oh, yoko

yoko ono is fucking amazing and i don't care what anyone has to say about it. this woman has a brain of her own and it works in the most unique and respectable ways. I love how she re-enacted her 1965 "Cut Piece" performance art in 2003. It just shows that age and whatever else that she has been thru has not stopped her from creating not only art but creating discussion. Whether you understand this or not, it causes discussion. So, discuss amongstyaselves.

badly drawn boy

I started really getting into music when I was probably in 7th/8th grade. It started off by ditching the Ashanti & Ja Rule CDs and whatever I was seeing on TRL/what my classmates liked. I remember buying a New Found Glory CD and then it just went from there. Obviously, I think my taste has gotten a bit better since NFG days (~lol~) but those were the days that I was subconsciously starved for something. Music filled that void and has ever since.

One of my favorite all time movies is About A Boy, which is a movie that came out around this time of me being 14 years old. The entire soundtrack is done by Badly Drawn Boy, who has remained one of my favorite artists. I don't listen to him all that much but when I do, I'm naturally transported back to certain memories.

"The Hour of the Bewilderbeast" is a great album that reminds me of the winter of my freshman year in high school. The song "Everybody Stalking" reminds me of having my 'heart broken' the first time by some boy that lived over by Hwy 36 and had a crazy family life. He didn't go to my high school and I was so 'in like' with him, his green hair (or was it pink? i don't remember.) his Weezer obsession and his crazy stories of having a father who died of a heroin overdose. Many nights talking on AIM into the wee morning hours and I'd always listen to Badly Drawn Boy. He told me weeks later to basically fuck off (in a nice way, i think, i don't remember) and I was devastated. It was that whole new experience of what a 'heart break' felt like. That hole in the stomach, sinking rejected feeling we all know by now but the first time is always the weirdest. At least I had a cool soundtrack.

i was tamed by rock and roll, i got my name by rock and roll

have you heard the news? i'm a Wilco fan. Oh, right, you know that shit already. It's been awhile since I've done a Jeff Tweedy fan girl post so here it is.

Everyone listen to the song "Sunken Treasure" by Wilco. I'd post a video but there are none available on youtube except the live versions. Like any good music fan, I have certain moods to go with my favorite band's specific albums. Calm, reflective, maybe even sulking/dramatic moods, or when I pretend to be angst -y somewhere where no one knows me (like waiting to get on a plane at an airport! yeah!), i listen to the album Being There. Specifically this song "Sunken Treasure", because it's calming and dark but beautiful. The last couple words of the song & the way Jeff sings it gives me goosebumps. I've heard people say that Wilco is boring and Jeff Tweedy is boring, blah blah blah. Everyone can go float away on an opinion spaceship to mars and leave me HERE on Wilco earth.

natalie wood

I watched Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice last night for the first time which i LOVED. I realized how beautiful and magnetic Natalie Wood was. Vintage girl crush.

do you have almost $3,000 just sitting around and you just dont even know what to do with it? okay well buy this Matthew Williamson dress. There. Problem solved.

eyebrow crushes

as I grow older (oh, so older. twenty two. someone get the hook, i'm outdated), I'm learning to embrace things about myself that I always hated. In fact, I'm starting to actually like most of the things I hated about me (most, not all. it's a JouRnEy). For instance, the eyebrow thing. I spent most of my teen years up until recently obsessing over not having bushy eyebrows/getting them waxed/over tweezing/you name it. For the first time, I haven't done a god damn thing to them in about 2 months. Sure they need some upkeep here and there once I venture into Peter Gallagher/Martin Scorsese territory, and trust me I'm a frequent visitor of that territory. But the point is that women need to learn to just let their appearance flow. Not to say that you should let it go, just let it flow. That sounds incredibly preachy and corny but I feel it's necessary to say. There are too many voices out there telling us otherwise.

I feel that eyebrows are one of those things that women are constantly 'taming' and obsessing over due to the fact that there is a certain image of perfection out there that we "have" to be one type of look. Not to mention, it's pretty painful and expensive. I mean, hello, that's not news. There is an image that women strive to be and forget to embrace what they were born to be, what they're born to look like, or essentially what they just feel comfortable being. Instead of wasting 10 dollars every other week on fixing something on my face that has a mind of it's own since I've come out of my mother's womb, I've let it just happen. I've saved money, time and I feel like it's step one to just being comfortable with what I've got.

It's definitely a bit of a confusing thing when my career dreams are, in a nut shell, selling an idea to society in order to make a profit. I guess 'textbook definition' would be that, but it's not 100% true. I think that advertising, the media, fashion, etc. does a fantastic job selling an idea of perfection to millions of women (and men) to tell them what they "have" to be to be beautiful and successful. My take on that is that it's a good thing if you have the right mentality. Seeing beautiful images of products and services out there that can 'better' your life is a positive thing when you know that your life will only be better if you do it yourself, and that cool clothing and products will just add to that. Taking the media noise out there and running with it in a positive way, adding to your already stable life is a good thing. That's why I like marketing, advertising and fashion. That's why I defend it. However, you've got nothing if you can't just like yourself first.

Now i'm starting this thing where I have "eyebrow crushes" on girls with fantastic brows that are just natural and bushy and cool. Enough with the tiny over tweezed trampy eyebrows. But hey, if that's what you're born with, (doubt it) then cool. Obviously Ali McGraw is an eyebrow icon. Observe her photos above.

I never leave comments open but I'm going to right now because I want to know what is one thing that you've always obsessed over/hated about yourself that you're growing to love/trying to learn to love? comment and tell me!

riot grrrl

for my 3D design class, i'm doing my project based on the riot grrrl movement in the early 90's. for the project, we're supposed to do four things: create a character, write a quick story explaining their world/their lives (past, present or future) and their environment, create a piece of wearable art that would fit that character and their culture/surroundings, use rhythm and repetition in the design & come up with a song to represent the design. Um, hello, of course I chose something 90's oriented because a: 90's era grunge/alternative/post punk is almost all I listen to so..hello. b: i'm a fashion major, so I got butterflies at the chance to make another garment (I created one already this quarter which was so fun as usual) and b: I needed to incorporate flannel somehow.

the more I researched my concept, the more I was lead to the idea of Riot Grrl which is something I love to read about anyway. If you don't know anything about Riot Grrrl, go over here to read the manifesto & do yourself a favor and google it. It's extremely interesting, especially if you're a woman who loves music, and it's a fantastic way of thinking/living. Girls can do whatever they set their minds to and be who they want, play guitars, beat the shit out of people, scream and yell, do things themselves and be apart of the 'boys club' of music without having to sacrifice feeling proud about their gender. Because of this movement, going to shows and loving 'harder' music and at the same time associating yourself with other women who feel this way is an empowering thing. It's just something I love reading up on, especially because it's one of the last real feminist movements that I can really think of that wasn't something relating to abortion/sexuality directly. It was more about a lifestyle of music, art, and DIY.

So it's on the brain lately. The dress is looking exactly the way I want it to look and my concept board is making me so fucking happy to look at. Basically, I made this project for the girl I wish I was in 1992.