Funny and True

Michael Jackson

When I was in the third grade, a friend came up to me and told me about this musician she was "in love with." His name was Michael Jackson, and she showed me a picture. I had never heard of him, and I couldn't understand why she liked him. I would have been 8 at the time, I'm guessing, so I wasn't really into boys yet. Apparently, she was.

A couple of years later, I went over to a friends house after school and saw "The Making of Thriller" on MTV. I had grown up watching shows about the making of movies, but this one was different for me. I remember vividly watching Rick Baker make the werewolf mask for Michael Jackson and thought, "I want to do that!" I think it was the first time I wanted to do something behind the camera rather than in front of it. I credit this show as one of the reasons I studied film in college.

Even though I bought my first and only Michael Jackson album last year (the 25th Anniversary release of Thriller), you could not grow up in the 1980's and early 90's without being inundated with Michael Jackson music, videos, and, sadly, the tabloid news about him. It seems strange that he's gone, but almost fitting that it was so fast and unexpected, kind of like his solo career.

Roald Dahl's Writing Hut

I have always been interested in the workspaces of artists. We Love You So posted an excerpt from an article about whether it was better to write standing, sitting, or lying down, according to several writers, but they also posted this wonderful link to a virtual tour of Roald Dahl's writing hut, which includes clippings and artifacts. It makes me wish I had my own little writing hut, though I'd probably never want to come out of it some days!

If you, too, are interested in workspaces, check out the On My Desk blog for some inspiration.

Another really good tea to try

I bought this tea for myself at the Gateway Market, even though I'm in my thirties and have no kids. I am wary of buying herbal teas, as I've had quite a few that tasted like they were mixed with battery acid or some maple syrup that had gone bad, but I figured if this was aimed at kids, it must be pretty mild. I was right, and it's really good! It smells really sweet, like Strawberry gum, but it tastes very mellow. I think this would be great to give to kids instead of pop or juice, even if you had to add a little honey to it. This is just another reason I love Republic of Tea teas...they should pay me to say that!

The Republic of Tea will donate a dollar for every cannister of their Little Citizens line of tea purchased to Room to Read, an organization promoting education for the children of the world, so it's worth trying.

This video tutorial is inspiring me today

This is a how-to video, but it's actually artistic itself. You're watching someone create something that is then used to create something else. I wish I could draw better.


Stamp Carving from Geninne D. Zlatkis on Vimeo.

C/O Geninne's Art Blog

Is anyone else Tumblr-ing?

I discovered this new service today called Tumblr. It's kind of a hybrid between Twitter and blogging. I found it through another blog, and thought it would be handy to use it like she does, as a place to post things you found on the 'net, stuff that's not worth a whole blog post. I don't know how long I'll stick with it, as I could probably do something on Blogger that's similar. lookieloo.tumblr.com

Has anyone else tried this service? So far, I'm not totally digging the interface.

Wedding Accomplishment: Dress Purchased

As I was running out of time to attempt to make my own dress, and the one I wanted was sold out in white at JCrew, I decided to go shopping with my sisters/bridesmaids on Saturday. I set my deadline as June 1st for choosing something. I walked into the White House/Black Market store and found my dress in about 5 minutes. Leslie picked out the winning number:

Here's a link to it on their website.

The amazing thing is, at this store I was two sizes smaller than predicted. Scary! I'm so relieved to have found something, and so quickly.

Links: Homemade Bubble Bath, "Wild" Blog, Grilled Cheese

I haven't done a links post in a while, but I found a few inspiring/interesting things today, so what the hell...

Some recipes for homemade bubble bath at Real Simple: http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/ask-real-simple/ask-real-simple-make-own-bubble-bath...

 I'm very excited about the movie Where the Wild Things Are, and I really like the new blog set up to explore the things that inspired the movie: http://weloveyouso.com/blog/

After reading this, I wanted to run out and make myself a grilled cheese sandwich, and it was 9 o'clock in the morning: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104057146

The case of the missing bacon...

see more pwn and owned pictures

If Mike Nelson wasn't already married to the lovely Bridget, I think we've found his perfect match in Grand Rapids.

Twitter really IS blogging for people with ADD, plus updates on life

...or short attention spans.

I find it so much easier to "tweet" because you don't have to type a whole meaningful paragraph. I don't think in paragraphs. I think in fragments. Short ones. Some people complain about the 140 character limit. It is rarely a problem for me. I also don't worry about what I'm saying being meaningful or insightful, as it seems to be released into the internet heavens, impermanently. Someone might read it, someone might not, but everyone moves on. A blog is a commitment. It takes more than a second to read. It's more permanent. A blog is like a journal, whereas a tweet is like a random phrase scribbled on a wall. I know you could go and read my twitter page and see all the stupid/profound things I've tweeted, and that they aren't anonymous or ephemeral, but with the feed readers most people use, it just feels that way to me.

For those who are following me on Facebook and were wondering, I'm still sick, though I'm getting better. I had a cold and strep throat in the same week, and that just made my sinus infection insanely bad. I'm on antibiotics for both the strep and sinus infection, but I've still had a 99-100 degree temperature since Tuesday, so I'm healing very slowly. The sore throat went away after less than a day on the drugs, but the sinus infection continues to kick my ass. I'm no longer bedridden, but I'm still a bit dizzy and stuffy. I remarked the other night that I've become a real-life Liz Lemon, going to bed with my humidifier and a heating pad. Glamourous!

I'm behind on my knitting. I was too sick to knit, which really stinks, as knitting is a great sick-bed activity. I've been trying to finish projects that were started long ago, rather than buy more yarn and start new ones. I'm working on a really fun raspberry-red lace shawl (you can see it on my Ravelry page) and the second sock of a pair I started last summer. I've been terribly bad about updating that darn Ravelry page with info and photos, but there's only so much time in the day, what with wedding planning, illnesses, and excessive Twittering...excuses, excuses.

The invitations are supposed to be going out today. That was the first big hurdle to overcome. I'll have to take a snapshot of one, as they're pretty nice. We used a couple of Martha Stewart invitation kits, which cost me less than 200 bucks, including the stamps and paper punches we bought to decorate them. Not too bad. Still need to buy a dress, which I've already picked out, get rings, get the license...yes, the important things. At least we've got the registries pretty much done! Gotta get something out of all this planning, right?

I just started reading French Milk by Lucy Knisley. I'm really enjoying it. I'm surprised at all the negative reviews on Good Reads...I guess "to each his own." It's a lovely little real-time illustrated journal of the 22-year-old author's month with her mother in Paris. The cartoons make me wish I were better at drawing! I already have a journal purchased for my trip to London in August, and I hope I can make time to write in it while I'm there.