Inauguration Day! and a birthday shoutout

Download poster HERE

What a great day! This morning I listened to the inauguration from work. I loved his speech, and am just elated and relieved. And tonight I get to celebrate a friend's birthday. In honor of said birthday, here is a visual treat:

Send me a postcard, baby....

Ah, posting yesterday was a bit of a hassle, so I'm going to do two today. Yesterday what was on my mind was vintage postcards. While my friend and I were in San Francisco recently, we really wanted to find some vintage postcards to send home, but, alas, we never found any. Perhaps we should have checked the internet (although I didn't have a ton of luck there either). I did find these gems though, and I have to share:




I even found these from San Francisco and I think they're great. I love the colors.



I'm going to an antique expo this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to find some there. I have some projects in mind that include old postcards :)

I was, aptly, listening to The Postal Service.

20's Costuming

I love love love Art Deco and Nouveau, I love simple images mixed with borders and flowers, right angles mixed with swirly lines. I love the color palettes. I am also a fan of fashion and costume illustrations. Well, today, I found George Barbier. Here are some of his works:






Love.

I'm listening to Zoe Boekbinder because I like her.

Otters and Oddities

I love the work of Carson Ellis because it is often whimsical, recalls a grittier past, and integrates nature and "modern" life in a way that is both fun and folksy.

Speaking of Carson Ellis, the Decemberists have a new album coming out on March 24 called the Hazards of Love. (also, I'm tickled by their new song Valerie Plame--not on the album).

New Reading

About to start reading this, which excites me.




When I have more time, I'll post some pictures of my weekend in San Francisco.

Listening to Okkervil River today.

Lovely Lace

I adore lace. I often say that I would cover myself, my apartment, everything I own in lace if I could. I think that is why I had such a connected reaction to these gorgeous photos by Carl Kleiner :





And there are so many more. Many of his photos make my breath catch in my throat. I especially like the "Girls Night Out" group. Beautiful.

Today I'm listening to Laura Gibson. Her voice is so lovely, and it helps that she's a fellow Oregonian ;) I really like her collaboration with The Portland Cello Project.
*sigh*

I've recently rediscovered Charley Harper, and I'm so glad.






His work is so minimal, colorful and arresting. He did a lot of covers for Ford Times, and I'd really like to own some.

Today I'm listing to Karen Dalton, and she is perfect for my mood. I cannot get enough of her voice right now. ♥

A City After My Own Heart

Now, this just made my little dorky heart so happy.



Then I learned it's an actual crossword, and I almost swooned:

People of Lvov city in Ukraine decided to add another attraction for the visitors of their city. According to the artistic project it was decided to place a giant 100 feet (30 meters) tall at the wall of the one of the multi-stored residential houses. There is one interesting detail about the design of the puzzle. It looks like an empty puzzle during the day-light, but at night when special lights are on the words in the puzzle become visible with a lightly-glowing fluorescent color. The questions for this crossword puzzle are located in different point of interests of the city, like monuments, theaters, fountains etc. So people while walking around the city can try to answer the questions and writing down the answers. When the night comes to the city they can meet at this house and check their degree of intelligence.

Today I'm listening to Garotas Suecas.

Stuff I Like: Phase 1

I'm having trouble keeping up with/remembering all the things I hear about that I like or want to look into. So, I decided I might sort of collect them here. Beginning the project, we have Steam Punk, which a friend of mine told me about and I recently followed a random link to this, which I am dying to make:



However, it looks rather complicated

Fashion-wise, Steam Punk looks like this, and it is right up my geeky alley:



Also, Andrew Bird's new album is out Jan 20, but streaming in it's entirety on NPR.

Neglectful Caretaker, that's me.

'Tis the season to be too busy to blog. It's been forever, but I'm working through some ideas for 2009 that will (I hope) will give this thing some focus and will give me a reason to keep it up. I've learned one thing about myself lately: I am a neglectful caretaker. This has also underscored my feeling that I should never own a pet. (Catsitting, while fun, is not my forte and I hope is over soon). Next time, maybe they should try calling these people instead: