Afternoon Delight

I always forget about the wonderful world of the matinee, but boy is it swell. Last Thursday I finally went to see Up in the afternoon and was delighted when the lady responded "That will be $6.75 please" to my request for one ticket to the 2:50 showing of Up.

It turned out to be this summers Wall-E; Pixar's much hyped summer kid flick that everyone sees. Like Wall-E the hype was so strong that by the time I finally went to see it I was a bit let down. It was oh so overrated. Since everyone said that it was AMAZING, I was expecting perfection. It was a lovely movie, and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if people hadn't raved so much; my expectations were too high. And if I had paid eleven dollars to see it, I would have been upset. BUT, for six seventy-five, I was content.

I'm often hesitant to go to movies because after popcorn and a drink, if I don't like said movie that's twenty bucks I'll never see again. However, I was pleasantly reminded that most movie theaters have a matinee price of about $6.75 for shows that start before 6pm (Generally. Check your local movie theatre for individual times).

Plus, since movie theater popcorn makes me feel queesy I pop my own at home, which is much better for my wallet and my health. Grab a bag of kernels at your local grocery store, drizzle a tiny bit of canola oil on the bottom of a pot (the recipie on the bag calls for about 3 tablespoons, but that is complete nonsense. A dabb really will do ya, I promise!), add said kernels, and await magic! When they are all good and popped, grab a brown bag (those used for elementary school lunches work best), fill 'er up, sprinkel with salt, roll down the top, shake, and pack into bag/purse like item.


Finally, toss a reusable waterbottle in your bag, and head out to your marvilous movie (who's price you have just cut in half)! This way, you can see twice as many movies. Or, buy other cool things with your extra cash.

Pumpkin Pie

I was going through a pile of baby pictures a while ago and found a bunch of me wearing these super cute pumpkin, strawberry, and raspberry hats. I asked my mom where she had gotten them, and she told me that a friend of hers had knit them for me! I got super excited and asked said friend for the pattern, which appeared magically in by inbox a few days later! I didn't do an actual fruit; mine is white with a green stem, but its pretty fly all the same. I don't have a picture of it, but the one above is me when I was a wee little one. I also made a set for a friends twin girls; one white with a green stem, one green with a white stem. You can't see them super well in the picture, but it's the best I got.


Here's the pattern so you can make your very own! (If you click on the, they get bigger)

Sarah Sze

Is effing amazing! You seriously gotta check this lady out! Her spectacular instalations leave me wanting to make my very own, but knowing that nothing I could ever do would even come close. Her use of everyday objects in big open spaces; sometimes on the floor, sometimes on the wall, sometimes on the ceiling, sometimes right through the middle, capture such geometry and form.

Holgagraphy

A few weeks ago I finally purchased a Holga camera. Not one of those crazy $80 dollar ones that they sell at Urban Outfitters, but a real one from an actual camera store (not my store of choice, but it was close and I couldn't get to my favorite in time). My first roll yielded two good prints, which is pretty good as Holga's go. You can usually hope for one or two good prints from each 12/16 frame roll. I was really looking forward to the square frame that they are famous for, but didn't realize that you have tp rip out the insert first, so this roll is rectangular.



Of course these look much better in person; the scanning distorts the coloring slightly, but I think they still look nice. In the actual print you can see more detail in the man's face.

Another thing that I love about Holga's are the double exposures. Since you wind it yourself to go to the next frame, and there is no machinery to stop you from taking another picture while in the same frame as with standard film cameras, all you have to do is snap again and you have two pictures in one! I haven't quite mastered this yet, but when done right it can yield very pleasing results.

Photo

I recently came across this blog, devoted to both black and white as well as color photos taken with these beauties. I really love the color prints; they have that Polaroidish glow to them. The only thing I don't like about color is that 99% of darkrooms are black and white, so you have to have a photo store do the developing and printing, which I feel takes away from the sense of ownership over your work.

I'm Not Here Right Now

But if you live in the area, get off your stinkin' butt, shut the computer and head over! The did one in LA a few weeks ago, and are now in New York. Here's hoping they mosey on over to Boston next.

Blood Bank

Aside from being a stellar song from Bon Iver, it is a pretty swell place to visit. You can save up to four lives every time you donate blood. The entire process takes about thirty minutes. So for every seven and a half minutes you take out of your day, you save a life. You are eligible to give blood every eight weeks. The most important times to give blood are in the summer and the winter because that is when shortages most occur. Although, any time is of course a good time.

According to hospitals, the most common reason that people don't give blood is that they were never asked. So I'm asking you now, go give blood! It will make a world of difference.

However, there are a few things that would prevent you from donating blood. First of all, you need to be at least 16 years of age, and weigh at least 110 pounds. If you are 16 your parents need to sign a consent form, but if you are 17 all you need is an ID (which applies to the 16 year old too).

When you go you will be asked to fill out a form with all of your information, and then one that asks a slew of medical and sexual questions that they will use to determine if you are a worthy candidate. They range from weather or not you have taken aspirin or other pain relievers in the past 72 hours, to a cleverly side-stepped question as to weather or not you have ever been a prostitute.

Shortly after you have finished with your form you will be called into a room where someone will go over your form with you and ask any questions they may have about your answers. For example, on of the questions was to whether or not you have had a piercing in the last 12 months. I answered 'yes' and she asked where it was (second hole my right ear), when I had gotten it (about 12 months ago) and if it had been done with a gun (yes) so I was all set.

Once you have passed that with flying colors, you will be tested for anemia. They prick your finger (which, to my surprise, didn't hurt at all), put the blood on a little disk, insert it into a machine, and voila! Now you know. If you want to prevent anemia at the time of blood donation, eat a lot of iron rich foods in the days preceding your blood donation. Like hamburgers and dark greens. You can be anemic one time, and then not the next.

Finally, they check your blood pressure. Mine was really low, which apparently is good for life, but not for blood donation. But no worries! You will not be turned away for this. At Children's Hospital Boston, my donation site of choice, they have a little snack are where you can sit for ten minutes with a salty snack and a drink. When I went, the only salty snack they had were Cheese-It's, so if you're a vegan, bring a bag of chips or other vegan-friendly snack.

After about ten minutes, they check your blood pressure again, and most likely you will be all set to go! You sit in a big cross between a chair and examining table. It's like a blood test, but more intense. They give you a stress ball to squeeze to pump the blood, and put a blood pressure cuff on your upper arm for the same reason. Then, they wipe the area with alcohol, only for way longer and firmer than a blood test. Finally comes the needle. It's a bit bigger than the one used for a blood test, but don't be put off by that. It doesn't really hurt more. Maybe a tiny bit, but not much.

So now you are ready to give blood! Just make sure you are well hydrated (it makes your veins plumper, and prevents fainting) and have eaten. (gives you a higher blood pressure, and also prevents fainting).
Call Children's Hospital at 617-355-6677, or your local hospital to make an appointment. At Children's an appointment is not required, you can go anywhere from 9am-7pm Monday-Thursday or 9am-4pm on Friday, although an appointment guarantees your desired time. You can also donate at many blood drives that may be closer to you, however what I like about Children's is that once your information is entered into the system, it's there. You dont' have to fill out a form every time. You do have to re-fill out the medical form because it askes questions pertaining to the day, and the few before, so answers are subject to change.

Around And Around We Go

Do you live in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont or DC? Do you wear a small to medium portion of your closet ninety percent of the time? Then, my friends, it is high time you divested yourself of the clutter, folded it into neat little piles, put it in a bag, and hauled it off to Second Time Around. You can set up an appointment online, or by phone.

They accept in season, in style, new, used and vintage pieces. They say designer, but they take from Prada, to Anthropology, to Michael Stars. There is a fairly incomplete list of accepted designers, and no formal list of unnaccpeted, however Target, Wet Seal, Old Navy, and others in that range will not be accepted.

If you live in Massachusetts, go to the Harvard Square location if your colset contains things from American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Ralph Lauren, Michael Stars, The Gap, Anthropology, cool vintage peices, most any designer jeans, and the like. Basically anything you would buy in Harvard Square. They are the most accepting of more funky, young stuff.

The same goes for Newbury Street's two locations, although to a lesser extent. They are a bit more highbrow.

By far the oldest and snobyest is the Wellsley location. So if your closet contains high rollers like Prada, Gucci, True Religion, Polo Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, Burburry, and the like, go here.

All locations have a 3 piece minimum, and a 30 piece maximum for each 30 minute appointment. Your stuff will be stashed there for 90 days, and after that you have one week to pick it up, or it will be donated. The longer your stuff stays, the cheeper it gets, but the same goes for the things you purchase.

Pay day comes four times a year, and has nothing to do with when you consign. You will recieve forty percent of the final selling price. It may not seem like a lot, but I would much rather have a few dollers for each peice of unworn clothing I own, and know it has found a nice home where it will be loved then let it sit in my closet untouched. Plus, it's a form of recycling, so you are helping the planet!

By far the best part about consigning here is that you can check the status of your peices online. When you go for your first time they will create an account for you, and an itemized profile will be up before closing that same day. So you can see what sells when for what amount. So what are you waiting for? Get to it.

Tee Time (Part 2)

Another spectacular t-shirt biz is New York based Jawmaker. With a wide range of simple and complex Aztec, M.I.A. inspired designs, it is amazing I'm not broke. I have exercised a great amount of control not going crazy buying these up. With about fifty-five colorbook-looking tee's just waiting to be costomized with at least eighteen different colors in crew neck, v-neck and deep v-neck, men's and woman's styles, over forty paint colors, with the option of a custom design the possiblilities are literally endless.

Tee Time

I often open my wardrobe to a huge pile of t-shirts and wonder how I have accumulated so many. There are so numerous other styles to chose from; blouses, button downs (I do have a fair amount of those to, I must admit), tank tops, etc. etc. But with such amazing options, how can I resist?

Above is the most recent Tee from T-Post, a Swedish company that prints a new T every six weeks featuring a picture relating to a news story, with said story printed inside the American Apparel T. The only downside is that you can't pick and chose, so at about thirty-seven dollars a pop, they're a bit pricey. When asked if returns are accepted, the way they put it is "Uh, no. Once you get a subscription it's yours. It's just like if you had a subscription to National Geographic: you can't send back an issue just because you're not interested in learning about the tribes of the Serengeti."

They make a valid point, however, National Geographic isn't at the same price point, nor do you have to wear it if you're not a fan of the photographs. Looking through the gallery of former issues, I like about half, which would make every one I did like double in price; about seventy-four dollars. In Sweden, T-Post costs about half of your average t-shirt, but unfortunately, the price is lost in translation.

And since part of the charm of T-Post is their uniqueness, there are no back issues. They print exactly the number ordered. So take a look at the gallery, and if a good percentage of them appeal to you, go for it! I am still undecided.

RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL is a record label for the technological age. Based online, it offers a wide array of upcoming music, from rap to dance to indie to rock to electronic to punk to almost anything you could possibly think of. Some tracks can only be heard online on the sight, but most can be downloaded for your enjoyment any time. I thoroughly reccomend Miike Snow, Passion Pit, No Kids, Blitzen Trapper, Born Ruffians, Santigold, and of corurse, the ever ingenious Andrew Bird to name a few. Check it out!

Inspiration Point

The three blogs that I follow are as follows:

Ringo Have A Banana

I can not handle the high fashion blogs. They are way to intense for me. a) I don't like the setup of the blogs themselves. b) I am just not into high fashion.


I consider myself a fairly well dressed person, with a keen sense of what works for me, and what does not. I am not a slob, but I am certainly no supermodel either. So expect some fashion, but that will not be my main focus. Ringo brings the perfect amount into her lovely posts. I super love her outfit posts, however I do not think that that will be a feature of my blog due to my refusal to buy a digital camera. Everyone in my family, as well as most everyone in our high tech world owns one, but i simply can not bring myself to do it. I love photography, and I can not handle the loss of image quality, as well as the feeling of pride over an image.

That being said, I do understand that outfit posts, and other such everyday photos are not art, and a digital photo of this would be quite acceptable. However, this does not seem a good enough reason to make the purchase.

Anyways, back to Siri. She displays a wide range of of posts from her love of the magazines such as RUSSH to food to music. And speaking of music, her best boy just happens to be a member of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, an excellent band. Download four of their songs for free here.


Hot Child In The City

Lisa writes short and sweet tidbits on a veriaty of things that she experices. Tending towards photographs to do her storytelling, it is quite astetically pleasing. She tends towards art and the art side of fashion in magazine spreads.


I'm Boy Crazy

Alexi brings an unabashed view to the world of boys. It is absolutely crazy, but absolutely awesome. It is not at all what I will be doing in my blog, but I felt the need to mention it, because I follow it just as regularly as the others. Take everything she says with a grain of salt, and you will be all set. My favorite feature of hers are The Blind Leading The Blind posts, where she dishes out life advice. Here is the most recent.

New Begninngs

Somewhere along the way I became the reader of several blogs. It started with one that I read because it was written by a friend. On the right of her page is a list of all of the other blogs that she follows. I checked out a few, and found another that I liked. From there I stumbled across another, etc. etc. Sometimes I would read a few posts, get bored, and move on. Other times, I would fall in love; sit in front of my computer for hours perusing the archives. When that was over, my eyes stinging from over exposure to the screen, I would have just enough energy to bookmark the page before closing my laptop and allowing my eves a nap. I learned a lot from many blogs; this I liked, things I didn't. Some days when there were no new posts on my much loved blogs I would click on the links to their favorite blogs, and then jump over to blogs that those bloggers had linked. It seemed as though I spent just as much time searching for blogs as I did reading them. And then it hit me. Instead of going on an almighty quest for the perfect blog, why didn't I just create it?