Well played, Justin Cronin

The question of the day: if I were to desire a black body con miniskirt, but didn't have one, what should be done about it? The answer, surprisingly enough, was a stretchy black tank top. I pulled it from its hanger, tried  it on, and found it to be almost perfect. The only problem was what to do about the straps, which were just sort of dangling around my hips. I put on my little bike shorts (worn under every skirt or dress) and tucked them in...and it worked! I might have to use this trick again, since I am always wanting the perfect black miniskirt.

I spent most of today in Joe's apartment, barreling my way through the last bit of The Passage by Justin Cronin. It's due back to the library tomorrow, and I have a hold to pick up, so I wanted to get to the end today. It was a fantastic book, a pseudo-vampire tale that actually delivers with a great story, well-formed characters and actual emotion depth. I say pseudo-vampire since the unfortunate creatures are a product of a virus manipulated from its natural form in an effort to create...well, never mind. I don't want to give too much away. At nearly eight hundred pages, it's more of a commitment than a book, but it moves well and the writing is admirable. It's the vampire book I wanted The Strain to be. The Strain was a collaboration between Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro, and while I knew little about the former, I'm a huge fan of del Toro's film Pan's Labyrinth and expected him to deliver in a big way. While that book was entertaining, it ultimately fell flat and relied heavily on archetypes. The Passage, however, is packed with characters, and each one is distinct and realistic. Cronin's voice is strong, his word choice pulled me in and kept me awash in the story. He is descriptive without being tedious. He creates suspense as well as he create drama. There's romance, but not annoying superfluous romance thrown in to satisfy a niche. It's a vampire novel that wasn't created in hopes of cashing in on a trend, but because it had to be vampires. The story called for them, needed them, couldn't have been without them. The Passage is the first in a trilogy that has the potential to be classic and enduring in a way other undead fad books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, though fun and innovative in it's own way, cannot hope to be. 

Joe working on his paper. In his cool apartment.

The bad news is, I didn't know it was a trilogy until after I finished it, and now I have to wait for the others to come out. I hate that! Usually I try not to get in on a series until after all the books have been written so I can power through them  all at once. Well played, Justin Cronin. Now what am I supposed to read until the next one comes out?

Nowhere Near Here

Nowhere Near Here from Pahnl on Vimeo.


I'm not feeling so hot today. My day consisted of getting up around one thirty, reading, going to IHOP with Joe (we love ourselves some IHOP, don't judge), and watching a Stanley Kubrick documentary. Which bring us to now. Which is me on the couch in my pj's getting ready to read some more. To make up for another day with no outfit post, here's a lovely video by Pahnl I found on The Daily What. Here is the description:

If life is a catwalk, run like a dog.

'Nowhere Near Here' is a stop motion animation that uses a combination of light with stencils and long exposure photography to tell the story of a dog running around the city at night, doing whatever a dog does. The animation was first exhibited at the The Herbert, in Coventry, on the 7th October 2010.

With well over 300 hours in the making, more than 200 stencils involved and too many cold nights spent outside on my knees getting the shots, I am very happy (and relieved) to finally share this with you. Through the course of shooting 'Nowhere Near Here', I have dealt with curious drunks, a dog almost peeing on the camera (the irony is not lost on me, haha), the endlessly suspicious police and even someone nearly running off with a tripod.

This is street art, this is life and thank you for watching. 

...for those of you that may be interested in prints, a selection of film stills from 'Nowhere Near Here' are currently available at pahnl.co.uk/​store.php

Animation by Pahnl
- pahnl.co.uk


The prints are a bit spendy, but lovely, by the way. 

Wait. They don't love you like I love you...

Turn Into video

Gold Lion video

Today I went shopping with my mom and grandma for them to buy me food and get ideas about what to get me for Christmas. And while I look fine, there's nothing so great about my outfit and I don't want to take pictures. So instead, here are some screenshots I took of Karen O and other various pictures from Google images. So if any of these are copyrighted or whatever, my bad. 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs is my favorite band for many reasons, not the least of which being Karen O, possibly the finest living female rock star. Though she would probably hate being called a rock star, because true rock stars are so above all that and stuff, but there's no other easy way to describe her, so there it is. She is a walking, singing, screaming, swooning contradiction with on-stage style that puts any pop star to shame. When she performs she can sift between the sweetness and effervescence of a young ballerina at dance practice and an unapologetic Mic Jagger stomp without a whiff of irony or pretension.

Cheated Hearts video

I wish this image was clearer, this is my favorite outfit. It's from the Y Control video. Watch it if you don't mind fake entrails and homicidal children and other slightly disturbing awesomeness

So you thought Lady Gaga started the whole pantsless thing? Miss O's been doing it for years. (Though she's not strict. There are photos to be found of her pants-clad.) 

What's refreshing, perhaps even admirable about Karen O, is that while she seems to take real joy in being a performer, but has no interest in being pretty. Not that prettiness is inherently bad, but for her it seems to take a backseat to putting on a show. Not a staged, choreographed, planned to the minutiae show, but a from-the-guts good time where she's just doing what she loves. 

Oh, you thought Ke$ha started that headdress thing? Sorry, no. It was Karen O.

In the context of the music, it makes sense. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are controlled chaos set to music--at least  in the case of Fever to Tell, Is Is, and their self-titled (often referred to as Master) EP. If the only Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs you know are Maps and Turn Into, their two most commercially successful, pick up any of those three albums and be ready to get smacked upside the head with New York punk. I don't actually listen to any other punk, but this stuff is crazy good. Yet despite their early days, where an oft-druken Karen O would somehow masterfully stumble through set after killer live set, their penchant for quieter songs on 2006's Show Your Bones delivers just as strong as any earlier work. And it seems that the more they dial down the crazy in their albums, the stronger Karen O dials it up in her stage wardrobe. 

It's Blitz tour photos

Yeah, so Lady Gaga doesn't have a corner on the crazy headpiece market either. 

Why do I love Karen O so much? I can't say that I would ever want to dress like her, because her stagewear is so far from my own sense of style it would be difficult to bring them together. What I am most drawn to is her unapologetic gusto when it comes to dressing. There is no compartmentalizing. She dresses like she sings, she performs like she lives. Nothing about her is mainstream except perhaps by accident. She doesn't look like a girl singer should look. She doesn't dance like a girl should dance. She doesn't always sing pretty. But there is nothing, nothing, nothing contrived about her, and not a hint of celebrity in her persona. I think that's what is so striking about her. Utter and naked honesty in her performances that reveal as much dirt as glitter, in contrast to the mystery of a personal life which isn't lived in the public eye. 

And come on. You gotta love the haircut.

Feeling flight attendant-y

I've been wanting a pair of over-the-knee socks for awhile now, so when I found a pair yesterday I could get for free with my consignment store credit, I was psyched. (Don't worry, they're new, not secondhand) I couldn't wait to wear them this morning. Getting to wear skirts and have warm legs without wearing tights? Yes please! Don't get me wrong, I love me some tights, but I need a break sometimes. Especially since a lot of mine are sprouting holes. The real trouble with wearing them is that I'm in a bit of a shoe conundrum. My black boots look okay, but not amazing. My old man shoes are white and cream, so the colors don't go. I've got a couple of pairs of heels that work, and a couple of pairs of wedges. But now I'm dying for some nice heeled oxfords. Maybe a nice black suede pair with stacked heels. Or a grayish taupe. Or just one of about a thousand pairs I like. 

I love the detail of the little bows on the socks, and I know they'll be a staple for me this month. I'm already imagining the schoolgirl themed outfit possibilities. The slight scallop edge at the top is pretty, too. It makes me want to get a pair in pale pink and wear tutus and put my hair in a topknot and go see Black Swan. Which opens today and is NOT PLAYING ANYWHERE in my town, so boo. I thought this was a pretty hip community when it comes to movies, but apparently the most anticipated (at least by me) movie since, well, Harry Potter two weeks ago is not good enough. You know what is good enough? The Warrior's Way. Yeah, no. Come on, local cinemas! Get some taste.

Also, I made this necklace, and it's in my etsy store! Go there now or use the link on my sidebar. It can be worn as a necklace or a headband, and it's adjustable. More handmade jewelry to come!

Heavy

Yesterday I had some time to waste waiting for Joe to take a test, so of course I took the chance to pop into a local consignment store I love. I didn't have extra money to spend, but since I had a few dollars of credit I tried a few things on. And just for fun, one of them was this ridiculous sequin-covered vintage dress. It was quite heavy, and had industrial-strength shoulder pads, but I ended up kind of loving it. I stood in the dressing room staring at it for the longest time, trying to make my brain able to justify such a purchase. But even though I am a staunch adherer to the ideas that clothes need no occasion, and wear way fancier things than most people for no reason whatsoever, I had to admit that this dress was an exception. I did manage to snap a couple of pictures with my dying camera.   

What really drew me in with this piece was the incredible detail in every inch of its design. It was covered in intricate beaded flowers, and beaded fringe hung from every conceivable hem. I'm not sure how old this dress was, but nothing was fraying or tearing. The back was open with a hook and eye clasp at the neck, another detail I wish I'd had enough battery in my camera to document. I felt a bit like an ice skater and a lot like a lady wearing it. The delicacy of the design contrasted with the strength of the silhouette made it feel retro and modern all at once. I wanted to wear it barefoot in the woods, running through wheat fields with a wide-eyed innocent expression, glancing over my shoulder as a photographer captures my lithesome frolicking. Maybe I come upon a stream and sit down beside it, gazing into the distance as the burnished sun begins its descent. Hmmm, not sure how I got here. Back to reality, which is me sitting here in bed writing this to put off getting up, brushing teeth, taking a shower, eating things. Sometimes I wish life was more like an anthropologie catalog.

I do what I want

I'm entering a contest on Chictopia where I'm supposed to describe my casual city-inspired look, so I thought I might as well share ruminations here as well!

Pacific Northwest style is utility and versatility. It's wearing a knit hat in the rain because natives don't use umbrellas. It's walking in the snow because none of the streets are plowed. It's a heavy coat and old J. Crew scarf with bare legs cause the sun came out. It's mini skirts and sundresses at the first hint of sixty degree weather. It's writing on your Macbook in a Starbucks that shares a parking lot with a grocery store which also has a Starbucks in it. It's stepping out your front door and ending up at the beach. It's beaches that are nothing but trees and rocks right up to the cusp of the ocean. It's having one poetry professor who wears tweed and quotes Napoleon Dynamite, and another who lets you come late because you have aerobics across campus, and tells all her friends about your kitten heels with tiny embroidered flowers. It's five-dollar leather bracelets from Pike Place Market. It's the girl with a giant carrot tattoo on her forearm talking to you about jazz.

Here, we are the home of REI and grunge. We wear North Face pullovers with sandals, because it's cold and wet but we're kind of stubborn. We keep it together, but we don't try too hard. We wear Burt's Bees chapstick instead of lipgloss. We carry aluminum water bottles around. Our girls wear scarves. Our boys wear scarves. Even our men wear scarves.  We watch documentaries from the independent video store and go out to eat hummus plates or wood-fired pizza. We're more loyal to our favorite consignment store than department store. Our Farmer's Market goes straight into December. We mix innovation with sustainability. We do want we want. Here, in the Northwest, we always do what we want.

Release the Hounds

I haven't wearing this coat much this year since the cut doesn't mesh very well with skirts and dresses. The year I bought it I was all about the skinny jeans, which go really great with the swingier style of the coat, but it looks nice with these trouser cut jeans as well. The secret of this coat (secret as in, I tell everyone who compliments me on it) is that I bought it at Hot Topic. I spotted it one day and fell in love right away. I think it might have been the first houndstooth thing I've ever purchased. They didn't have it in my size, but they were super helpful in the store and ordered it from another location. One thing I've noticed about Hot Topic, their customer service is always top notch. Their employees are pretty much the most consistently friendly of any store I've been in. 

One of my shopping guidelines is that I almost never give up on a store, no matter how rarely it comes through with something I want to buy. As a result, I pop into Hot Topic every once in awhile, just to check out what they have. Other stores I keep on my radar include JC Penny, where I once got a ninety-seven cent scoop neck white t-shirt; Kohl's, where I've gotten flats on clearance for ten bucks, and Pacsun, which has been shedding its preteen skater only image and putting out some great, chic stuff this season. You just never know where you're going to find a killer deal. Not that you should go into every store all the time. But be willing to take the same risks and chances when you go shopping as you do in your wardrobe choices. Part of having style is being able figure out what you like and what works for you no matter what the brand or source. Too many people end up "buying style" (instead of having style) by going to the same couple of stores all the time. It's not personal taste if you wear only a few labels over and over again. One of the joys of fashion is the discovery of something wonderful, and the joy is always greater when what you discover is unexpected (or on major clearance). Next time you go shopping, try a store you've never been in or that you're skeptical of. And if you don't find anything, don't be discouraged. There's always next time.