overheard at fieldhouse

Guy 1: Did you put in a good word for me?
Guy 2: Yeah.
Guy 1: Good. I want to have dinner with her hooters Tuesday.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

another reason to love books

Dear people that don't love to read: reading lends to the most imaginative place you can ever go with your thoughts, so learn how to love it. With something like a movie, the scene is set for you, the characters are dressed the way the filmmakers wanted and the lines are articulated in the fashion they were directed to.

With reading you get to pick everything except for the literal text; no one will ever see, hear or feel a book the way you personally do. As if I need to explain: I love to read. However, if you don't - and won't appease me into convincing yourself it's your new favorite pastime - you can at least still appreciate the beauty of a book as design (or a kick ass library collection.) 

Look at the unbelievable photos below for some of the coolest ways to use these pages as your home decor.

Photo courtesy has to go straight to Stumble Upon because I couldn't find a photo credit.

I mean ... these are amazing! Who figured out how to do these things?!

My personal favorites are the lights and the vases. Mmm mmm mmm, good.

hump day giggles

daily quote

“Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.”
 Rod Sterling

whilst studying...

I'm reading an Esquire piece showcasing the difference between minimalist architect Richard Meier as compared to maximalist artist Takashi Murakami and I had to blog about the design genius of this piece. For the sake of background here are their easily comprehensible wikipedia bios: 

Takashi Murakami is a prolific contemporary Japanese artist who works in both fine arts media, such as painting, as well as digital and commercial media. He blurs the boundaries between high and low art. He appropriates popular themes from mass media and pop culture, then turns them into thirty-foot sculptures, "Superflat" paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies.

Richard Meier is an American architect known for his rationalist designs and the use of the color white.

I find it oddly fitting that even their wiki bios are reflections of their design style. Meier's is one sentence; short and to the point. Every bit like his work. Murakami's is lengthy with what can only be described as a description dripping with words that are as opposite of monosyllable as you can get. 

Back to the point ... Esquire did a phenominal job designing this spread and dare I say it - I am actually excited to critique it today on the test.

Examples of Murakami's work:

Examples of Meier's Architecture:

The stark contrast between the two masterminds is perfectly echoed in the Esquire feature. 

P-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y.

warning: this will make you cry

daily photographer

Susan Raab (photographer extraordinaire) has produced some insanely beautiful - yet more intriguing - raw and simplistic photos. A photographer whose works I wouldn't hesitate to plaster my walls with; an artist to definitely keep an eye on.

Below I've showcased some of her "Sense of Place" exhibition photos that are documentary portraits meant to illustrate the inside life not seen by the average outsider.

The ones I chose below capture the inner-workings of great southern writers William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. When you see the crafty way they integrate the written words into their homes you'll understand how they became known as some of the greatest writers to date. 

Raab's entire collection (if your obsession doesn't lie in books and vintage typewriters as mine does) can be found here.

My two favorite pieces of hers come from one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. William Faulkner's reputation holds precedent from his novels, novellas and short stories, yet there is something to say about his poems and occasional screenwrite.

The description of the photo below that Raab captioned herself:

This is the phone that William Faulkner was summoned to while working in the fields, to learn the news that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The writing above the phone is Faulkner's informal address book, preserved in his own handwriting.

(the man wrote his phone numbers on the wall above his phone; how in-your-face logical is that?)

Raab: This is the desk where William Faulkner typed out his Nobel prize winning novels, complete with a tin of his pipe tobacco, My Mixture, at his side, and his golf clubs stowed in the corner.

(A vintage typewriter that I would KILL for. What a fantastic writing space. No wonder he produced such fine works.)

The next photo is another personal favorite solely because she has what I would consider a library worth drooling over. It is now my personal goal to have so many books that they overflow onto my couch one day ... people can sit on the floor.

Eudora Welty was another inspirational American author and photographer. Award-winning nonetheless. 

Raab: This photograph was taken on a March afternoon in the library/living room of Southern Writer Eudora Welty's home, which she lived in until her death.

Prints of Raab's photographs can be purchased on her website listed above, or at her Etsy page: Susan Etsy Fine Art Photographs.

got milk?

Aaaand the award for cheesiest title to a blog post ever goes to: me.

I wouldn't say I have a place in my heart for gay rights ... I'd safely say my heart beats solely for gay rights. There's nothing that gets me going more than equal rights for all, and it's within that line of reasoning that the beautifully written and elegantly acted film Milk was a piece of art that moved me to tears - not even just at the sad parts!

Yes, that may be in due part to the entourage of gay men I was viewing it with (... or the fact that the movie theatre had vegan cookies; heaven?) but it truly was an inspirational movie.

Harvey Milk, portrayed by Sean Penn, was an unbelievable man and someone that stirs up a desire deep down inside of me to stop at no ends to make a difference as he did. While that might not be entirely possible, I will not stop trying for as long as I have to capability to kick some ass - at the rate my mom is going, that will end sometime around never. Maybe on my death bed ... but probably not. 

The reason for this rant is, drum roll ... Sean Penn just was awarded an Oscar for best actor in Milk and the appropriately placed recognition was enough to bring tears to my eyes yet again. So, as any other normal human being would do (or at least one that was a press intern for Obama and had to transcribe interviews, aka type really fast...) I transcribed his acceptance speech so that I would have it to read. Here it is, sorry I missed a couple sentences which just happened to be at the climax of his speech - of course:

You commie, homo-loving sons of guns. I did not expect this but I, I wanted to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation and I hope for enough that I did want to scribble down some, so I had the names in case you were commie homo-loving sons of guns. So, I wanted to thank: my best friend (didn’t catch the name), my circle of long time support (insert lots of names here), the great Cleave Jones, our wonderful writer Lance Black, the producers (names here) and particularly, as all us actors know, our director either has the patience, talent and restraint to grant us a voice, or they don’t and it goes from the beginning of the meeting throughout the cutting room and there is no finer hands to be in than Gus Van Sant, and finally for those – well, two last finallys, for those that saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight and I think that it is a good …(missed some here, sadly) time for those that voted for the ban against gay marriage to reflect (missed some here) shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue in that way. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone and there are these last two things: I um, I’m very, very proud to live in a country that’s willing to elect an elegant man for President and a country who for all its toughness, creates courageous artists and this is in great due respect to all the nominees. Courageous artists who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke rises again and he's my brother. Thank you all very much.

“If a bullet should go through my head let that bullet go through every closet door.”

“Hope will never be silent”

"My name is Harvey Milk .. and I'm here to recruit you."

sunday

Sunday's are meant for studying. Unfortunately, studying is usually mingled with a hangover or a sleep-deprived headache. However, today's studying has been set aside for Magazine Design which means I get to indulge my sick obsession with typography for an entire day without anyone judging me for being nerdy ... because, hey, I'm just studying.

"The artistry comes in offering the information in such a way that the reader doesn't get sidetracked into thinking about the fact that someone had to carefully prepare every line, paragraph, and column into structured pages. Design - in this case at least - has to be invisible. Typefaces used for these hardworking tasks are therefore by definition 'invisible.' They have to look so normal that you don't even notice you're reading them. And this is exactly why designing type is such an obscure profession; who thinks about people who produce invisible things? Nevertheless, every walk of life is defined by, expressed with, and indeed dependent on type and typography."

-Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works by Erik Spiekermann & E.M. Ginger

To anyone who feels the need to hate on the wonderful world of typography, or my school-girl crush on the creators of Helvetica, in your face.

k & s do: predrinking.

makeup? check. heels? check.

Getting ready complete with a glass of wine.

Keep an eye out for me in CoMo.

Happy weekend!!!!!

one more time

I know I've blogged about Necklush once before, but it was brief and decidedly not enough of a post. I am falling more and more in love with these neck accessories as the days pass. I am, in fact, officially obsessed with them.

In case you can't get a full grasp of why I am seriously drooling over these, I will leave you with this youtube instructional video that will give you an interactive look at these beauties.

If you want to buy one of these pieces of art (while you're at it, buy one for me...) you can find them here.

morning brought to you by: ann arbor

And best friends!

Recently I received the BEST present. Ever. Plain and simple.

Elizabeth Lauren Sternberg, best friend extraordinaire, sent me a Valentine's Day "Survival Kit" -- seeing as Valentine's Day without her radiating beauty is nearly impossible. What can I say, us girls like to stick together.

I've been meaning to blog about this for... oh, the past three days, but my hectic schedule has gotten away with me and I've not yet had the chance to show what an adorable friend I have.

The package started with a card that had instructions to go through the gifts as they were numbered one through ten. I will have to show off the package in its entirety later (caution: some presents not suitable for the unexperienced/immature) yet for now I will just show off how she has influenced my morning and placed it into the "perfection category".

First: the sweatshirt. American Apparel in all it's simplistic glory. And it's purple - which for those that know me, know that purple's my thang. Her's too. LOVE it, and will wear it for days and days and days -and days- without taking it off (for those that know me again, they know that this is not at all an exaggeration.)

Second: The mug. Oh. MY. Goodness. I love love love quotables (website found here.) I mean, I possess an unabashed, an unrequited, never ending love for quotables. Check out the website and you'll understand why; you'll fall in love, too.

Mash my love for the brand with my LOVE for coffee and - bam. Perfection.

The quote on the cup reads:

live with intention.

walk to the edge.

listen hard.

practice wellness.

play with abandon.

laugh.

choose with no regret.

continue to learn.

appreciate your friends.

do what you love.

live as if this is all there is.

-mary anne radmacher

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THURSDAY!

I hope everyone is as lucky as me to have a friend like her.

can you spell a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e