what she never should have worn

This right here is why I love my cousin. After a lot of online gushing about how much we love What I Wore and how little money we have to replicate that style, we thought of a counter blog feature. How it all went down:

Erin: I want to be edgy and cool. I want cute clothes. I almost bought a dress on ModCloth an hour ago, then remembered that I have no money.

Me: Whatevs, rock your own style. You can use your money on better things.

Erin: My own style: currently, jeans and a horrible sweater my mom made for Colleen and Colleen didn't want.

Me: LOVE IT. I want to know what this sweater looks like that Colleen refused it.

Erin: I'll make a blog. What I Never Should Have Worn.

Me: Erin, I'm not even kidding when I say this, but that is an awesome idea.

And that's how it began. We're hoping maybe Stacy and Clinton take notice, since it's always cool to get a $5000 shopping spree in exchange for a little harassment.

quotations

Some quotations I've come across recently that I really loved:

"I sometimes think that making a film is a little bit like falling in love. At the school, I just filmed the kids who liked me and those I liked. I was thinking, 'Alex, I absolutely love you. I want to film you. I want to know who you are. I genuinely want to find out why you are here.' And so it wasn't as if I were filming somebody I didn't care about."

-Kim Longinotto on Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go

"I've always had a big passion for history...and people's lives and all the little events, how you get from A to B...all the small details of people's lives that are full of really epic qualities."

-Alfred Molina in Coffee and Cigarettes

Also would recommend taking a look at Longinotto's documentary. It follows several kids at Mulberry Bush School for troubled children in Oxford. She's been described as a filmmaker known for "creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics with sensitivity and compassion." What a wonderful reputation to have. Ties in well with the second quotation, too, I think!

robot comic!

Decided to take a break from the daily comics and make a more detailed one. Still based on real-life thoughts (my overactive imagination when it comes to technology), here's the final product:

Click to get full size!

human calendar

A human calendar-what a neat idea. The creator cites a fascination with the idea of "gridded people" (as in The Brady Bunch) as the inspiration behind the design. One thought though: it might be even better (but more challenging) to do this as an everyday exercise instead, finding and photographing a random person (or several, depending on the format) each day holding the correct card or cards for that date. I've added the "portable" version of the human calendar to my sidebar!

heat wave

This weather is crazy. While trying to beat the heat, I've managed to do very little except sit in front of a fan. The few things I have to show for my productivity dip (due to lack of air conditioning) include:

Stir fry made with shrimp, green beans, onion, egg, and mango (!!!).

Catching this cool light trick on a house nearby. Don't know what caused it, but it's very whimsical.

living, comically

So thanks to an online comic strip recommendation (thanks KC!) I've started a new little project. The comic, American Elf, is a daily thing done by artist James Kochalka that chronicles his everyday life. Family, friends, and his hometown of Burlington, Vermont are featured in the drawings. I'm still kind of adjusting the punchline-less quality of most of them, as his tidbits from daily activities are usually nothing stellar. It's this banality that actually makes his stuff intriguing, in a weird sort of way. After all, life isn't scripted and not every day is exciting or unusual. I'm trying to embrace American Elf's style by starting my own very simple comic journal/sketchbook, which I'm calling "Living, Comically." It's been a neat way to record some of the small moments of each day, and I have a feeling it'll be entertaining to look back on if I actually keep it up (check out a sample below!). Recording life in pictures is fun. Try it!

vertigo from a great height

Watched Hitchcock's masterpiece "Vertigo" on the roof of an apartment around Central Square. This shot doesn't quite capture it, but there were beautiful views of the Boston skyline and bats swooping overhead later in the night.

technologically-challenged

After my visit home, I thought I had brought everything back with me to Somerville. A few days later, my phone battery started dying and I realized I had left my phone charger in Central Massachusetts. FML.

I'm currently (and temporarily) using a Verizon LG model so old that the woman on the phone who helped me program it with my current number jokingly bragged that "one of the newest features on that phone is gray-scale graphics!" Great. It takes me about 10 minutes to type out a text on this thing, the screen is green-tinted, and there is no small screen on the flip cover to check the time. I'm going to try to pretend that it's vintage. Or hipster. Or something. That's right, decade-old phones are so in right now.

Hey, at least I'm not carrying around one of these babies:

overheardinmyoffice

Inspired by the ever-entertaining original, here are some snippets overheard in the newspaper office. Most of them from one crazy (hilarious) day and straight from the intern's ears.

Staff Writer: "Ok, I have to leave. I'm not talking to anymore people about anymore things. Talk to my hand!"

Editor: "Why do you want to leave here? It's the most awesome place in the land!"

Editor: "That's my facebook status update. Job drives me to drink. So does breathing though. And talking to stupid people."

Editor, almost to himself: "What does FML mean?"

Everyone in the office: "FUCK MY LIFE!"

Editor: "We like words! I can haz journalism? I can haz copywriter?"

Staff Writer, singing: "And I am living in a material world..."

Editor 1: "Why is the blog being GAY?!"

Editor 2: "Don't be homophobic! Don't be bloghomophobic, now!"

Editor 1: "Please. I'm the biggest fruit fly there is."

Editor: "Imma call up Michelle [Obama] and be like 'hey gurl hey'."

Me: "If the crazy lady tries to call you again on my phone, what do you want me to do?"

Editor: "Say that I'm dead."

informed scribbling

Ok. So DoodleBuzz might just change the way I search for news. Who knew you could get important information about anything from Obama's healthcare plan to the newest Apple products by creating amorphous shapes? With this new interface, you choose a topic and scribble on the screen to get results. Doodle a bit more and you get excerpts from headlines that interest you. The result? Cool maps of stories that, well, just look neat.

It may not be the most practical way to catch up on events, but who ever said practical was fun?

better than a liger, a bicycart

Spotted a perfect combination. Yup, this vehicle manages to be both a bike and a shopping cart. I saw someone riding this fantastic thing in Davis Square. At first it looked like he was pushing a shopping cart down the road VERY fast, and then I caught the bike portion as he passed.

The next day, I saw it parked outside a house on my way downtown. What luck! Excitedly texted my friend to let her know I had pegged down the origin of the shoppingcartbike and snapped a photo. I want to know a) how this was made, and b) where the cart came from. I am now convinced it's possible to go grocery shopping without a car. What a wonderful invention.

sun, surf, and sculptures

Got to check out the Revere Beach Sand Sculpting Competition on Saturday with a friend. The artists got lucky with the weather-it was a beautiful (but sticky) day, and the place was packed with people. My favorite was definitely the "Mirror" one, with two people and what I suppose was a cracked mirror. It's pictured here, along with some other shots I took. Still have to make it one more stop to Wonderland, the T-stop at the end of the Blue Line. But I'll save that pilgrimage for another day.

don't bleep it out

A recent article in TIME says that cursing actually does help ease pain. A study done at a British university shows that those who swear can withstand discomfort for longer, and have a duller perception of pain intensity. Hell yes! Let those f-bombs fly, then.