Category: Culture
Fridaaaaay! Links
We were supposed to be in North Carolina this weekend, but we monkeyed with the baby’s schedule too much the last couple of weeks, triggering an unpleasant “NO!NO!NOWAY!BURNITALLDOWN!” phase. We decided sad-little-baby and incessant-screaming air travel was not our jam.
Fortunately, our friends just returned from a year-long around the world trip and are flying in from Oregon, so this weekend we’ll demand vacation slides over hot toddies. Sunday is bacon and fried potatoes with old friends while our toddlers play adjacently. Our friend Nelson is also having a thirtieth birthday, and directing his first film this year! So we’re pretty excited for him.
Good stuff I found this week:
Marshmallows blooming to Dixieland Jazz!
Are you a Creative Business Lady who should own this vintage suit with bonkers fluffy collar? Probably.
I have decided to call this Weed Hooters via kottke
Sweet sneakers and snow boots.
I just ordered my first month of vitamins from Care/of. They send you individualized daily packs of vitamins, and this is exciting because I take many vitamins. Collating them every day in the presence of a curious toddler is the Russian Roulette of Lysine overdose scenarios.
Good mom skill to have up your sleeve.
This Tiffany Interlocking Bangle is so ’70s Jackie Kennedy.
How Iceland Got Teens to Say No to Drugs
The Finnish have a word for getting drunk at home, alone, in your underwear. Americans call it Valentine’s Day.
Have a happy weekend! Turn your eyes from the news for a few hours, my friends.
Fridaaaay! Links
Oof. Guys. These last couple weeks have been so intense. This weekend we’re taking a brief break from grinding our teeth to do as little as possible. We’ll play with the baby Saturday, then maybe hit up the Alameda Flea Sunday and get some kettle corn for the big game. How are you holding up? Here’s some good stuff I’ve been seeing around.
This Missy Elliot video is beautiful. You can feel her brain all over it.
I want this Toi et Moi ring. Moi’s! Aaaaaall moi’s.
Jen Brea’s Unrest premiered at Sundance! BOOM. It’s a film about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and the stigma surrounding the disease. If you’re attending SxSW, there will be a screening there as well. Please go see.
These glass carafes by Anna Karlin Studios are so colorful and simple. via Cool Hunting
I waited to buy an electric tea kettle until I could find one that looked like a real kettle. This is the only other one I’ve seen in years, and it’s on sale.
An Open Letter From That One Guy Who Organized 3.5 Million Illegal Voters
“As Donald Trump has noted, we only wanted to have votes illegally cast in California and New York, because those were the states where a massive voting fraud scheme would matter the very least.”
As Einstein once said…
A device that turns compostable items into fertilizer in 24 hours.
My friend Erin Loechner has a new book out called Chasing Slow. Congrats, Erin!
Also, I pinned a bunch of stuff. Mostly old stuff I found on Etsy and bathroom design ideas, because I need to gut two bathrooms in the new place. That’s a lotta tile.
HAPPY
The shirt that says, “My soul has only had access to one facial expression since puberty.”
A Case for the Cheapie Carry On Bag
Preggo flashback to me with a random rolly bag.
Do you have a carry-on suitcase you love? I’ve spent hours researching the perfect bag: reading posts by seasoned travelers, watching You Tube videos about luggage, obsessing over the latest collaboration. Nothing ever seems just right for me.
So here’s the plan I’ve settled on as a frequent traveler and educated consumer:
Buy a bag with a single compartment.
It doesn’t have to charge your phone, or have a locking compartment for your valuables, or a place for your suit. Find a carry-on sized suitcase on sale, and then check for:
– Zippers with sturdy pulls that slide easily,
– Wheels that seem sturdy and roll smoothly.
– Handles or something baggage handlers can grab quickly on three sides.
And then buy the sucker. What makes the bag useful is how you pack it. Buying internal compartments separately, and assuming you’ll need to replace the exterior bag every few years, makes good sense.
Here’s how I subdivide a typical carryon:
– Two large packing cubes filled with rolled clothing. We have a different color set for each family member.
– One small packing cube for underwear, socks, PJs, and accessories like scarves.
– A rectangular dopp kitt.
– Shoe bags for my shoes (or you can put disposable shower caps over them)
I also pack three empty bags:
– A checkable duffle for purchases.
– A large mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes.
– A small mesh lingerie bag for packing wet swimsuits.
– A nylon travel purse.
If you buy an inexpensive, but sturdy bag, you won’t mind when it inevitably gets stained or scuffed because you were forced to gate check. You won’t be furious when you have to get wheels or zippers replaced because you paid too much to have the bag break so easily. You won’t suffer buyer’s remorse because one of the pockets isn’t the perfect size for your niche use. And you won’t attract attention to your blingy bag when ne’erdowells are looking on.
Buy a cheap, basic bag, and let each scuff feel as good as a passport stamp.
Art-World Petty
Art World pettiness is so labor intensive. Artists don’t just talk shit to shame you, they spend a year or two creating something that shames you.
Case in point: A few years ago, Artist Anish Kapoor went a little Sméagol and secured exclusive rights to a pigment dubbed Vantablack. It’s said to be the “blackest black” material available, and it’s his, aaaaall his.
This provoked Artist Stuart Semple, who responded by creating this:
It’s called Pinkest Pink, and you can have some for about five bucks. That is, unless you’re Anish Kapoor. Semple’s shop prohibits procurement by Kapoor or an agent thereof.
The pink pigment sold out almost immediately, and while he was manufacturing more, Semple also developed Diamond Dust.
It’s the glitteriest glitter known to man. Or rather, known to all but that one man.
Fridaaaaaay! Links
This long weekend is a friend’s murder-mystery birthday party where I’m a trashy nogoodnik* and Brad is a trumpet player. Later, we’re attending a birthday where the host wants us to bring items to help compile care packages for people in need. Isn’t that nice? I think so too. Also a trip to the zoo, meeting a friend’s new beau in wine country, and so much laundry. So very much. Some nice links I saved for you:
The best podcast of all is My Favorite Murder. Do you listen to this? It’s not for everyone, but it’s probably for you, because you’re here reading this website so we sometimes like the same stuff. Bonus, the hosts are two ladies! Muuuuuuurdeeeeerr.
Dear person adding monsters to thrift store paintings, let’s hang out.
Did I ever make you listen to young Adele singing Sam Cooke? Do it! Or do it again! Gah. So good.
What are these flowers?! And when can I get them at Trader Joes? The world is ripe with crazy stuff that only rich people can access, until they figure out how to make the things more portable. Bring to me the monster mums, Economy.
Oh Happy Day did a sound reference post on how to hang party decorations. Useful.
Scott Weaver spent thirty-seven years building a toothpick sculpture of San Francisco. On exhibit at the Exploratorium.
As more states legalize, weed subscription boxes are popping up everywhere. See aforementioned point regarding portability.
Elisa Chavez’s poem “Revenge.” (via Kottke)
Attending the San Francisco Women’s March like. I hope you come too.
*Note to entrepreneurs: trashynogoodnik.com is available. I’m as surprised as you.
Dinosaur Feathers!
“This is the first time that skeletal material from a dinosaur has been found in amber.”
Solid Copy in the Wild
“Employees and customers, wash your hands. Don’t be gross.” – Bathroom sign at The Mill
Fridaaaaay, Links!
I used to fantasize about finding a subsidy to paint all the Oakland homes along the BART tracks. Look at what street-artist group German Crew did to the white houses pictured above.
Pretty Poison is “backyard-inspired” warehouse bar in Bali, with an empty pool for skateboarders.
Fall! It’s super-chunky knit blanket weather.
I found perfect velvet shoes that are too expensive for me, and too small for me. Do you need velvet shoes?
A pretty present for the friend you’ll want to have around when you’re an old person.
A giant moon balloon blew away and rolled through the streets of China.
This solar-powered graffiti is so pleasant.
Mighty Girl 