight Volume 2 and Flight Volume 7 are the highest rated, of these lush 400+ page volumes, but pricy at $17 a volume.

Also, I have been trying more indie artists, I liked Hellboy (recommend!), as many were dedicated to Victoria Writers or myths, as Hellboy visited from Baba Yaga to William Hope Hodgen's fungus people (a great victorian horror series of the Sarriso sea), also visiting the Witch of the Sea who tricks the three sisters of Hans Christian Anderson's tale. His new book: The Amazing Screw On Head and other curious objects by Mike Mignola is one I would like to try.

Return to Wonderland by Raven Gregory where all is not right with Alice, as she is grown with her own daughter, but must go back down the hole to wonderland to sort out the malice in her life. Highest rated. And a rare publisher with lush pictures (slightly sexual).

Incognito by Ed Brubaker - highest recommended, what if you were a villain, a genius villain hiding out in witness protection? How would you see the world and what would you be planning? This sounds a bit depressing, but it is an Eisner winner

So, what would you get?

I tried to do 60 more postcards this week, I did 72 postcards to 13 different countries on four continents last week. Thanks to Linda and Cheryl who take them over and help. I had to stop after several hours of heart problems which would have taken to the ER, except now, we have found after consulting the doctor that helps those who are terminal, that there is no point. So I just couldn't make it - I only have to write them. I'm sorry.

This is a beautiful and ugly world. I just wish for the strength and time for more beauty. "Everybody cries, every body bleeds, no one said life is an easy thing"


Sometimes life is painful, is toxic. Sometimes, I don't how to fix my body, my heart, lungs, organs. And if I don't fix it, then I don't get to see the beter world. So I hold on. Because that is all that is.

And talk about books.

P.S. Linda here... if anyone wants to send books to Beth, the mailing address is:
Elizabeth McClung
PO Box 2560
Port Angeles, WA 98362

friday faves: 3.4.11

here ya go! -- a collection of some photography, design, & fashion that has caught my eye over the week, as a disappointing february transformed into what i'm hoping will be a fruitful march.

hopefully this makes you smile :)

~ a playhouse made of books ~

how whimsical & well, awesome!

had i been creative enough to think of this when a child, this would have been my playhouse instead of the one i fashioned out of sheets, tacks, and wood in my backyard.

photo by olivia megalis

~ lovely curtains ~

 i just adore these curtains in this dining room ~ wish i knew where they were from!

[from decor pad, via]

 ~ a woodsy bed ~

 a chic way to bring the outdoors into your bedroom [via tiptoe butterfly]

 ~ polka dotted letters ~

 just in love with these letters.  and i think they'd be super easy to make! hmm... definitely something i should try asap!  i think i'd spell out "peace" as that is a reminder i need on a regular basis - stop stressing & just find inner peace.  [image via]

~ a polka dotted accent wall! ~

because just one polka dotted item per friday fave is just not enough. 

bold & oh so fabulous! [via]

p.s. also love the headboard!!

~ romantic signs above the bed ~

i'm not always the sappiest person, but when i saw this bedroom design, i got shivers.  lovely.  sort of like this other above-bed sign i posted last month.  except i love this one most!

[via]

~ even more braids ~

 yes, i know i included some awesome braided hairstyles in my last friday faves, but that wasn't enough!  i had to share this one as well~

[image via]

~ and even more dianna agron love ~

she's just so adorable!!

hope you're not sick of it - you'll be seeing a lot of her classic self here! [image via]

{love her too?  here are some more dianna posts @ pretty things: on the red carpet 1, 2, 3; as madonna; her lovely profile}

~ mimi + meg's march calendar ~

 see it full-sized and available for download here

oh, and just like in feb, expect many posts related to these little-known holidays!

~ kirsten dunst having tea with a stuffed elephant ~

 

i don't feel a comment is necessary.  this photograph just speaks for itself.

from the Boy by Band of Outsiders spring 2011 ad campaign [via]

 ~giveaways~

~ absolutely beautiful necklace ~

by etsy jeweler Padgett Hoke

head on over to pink to green to enter for yourself!

~ marc jacobs daisy perfume ~

remember a few weeks ago when i did a post about how MJ's daisy perfume is the most photogenic?  and how i love daisies?  and how i don't own this one yet but would love to?

well fortunately, sweetheart blogger over at slumber designs is doing a giveaway for this very perfume!

* fingers crossed!! *

[enter for yourself here... but do it ASAP because the giveaway ends tonight @ midnight!]

~ item from barberry & lace ~

in celebration of 700 followers, the sweet leigh is giving one lucky reader an item from her shop, barberry & lace [up to $25 value].  if you are not familiar with this etsy shop, definitely head over now because it is just filled with prettypretty jewelry.  if i were to win this fab giveaway, i would choose the pink sparrow bracelet (shown above).  simple, pretty, and with a bird accent ~ perfect for me.

enter for yourself here!

~ golden boho locket ring ~

  by house of harlow, courtesey of Hallelu
this incredible giveaway is from gypsy*diaries in celebration of 1,000 fans [whoohoo!].
enter the giveaway here  

~ striped clutch ~

  adorable clutch by spool no.72, a fabulous boho clothing & accessories company.  fingers crossed i win this awesome purse from IHOD!

~in case you missed it here @ pretty things:~

a couple of my fave posts over the past week--

(not that i don't love all my posts, here are just a few that stick out in my mind)

~ amanda seyfriend epitomizing natural beauty meets couture

~ table i desperately want

~ mantra

~one last thought~

inspirational thought for the weekend.

lovely picture, too!

[via]

friday faves: 2.18.11

it's been a rough week, but here are some pretty things that gotten me through ~ ~

~ i won the greige design giveaway! ~

one of my fave blogs, greige, hosted a giveaway a while back and i actually won! lucky lucky me now gets a burlwood plank server - perfect for a Midwestern gal such as myself :)

~ french cluster ring ~

crazy sparkly without seeming pretentious.  [from erie basin; via]

~ quirky pinwheel earrings ~

from mxmjewelry on etsy [discovered via i am a greedy girl]

~ sparklemotion shoes ~

 

no idea where to find them, but i superduper want! [via]

~ book wall art ~

totally love this. [via]

~ a valentines day pin up ~

it may be belated, but better late than never! [image via]

~ dianna agron's profile ~

she is just stunning.  [image via]

~ speaking of dianna agron... ~

...check out her beautiful outfit on jimmy kimmel live! [image from red carpet fashion awards]

~ this pink wool coat ~

no such thing as "too feminine" [buy it here; discovered on lace & tea]

** really awesome giveaways going on right now **

necklace from starfish designs, courtesy of holly matthews interiors

 if i won, i would choose this sophia necklace!

enter for yourself here

tote from bayan hippo, courtesy of the cute blog moon face

 see more details of this perfect carry-all from bayan hippo - here

enter here -- NOW! (ends tonight @ 10PM pst)

** i wish you the most productive of all fridays, and the most relaxing of all weekends **

~kait

pretty pictures: keira knightley in vogue italia

my 2 fave pics [i couldn't narrow it down to just one!] :

 vogue italia jan 2011.  

shot by ellen van unwerth.    

proof that ellen van unwerth can do no wrong.

stunning.

see the whole photo shoot here

The best Goth Girl books reviewed: undead and uninhibited

Welcome to the New Year of 2008! Or maybe it is 2006! I get confused on this. Sometimes Linda tells me these numbers, and I say, “So then the Mars Mission has left?” and she says no. Or I just burst out laughing because according to her we are living in the future. Between laughter I ask her where the flying cars are and how the moon base is doing. Luckily, whatever fantastical future year this is, books are still around (as is manga!). So, whatever year it is for you, Happy NEW YEAR.

Cheryl brought over a book I bought myself, Nemi (Volume 1) (v. 1). I do not remember how I know of this book, or why I bought it, as it is a hardcover book of a Swedish comic which has been translated into English but the book is in FULL colour. This is the joy of memory damage, every purchase is a surprise gift. Nice purple cover too!

The book Nemi (Volume 1) (v. 1) makes me laugh out loud, and often (to enlarge strips just click on them, then hit back arrow of browser to return). Linda says she likes it because she hasn’t heard me laugh so much in years. Nemi is a goth in her 20’s who has poor impulse control and an usual mind. She, along with her friend (with dyed blue hair) experience life, guys, sex, drink, and whatever Nemi thinks up to say. What is strange is that I have said some of those things (like telling children that grade school grades don’t count so just have fun, and eat lots of sugar before the teeth fall out!), and thought other of Nemi lines, so it is like a snapshot of my early 20’s. The author is a hot goth (picture in foreword) and the translation from Swedish to English seems great. There are two other Nemi books (now added to my Amazon Wishlist, hint!), but if you want a goth gal with a whack on the side of the head view of life (like when she gambles on arm wrestling and wins going, “The Weaker Sex my ASS!”), I recommend this. I also recommend using the link in the post because Amazon search dropped this book off the search engine...but I found it and ordered it...for some reason (if you know, tell me?). Amazon has Nemi (Volume 1) (v. 1) for about $10. Nemi 2 and Nemi 3 go for the same amount.

If you don't want the book for the burst out laughing, at least you now know a great gift for the goth girl you know (and are likely infatuated with! Um...unless it is your daughter, cousin, partner of friend: those gals, um, get the book for them, but love them, like a FRIEND)
I have made a few changes to the blog, including adding a page link at the top of the blog for people who want to know about my disease. It took six hours on Friday and some more today learning about adding ‘pages’ as a feature (Blogger is ‘so simple’, my ASS…er, I mean ‘Like not!’, see: Nemi and I are bonding into one! ). I have tried to keep it simple, you just click on the ‘About me and my disease’ button at the top of the page, and then ‘home’ to return to the main page.

And a reivew about more than just what it appears: the book called Generation Dead.It is considered a Young Adult book and one of the ‘supernatural’ series that is flooding the Young Adult market, but this book is different (though stand alone, a ‘series’ of books around it has been published at high speed and bad writing: accept no imitation, but only the original). The basic story is that odd USA marketed teen world, where things only happen in the US, everyone is white, no one is gay, no one, particularly no GIRLS have sex, and no one is disabled. In Generation Dead, a small percentage of teens in the US, for no known reason have been returning to life. While some theorize that it has to do with first person shooters, other ‘researchers’ think a combo of junk food and vitamins. But when the teens return, many have a hard time moving, and talking while others are a bit faster. Phoebe, the main character, goes to Oakvale High (like Berkley) which is a school friendly to the ‘living impaired’. Several new ‘living impaired’ have started this year including Tommy, a more active post-dead teen who tries out for the football team. This opens up the prejudice against ‘zombies’ as the coach tries to get players to cripple or stop the boy from joining. Phoebe, who is friends with Adam, her neighbor and a football player who used to be a bully but got centered through martial arts into not bullying, watches the practices and writes an evocative poem about Tommy which she gives to him. She isn’t in love, but she is...interested in him. And that interest grows.
The flip side is that Phoebe and her best friend Margi have to see in the halls their ex-friend Collette, who drowned, and yet is there, always 16, never getting older, and who has yet to speak to them. Through their reluctance to speak to Collette, and Margi’s hatred of the ‘living impaired’ there is a hidden story waiting to come out. Also, as others notice Pheobe, who is a goth, making moves to talk to Tommy, even sit with him on the bus, the idea that a LIVING, a hot goth living girl could be into…well, THEM brings out even more prejudice.
However, with Phoebe’s point of view, we find ourselves going from our own assumptions about the ‘living impaired’ to finding out they are individuals with a shared experience, but individuals but who have created a shared culture, humor and language. It took me a while but I started to recognize this as the experience of second generation immigrants, of LGBT kids who are open enough to have a group, to those who know they have an experience or viewpoint which alienates them from the majority. And it is a majority which makes assumptions and looks down on them. But also, because of that, it has forced them together, creating a unique culture of language, humor, and activities. The more Phoebe becomes part of their group, the more we wonder if the ‘living impaired’ talk so slow to the other students on purpose, to keep them away, and to keep themselves safe.

In Tommy and football, I could see myself and the frustrations I have had with the Y, where even AFTER I played volleyball, they are telling me that it is not possible, or not safe for me to play volleyball. The whole friendliness of the school and principal becomes suspect when the ‘living impaired’ start to want the same things as the rest of the students. Much like when the Y decided I needed to tell them, in advance, any activity I was going to do there….so they could ‘help me’. It is a book I think anyone who has, through religion, ethnicity, or other difference, experienced school in a way where keeping safe and not draw attention to yourself mixed with the need to speak, to have humor in life and life beyond the invisible limits imposed. Like disability, the question of ‘high functioning’ comes up along with ‘passing’, a term originated from when mixed black Americans of light skin would live as white, used now more for LGBT in schools or life, or Trans who live as their gender, which may not be the assigned one.

Much like any of these groups, there are those who are ‘living impaired’ and friends who want to educate, or help others understand them, or that they can do things like football. But there are also those of the ‘living impaired’ who want to separate, who say that the living will never understand, really. And that the majority is the group who is hurting them, who limits their rights and actions and so why spend time educating the people when your rights are unequal. While others want conflict in order to bring issues into the open and want to use people like Tommy and football to do it. These are some of the very attitudes I have read in various blog circles on the internet of those with shared experiences, including disability. As Phoebe drifts closer and closer to Tommy, and those who are friendly to the idea of hanging with the living, the tension from both those at school and the ‘living impaired’ increase. This book, Generation Dead by Daniel Waters is more than just a ‘zombie’ book but one in which I could see myself. Not just my disabled identity now but even my high school days. I went to a repressive high school, and created codes of language and facial expressions so I and others could say how we felt about things without drawing attention to ourselves from the authorities or those who sided with them.

The hardcover book Generation Dead is on sale at Amazon for $5 for the hardcover, and though I found it and read it at the library, I bought a first edition hardcover as part of Amazon’s clearance (or pay $9 for the paperback). Sometimes, like the book Stoner and Spaz, there are books which seem to speak to those who need to hear a voice saying, “You are not alone” the most.
This book transcends the whole supernatural element and brings to you the experience of getting to know the individuals of a different culture in a setting where it is dangerous to do so. You would think ‘wanting to know more’ or ‘getting to know someone’ couldn’t be dangerous, but we all know better. Generation Dead reminds the reader how many silent lines there are in our lives where those who are entitled and in control punish those who cross that line (like the extreme and viscous actions principals or School districts take over cross dressing or a gay date at the prom). My prom for example was divided by race, for example and there was a great deal of discussions and whether I would be expelled or not because I asked a black guy to dance, and did for one song. They decided that as I was graduating in three days, they would not expel me, but they did take away my ‘honors’ I was graduating with. Yeah, repressive school.

I bought two copies of Generation Dead, one for me, and one to give away, because the voice and story are so compelling and because I know others who can identify about being the ‘other’ or being the person who crossed the line in befriending the ‘other’. It may not win literary awards due to 'teen' status and the 'zombie' sublabel, but it is a well written and complex book. It was always interesting, unveiling my own assumptions while changing my viewpoint with a slight tongue in cheek (like the Z line, getting acceptance for the ‘living impaired’ through marketing of cool t-shirts, and body colognes – marketing exploitation is our friend?). As having a goth girl the main character in a school with a high population of kids who used to be dead is itself a tad tongue in cheek.

So a goth girl blog, and that, beyond drinking champagne (whee! look at all the colours!) that is what I did on my winter vacation!