to be a beekeeper

my brother showed this one to me.
& I liked it a lot!



exams practically over. relaxing week of sitting in my office getting paid to do...hardly anything. then, CHRISTMAS!

boy + balloon

I am feeling tired but happy because netflix has granted me an early christmas wish: they finally added the watch-instantly feature for mac users!

Now excuse me while I crawl into bed with my happy little macbook propped up on my knees and watch this gem of a short film. no time or motivation to type any more tonight.

adieu.

Take Away Shows

I have become a master at multi-tasking and can now successfully and (almost) as productively scan books at work while watching videos on youtube!
So this morning I made a wonderful discovery. That Beirut video I posted the other day is just one in a series of just as amazing videos featuring just as amazing artists!
They are called Take Away Shows orrrr Concerts a Emporter and a new one is posted every week by the same Paris-based film team.

www.blogotheque.net/takeawayshows

I really like how simple they are. Raw. Just one-take of the artists performing the song. At the same time they always include visually interesting settings and camera work. and similar pacing (with endings that trail off after the song and occasional footage of the band or artist bantering amongst one another and setting up.)

Maybe I'm late in the game on this one, but if you haven't done so already--check it out.

A few favorites so far:
Arcade Fire (Neon Bible in an elevator!)
Stephen Malkmus (We Can't Help You---roof/dance classes below!)
Beirut (obviously)
Animal Collective

I actually haven't watched too many yet, though.

Flood Part One

flying turtles. :)

I'm feeling a little worn out. The short days and long nights make me sleepy and unproductive. All I ever want to do is curl up in a blanket and talk or read or watch movies. But I do have ideas for things I want to write about on here. Hopefully I will get to a few of them this week.

I was planning on just ignoring this topic altogether...but after the 10th straight morning of showing up to work and having my co-workers blast the Twilight audio books around the office and talk incessantly about the movie I am feeling a little bit of repressed angst.
This summer I decided to see what all the fuss was about and I read 1 and 1/2 of the books before calling it quits. I have a lot of thoughts on why I think it is just a ridiculous and poorly written series. and maybe I will expand on those sometime.
But today I was just pondering on the reasons that I can't even find some sort of frivolous indulgence in them. (because I CAN find frivolous indulgence in mindless teen literature--believe me! the most embarrassing example being that time in high school I spent 2 weeks reading all of The Princess Diaries books.)
It hit me today that besides the fact that I feel like the writing itself is bad and the characters and plot are shallow--I don't even identify with any of the things that are held up in the book as these greatly coveted ideals.
There is such a strong emphasis on physical beauty, money, style and power. All of these values are sharply embodied by Edward and the other vampires.
and...honestly I have never wanted a dangerous and controlling boyfriend, who is like sooooo hott and sparkly and could crush me in his cold iron grasp and has expensive race cars and a lot of money.
meh...just a thought.

Oldies but Goodies

beautiful zach condon/beirut video that makes me smile:


a cozy little book with cozy little nooks:


another icelandic gem. Kristen shared her with me. I think this mini-documentary is beautiful and inspiring:


I love how she pronounces "olof" like a softer "olive" and not at all like an ugly Count Olof.

p.s. it is my goal to post every day this week even if it is very little writing and mostly sharing.

Day at the Dump

This is a landfill. I went on a tour of one this past weekend and learned all about the way we bury our trash.
We all throw things away every day but it’s pretty surreal to see where “away” actually is. I think I always felt like it just disappeared—the garbage truck came with its noisy claw, jostled the trash from our curbside cans and then it all just blinked conveniently out of existence. Modern systems of convenience have a way of engendering those feelings in people. Obviously, at some level, we know that’s not how it really works, but rarely do we bother to follow every-day life processes to their logical end. We live lives of comfortable in-betweens—rarely concerning ourselves with the beginnings or ends of the things around us. We buy pre-packaged food—poptarts, frozen dinners, canned soups—without giving a second thought to where this food began. Who grew the individual ingredients? How is it that they came together in such handy little packages? And food is just one example: every object, every article of clothing, every commercial good began somewhere. And that which is not directly consumed, or actively used is going to end up somewhere someday. It is only logical. Matter is neither created nor destroyed.

I didn’t realize that such a simple truth could be so jolting. As we hopped out of the jeep and walked out over the vast landfill I kept glancing around at every bottle and every box peeking from the dusty earth, wondering if perhaps my trash and I were experiencing an unexpected reunion. I imagined it all rising from the earth and haunting me like a zombie. The un-dead, the un-disappeared. whispering: I am still here.
It’s an interesting yet eerie thought isn’t it?

Another unexpected feature of the dump was the sheer quantity of birds. Hundreds and hundreds of seagulls crowded the landscape, taking off in a frenzy as our cars approached.
We ran out to greet them—pressed ourselves flat to the ground and lay still in hopes that they would settle back down around us. They didn’t, but we laughed and got our backs dirty and talked about what it feels like to know you are laying atop 80 feet of compacted waste.
Anyways apparently the dump is the hit hangout for food scavenging—those birds really know where it’s at. Our tour guide told us that Stouffers alone hauls in batches of botched noodles by the ton. Every single day. I forget the exact number, but it was mind-boggling to think of that many tons of noodles going to waste on a daily basis.
We dreamed briefly of a Patch-Adams-esque noodle-filled swimming pool experiment. But then we got a good whiff of the rotting noodles and changed our minds.

I am still sorting through my thoughts about the whole experience. Overall it was nice to become more aware of the systems I utilize and depend upon. I am obviously thankful that I live in a place and time where such convenient and efficient services are provided for me—but I also think it’s important not to take them for granted. I think there is value in being conscious of both beginnings and of ends. If we are not conscious, thoughtful, and even critical of the systems we partake in then we will become stuck in a state of stagnancy and decay. There should always be room for positive change. This applies in more than one realm: systems of agriculture, waste removal, energy, politics. It extends to the houses we live in, the clothes we wear, the food we eat.
I am still learning every day, and most of the time I don’t even know where to begin…But it is my hope that we can all try to live a little more deliberately and humanely. Leading lives dictated by love and striving to avoid waste and excess as much as possible.

things currently occupying my thoughts

dreams of one day inhabiting some small friendly corner of the earth...

sea creatures, especially crustaceans and songs about them

nueva cancion! revolution!




fresh meals, with fresh local ingredients.



the edibility of pumpkins.

(They are quite tasty, and can serve to nourish the body rather than only accessorize the doorstep. instead of letting your jack-o-lantern rot away--throw it into a soup! Or a salad! Or a pie! )