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i feel as though the new decemberists cd sounds like an opera or something. all of the songs run into each other and there's a similar sound in each and every one. not sure if it's bad or good. not going to share songs until i've listened to it completely and have more to say on the subject.
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i've been speeding through mansfield park much eagerly than i had anticipated. fanny certainly isn't my favorite of jane austen heroines, but there's something about her i'm consistently rooting for. loving it.
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i am so in love with this typeface. archer was created by hoefler & frere-jones (of course...brilliant artists/designers they are) for...get this...martha stewart living. anyway, it's a gorgeous interpretation of a slab serif and comes in so many pretty, fanciful, always useful weights. i desire it.
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i kind of love martha too and all of her crazy.
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saw joe duffy speak at massart on thursday. i'm trying very hard to decide if it was worth the horrendous commute home. i mean don't get me wrong, i adore his work and learned a lot from his process (or rather...non process), but was it worth two hours in a train that ended up getting stuck one stop away from mine? did i mention the two jabbering small children who kept testing their limits until one finally fell and started screaming? well...i did realize he has the coolest workspace ever. they're literally in ruins of a flour mill in downtown minneapolis. it convinced me that i must go to minneapolis and make my fortune.
that's all for this evening methinks. heading back to cincinnati come saturday, the 21st. in the meantime, i think i'm going to drink a few beers tonight and listen to some music at toad. peace out, kids.
i'm sitting here in cafe luna, supposedly working on my portfolio. i say supposedly because, obviously, i'm not. but the point is, i should be. i actually have a date with my supervisors to present my portfolio to them--meaning i have homework. my mind is a little too jittery right now though, so i thought i'd put some thoughts on paper (proverbial paper?). maybe this way, i can clear it up a little.
i was thinking about co-op and how we all end up in different places with virtually nothing to start with. i came to boston with two suitcases and no expectation--landing in somerville with a married german couple and julia. the summer was fresh in my head but i knew the winter would be a completely different experience--not better, not worse, just different. i have to say, while i think the weather makes for a melancholy setting, i believe bostonians to be much more pleasant this time around. i've found myself in random conversation with plenty of people and despite their outward snobbery, the folks i've met have been sincerely nice. while attempting, once again, to work on my portfolio on thursday, i spent roughly 2 hours talking to this jazz sax player about music and life and how it's funny that we were having an actual conversation instead of depending on technology for socialization. it was incredible and to think it occured in a city famous for being rude astounded me. we left with nothing more than our names and the idea that maybe we'd meet again, but it'd be ok if we didn't because at least we had those two hours.
each time i've been here (each 3 month increment, i mean), my life has taken various different turns. it's a tease, this whole co-op thing. we get so comfortable in different places and then, magically, we're expected to revert to our old lives in cincinnati, pulling all nighters and casually falling into conversation with people who keep changing. not that i'm in any hurry to graduate, but sometimes i like to settle into my life for a minute and wonder what it'd be like if this was really the beginning. what if i lived in cambridge or somerville and this was my life? spending saturday afternoons with a mocha and my work, listening to a live jazz band with berklee grads (and a violin?!), wondering what i'll be doing in 2 hours. being able to hop on the red line just two stops down to grab a drink and listen to some good live music, no cover charge. mingling with musicians (because that's who i seem to acquire as friends when i'm on my own, don't know why) and artists, discussing different perspectives on literature and coffee. i mean, it's always rough in the beginning to get my bearings in a new place, but it's always unfair in the end to just drop it all and move back to the stale rituals of cincinnati. it's like the longer i'm away from there, the more i realize the pains of coming back.
whew, ok. i think my brain has been emptied out a little bit and perhaps i can go back to working on my portfolio. onward, self! onward!
thanks to my musically cultured friend dan, i've been exposed to some amazing music i would've overlooked otherwise. so today i thought i'd share one of the bands that i've been lucky enough to hear--the seedy seeds. amusingly enough, they started because they thought they'd do something, anything, with a slew of instruments each of them had but never learned how to play. so the instrumentation of the band would be almost comical if it wasn't so damn good. layer after layer of different sounds, finished off with poetic lyrical genius, i have to say i'm having a bit of a love affair with this band. initially, i thought they might be a little too much for me, but after a few listens, i couldn't stop. so here, for you general public, i present the seedy seeds--a band hailing from my hometown of cincinnati, ohio.
the seedy seeds :: eponym
the seedy seeds :: grace
that beautiful venetian style courtyard was where i spent a good chunk of my sunday afternoon. cody came for a visit (to ye olde exotic boston) and since sunday was a chilly yet pleasant day, we decided to wander about and find a museum to attend to. i had been meaning to go to the isabella stewart gardner museum since last summer, yet somehow i missed it and i had kind of forgotten about it. but then, with the impending visit of my beloved, i suddenly recalled a place my co-workers had urged me to see. perfect opportunity!
as soon as i walked into this place, it was love at first sight. i had to walk in first to feel that though because the outside (or at least from the entrance we came from) really was not that special. the museum itself is set up as a house and when you walk into each room, the pieces of art are arranged by what looks good, which means an eclectic collection of otherwise unrelated paintings and sculptures. it's incredible to see famous images by raphael and john singer sargent mingling in an unconventional enviroment. honestly it was like you were just walking through someone's home, peering into their private collection of art.
the best part, however, wasn't even the beautiful art or the letters from george washington (and marie antoinette), but the green house courtyard in the middle of the building. orchids and other tropical flora flowed over the sides of this central focal point of the musem. we couldn't actually walk around in the courtyard, but as you can tell from the photo on top, there were some archways with walls you could sit on and admire from. if i lived in this city for a longer period of time, i would definitely invest in a membership and take my sketchbook there from time to time. it's such an inspiring place.
so i adore zooey deschanel and think everyone should too. but even if you don't, you should check out this fun ad for oliver peoples eyewear. it's energetic and engaging and just so colorful! that and i always love when marketing puts together mini movies to sell products. it combines design with cinematic art and makes the idea of selling something so much more than just gathering as many consumers as possible. that and zooey is adorable in it, which is always a plus.
