"Productivity is overrated"

So say we all!

So you think you can e-mail me? Sure, you can. But you may not hear back for awhile. Or ever. That is why you should seriously consider hitting me up AIM-stylee.

So you say you don't want to download a whole new program and stuff? That is why you should [Fergie voice] check it out!

So now you too can be subject to my every passing thought! (My ID is in my profile here.)

Top Chef sightings

Went to the Mushroom Festival at Kennett, PA, today. http://www.mushroomfestival.org/

I feel like I had heard about this festival when I was at Swarthmore, but when I mentioned to a few Philly people about it, they'd never heard about it! Sadly, the festival felt more like any other street festival (with some of the fried food being made out of mushroom rather than something else) than something that really featured mushrooms.

It did have really good ice cream by a local place--Woodside Farm Creamery. http://www.woodsidefarmcreamery.com/index.htm

I also got to see part of a cooking demo by Ilan Hall and Miguel Morales---of course, I was one of like four people who raised their hands in the filled tent when Miguel asked who in the room had never watched Top Chef. They were both trying very hard to be funny and charming--and sometimes they succeeded. I had to leave to return to Philly before they actually made anything, but Miguel did discuss how to make the dish he was preparing (Monte Cristo sandwich with portabello mushroom caps as bread) vegan, so he got big points for that.

The appeal of fashion

I'm sure many of you saw this article in last weekend's NYT. Reading it made me think of all of you. Plus the writer uses what I think must be one of the most fun words in the English language: flibbertigibbets!

The Hills are Alive....

Sorry, it was a punnecessary evil.

Some of you know that I'm wont to be addicted to certain television shows for the clothes alone. I don't mind a dash of contrived drama, either. Case in point: Sex and the City.

I've come to be addicted to The Hills. Not only is it a "reality" show, it's a spin-off of a reality show. More so, it's a reality spin-off of a reality show that was inspired by a teen drama. I'll give you a moment to sadly shake your heads there. [e l e v a t o r m u s i c]. 'Kay?

So anyhoo, The Hills stars Laguna Beach "grad" Lauren Conrad. Lauren goes to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Hi, Nick-from-Project-Runway-2! Hi! I miss you!), and she interns at Teen Vogue. We see Lauren manage work, school, friendships, and relationships. All the while, she and her friends wear some damn cute clothes. Basically, it's like all the mini-soap-operas I made my Barbies perform, only it's "real" life. You know, I kind of always hoped they'd come alive. The Hills is much less creepy than that would be, though. The show is in its third season (wow! OK, well, they're short), and there's much more buzz around it than ever because of the DRAH. MAH. that happened last season (Machiavellian boyfriends, major friendship upsets, backstabbing gossip - all of which is continuing this season.) Lauren also now has her own clothing line, plus a deal with mark. cosmetics (offshoot of Avon aimed at a younger crowd). It's become MTV's huge new(ish) thing because we all know music doesn't matter anymore...well, unless it's the most au courant single by some up-and-coming warbler that just happens to express the agony and ecstasy of a morning-after-drama brunch at [insert trendy cafe here].

Where is the fascination for me (aside from cute outfits) you say? Well... you'd think that seeing your life on TV would clue you in to some patterns, some leitmotifs perhaps -- but it just doesn't seem to happen. There is a twisted, yet very well-dressed, voyeur in me that enjoys watching this.

The ADD Book Club

This is a list of books I've started but not finished*, in no particular order:

The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor

Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Color by Victoria Finlay

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

... and I think I read one page of A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. It's almost 1500 pages long - I think I have a used copy somewhere.

ETA: The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas

Do you do this, for whatever reason? Do you start books, put them down, and inexplicably not pick them up again? They're not bad, they're not boring -- but somehow, you give them the brush-off? Then you might want to join my club.




*The ones I can remember. This does not include the many quarters and thirds of books I've read in waiting rooms or friends/relatives' houses; or the ones I've been required to read in school but skipped. I wish I could remember all those, but I never write them down.

okey-dokey tokidoki

i couldn't resist. i answered the siren call of the dailycandy.com 30% off online discount for the le sportsac summer tokidoki collection. i got it in the mail yesterday and it's as cute and as satiny as i had imagined it would be.

i plan to use it on my travels. can't exactly find an excuse to use it for work. perhaps for the gym? how can we get some more mileage out of this purchase ladies...money doesn't grow on trees you know! but then again another cliche says that life is short...seize the day. oy vay.

ain't the graphic print cute!

Malarkey!

I am pretty stressed out right now by many things, one being the fact that Blogger has a vendetta against my HTML (sincere apologies for the spacing f'ups on this one), but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the simple pleasures of life, especially those that Bravo offers -- namely, my first reality show crush of the season, Brian Malarkey(!), of Top Chef 3:

I've found that I tend to crush on men who are either (a) arrogantly snarky, (b) scary lonerish types, or my latest favorite (c) brilliant but self-destructive -- or some droolicious combination of any of the above.

Malarkey falls squarely in the (c) category. I am convinced, from his alternating between joyous, affable hype man and maniacal, perspirating, short-circuiting-waitron ... that our Malarkey (I will spare no opportunity to say/write "Malarkey"!) may be either a cokehead or speedfreak. Or both. This is not the first time I've had a crush on a nattily dressed perhaps-drug-addict (the first case being a young attorney who was allegedly a former coke addict, but who charmed me with a rico suave one-on-one title and survey tutorial - yes, you may take a moment to fan yourselves). Malarkey(!) can sculpt the most primordial of sea creatures into a high-end delight, but he'll also use the same skeelz to kill some innocent lipid-challenged senior citizens with deadly and verboten lobster broth.

But such is Malarkey's enthusiasm for the sea. It is one of the many qualities he shares with one of my other favorite TV personalities -- Spongebob Squarepants.

Both have names that are fun to say.
Spongebob!	Malarkey!
Both enjoy oceanic environs.
Spongebob lives in a pineapple, under the sea.	Malarkey works at the Oceanaire Seafood Room (San Diego, CA, big ups to lilbunny), where diners are invited to enjoy the "sea of Ultra-Fresh fish".

Both are extremely enthusiastic about their work, occasionally in a narcotically suspicious way. Please also note the similar eye color of sparkling ocean blue.
They take pride in creating meals from ground-up seafood substances.
Krabby Patty.	Seafood Sausage.
They also take pride in dressing for special occasions.
	He smuggled his suit in under his chef jacket! And look at that flower!
But the underside of enthusiasm is the crash-and-burn....
"Spongebob is as optimistic and earnest as a sea-dwelling sponge gets, but he can't seem to avoid getting himself - and usually everyone else around him - into trouble. While trying too hard, he tends to do things wrong - really wrong - which usually spells disaster." -- Nickelodeon	"Running around in a flop sweat, his eyes rattling around in his skull like pachinko balls.... Brian cracked under pressure and "lost it" so completely that he, too, was lucky to not be tying up his knife roll at show's end." -- Anthony Bourdain

I really hope Malarkey(!) succeeds with Restaurant April tonight. I will be in tears and in need of consolation if he is booted.

ETA: I am sad to report that LL Cool Tre was the one eliminated in this past week's show. He was my pick for the winner, but I'm sure he'll do amazingly well for himself in the real-restaurant world.

I hope that doesn't give you nightmares!

All Spongebob Squarepants images, Nickelodeon. All Brian Malarkey images, Bravo.

What's your favorite violent/horror/action movie?

So there was a recent speaker-phone discussion among some of this blog's participants about violent movies and I feltI'd pay homage to three of my favorite movies ever, all of which address different types of violence in unique ways.

Throw Your Dandias In the A-air...

and wave 'em like you just don't ca-are.

Not as cool as updating live from the event, but I thought you all would get a kick out of it. I just returned from the Garba/Ras event of the wedding I'm attending this weekend - the wedding I've been dreading/anticipating for the past year or so :P

Garba is like a line dance, only in a circle. I tried to follow one round, but really could not. I was sort of pulled in without being taught the steps, though.

Ras (a line dance with pairs, where you hold two decorated sticks [dandias} and hit your partner's sticks in rhythm, then move on down the line) was a little easier to pick up, somehow, even though there were (potentially dangerous) props involved. I even learned something called "12-step", which all the kids were excited about. But by the time my aged curmudgeonly self learned it, the Ras part of the dance was over.

OK, that's all for now. There may or may not be a Part II to this tomorrow. Thank you all for listening to me b!tch and moan about this for the past 9 months or so!

Speak now or be forever subject to my whims...

well, for six months, at least.

Speaking of design - I'll take requests for color combination ideas or visual themes for frillseekers 3.0.

Paint Chips sans Crimping Iron

Watching the horror of Bravo's "Top Design" inspired a false nostalgia in me for HGTV's "Design Star". I say "false" because I've never seen "Design Star" -- I would only read about how much better it was than "Top [of the dumpster] Design". The judges on Bravo's show (one of whom was very fond of the titular crimping iron) made it seem like such random, bitchy dreck (and not the awesome kind like Tyra dishes out on ANTM) that it made the show extremely unpleasant. At least with "Top Chef 2", it was left to the contestants to do that.

But with Vern Yip and Cynthia Rowley (annoyingly named fictional memoirs aside) on the "Design Star" team - how could it suck? OK, OK - I must have said that same thing about Todd Oldham, but I had no idea he'd given up carbs and all the brain cells that died without that precious, precious glucose. Vern Yip was one of my favorite designers from "Trading Spaces", and Cynthia Rowley makes handbags that I salivate over (as well as being a quirky '90s fashion design it-gal whose name brings up lots of real nostalgia for me... of course, ditto for Todd Oldham but let's hope Cynthia's not as robotic).

I have not read any published reviews of the show, but I'm willing to give it a go. Anything to try to get a bit of Tim Gunn-high, even by proxy.

when: July 29, 9.00pm (EST)
where: HGTV


Episodes of the first season are available at the HGTV website. I may love them already for that alone.

Bag lady...

That was my mom's nickname at work for awhile. That is also a brilliant song by Erykah Badu, one of my favorites of hers, actually.

Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that

I know I'm not the first person ever (or here, even, right, starbright oogi? hmm?) to go through what I'll call bangst -- but I figure I'd share mine in the hopes of healing.

This week I got it into my head that I need a new bag. Not just anything, but SOMETHING.So I've decided to use the interwebs to research this thing known as the "it" bag. I don't really want someone else's "it" bag -- I want my own. Not to say that I have not coveted "it" bags in the past.

I mean... it started a few years ago, with my yearning for this:

[amazon.com, bunnyshop.blogspot.com]

... a Marc by Marc Jacobs Stella. Preferably in aqua....or any color except pink. And now I don't even think it's possible to find one easily. Or maybe it's too easy now. Or something. I don't think I could have bought it then, though, and I guess I can't now, even if I could afford it. But it doesn't have the same freshness, anyway. I still love the shape and the straps, but the patch pockets look a little wimpy. I'm not fond of the shiny press-lock thingies either.

Sadly the current MBYMJ styles do not inspire the same lustful feelings in me. Quinn, Faridah and Deborah are a'ight, but somehow... meh?



[nordstroms.com]

OK well actually....kind of hot for that teal Quinn now. Damn.... She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck... I've always been fond of trapezoids. And the buckles on the Deborah straps? *melt*
[Interesting reading: this handy-dandy history and guide to avoiding fakes. ]

More recently, on a shopping jaunt with km, I fell hard for the Chloe Bay bags (below, below). Then I remembered I'd seen the Chloe Paddington (belooow, left) in Bazaar a couple of years ago and felt like it was another high-end bag I could covet in addition to the beloved Stella. And then after some fervent interweb trawling, I discovered the even more expensive Chloe Silverado (belooow, right) and Edith (not pictured) totes.

[net-a-porter.com]

But these bags are all fantasies. Castles in the sky, with chunky hardware. Though I like to pick up a fashion mag or two from time to time, and though I knew that Mischa/Lindsay/Sienna/Nicole/Kate/Kate/Kate were the ones making these bags "it" -- I wasn't really burned out on them. And so I would think of them, constantly, and how shocking it would be if I actually did buy one, because one would cost more than the rest of what I was wearing, all together.

I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold on to
Is you, is you, is you

Well what kind of straps do I hold onto me with? This week I tried to pin it down. I looked up a bunch of "mid-range" "independent" bag lines. I even looked through my backissues of Lucky(bastards) and used the damn "YES!" stickers. [sidebar: I still find it weird to say "bags". They're "purses". But it seems weird to say "purses" because these things are freaking huge. "Pocketbook" is practically Shakespearean - it's like "bodkin" or "varlet".]

As I told lilbunny today, a lot of the thrill in this for me is the sticker shock, and the potential exhilaration of buying something yoooooge like this. But also, it was kind of fun for me to think about what exactly the hell I wanted: to put aside all the Debbie Downer-ism of price and functionality, and think about aesthetics. Now it might seem to you that I do a lot of that -- but I really don't.... Or I guess I don't think about it systematically, so this was new to me. And now that I think of it... probably pretty boring to you. Er, sorry.

I knew I liked bold hardware and a generally rugged-yet-cute look (still talking bags and not boys here). I knew I wanted leather, and a tote, shopper, satchel, maaaaybe a hobo (again - bags, not boys) shape. From perusing various bag blogs and the entertainingly named BagBorrowOrSteal site, I tried to pick out the common denominators (without balking over the math).

I like (not all once):
• rectangular/trapezoidal shapes or slouchy versions thereof;
• pockets on the outside;
• wide, flat straps;
• contrasting topstitching;
• a sprinkling of studs or grommets;
• either glazed leather or the buttery soft super-matte kind;
• a color that's neither black nor brown (favoring grey, blue and yellow right now).

I can do without:
• fringe or lots of tassels;
• ruchingruchingruching;
• quilting or chain (ick);
• any shape that looks "organic" or bodily (ick ICK).

But anyway. Newfangled brands that I like so far:
Kooba. Gustto. Gerard Darel. SHIH by Stephanie Lin. Hayden Harnett. Tano. ANI. Gryson. Aleya NY. Rachel Nasvik. Frye (OK not so new!) Ananas. Tylie Malibu (could I really buy something named that, especially when it's all looking Laguna Beachy?)

I'm told these are the shiz, but I say "whatevs": Anna Corinna, Botkier, Rebecca Minkoff (though her colors are nice).

Bag lady
Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go
Ooh, ooh
Girl you don't need it


I'd like to believe that.

[in other news, we need a new background and template. any suggestions?]

Lucky Bastards

Dear Lucky,

You won me over with ON-TREND and WELL-EDITED -- those were just too, too fabulous and continue to be endless sources of amusement.

You made me gag a little with STATEMENT-Y and VINTAGEY, but again -- I forgive because I realize that other words and phrases ALREADY IN FOTHERMUCKING EXISTENCE *ahem* may be too clunky to use in a given blurb, or too long to fit neatly inside your cute little thumbnail product images which collaborate so well together to create the small multiple layouts that I love.

But you've lost me with WORK-Y.

There's no excuse for it. PROFESSIONAL, TAILORED, CLASSIC, SHARP and, yes, even TWEEDY are sobbing in a corner, and they cannot be consoled. Also sobbing with them? The entire English language.

Also, those pants are suffocating that girl's crotch, and the pleats just add bitchslap to injury.

<3 zuppe

Frillseekers: Live from Central Park

Shall we party with Ozomatli?

Ozomatli
Babylon Circus
DJ Joro Boro
Saturday, June 30, 2007
From 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Central Park SummerStage (free)

"It’s a day of fusing music styles at Summerstage, as a band, a circus, and a DJ sample everything from gypsy folk to Jamaican dub."

What do you think?

Death is Not an Option.

You must choose.








Top Chef's "finest". Later I might add a selection of Top Chef's "passive-aggressivest" for your choosing pleasure.

I finally saw part of S1's Episode 1. There's just something about those Irish men. I know he kind of sucked, but I could listen to him yell about nothing for hours....:






OK, maybe just one hour.

Spread out over small increments.

I vote for Team Season 1 for tonight's showdown!


...So it was as predicted -- Season 1 totally destroyed Season 2. I can't believe how much affection I had for Stephen after the gritty kale that was Season 2. My newest life motto:

"I've been executing this sort of excellence for years now."

Oh Stephen, you slay me with your effortless brilliance.

she makes torture look sexy

this is why jaslene is hot. congrats to her!

i know this is a wee bit of a late congrats for the season ended a few weeks ago but i must say: i'm super happy that Jaslene won America's Next Top Model! her story of overcoming an abusive relationship, getting therapy and getting strong is also quite a nice back story.

hip hip, hooray!













.

Shuffling Sincerity

The Frillseekers love of the Irish has been well-documented and now I add another piece of pop culture to the pile. The movie, "Once", set in Dublin is charming. It's the story of a guy who sings folky songs on the streets and his relationship with a woman who sells flowers and cleans houses, but who is also a musician. I really liked the dynamic between them-- always an undercurrent of sexual tension but also something else. In A.O. Scott's review in the NYT he said, "While there is an evident spark of attraction between them — Ms. Irglova’s teasing directness works beautifully with Mr. Hansard’s shuffling sincerity — “Once” is far from a conventional love story. It is, instead, the story of a creative partnership that develops by chance and that involves a deeper, riskier bond than mere sex ever could."
Any review that has "deeper" and "riskier" in the same line as "sex" already has me sold.

Better late than never?

You guys, I have a lot of random stuff about my attendance to the Unofficial Yet Awesome California Frillseekers Conference that I haven't posted yet. So, I might just post this stuff even though it might be a month (or two) "old". Would that be weird? I just haven't had the patience to deal with computers much lately :/

To keep it entertaining (and themed)....

Here is a cute image I just adore (it's one of those internet memes I was briefly obsessed with learning about):

...and here is a wee preview of the above-mentioned California happenings (image copied from The Imaginary World):

I never trusted the American voters

Tonight there was a miscariage of justice. The "American people" chose Jordin, who is cute and occasionally soulful, and Blake, a beat-boxer who is riding on JT's popularity, over Melinda, the most talented singer and exciting performer on American Idol. It is an obvious point but it makes me sad that people voted for youth and a conventional idea of beauty over talent,experience, and Tina Turneresque sass.

All About Eve

From what I remember, some of you watched All about Eve for a class when we were in college. I just saw it and really enjoyed it. I liked all three female leads (and Marilyn's bit part) and thought that Anne Baxter (Eve) played the conniving ingenue in a perfectly creepy way. I even thought there were some interesting and forward thinking ideas about gender in it, but then I got to the scene where Bette Davis starts talking about what it means to be a woman (i.e. having a man) and I was reminded that it was made in 1950. I especially enjoyed the scenes in New Haven, the place where "shows have 'out of town' openings for New Yorkers who don't really want to get out of town". I am starting to understand the Bette Davis cult following: I loved how brash, ambitious, and stylish she was. What do you remember from the movie?