Songs of the year

There's been a lot of good music released this year. I don't think I've even gotten through most of it yet. So, instead of a top ten, here's my favorite two songs of 2007.


Prefuse 73 w. School of Seven Bells - The Class of 73 Bells


Battles - Tonto

Runners up: "Someone Great", LCD Soundsystem; ("You Got Yr) Cherry Bomb", Spoon; "Paper Planes", MIA.

I can't wait to read this.

Each year for our lab holiday party, I am politely asked ordered to bring in what has come to be my signature dish -

Low fat chocolate truffles with apricot and cayenne pepper.

The night before, then, is a sticky melty mess of various baking chocolates, apricot goo and cayenne pepper going up my nose.

But the results are pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

the small stakes

I've seen examples of this artist's work before, here and there. (And always thought, "damn, that is a fine example of a well-executed gig poster.") His posters were always standouts, striking in their simplicity.

It's nice to see them all in one place. That would be here - the small stakes.

the drudgery of the take home final

I have music to keep me going...


And a copy of the Daft Punk Alive album - workouts or neurobio, it's motivating.


And not a half-bad book to work from...


There's even some Futura font in here....


But all I really want...

...is to get another fur hat.



Unfortunately it's on backorder. It feels like my life is on backorder.

I'll be up for air and a return to the real world on Thursday.

Does this article on Buffalo remind you at all of any other cities you know?

November 2007 - the books.

The Satanic Verses, S. Rushdie*
Middlesex, J. Eugenides*
The Emperor's Children, C. Messud*
Amsterdam, I. McEwan
The Great Man, K. Christensen*
Emperor of the Air, E. Canin
On Beauty, Z. Smith*
Sputnik Sweetheart, H. Murakami*
Hotel du Lac, A. Brookner
The Moviegoer, W. Percy
French Lessons, A. Kaplan

Favorites are starred.

This month was my best month for reading yet.

You'll have to scroll down to get past all the new 2007 gift guides (that time of year again!), but there's a neat little Baltimore guide at Design*Sponge.

Covers a lot of ground and lots of neighborhoods. I would like to check off the few things on their list that I haven't seen, like Home Anthology, Housewerks and Second Chance.

Happy turkey day. Even if you don't eat turkey.

the heart of the matter

Sundays remind me of my best girl D, who fixes hearts for a living.


B Jewelry
The arrow helps to temper the classic heart shape, and I already own something by this jeweler - I'm sure the hammered silver will feel light as air on the skin.

Me & Ro
The sword makes it a little tough, but the petite size would make it wearable, almost delicate.

Analogous Jewelry
The most abstract of the three - and my favorite, I think.

Any thoughts?

Good design doesn't have to be expensive. A couple of examples from across the pond:

I maintain a soft spot for this WWII poster. I hope it has greater longevity than say, antlers - look at that beautiful font.


Picture courtesy of Apartment Therapy.


My stainless steel Parker Jotter pencil is my constant companion. And I'm not alone in this - it's been a best seller since 1954.



Ok, so stainless steel isn't the most ergonomic material to make a pen or pencil out of, but the heft and classic good looks more than make up for it. A better import than say, those evil and delectable Jaffa cakes.

Two mashup vids that have brought me a lot of happiness:


1960's Fosse dance meets "Walk it Out"


Love the Charleston...surprisingly difficult, but a great dance for including a leg kick or two or three or more...

October 2007 - the books.

Perfume, P. Süskind
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, M. Roach
The City of Falling Angels, J. Berendt *
An Unquiet Mind, K. R. Jamison
What the Dead Know, L. Lippman
Suite Francaise, I. Nemirovsky *
House of Leaves, M. Danielewski *

I am finishing The Satanic Verses as I type. This is a book that refuses to be merely skimmed.

I gave up on one book this month - The Poe Shadow. Pearl has an interesting theory, (especially to me) but it's such a slog through his book to get there. This Observer article can save you the trouble.

expensive taste

Do I ever have it.

Behold a few of my pretties:


The Bianchi 'Milano' bike, in the wonderfully retro Celeste color.


Crane's/Kate Spade letterpress calling cards in Futura, my favorite font.


DWR's take on the Murano glass chandelier. In smoked glass - but of course.

Charleston.

Baltimore's poshest restaurant was featured in the Wall Street Journal's Power Tables.




Evidently, for dinner we were teh A+ awesome.

movies

Recently viewed a briefly-shown documentary called The Rape of Europa:



Amazing. I'd strongly recommend WWII fans and art lovers alike see it.

It probably got retired after only a week's run to help make room for what I want to see next:



I admit - I love Wes Anderson movies, and this looks like it will touch on some themes that will resonate with me. If I made movies, I'd want them to be like this.

Redheads are always so effortlessly chic in autumn, don't you think?

Via The Sartorialist.

the ace hotel

Do I have anyone I can visit in Portland? A forgotten acquaintance? A scientific meeting? A band's reunion?

Do I have any reason, any at all, to travel to the PDX?

Because I know exactly where I'd want to stay.

September 2007 - the books.

The Autograph Man, Z. Smith
Ideas of Heaven, J. Silber
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, T. Young
Italian Neighbors, T. Parks
Plainsong, K. Haruf
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, A. McCall Smith
A Natural History of the Senses, D. Ackerman
On Natural Selection, C. Darwin



A pleasing month - wherein everything I read was enjoyable.

Autograph Man was just as good as White Teeth, in my opinion. Ideas of Heaven and Plainsong were nice surprises to come across. Toby Young is yet another in my little streak of humorous authors (Burroughs, Rakoff, to a certain extent Archer and Dennis.) The very famous No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - I could see a young Teri being extremely drawn to this simple story with its veiled philosophy. And another Ackerman book - her writing is so dense - every paragraph filled with randomness, whether in scientific tidbit or in metaphoric description. That and the Darwin were both well suited to visit with and return to throughout the month.

night swimming

"There might be sharks out there."

"I don't care. I need to do this."