more obama style::::

obama style::::more to love!

dominomag.com reports that michael smith
was tapped to decorate the white house.

from the article: Smith describes how as a 10-year-old boy in Newport Beach, CA, he regularly redid his room in the style of various foreign countries, ranging from Spain to Russia.

cassie, my younger sister, used to take it upon herself to report
on various countries worldwide, from Spain to Africa to Russia.

hm....

herb lubalin.

so jen & bob.

12.25.08

pushing ninety degrees today.

walker evans, polaroid prints.

What To Do the First Morning the Sun Comes Back
by Roseann Lloyd

Find a clean cloth for the kitchen table, the red and blue one
you made that cold winter in Montana. Spread out
your paper and books. Tune the radio to the jazz station.
Look at the bright orange safflowers you found last August—
how well they've held their color next to the black-spotted cat.

Make some egg coffee, in honor of all the people
above the Arctic Circle. Give thanks to the Sufis,
who figured out how to brew coffee
from the dark, bitter beans. Remark
on the joyfulness of your dishes: black and yellow stars.

Reminisce with your lover about the history of this kitchen
where, between bites of cashew stir fry,
you first kissed each other on the mouth. Now that you're hungry,
toast some leftover cornbread, spread it with real butter,
honey from bees that fed on basswood blossoms.

The window is frosted over, but the sun's casting an eye
over all the books. Open your Spanish book.
The season for sleeping is over.
The pots and pans: quiet now, let them be.

It will be a short day.
Sit in the kitchen as long as you can, reading and writing.
At sundown, rub a smidgen of butter
on the western windowsill
to ask the sun:
Come back again tomorrow.

all the king's men.

I just finished All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. Good book, although difficult to get through, especially at the beginning – I know Warren is known for his novel approach to Southern speak, but in the beginning… I was going slower’n a bread wagon with biscuit wheels. The story picks up towards the end… overall, the book is an insightful and well informed foray into the world of American politics… all about graft and corruption and hope and promise. As Lydia pointed out, a very fitting read for the times. One of my favorite points: That we will never be OK with the future until we are OK with the past. And vice versa. Inextricably linked to this insight is another Warren makes regarding parents and children. He writes,

When you get born your father and mother lost something out of themselves, and they are going to bust a ham trying to get it back, and you are it. They know they can't get it all back but they will get as big a chunk out of you as they can.

Jack Burden, the main character, describes his mother:

For years I had condemned her as a woman without heart, who loved merely power over men and the momentary satisfaction to vanity or flesh which they could give her, who lived in a strange loveless oscillation between calculation and instinct…

After he sees she isn't this way, and he sees the truth about her:

I had given my mother a present, which was a lie. But in return she had given me a present, too, which was a truth. She gave me a new picture of herself, and that meant, in the end, a new picture of the world. Or rather, that new picture of herself filled in the blank space which was perhaps the center of the new picture of the world…

And that meant that my mother gave me back the past. I could now accept the past which I had before felt was tainted and horrible. I could accept the past now because I could accept her and be at peace with her and myself (433).

banksy-boo

remember this guy? banksy! when I lived in London I made it my sole purpose to find his satirical stencils.

fyi for those of you who think I'm referring to a muppet baby: banksy is the art world's angsty, pimple faced teen. he is sort of anonymous, his art is usually politically and inappropriately placed, he's a cult hero... what more is there? wikipedia.

:::::

I can't get over these amazing photos from cup of jo.

taken by the talented max wanger.

if you haven't seen them, you should see them.

have a happy, joyful weekend!

campaign poster

bauhaus poster (I would think the most well known)

This is why I love the Obama campaign. Check out this poster (ok, from 2008, still relevant!) publicizing his Berlin address. Remind you art students of anything…?
It’s a total Bauhaus tribute.

::::: this might be old news to many of you, but it's my first time seeing it.
yes, sometimes I do live under a rock when it comes to current events:::::

:::::

this ---> poladroid project

it's about time.

shame!!

resolution:::

to quit smoking.
by 2010.
yeah.

2008 round-up::::::

The comments on my last post are amazing. All of you women (and a few men) mean so much to me... I feel privileged to be able to share my life in this creative, unexpected way. And to be involved in all of your sharing, each of your journeys? Is an honor.

As a salute to the new year I am taking an idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Sara from Sarkastic – you post the first sentence from the first post of every month in 2008. I added the image (if there was one) as well.

::::::::::::::::::

February 2008: my first blog entry! So very California, so very cliché.

March 2008: (the last supper)

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

April 2008: i'm thinking of a project for april. any medium, just a project. any ideas?

May 2008:
A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk.

June 2008: June will be my month to try new things...
today's event: I have never before broken my tooth, my phone, and my heart (all by myself) in the span of 24 hours.

July 2008: my last summer as an unemployed, college student bum.

August 2008: [somewhere i have never traveled]

September 2008: I'm alive! but I am with out internet. I will be back to regular posting soon :) hope you all had lovely holidays.

October 2008: Different writing utensils & machines.

November 2008: Good design is not a matter of wealth, much less of the chic, the latest thing.

December 2008:

Pale gold of the walls, gold
of the centers of daisies, yellow roses
pressing from a clear bowl.

my birthday...

...spent with friends.

hope you all are having wonderful weekends :)

a bit more poetry:

my pops used to say this when we whined about curfew...
is it sad that I now wholeheartedly agree?!