White Denim

For some reason I really want a pair of white denim skinny jeans and a pair of white cutoff jean shorts (jorts...). I think I've wanted them for a while but I'm kind of terrified of buying a pair of pure white pants because it'd be like wearing a liability. It's almost like asking to sit on something. But I'm kind of bored of my pants selection now so maybe a pair is in order...

I like the cut of these (but don't love the pocket design - not pictured). White jeans... very Victoria Beckham, it feels like. Or Blake Lively, maybe.

GOLDSIGN 

Misfit Slim Leg Jeans

Style #:GOLDS20109 

$169.00

 Some looser-cut, not-as-short white denim shorts... perfect for pairing with everything.

 

Current/Elliott 

The Boyfriend Shorts 

Style #:CURNT20158 

$147.00

Gah I am wanting to shop. You know that sinking feeling when you're tired of all your clothes? I need to buy professional clothes soon though (which will be nice too, that's its own reward), so maybe it's not prudent to spend on stuff like this, since I'll basically only be able to wear it on weekends... agh real life beckons, and I'm inching forward with one eye covered.

Halp

Indecision: I don't know how to deal with it. (ha.)

How do you make decisions (both on a daily basis and re more long-term choices)? It seems like sometimes there are too many choices. I just want someone to tell me exactly what to do to make me most happy and effective, haha.

Givers

These are five traits that people who are givers usually exhibit:

1. A sense that you can make a difference in the world

2. Empathy that enables you to truly feel the suffering of others

3. Belief that you are someone who can get things done

4. Spiritual faith in the world – -either traditional religion or an eclectic altruism

5. A focus on doing good that endures beyond your lifetime

Excerpted from Brazen Careerist

J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91

J.D. Salinger was notoriously reclusive in his later years, choosing to spend the his post-fame life in the seclusion provided by New Hampshire granite and wood. He did not give interviews and he did not engage with the outside world, literary or otherwise. He did, however, periodically visit the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College -- specifically, he would visit the News Room, a relatively out-of-the-way section of the first floor of the library where he would sit for hours and read newspapers and other news publications, reportedly. I too have spent many, many hours in the News Room throughout my Dartmouth career. I've worked there since freshman year, before I was let go and then the position was cut from the staff (in that order). I know I must have seen him or helped him with something or spoken with him, but I never knew it was him. And now he is gone, and breathing feels more shallow. The frailty of life is at once overwhelming and strangely close to home.

___________________________________

From: Sorority sister

Date: 28 Jan 2010 13:40:52 -0500
Subject: News Alert: J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91
To: Sorority list, including me

the publications roomwill never be the same.....

--- Forwarded message from "NYTimes.com News Alert" ---

Date:      Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:17:45 -0500
From: "NYTimes.com News Alert"
Subject:   News Alert: J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91
Reply-to: nytdirect@nytimes.com

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Thu, January 28, 2010 -- 1:17 PM ET
-----

J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91

J. D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most
important American writer to emerge since World War II but
who then turned his back on success and adulation, has died
in Cornish, N.H., where he lived in seclusion for more than
50 years, his son told The Associated Press. He was 91.

Mr. Salinger's literary reputation rests on a slender but
enormously influential body of published work: the novel "The
Catcher in the Rye," the collection "Nine Stories" and two
compilations, each with two long stories about the fictional
Glass family: "Franny and Zooey" and "Raise High the Roof
Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction."

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

_______________________________________

Stamps

These are the stamps I've been using recently, except the Louis Comfort Tiffany one I use is 41 cents, not 39 cents. And since the price of stamps is now 44 cents, I add three Tiffany lamp one-cent stamps to one Louis Comfort Tiffany stamp. I love stamps. The pretty ones are like little pieces of art and make your everyday letters look so elegant.

I actually forgot this until just now, but I used to collect stamps (along with stickers HAHA) when I was younger. I wonder if that's why I like these so much.

These stamps look great with/match my light blue thank-you notes!

I'm almost out of these 41 cent stamps, though, so I need to find a new go-to stamp!

GLOVES

And now that I have the hardcore ski gloves... 

I'M READY TO GO!

SKI SEASON 2010

Look what I bought today for SKI SEASON WINTER 2010!!! AND THEY MATCH!! I love these goggles, looking through the yellow tint makes everything look so warm and happy.

Although now I really want one of those loud snowboarding/ski jackets and a pair of ski pants to match my accessories.

Ugh, if you give a mouse a cookie...

Consumerism: It'll kill you.

Romper revisited

Ages ago, I posted about my desire to buy a romper, if only just to be the proud owner of a romper. Over a month ago, I finally ordered one online (pictured above). After it arrived, I wondered why it looked so familiar....

... and it's because I had commented on this EXACT romper in the aforementioned post (A million little things, six degrees of separation), where in addition to writing about onesies, I also wrote about the play "Six Degrees of Separation" and fashion photography featuring Gisele. 

Over a year ago on Thursday, May 7, 2009, I wrote:

"This item below is fucking adorable... but not really class-appropriate now, is it. Perhaps with a little denim jacket thrown over it?"*

Ah. How prescient of me.  In person and on said person, the romper is obscenely short. Which is obvious from the photo below.... but I think I was swept away by the romantical lighting of the first photo and figured I would Make It Work.

 

But I was also right about something re: this very abbreviated piece of clothing -- it is adorable with my denim jacket. I've resolved to keep it, and wear it with bike shorts under the romper or real shorts over the romper with the peplum part showing over the shorts. Or for this season, maybe tights or leggings under the romper with a blazer on top. And in the summer, maybe I can wear it alone as a beach coverup with a colorful bikini ... and après beach, while casually biking back to the rental house on Fire Island with my friends. Or something like that. Either way, I eagerly await warmer weather.

On a related note, the Early Spring Catalog has been printed for Urban Outfitters, and there's nothing in it I'm dying to buy. Maybe they save those pieces for the Proper Spring Catalog.

I do like this shirt though. I'd like to buy some similar well-fitting button-down shirts going forward in both light and heavier cotton.

*I think as a general rule only tools and geniuses quote themselves... I won't make a judgment call if you don't.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I  love Christmas. This is our Christmas tree this year...

It's our tallest tree yet!

With gold disco ball ornaments,

glass ball ornaments, red velvet ribbons and gold silk ribbons,

clear Christmas lights, and white flowers.

 These are glass ornaments are cool, they look like bubbles.

On this Christmas afternoon, we did some baking and I experimented with making Whole Wheat Oatmeal Applesauce Raisin Craisin Muffins.

 

Some are 'plain' and some have peanut butter or raspberry preserves centers.

labeled by color, duh

pre-baking

post-baking

To be honest, I'm not very good at baking, but I try and I'm learning.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Higher Education

"I feel older, but not wiser."

-- The protagonist in An Education

"paper plates" and "sugar cones"

I used to be really into ceramics back in high school my senior year, particularly after I took all of my AP tests and no longer had to go to class in June and could work in the art studio for massive portions of time during the day. I find myself in a somewhat similar situation now, with a lot of inspiration all around me. These are plates by Sin by Virgina Sin, and I think I could create some personalized facsimiles in the ceramics studio here at school since I've just bought a year-round pass to the studio.

Same goes for these sugar cones:

It's a feat to be both adorable and genius, but these make the cut.

Thoughts on the future/ abnormal blog entry

Do you ever feel like there's a larger purpose for you in life? Sometimes I forget it, but I very much feel like I'm working towards something larger. I'm not completely sure what it is yet, but there are so many people in the world who we - as highly educated people with so many resources - can help. I feel like I'm moving in that direction. I'm still figuring it out and searching for how, but I'm going to do something to affect humanity for the better. And effect change in the world. Sometimes one just needs to be reminded, but I know I can do something, and I feel like everything I'm doing now is to equip me to do that huge, significant thing. So far, I think my liberal arts education has been a step forward. So I just need to keep moving forward and keep the larger picture in mind, even if I can't yet see it clearly. I think I can see it more clearly than ever before, though, and that is good. I feel myself moving from more micro-type life goals to now seriously considering more macro goals that I've only thought about more in passing. Oh, senior year of college.



How about you? Thoughts?



/end scene

Banner choice explanation

The painting we currently have on display in our banner is Several Circles (Einige Kreise) by Wassily Kandinsky, 1926.

I chose this painting because a Kandinsky painting is heavily referenced in one of my favorite American plays, "Six Degrees of Separation" by John Guare, and I had actually never taken the time to look up what Kandinsky paintings looked like outside of reading the descriptions in the play, and I guess this artist was at the tip of my brain.

I've actually reviewed the play in one of the earlier blog entries. I read it as part of my American Drama course with Professor Donald Pease - quite a bombastic and fantasmic orator - last spring. I realize now that I really loved that class and I wish I had taken more English classes during my time at Dartmouth. Aside from practical concerns or excuses like completing my major/minor, I think I've been a bit intimidated by English classes because I've been terrified that they'll somehow reveal that I'm not as good at the subject as I think I am. Perhaps I'll try to audit another class like that this winter or spring. I love literature!

Here's another Kandinsky I love:

Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), 1913,

National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Next blog color scheme, perhaps?

I've discovered

that I really like short, structurally interesting dresses in black or white. Feed me more! I don't think I have any though. But I don't think that's unusual -- that would be a very, very specific purchase and not necessarily the most wearable (or re-wearable) item. Anyway, that's what blogging is for. (Well, for now at least!!!).

Also, I more than a little bit want to be Joan from Mad Men for Halloween. But what would I wear? Mostly, really just want to wear a crazy, improbable wig.


Or being Betty Draper would be fun. These costumes sound time-intensive, though.


Or... I could always just be a mouse... duh.

Another personal clothing item

Thoughts on wearability of this jean jacket in Hanover, NH (that'd be the near-antithesis of NYC) for this coming fall? Perhaps not with the sleeves cuffed.

Colors

My room is being renovated in the coming weeks, and I need to choose a color for the walls. It has been wallpaper (very thin vertical stripes of peachy-pink alternated with white) for a very, very long time, perfectly matched with the peachy-beige carpet that runs throughout my house. I've always liked it but I'm excited for the change. Oh and also I love, love, love interior design. I secretly wish to be an interior designer sometime after my whirlwind 20s, 30s, and 40s, haha.

I'm getting wood floors, so there won't be any conflict of color in that regard. It's not a huge room, so I don't want to get a color that's TOO dense and overwhelming. I'm definitely going with white (slightly creamier/linen) trim -- I'll just match the white I have now on my door frame and window box trims.



In considering a wall color, my favorite color is yellow, and I particularly like the color Mimosa.



It was actually the Pantone-selected color of the year in 2009 ("Mimosa Embodies Hopefulness and Reassurance in a Climate of Change"), but I know I don't just like it because it's trendy. I've long liked the color. But I do worry that it'll be too overwhelming for my room and too "hot"-feeling. And I read on some website that my personality type needs "calming" wall colors. haha.

PITTA - Pitta individuals may develop occasional inflammatory conditions. They have a general tendency to a moderate, athletic frame with a muscular body mass, and a sharp, energetic personality. Cooling therapy may lower a tendency toward irritability. Balance may be derived by colors that cool, moderate, and soothe.

That does sound like me, but I wonder if it's all a crock (ok, very probably), since the other two options -- Vata and Kapha -- also have similar "optimal color suggestions", and since the suggestions for Pitta includes a bright yellow-y color that is VERY similar to Mimosa, which I don't think will be calming...

I also really like a dense, bright blue like Turkish Tile or Ocean Calm, which look a bit like this (these are fabric swatches because color swatch images are hard to come by online) and would probably be more calming:



More the second one than the first, but both are so beautiful. I actually have always loved the combination yellow/blue combination, and I think it's particularly striking to compare these exact blue/yellow colors with each other.



Sigh. Do want. Maybe I can incorporate the Minosa color or a paler yellow some other way into the room. Also, I would LOVE to have a mini-chandelier hanging from ceiling. I think I'll take a look in the thrift store when I drop off donations this weekend -- do they even have lighting fixtures there? Maybe I'll get lucky. Although I kind of wonder what the point in all this is, as I'll be moving out (hopefully, dear Lord) after senior year anyway.

xx

I'm baaaaaaaack!

My computer is fixed!!! It looks like new and I will never abuse it again, I promise. Maybe this is what parents feel like when they drop their kids or something. It's rather sad/frightening how dependent I am on my computer, now that I've had to be without it for a week+. Also, I've left Dartmouth and am in NY now, where I will stay for the duration of summer, save the occasional visit (HOPEFULLY) to Hanover, D.C., Boston, Nantucket, and the New England region in general.

Oh, how I've missed the blog.

Lots to write about - firstly, I saw The Hangover a few days ago at The Nugget, a local nonprofit movie theatre in Hanover, NH. I paid full price too, because I forgot my Dartmouth ID, which allows students to watch movies for $4.50. Sigh. But it was worth the full-price ticket.

I was a tad skeptical about the movie at first, despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews it's been receiving (see metacritic.com), since I've seen one too many similarly set up bro-humor movies that have severely disappointed. For example, Observe and Report; unlike Fay, who saw some merit in the movie, I strongly, strongly disliked it. "Disliked" as in if I had paid to watch the movie (it was pre-screened for free at my school), I would've demanded my money back, if I did that sort of thing. It was overly crass for the sake of ... well not humor, because it certainly wasn't humorous. It's difficult for movies to be funny without crossing the line of being TOO inhumane or offending some group vs. the other end of the spectrum of being corny and expected and general lameness. O and R crossed the line, and wasn't even funny when it did. I don't mean the oft-cited pseudo-date-rape scene, which gave me pause but also some nervous laughter. It was the violence-related humor -- Seth Rogan and his gay mall cop lackey (who, while we're at it, was just gratuitously gay - his sexual orientation really didn't make his character any funnier or add any depth) smashing children over the head with skateboards? NOT cool. And (maybe) even worse - NOT funny.

But The Hangover (come on, even just the name is discouraging if you're wary of badly-made bro-humor) had almost none of this. The only thing that stands out in my mind is when they accidentally hit the baby in the face when opening the car door, which is actually in the trailer - I wonder why, because most of the humor in the movie is NOT like that. And that one cringe-worthy scene (hitting babies? really? since when was this funny?) was countered by so many other scenes involving the baby that were genuinely, genuinely hilarious (Omg the sunglasses?? So simple yet so funny!) that I can forgive that one questionable moment and appreciate the movie on a whole for what it was -- a very nearly perfect comedy. I hardly stopped laughing.

Aside from being HUGE LOL funny, the characters were well-developed (enough) -- with the noteable exception of Heather Graham as the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold, who was well-acted and so beautiful but painfully empty; in terms of her character, she could've been replaced by Kendra from Hefner's Girls Next Door and the audience would hardly have noticed, except that Heather Graham is an infinitely better actress. The filming was rather good too, or at the very least easy on the eyes and fun to watch. Lots of wide-angle nightline shots and crisp, bright daytime shoots a la The Hills (but better, obv).

If you haven't already, go watch it in theatres! It's a great, great comedy. And then tell me what you think.

In other news, I made two purchases yesterday that I am very, very excited about -- I still have that addictive post-purchase high pumping through my veins right now. The first is a super versatile red velour bag with a gold chain (potential for: clutch, long single chain, double chain, wristlet chain, shoulder, across the body, etc.), which is kind of exactly what I needed.

The second is a beaded Herrera skirt that I am equally in love with (ahh the color and detail and intricacy of beading pattern) that I in no way or form could ever need but it SEEMS like it could be versatile. Shown here with a Hanes vneck, but I could wear it to work, right?