Movies of Myself

She's up all night 'til the sun.

Hey guys, I've got a few cool things for you to look at and listen to. Anything to get through this week, ya know:

Healthy - Emily Gordon is one of my favorite podcasters and writers. With her husband, Kumail Nanjiani, she hosts The Indoor Kids, and I'm a big fan even though I don't play a lot of video games. Emily was also formerly a family and couples counselor, so she always has insightful things to say about a number of topics. I'm really enjoying her tumblr and this brief piece on eating and dieting really struck home with me.

The 3 Agonizing Stages Between Talk-Show Pilot and Talk Show - You guys know how much I adore comedian Pete Holmes, who's slated to star soon in a late, late night talk show following Conan on TBS. I agonized along with him as he was awaiting word on whether he was going to get the show. His podcast is so personal that in a very short time I've become deeply invested in his success and happiness. That's why it's cool to hear in his own words what was going through his head before he got the good news. 

Man spends life saving to win stuffed animal - And it's a banana with rasta hair, you guys!

Martha Stewart's match.com profile - I can't believe she actually did this, but I guess Martha needs love, too.

Get Lucky (Radio Edit) [feat. Pharrell Williams] - Daft Punk

Keep Cool feat. Shaggy & Wynter Gordon - Major Lazer

Despair - Yeah Yeah Yeahs 

Holy Roller - Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

Grab Bag

Things I've been watching and reading and enjoying this week:

           News anchor fails. It's mostly people saying "dick" on accident, but it's still darn funny.

• "For Chinese Women, Marriage Depends on Right 'Bride Price'" - NPR looks at how the One-Child Rule has allowed women to be more selective in the marriage process. My favorite part is the end, where an expecting couple hopes they have a baby girl. 

• Trader Joe's Cinnamon Apple Snack Sticks - like a light, crispy churro with a hint of apple. Yes, that's as amazing as it sounds. 

• 6,297 Chinese restaurants and hungry for more - A very cool article about an L.A. attorney who has eaten at almost every Chinese restaurant in the Southland (and quite a few beyond). At one point he ate at 300 new restaurants a year.

• What's Your Favorite Super-Cheap Beauty Product - I'm a sucker for a good deal and this gives me a lot of hints and tips. P.s. the glory of this post is all in the comments.

At The Movies

Today I was sitting alone in my car in a parking lot crying.

Crying, because I saw that Roger Ebert had died after a protracted and painful few years dealing with a couple of different cancers and their treatments. I felt a relief for him because it must have been difficult and frsutrating for him these last years, but I also felt a deep and overwhelming sadness because the world does not have many minds like Roger Ebert and so the world will not be the same without him. 

I didn't see a lot of movies when I was young, but every week I watched Siskel and Ebert like it was my job. I loved to hear them analyzing and arguing about the films. It was as fun as watching a movie. I remember watching the tribute episode that Ebert put together after Gene's Siskels death from complications after brain surgery. I was as bereaved that afternoon as I am today. 

I watched At the Movies on and off in the ensuing years, but of course it was never quite the same. I didn't start to appreciate Roger Ebert's intelligence and humor again until I read his 2010 blog post about how much he missed eating and connecting with people over meals. After that I read his journal avidly. It was always heartfelt and thought-provoking and often it was incredibly moving. Even after watching him on TV for more than two decades, Roger Ebert's greatest legacy in my mind will probably be the incredibly beautiful tribute to his wife that he penned last year.

Roger Ebert shaped and changed the way I looked at film. You could dissect the different layers and pieces of a movie like you do in film class, and that was good. You could react to a movie emotionally and spontaneously, and that was good too. But you could also think about what a movie says about life, whether it be your own small existence or the big world waiting for us out there. Doing that might change your opinion of the film (or the book, album, dance, etc. - it applies to all arts) and doing that might alter how you see everything. That's what I learned at the movies.

Blog Stuff

Hey you guys, I'm using Bloglovin' now: Follow Movies of Myself on Bloglovin

My friend Erin introduced me to it, and it's my favorite Google Reader replacement so far. It's not quite as pretty or as versatile as Feedly, but I made the mistake of migrating all my Google Reader data over to Feedly and it's such a pain in the butt to organize the feeds. It's not unlike the excruciating process of editing Facebook friends, and ain't nobody got time for that.

I like the simplicity of previewing feeds on Bloglovin, and I like the clean layout which lets me grasp immediately whether I want to read more of an article or not. I really do hope they add more reading options in the future. I'd love to be able to view my friends' full posts on the site!

Does anyone else have a good aggregator that you're using?

Also That Spring Has Sprung

Some new favorites for this week:

• Mini Cinnamon Churros cereal for that cinnamony-sugar goodness that doesn't melt into a goo pile when it gets within five freet of a milk carton. See ya, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I wouldn't want to be ya. I don't mean to hate, because CTC is my long-time love, but why you got to be slimin' like that??

• This piece from one of my favorite tumblrs. Please, gods of the internet, let me brain generate thoughts like this again and let me articulate them half so well.

• Veronica. Mars. Movie. To say I cannot wait is a cavernous understatement that makes the Grand Canyon look like the crack that you stepped on to break your mama's back. I want massive amounts of Logan Echolls. That is all. 

• Chicken Suit Guy Lego Minifig. Also the bios for every one of the other minifigs.

• The new Telekinesis album, Dormarion. Absolutely smokin' hot. Instant love.

Dark To Light - Telekinesis 

Empathetic People - Telekinesis

• New post-wedding haircut. Feels good, man.

I'ma Ball Til The Day I Fall

It's almost the freakin weekend, babies. That made me so happy until we remembered that Patrick has a three day work conference to attend in San Francisco. Luckily, my sister is sweet enough to take the train down from Davis this evening to help me with unfinished wedding tasks and also to take care of some much-needed eating and TV watching. Good times will be had! Hope you all have a great weekend planned, too.

Good Kush & Alcohol (Bitches Love Me) - Lil' Wayne feat. Drake & Future

Maybe It Wil Be The Year I Danced and Danced

I like to give years grand theme names, though it's almost impossible to do until after they're over. 

For instance, 2010 was the Year of Magical Thinking. 2011 was the Move-In Year. And 2012 was my Early Mid-Life Crisis Year. It was also the Year R. Kelly Saved Christmas, but that's another story.

I wonder, though, if it wouldn't be better to name these years beforehand. Maybe it would help influence the year in an upwardly-mobile positive way. Perhaps I'll call 2013 The Year I Learned Calligraphy. I'm hoping it turns out to be The Year of Many Books Read. And of course I'm betting it will be The Best First Year of Marriage Ever. 

What about you? What theme will your year have?

I'm also going to try wearing more kerchiefs.

Over the past month I have developed a slowly escalating case of (gasp!) dandruff. It is so unexpected and so gross, but since approximately 1/3 of the world has dandruff I suspect a lot of you know how degraded I'm feeling. The only other time I've dealt with dandruff was a brief period in high school. I don't remember what I did to get rid of it. Probably drank Selsun Blue or something. I just chalked it up as another disgusting symptom of growing up and was relieved when it disappeared.

Luckily it's not an itchy dry scalp, so its discomfort is purely psychological. I am getting rather self-conscious of it because my hair is so dark, and I'm constantly picking over my hair with a literal fine-tooth comb anyways, looking for grey strands, so I've been able to witness the daily escalation of my condition. 

I'm trying to figure out why this developed and I'm trying a number of natural remedies to burn this skin devil out of my scalp. In the meantime, I've decided to only hang out with people who are shorter than I am, and hope they don't stand on any ladders while they're talking to me. I'm 5' 5" so that only eliminates about three quarters of the people I know! 

Related articles

How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?

Treating a Dry Flaky Scalp

home remedies for dandruff

Doing and Not Doing

I was just sent into a mini shame spiral of anxiety and self-loathing because I just saw my design idol tweet that she's home on a Friday night working on beautiful new hand-lettered projects, while I frittered half the day away thinking about cookies and books that I want to buy and wondering how radical it would be if I spent ALL of Sunday in bed (with a book and cookies). Sometimes I hate the internet.  

Nablopomo: Mission Complete

11/30 - What has been the hardest part about blogging daily?

The hardest thing is exactly what you'd guess: doing it EVERY DAMN DAY. 

Because to be perfectly honest there were many days when I really, truly didn't feel like posting anything. Luckily most of those days occurred near the end of the month and I could guilt myself into posting each day because I was so close to finishing the goal. It irks me that I posted junky or lame stuff quite a few times simply because it was 11:00 p.m. and I had to rush and throw up something, anything.

This past week was especially tough. I've been working fourteen hours a day and I've also been in the throes of some family turmoil. I actually started to write about it all several times and I probably could've written volume upon angsty volume, but I'm glad I didn't. I need time to really sort through all my emotions and reactions in private first, but in the meantime it was a definite struggle to find other things to discuss.

I guess that's what I've come away with the last couple of months: putting more thought into what I say here. I'd like to bump the quality of my posts and my writing up again. I want to share projects and products that I think are SO cool. I want to share stories and music that move me. I want to do it with heart and with intent and put more than a few mintues of thought into it. It's time to dust this baby off and see what she can do. 

 

What a Week

Things I am obsessed with this week:

• Sourdough bread - Did you know that sourdough toast is a comfort food, because believe me, IT IS.

• Pixar short films - They played a couple of hours of them on the Disney Channel the other day and they were all crazy delightful, especially the Toy Story-related ones.

• Stand-up comedy - All I want to do lately is listen to stand up comedians, read their tweets and listen to their podcasts. I am incredibly excited that we have tickets to a live taping of You Made It Weird up at Cobb's comedy club this Sunday. I do not have time to be traipsing up to San Francisco right now, but I am not missing this!

• Christmas cookies, Christmas cookies, Christmas cookies!

• The "Twelve Days of Christmas" - I get obsessed with this song every year. I need to get a PhD. in this song.

• • ˚ •˛•˚ * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
• • ˚no one★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
• •。★likes you!!!★ 。* • ˚。
  ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ *__Π____*。*˚
  ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
  ˚˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚

• Getting through this week at all - It's been utter poop and I can't wait for it to be done. It's such a crap week that watching The Nightmare Before Christmas earlier gave me a wicked anxiety attack. Jack, why'd you have to try and take over Christmas?? Here's hoping that next week is better! 

Election 2012

11/5- What are your thoughts about tomorrow's election in the United States?

Basically this:

We are excited for the election and anxious to see what happens. We have hope.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

My new favorite podcast lately has been PRI's To The Best of Our Knowledge. It combines good storytelling with good expository journalism, and it's a great listen for fans of This American Life, Storycorps and Fresh Air. Each segment of TTBOOK is varied, interesting and captivating, even during the weeks where I'm not super excited about the topic. 

One of their best recent episodes was about tattoos. It was moving and it made me think a lot about why people get tattoos and why I got my own. I won't lie, it kind of made me want to get a new tattoo. Soon perhaps. The time doesn't seem quite right yet.

Busted

Yes, we went to the Mythbusters exhibit at the Tech Museum today and yes, we had a pretty cool time. They had lots of the actual props and tools used in the filming of the show and we had a chance to test a few myths out ourselves, including the blindfolded driving and the one where a plane takes off from a conveyor belt. 

Patrick even took part in a Mythbusting during a special onstage show.

 

He had the fastest reaction out of these volunteers to a sound cue, and got to put on a big pink puffer jacket and a welder's mask and dodge paintball bullets from behind a shield while they were shot crazy fast at him. Pretty cool!

Same Love

You guys, I know I've been posting too many videos lately, and no one hates that more than me. But this one is really important:

Not only is this new Macklemore and Ryan Lewis completely awesome and such good listening, it is vitally socially important and makes me proud to be a rap and hip hop fan. This beautifully moving video tells a sweet story for marriage equality, though I look forward to the day when we don't have to tell these stories anymore, because they'll be so commonplace and normal.

When everyone else
Is more comfortable
Remaining voiceless,
Rather than fighting for humans
That have had their rights stolen.
I might not be the same
But that's not important.
No freedom 'til we're equal.
Damn right I support it.

Grab Bag

• My mom asked me today if I'd seen Gangnam Style yet.

• I like Cherry Coke Zero. A lot.

• I'm making a super extra supreme effort lately to be nice to cashiers, waitstaff, service workers, anyone who helps me. I am just compelled to do this lately and be as friendly as I can be.

• My dad is super determined that I drive a shiny, souped up 1937 vintage cherry red Ford mini truck to my wedding and I'm actually kinda into the idea.

• Sometimes I like to send voice texts to my sister and the other day I said "Patrick" and the phone typed it out as "fat chicks" and every time I think about this I laugh til I am crying.

• I'm really not into ice cream anymore and that really upsets me.

• My mom and I did a Google+ hangout with my sister today. My sister was in her dorm room. It would've been just as touching as that Jess and her widower Dad Google Hangout t.v. commercial except that 15 minutes in my mom announced, "okay, we've got nothing else to talk about."

Body Talk

I'm sure some of you have seen this video going around of a Wisconsin News Anchor responding on air to a viewer email criticizing her weight. I was very deeply affected by this video. Not just because of body issues and what they mean, especially to women, but also because of the absolutely crucial point she makes that the judgements we cast on people and how we voice these opinions, end up affecting everyone around us, especially children. I hope I can remember to keep myself from being so careless and I sincerely hope I can try to keep from being mean, catty and cruel. It's one thing to discuss health and fitness realistically, it's another thing entirely to say that someone is a bad person just based on how they look.

Things I worry about:

• I'm reading too many murder books again.

• Strangers everywhere I go can either read lips or have a bionic ear so they'll be able to know everything I'm saying, even if I whisper.

• If I have kids, they'll look weird.

• I won't ever find a place to live where I feel like I belong.

• Patrick drinks too much diet soda.

• I could've written a really great book - if I wasn't so lazy.

• I like pork rinds too much.

If it ain't broke, nuh bruk it.

Latest obsession: this "Jamaican Glossary". I have no real idea how accurate it is, or if it's laughably hokey or out-of-date, but I am horrifyingly captivated by it. Look pon mi bling.

Bonus, also vaguely offensive, obsession: the commercial for a product called "Forearm Forklift". 

Don't lift people at all.

Tell Me All Your Politik

Before last night, I was close to giving up on this election. I've been donating what I can to Democratic organizations and I'm still passionately and vehemently opposed to almost the entire Republican platform, but to be honest, my faith in this country was waning quickly. I watched the speeches peppered with lies during the RNC and literally felt ill. Politics was all name-calling and partisanship and I was so tired of it. I told Patrick that I didn't know if there was an American leader who could lead us out of the pit. 

And then last night Bill Clinton stepped on stage in Charlotte, North Carolina. And he said all the things that we had been thinking and no one would say. And he did it in the friendly, clever, accessible, genius way that only Bill Clinton could do. He absoutely killed it. He was godlike. 

I hope that you all were able to hear it. He spoke for over 45 minutes, but I probably could have listened to him for twice as long. A great fog was lifted. I came away from Bill Clinton's speech feeling like this:

I have not given up on President Obama and I care more about his re-election than ever. He cares about the things that I care about and I him to have the next four years. We can't forget that the Republicans are just as determined and they've got pocketfuls of money and voter suppression zeal to work with, too. Please register to vote if you haven't done so already. It comes down to the next two months. Let's do this, guys.

Like O

I got an email from iTunes this morning reminding me that my subscription to "O, The Oprah Magazine" was being automatically renewed. O yeah (get it??), I forgot that I even did that. Turns out I've been ignoring all of my sweet little iPad magazines and haven't taken a peek at O all summer.

But that's okay. I find O Magazine to be a lovely source of inspiration, both for its sage, albeit snotty in a Gwyneth Paltrow-esque way, advice and its modern stylings. Alright, I'll catch you later guys. I've got five months of soulful stories, sensible health and beauty tips and yummy recipes that counter all of those tips to catch up on.

Core Fusion

For the past few weeks I have been obsessed with working out. 

Really, it feels strange to call it a workout, because work's got nothing to do with it. I've been heavy into something called Core Fusion, a combination of yoga, pilates and strength training, and it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. Of the many exercise programs I've delved into in the past few years (and there have been more than a few), nothing has made this immediate and great a change to both my muscle tone and my overall sense of well-being. 

Which is strange, because I've always had mixed feelings about yoga and pretty much been barely tolerant of pilates. But something about the flow, the energy and the serene but determined intensity of Core Fusion made me fall absolutely in love with it. I've always worked out because I knew I should. This is the first time I've done it becase I wanted to, because I couldn't wait to. 

So it's effective for me in many ways. I can do it at home since there aren't any actual Core Fusion classes at Exhale Spa near where I live. The routines are broken down into segments of 10 minutes so I can fit in a workout no matter how busy I am. The workouts are tough, but I relish the challenge. And, most importantly, I can't stop doing it. The exercise that works best is the one you keep going back to. 

Core Fusion isn't for everyone but I am infinitely grateful that I've found it. A workout that I look forward to every day. I can't believe such a thing actualy exists! There's a single session sample video of Core Fusion over on sparkpeople.com if you'd like to check it out for yourself.

Cause I've Been Thinking 'Bout Forever

Things I Love This Week:

• The Olympics starting next week. Yes, I have officially come down with Olympics Fever. It's a thing.

• Getting ready to visit Shawn and Ian at their new home in Colorado. Not just their new home town, but their brand spanking new house! We are so excited for them and can't wait to see them again :D

• Painting my nails a rainbow of candy colors

• Designing some awesome new things, which I will hopefully be able to share with you soon. Things that might make all the difference.

• Realizing that my mom considers me a good friend, and one of her main confidants.

• This recipe. An instant classic, so good it's astounding: 30 Minute Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean Believe the hype about Frank Ocean's new album, channel ORANGE.  This is some smart, gorgeous and heartfelt stuff, but this song especially. Ocean's falsetto freaking kills me. 

Angels - The XX This new taste of the upcoming XX album, Coexist, has everything you will need and not one little ounce more. So simple, so lovely. This band is under an astounding amount of pressure to deliver a great sophomore album and I think they'll exceed all expectations.

It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy - Passion Pit Speaking of long-awaited sophomore albums, Passion Pit is back with their infectious pop magic. Gossamer doesn't shine quite as brightly during a first listen as their debut, but the songwriting has definitely evolved and it's worth spending time with. You can stream it on NPR until its July 24th release.

Irresponsible Tune - Dirty Projectors A slow lingering beauty of an album closer. The lyrics are a love song to musicians and music lovers everywhere.

With our songs we are outlawed.
With our songs we're alone.
But without songs we're lost
and life is pointless, harsh, and long.

Initial Thoughts on Wedding Planning

I swear to the gods this won't ever become some crazed and obsessed wedding-centric blog because I'll eat a jar of pickled hogs feet before I become a simpering, obnoxious bridezilla who can talk wedding and only wedding.

However, I would like to say that I am only a scant month into planning and I am already beyond overwhelmed. Everything's too loud, too frilly and disgustingly overpriced. And there is so much of everything to figure out, too. Definitely a party on steroids. There's also the unfortunate complication that I am dead set on diy-ing a bunch of things for the wedding myself. Eloping to New Orleans never sounded like such a glorious and tantalizing delight.

Let It Snow?

Winter Glow via cottagegardenstudios on flickr

You guys, we are flying to Michigan in a week and a half and I am starting to freak out a little.

Not over meeting Patrick's family (though I have a little natural anxiety about that), but about the cold. I have not been in real snow for about eight to nine years and there is nothing in my closet or in my being that is equipped to deal with anything below 60° F. I'm not even sure it will be snowing over Christmas in Detroit, but I get the feeling it will not be t-shirt weather. I'm especially concerned about my shoes, since all my current footwear is either a) suede, b) super-thin flats or c) super-thin suede flats. 

I keep flipping obsessively over a random L.L. Bean catalog we got in the mail last week, talking myself in and out of buying all the down-filled, fleece-lined Polartec, wind-resistant down to -40°, battery-powered warm up jackets that I will need to layer in mountainous disarray on my body in order to stay sane. 

My only consolation is that it would be very, very pretty to see a white Christmas after all of these years. And it would give me an excuse to buy a Gryffindor Snuggie.

Whiteboard Questions - Favorite Childhood Celebrity

I reinstated the work whiteboard Question of the Week. In this edition, we explore our favorite childhood celebrities. Bonus points for correctly guessing which answer I wrote.

Love Bubble

So have you guys been seeing the commercials for the latest Twilight movie on t.v.? It’s the crazy one where that boring ass chick gets pregnant with a freak-nasty vampire baby, sexy werewolf falls in lurve with it, the vicious vampire council wants to kill all the things, and then everything goes to shit. (Sorry for the spoilers but if you’re going to see the Twilight movies and not even bother to read those insipid books printed in sixe 87 font before you do it then, okay, you know what, I’m actually not sorry at all.)

The commercials made me remember reading the book and how anticlimactic the ending was when, instead of the gory bloodbath we’d all been anticipating, Bella just ever so conveniently radiated a benign energy forcefield (yes, exactly like a Care Bear Stare), causing the wretched vampire council to go mewling away in an unexpected and even more impossibly boring turn of events. Anyhoo, I began referring to her special forcefield protection powers as “love bubble”. As in, “Dakota Fanning vampire was going to unleash hell, but then Bella did love bubble and everyone just went home”.

I got into the habit of recalling the phrase love bubble at the randomest times and once I did I HAD to chortle. It is love bubble, after all. Even worse, I got into the habit of yowling love bubble in my head every time I made a left turn in my car. This was especially fun if the light was turning yellow when I approached it and I had to bawl it out while trying to take that long curve without reducing my speed, before the light turned red. “Looooooooove bublllllllllllllllllllle!”

On morning last week I was on my way to work, running late and distracted by a dozen other things, when I saw a man in costume standing on the corner of Saratoga and Stevens Creek. I couldn’t tell at first that he was in costume. He was in a perfectly proper button-up suit shirt and slacks. And a paper fox mask. He wasn’t talking or gesturing or even really moving at all. Just once he twitched his head to one side and then back into place. I was subtly gunning it as I drove my car towards him, taking in his situation, that fox face coming closer and closer. My car careened around and straightened itself on Stevens Creek. I lifted my arm and turned the palm towards him, waving and waving with all I was worth. “Love bubble, Mr. Fox,” I breathed into the turn. “Looooooooove bublllllllllllllllllllle,” I howled.

Reasons Why I Suspect That I've Been Watching Too Many Murder Shows

1) The other day I came home from the grocery store with a huge reusable bag full of food plus an additional half gallon bottle of pumpkin-spiced sparkling apple cider that wouldn’t even fit into the bag. I started thinking about lugging that heavy bag from my car to the front door, and what an inconvenient time it would be to get attacked by a knife-wielding assailant. Then I started brainstorming what my most effective reaction would be in case of an assault. Namely, drop the bag, break the bottle against the wall, scream like hell, and slash the attacker forcefully across the balls with the  jagged, crumbling glass edge. Okay, I’ll be over here live-blogging CSI if you need me.

2) A conversation we had this evening after Patrick spoke to a solicitor who came to our home to sell newspaper subscriptions.

b: Why did you even open the door? He was probably a murderer.

p: Because he was a little kid!

b: Oh, like little kids can't be murderers?!? Don't act like they aren't murderers, Patrick.

As the Crow Flies

Every evening starting at half past five the crows gather near our apartment. They circle and sweep in dark, sinister arcs, cutting strange patterns in the fading twilight. The crows are partial to settling in gobs and clusters throughout the leaves of a tall tree across the street from our front walkway, though a few of them drop onto the rooftops of neighboring houses and observe the goings on from there.

This all started up about a month ago. On the weekends we began hearing a disquieting chorus of squawks in the early evening, a terrible crowing, if you will. It goes on for over an hour, the sleek, black bodies carrying out some plan that we aren't privy to.

Sometimes when I get home from work early I stop to watch them. There is a heavy, expectant feeling in the air when they're around, as if something uncanny is about to happen and you'll be too frozen to do anything but wait for it to unfold.

Steve Jobs - A Legacy

When my children's children think of Steve Jobs, I hope they will realize a few things.

I hope they will know that he created a worldwide movement that promoted beautiful design as well as function, instilling in us the realization that we should make things as great as they can be in all aspects.  

I hope that they will know that those things weren't just fancy toys and tools of convenience, but that they presented an elegant, user-friendly and welcoming atmosphere for us to bring our creative dreams to life. They helped us explore our ever-expanding world and we were that much the better for it. 

I hope they will know that some of the products that Apple produced during Steve Jobs time inspired love and attachment that far transcends anything else I can imagine for electronics. I want to tell them that I still have every iPod I've ever owned, even one that I haven't turned on for six years. Until I started buying Apple products, I hadn't felt a fondness like this for a machine since my 1982 Fisher Price record player. 

But just as important as any of these things, and perhaps beyond them, I want them to know that Steve Jobs was the instrumental force in vastly increasing the number of organ donors in California. Organ donation is an issue that is very close to my heart and I am a million times more impressed by this than I would be by an airplane hangar full of iPads (although a day hasn't passed in the last few months that I wasn't glued to mine). Steve Jobs saw a problem and he solved it like he always did - simply and forthrightly, lifting up goodness knows how many millions of lives in the process.

You can register here to become an organ donor in the U.S. 

An Oyster Picnic

We had such an incredibly fun oyster picnic Sunday this past weekend!

Patrick and I went up with our friends Shawn and Ian to buy some super fresh seafood from Tomales Bay Oyster Farm. Six dozen gorgeous oysters, baby! The picnic area by the farm was quite crowded with townies, so we drove over to Drake's Bay Beach to enjoy our picnic instead.

The extra-small Tomales Bay oysters were delectably sweet. Just incredible. I liked them best raw with a simple, classic mignonette sauce I'd thrown together the night before, or with fresh-squeezed lemon and Tabasco.

We grilled a number of our oysters on the barbecue and they were awesome, too; firm, plump and flavorful.

Ian gamely shucked every single one of our 72 oysters by hand. Totally have to give him huge props for that. I don't think I'd ever even seen an oyster knife before Sunday.

It was a bright, cloudy beach day. We haddelicious wine, hot grilled garlic bread, chips and cake and all the oysters we could stuff ourselves with. 

Great food, great friends and a wonderful time. It was pretty much the perfect day. 

When you're happy like a fool, let it take you over.

Mid Week Mini Music Mix

This week I am 

• missing the beach.

• working out like I mean it. Seriously, my thighs are screaming today.

• talking that trash.

• cutting my bangs short again. My Zooey Deschanel complex is back, I guess.

• craving macarons and baking nectarine pie instead.

• anxiously awaiting my Pottermore entrance email. Come on, guys. I'm going through major Harry Potter withdrawals here.

• enjoying our new mattress and my new office chair.

• hoping that the abovementioned items will help banish the neck and shoulder pain that's been plaguing me for weeks.

• reading a great article about natural and artificial food flavorings. It's cool but really scary at the same time.

• listening to so much great music.

How Come You Never Go There - Feist (removed by request) New Feist, new feist! I've been waiting for this album for years. It feels like a lifetime ago that her last one came out.

What The Water Gave Me - Florence and the Machine Here's a taste of something new by Florence. It's dramatic and powerful and you won't be disappointed.

Good Life - OneRepublic I don't know why but I am obsessed with this song right now. It makes me feel so happy and so lucky. It makes me just feel so much.

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye This is such a cool track from an Australian artists that blends the gorgeous sounds of XTC, the Police and Crowded House. A great summer night song.

Get the Slug Out

Snails! I hate them. Because this is what they've done to my beautiful mint plant:

Those are just the leaves that are still on it! There are long strands near the base of the plant that they've completely sucked the life out of with their disgusting ooze. Thieves! Whoresons!

So I declared this:

And got a lot of helpful info in return, including this:

Apparently snails and slugs like beer and they will crawl into dishes full of it and just drown out of sheer gluttony. Good. Now let's make that half a Stella for the snails and half of one for me:

Then let's thrown in some double-sided tape covered with salt for good measure:

And we'll see who wins this battle.

I’m about to go H•A•M.

This week I am:

• dealing with a weird cold that is coming on slow and lingering like a real jerk.

• thinking quite a bit about the riots in England and what it all means.

• making another potato, rosemary and bacon pizza, because this shit is for real. The whole wheat crust from Fresh & Easy market is delish:

• reading Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. The first book was insanely compelling. It was such a nail-biter I woke up at 5:00 a.m. one morning to finish it, after I'd stayed up til almost 2:00 a.m. reading it the night before.

• drawing monkeys and lions. It's actually pretty fun!

• falling crazy in love with everything in the upcoming Kate Spade holiday collection.

• really wishing I could take a trip somewhere tropical.

• listening to Watch the Throne which I am really, really digging. Now we all know that a Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration can't really go wrong, but I was really curious to see how they would blend their styles. So far it sounds like Jay-Z is doing most of the rapping and Yeezy is in charge of the stylized sound. Most of my friends do NOT like Kanye, but I have been staunchly behind him since "Through the Wire" and I'm not changing my mind anytime soon. I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at the lyric book all this week.

No Church in the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean) - Kanye West & Jay-Z

H•a•m - Kanye West & Jay-z

An L.A. Weekend in Pictures

I'm right in the midst of a DSLR-free month. That's right, 30 days without my Nikon in tow, so I'm itching to snap away but must convince myself to just chill out and enjoy my surroundings instead. I spent last weekend in L.A. at two graduations and it really made me realize how often I hide behind the lens. I ended up talking and interacting with people a lot more and not stressing out about getting a great shot. I did miss my camera an awful lot, but I managed to get capture a few fun moments on my camera:

My mom and I hamming it up at Party City. They were all out of air horns but all was forgiven because of this tropical cutout glory.

My high school has been completely renovated since I graduated. It looks awesome. One of the things they've added, which I think is super cool, are mosaics of floor tiles in the main quad which have the engraved names of every student in every previous graduation class. It looks really neat and, hey - there's me! My sister wants me to add that if you look back to the tile for one of the classes in the '50's, you'll find someone named "Dick Downer". 

I ate some delicious food on this trip including:

dim sum,

donuts,

and more donuts! Fresh strawberry donuts from Donut Man in Glendora are irresistible. We stood around a wooden bench about fifteen feet from the pickup window and destroyed these in a manner of minutes. I think the only words we were capable of speaking during those minutes were, "so good. oh my god, SO good."

Then there was the saga of the 50 piece nuggets. FIFTY McDonald's chicken nuggets for $9.99. Holla.

My cousin supplemented his share of nuggets with a custom sandwich. Here he is assembling his unfortunately-named McGangBang (a McChicken shoved inside of a McDouble). I tried a bite and it was surprisingly good. 

My sister took me to a fun new candy and soda shoppe in Old Town Pasadena called Rocket Fizz. Of course I loved it. 

The Biebs loves it.

Tighty Whities Squirrel loves it.

They sell European Cheese Kit Kats there. What could possibly go wrong??

So yep, I had a great time, though it was impossibly packed and it did take me 3 1/2 hours to drive to San Diego one day. Peace out, L.A.

Paprika

I think most of you know that Patrick surprised me with the astonishing gift of an iPad 2 about a month ago. I've become completely obsessed with it, playing my favorite hidden object games, reading books and comics and using it almost exclusively to browse Twitter, flickr, tumblr and my other social media accounts. 

My favorite iPad app so far, though, is a recipe tool called Paprika. It has completely streamlined the way I plan menus and shop for food, and I already feel like I'd be lost without it. It's a $5 app that gives you limitless options for your recipe collection. 

Paprika has a built-in browser screen, so you can google search an ingredient or browse through your favorite food site bookmarks looking for ideas and inspiration. 

Once you find a recipe you want to try, you just tap on the "Save Recipe" button in the upper right hand corner and in an instant Paprika pulls all the pertinent info from the page for you:

The name and a photo of a recipe, ingredients, directions and nutrition info (if available). It's all there! It also adds a link to the original URL and lets you edit any of the information manually. From here you can file the recipe into categories which you create (i.e. breakfast, dessert, snacks). You can also rate recipes and add cooking notes. 

But it gets even better. You can add individual recipes to your weekly menu and also to a weekly grocery shopping list. Looking through the list you can edit out all the pantry items you already have in stock and add any additional sundries you need. 

The shopping list can be emailed to your phone but sometimes I'll just tuck my iPad into my bag so I can check things off while I shop. It is SO AWESOME. 

When it comes to cooking time, I just set the iPad on its little stand and follow along step by step. Paprika even has a built-in cooking timer.

Now, the one drawback with the app is that it doesn't always succesfully pull the recipes from the websites. It seems to run into trouble with blog-style sites that I love. There are just so many photos and text that it's not entirely sure how much to include. In those instances it's fairly simple to highlight, copy and paste the recipes yourself. 

Seriously, Paprika kicks butt. Not only has it made meal planning so much easier, it's made it fun. I love using it to store up cocktail and popsicle ideas for the summer. I love browsing in-seaon recipes, knowing that I won't leave anything off my grocery list. Ipad and iPhone users (the app is available for the phone, too), get on this!

Eating Out

365 - 124, 365 - 125
May 4th & 5th, 2011

Double Feature!

My new joy in life is to eat dinner outside. Every night I've been racing home and cooking at breakneck speed so we can take in at least some warm light before the sun goes down.

We've also been big fans of bread and olive oil and vinegar since we got a rich, delicious late harvest oil and a delightful fig and orange balsamic. 

Last night was so temperate that we stayed outside for hours, talking, listening to music and enjoying these awesome micheladas that Patrick made to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. They're a combination of fresh lime juice, Worcestershire, Maggi seasoning, tomato juice, tequila and Mexican beer on ice in a salt-rimmed glass. So refreshing and tasty!

I hope you will all take the opportunity to enjoy a little time outside this weekend, whether it's at home, at a park or at a nice sidewalk cafe. And while you're at it, please listen to this amazing song from Wiz Khalifa's "Burn After Rolling" mix. It came out a couple of years ago but it sounds as fresh as ever. His verses and Empire of the Sun are soul mates, seriously.

The Thrill (Walking On A Dream) - Wiz Khalifa vs. Empire of the Sun

The Royal Wedding

365 - 119 
April 29th, 2011

I woke up at 2:30 in the morning on Friday to use the bathroom, decided to take a quick look at what was going on with the Royal Wedding, and ended up watching the darn thing for two full hours.

I was pretty tired the next day, but it was totally worth it.

I thought the bride looked stunning and I loved her timeless, elegant, Grace Kelly-like gown.

I liked the pomp and circumstance.

It's always interesting to see the British Monarchy at these occasions with their rules and customs and bizarre hats.

And it was fascinating to reflect on this relationship all around. One minute you're just a regular girl from a hard-working upper middle class family, and the next thing you know you'll be the queen of England someday. I kind of like that.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a beautiful wedding.

And I'll find strength in pain. And I will change my ways.

Mid Week Mini Music Mix

Things I love this week:

• grocery shopping at "International" markets

• Carl Sagan (actually I love him all the time)

• folding paper cranes for Japan

• the Death Cab for Cutie fan club, through which I will purchase presale tickets tomorrow for their upcoming tour - hooray!

• our shiny new kitchen trash can - if you'd told me even a couple of years ago that I would be excited over a trash bin I probably would have guffawed and then tried to stuff you into it

• my 50mm lens, breathing new life into my early evening photographs.

The Cave (Mumford & Sons cover) - Alex Winston Here's a very cool cover of a strikingly powerful Mumford & Sons song. Miss Winston is an opera-trained singer out of Detroit who somehow sounds like Joanna Newsom.

Don't Stop - The Dodos     No band has percussion that sounds like the Dodos. Not even close. It's simply hypnotic. Listen to No Color in its entirety over on NPR First Listen.

Limit To Your Love (Feist cover) - James Blake How did James Blake record this song in an even more spare and heartbreaking manner than the original? Feist's album meant a great deal to me and I'm delighted to hear a great cover for this track. 

Meyrin Fields - Broken Bells This is the title track from a new Broken Bells EP. It was originally a b-side for a single from their debut album, but I think it could have easily been a single itself. It's dark and thrilling.

365 - 52

Fade Away
February 21st, 2011

I so did not want to go there but I finally caved. 

For my birthday during my senior year of high school my dear friend Sue treated me to a visit to the salon to get some highlights put into my hair. It was the first time in my life I'd dyed my hair and it sparked an obsession that lasted fifteen years, during which time I never went more than three months without changing my color in one way or another. 

No surprise, this (and one bout of mega extreme Japanese thermal hair straightening, a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston hair treatment) eventually took quite a toll on my tresses. I stopped dying cold turkey about two years ago in order to get my hair healthy and strong and long again. 

But, you guys - I have an alarming amount of grey hair now. It was all just lurking underneath those chemicals like Marge Simpson's grey and once I stopped coloring it all came out to party.

Yes, it's shallow. Yes it's overreacting. But I freaked out. I hoped this box of low key color treatment would be a decent compromise but I'm not satisfied with the results. First of all I'm not a Clairol girl. Secondtively, it's already starting to wear off, after two stinking days! I'm very tempted to just dye my whole head a skanky aZiAn golden brown again, but do I want to go down that road again??? It's enough to make you want to tear your hair out, I swear. 

Super Bowl XLV Recap

Okay, I was really looking forward to the Super Bowl this year so I wanted to put my two cents in.

• Black and Yellow vs. Green and Yellow - All the way up until gametime I wasn't sure who I was rooting for. The pros and cons for both teams were endless. Lil' Wayne loves Green Bay and he just put out that "Green and Yellow" song. But damn, they use french fries as a sandwich topping in Pittsburgh. Now that's what I'm talking about. On the other hand, I really like to eat cheese of all kinds!  Bottom line, I've actually been to Pittsburgh and I'm a long-time Steelers fan. My interest in them especially increased after the 49ers decided to become agonizingly terrible. But Aaron Rodgers, the QB for the Packers played some good years for Cal (go Bears!) and so I was really pulling for him, too. 

• Only one dude with long flowing locks can have the power and in this game it was not Troy Polamalu. Clay Matthews stole all his Pantene mojo. Why does Matthews look like a Viking warrior woman? It's the Super Bowl, not the Battle at Helm's Deep. 

• I made an onion dip to end all onion dips. Bacon Bourbon Sweet Onion Dip. I could eat this stuff by the gallon. Just saying:

• Black Eyed Peas - Worst live act ever, maybe. Why the hell do they not dance? If ever there were a band that should, ahem, pump it, it is the Black Eyed Peas. They can barely "sing", they play ZERO instruments and they can't even two step? Dude. The only decent part of the entire halftime show was when Usher came and broke. it. down. In an all white snowsuit from future, no less. Flip dive into full splits?!? Usher makes me say oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh my god. 

• I was very disappointed by the commercials. I think the only halfway decent one was the Snickers ad with Richard Lewis, but that had nothing on last year's bit with Betty White. P.s. Dear ad execs: aliens don't want to drive Kias. And jive-talking babies are creepy.

• The Packers took advantage of every little thing that went their way, even the smallest of opportunities. And they took every setback completely in stride. Charles Woodson's injury? Yeah they turned that thing into a source of inspiration. They didn't panic when Pittsburgh made their run. They just got the job done. That's some good shit. And that's some great football.

End of the Day

I'm having one of those super long and tiring days where, at the end of it, you don't want to speak a single word to anyone. All you want to do is go home and devote your whole heart and soul to chillaxing. I'm talking hardcore kicking back, i.e. putting on slipper socks, and reading and eating snacks in bed.

Speaking of bed, my bed right now is so very conducive to a calm and happy night like this. It's all made up with a duvet cover I've had for years and years which has been washed and tumble dried into an exquisite suppleness. And as if that weren't spectacular enough I have fucking grey jersey t-shirt sheets on my bed right now, sheets so soft I am going to die of comfort, at which time I will be reincarnated as more t-shirt sheets, bringing sheer, untainted bliss to sleepers everywhere. 

Resolved

via Feldore on flickr

Just a few goals for 2011 as this new year begins:

• Write fiction for three hours a week - this is my top priority for this year. I've been promising to "write more" for the last few years and it hasn't happened. This is concrete, it's scheduled and it's very realistic. Three hours a week out of one hundred and sixty eight? Come on. I can do that!
• Read 52 books (at least!)
• Visit New York City
• Eat no fast food
• Lose two dress sizes
• Save enough money that we can travel somewhere far away and fabulous next year
• Write to my friends once every two months
• Learn to cook a soufflé
• Listen to people when they talk

What do you guys want to do this year?

Bad Judgement

I was a dumbass and didn't wear my broken foot boot for part of the day yesterday. I wore a regular black winter fashion boot instead. Last night I was feeling kind of twingey and regretful. This morning I feel like this:

via Cute Overload

Festive Feelings

Things that kept me busy this past weekend:

Wrapping presents. Wrapping Bieberbooks for a little chicky who can't even read yet. Fun tidbit: my goddaughter's friends make fun of her for loving on Taylor Swift, whom they apparently call "Toilet Swift".


Getting ornaments for our tree. Alas, I had to set this one down because it cost almost $20 freaking dollars and didn't even have lights or sound or animatronic motion where Edward almost kisses Bella, or anything (ridiculous, Hallmark). We did get some other cool tree trimmings though, which I will highlight in an upcoming post.

Went a little crazy at Cost Plus World Market, that oh so dangerous store. Every time I go in there for one little thing I leave with bagfuls of chocolate, chips, beers from around the world and a bunch of other things that I "need". I'm currently contemplating whether or not I should give some of this seasoning to my Momo for Xmas.

Ate Patrick's great cooking! He made us some delish Italian sausage, sun-dried tomato, artichoke heart and fresh basil pasta on Saturday night. It was so nice for me after a long unexpected afternoon at work. On Sunday morning he whipped us up some awesome pancakes, too. A girl could get used to this, I think.

Organized our fridge magnets and made three new holiday ones. We need more magnets, don't you think?

I also did some dirty work on my Top Ten Albums of 2010 list. It's been tougher than I though, especially with so many strong albums coming out at the end of the year! Stay tuned for more on the list soon.

 

Let's Break It Down

It's been several days since we last spoke, my friends. Several crazy and ridiculous days. Let's just say things have not been at their best and brightest in Beckietown. Let's do a pictorial review of the second half of my week, shall we?

Things started out pretty well. Patrick and I went to the mall and took some fun photos:

And then Thursday morning came. I had tea and an egg for breakfast, got ready for work early, hair done, makeup done, everything did. We had tickets to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Death Hallows and life was good. I was headed happily out to the car, feeling like a pimp: 

Then all of a sudden I step into a motherfucking crack in the sidewalk which I can't see because I happen to be carrying huge armloads of things to the car. One minute I'm taking care of business and the next minute I am down for the count. I'd fallen down hard with my foot twisted under me in a supremely unnatural position.

Enter WORLDS OF PAIN. Now, this wasn't the worst pain I've ever felt in my life, mind you. But it was a persistent, insistent and ever-increasing pain. I somehow got myself and all my things into my car and went to work where the foot part of me got more and more swollen and immobile and the head and face part of me got more and more like this:

And when the foot continued to worsen I literally hobbled home, iced and elevated that bitch, took some Nyqyuil and hoped for the best. Patrick came over, pizza, bandages and sympathy in tow, and helped me out because I could basically not make it across the room on my own. Needless to say we didn't see the movie that night. I don't think I could have stood up for one minute on my own for anything. Overnight rest helped, but not quite enough. Bright and early the next morning Patrick drove me to an urgent care center.

What I thought I would be told: Beckie, this is a , but it ain't no thing. Just take it easy and you'll be alright, clumsy. Now get to work and have a fine-ass weekend.

What I was actually told: Dude, your foot's broken. See how in this x-ray the end of this one bone is now in three pieces? Yeah, that's why you can't take two steps without crying. Now put this Terminator boot on, use these crutches for the next eight weeks. 

Broken foot?? Broken foot??!?!? Sure, it's swollen. I feel like I'm dragging a pork roast around at the end of my leg. And yeah, that bruise isn't the prettiest thing around. But broken?

I'm lucky, though. The specialist I followed up with said it's not a bad break and that I don't need a cast. He also said that I can take Vicodins and order Patrick around as much as I want (sorry, sweetie, did you not hear that part? The doctor did mumble when he got to that part.) So I'm trying to make the best of things and keep on trucking. Things were already better this weekend. We had a Four Loko party:

Which I do not recommend. This stuff is freaking vile. It's like they bottled the taste of failing an exam and getting dumped in front of a crowd of people, all in the same day. It did make us kind of faded, but personally I couldn't get through half a can.

And I've gotten so many kind messages from so many great people. It's made me feel a million times better already. So here's to little cells working hard and fixing themselves. And here's to better weeks ahead. 

Well put me in a cage full of lions, I learned to speak lion.

Usually the end of Daylight Savings means one thing to me: another hour to sleep like a log, fuck yeah.

But this year, falling back is messing with my mind. I have a sudden agonizing need to become wildly productive and improve every aspect of my life, all because we have one "extra" hour. That vague, elusive hour and what I do with it is defining my life. Carpe hour.

I feel like time is wildly a' wasting and if I don't do something about it soon I'll never be able to gain control again. It's like my life is that runaway train in that new shady-looking Denzel Washington and Chris Pine movie, only the passenger cars are full of Kit Kat and Cheetos and the conductor is too busy clicking random articles on Yahoo! OMG! to realize that there's anything even wrong.

I need to listen to six albums, read a dozen books, work out more (and harder), make some cards, meet new friends, iron thirty shirts, be kinder to all my old friends, watch all 100 things in my Netflix queue, beat Angry Birds, try new restaurants, call my grandma, learn about the Mooon, bake a cake, write a book, make more cards, decorate for Christmas, make this The Best Thanksgiving Ever, take more pictures, blog all the time, recycle more, volunteer in a soup kitchen, meditate, save more whales and oh my god.

And did I mention I have to do this all in one hour?

One Crowded Hour - Augie March

Mid-Term Elections 2010

My fellow Americans, please go out and vote today. No matter what your beliefs, for goodness' sake, take a little bit of time to visit the polling booth and express them.

Two years ago Americans made it clear that we wanted change. And change has not come overnight, but it is keeping on all the same and it's so important for us to get out there and make sure that things don't become as hopeless and broken again as they seemed at the brink of the last election.

If you live in California, I hope you will vote No on Propostion 23, which would suspend the landmark 2006 clean air Global Warming Solutions Act. This is big oil straight up trying to blockade great change out of greed, and it's masked as a very temporary suspension that would help the economy. Go kick rocks, big oil.

Also Californias, go put a check mark in the yes box next to Prop 19, 'kay? Some of us would like to get some nice, legally-obtained happy brownies up in here. Thank you.

On Getting Older and Getting Happier

Dearest Patrick,

I wanted to talk with you a little bit about turning 30, which you did today (happy birthday, kiddo!) Yes, I've been teasing you on an almost daily basis about getting older and grayer and about how you won't be my spry, young college student sweetheart anymore. But I wanted to tell you something else about it, something different. Being in your thirties? You're going to love it.

On the eve of our thirtieth birthdays, Kerry told me she honestly felt that the next decade was going to bring the absolute best years of our lives yet. Naturally, I was skeptical. I figured it would be the same drivel that came before, only we'd be more wrinkly and out of shape. But I was wrong and she was so very right.

After you turn 30 you round some sort of life corner. It's like you can suddenly see both the forest and the trees. Sure you still make mistakes, but at least they're new mistakes. And you don't beat yourself up so much when they happen; maybe you learn more from them and you know yourself better.You finally know what you want and maybe you stop shooting yourself in the foot when life leads you in good directions.

And everything is so much more beautiful and moving and precious because you know now how quickly time flies by. After all, thirty years passed in the blink of an eye already. Who knows what miracles the next thirty and more will bring.

So I hope you have no misgivings about the Big Three Oh. Even though we were recently questioning our ability to stay out past 10 p.m. on a weekenight, we've got some pretty damn fun and momentous times right ahead of us. Speaking from my little bit of experience now, your thirties will be marvelous years, life-changing in the best way possible. I am so excited to share them with you, my dear.

Love always,

--b

 

Everlong - Foo Fighters

 

Halloween, Autumn and a Computer Break

Things I love this week:

• Wind and rain. Finally, rain!
• Mashed potatoes, which is a good thing, because I made what was supposed to be a six-serving recipe and after Patrick and I had some for dinner one night I ended up eating them at five other meals and still had to freeze more than half of it! Apple garlic mashed potatoes, though. Gotta love it.
• Margaritas in a cactus glass:   
• The pants-off dance-off during the Delphic show at Popscene.
• Eating Autumn Mix candy corn with Patrick until I feel sick. 
• Watching Season One of Modern Family on dvd.
• Picking out pumpkins.
• Baseball. God bless October baseball.
• Finding my lost house key inside of a sneaker.
• Panda Express honey walnut shrimp. Guilty as charged.
• Planning our upcoming trip to Vegas.
• Listening to the upcoming Warpaint album, The Fool. It's streaming this week on Hype Machine! Beautiful shoegazey, chilled out songs that wash over you and draw you in. 

  Undertow - Warpaint