This is pertinent to my life . . .

 . . . so I thought I'd share it here.

source: we heart it

From the Bookshelves

 

 

 

 

 

source: The Short Review

 

 

I tried to put these things out of my mind. We'd been away three long months harrying the Hibernian shores, and now I was back with Pila, my common-law, and thinking that home was very close to paradise in these endless summer days. We'd built our house together, Pila and me. It was a fine little wattle-and-daub cabin on a pretty bit of plain where a wide blue fjord stabbed into the land. On summer evenings my young wife and I would sit out front, high on potato wine, and watch the sun stitch its orange skirt across the horizon. At times such as these, you get a good, humble feeling, like the gods made this place, this moment, first and concocted you as an afterthought just to be there to enjoy it.

-Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Wells Tower's collection of short stories is not my usual fare, but I very much enjoyed it. It is excellently written, and provides thought-provoking character profiles. They are people you see every day, but maybe don't recognize or realize you see. I was skeptical in the first few stories, as enjoyable as they were, but the final story really drove home this very interesting arc (conceit?) throughout the whole book and was just absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend!

Morning Covers-Whip My Hair

Just in case you missed it.

 

source: viralishsite



source: willowsmithvevo

From the Bookshelves to Cinema

The Maltese Falcon



I read Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon at the beginning of the summer, both because I love his other novel Thin Man (and its film adaptation) and because I wanted to see the film. Well, I'm finally getting around to it right now. It's a story that lends itself to the moving pictures and particularly the film noir genre. Spade & Archer are a pair of private eyes in San Francisco. Spade is having an affair with Archer's wife and wouldn't have respected Archer very much even if he wasn't. But when Archer gets murdered while following a lead for a (female) client, Spade still wants to get to the bottom of it.

Humphrey Bogart (who, naturally, plays Spade) seems so much younger than he is in Casablanca, even though it was made only a year after Falcon. His Spade is spot-on--a man who always keeps his composure, is hardly ever startled (or hardly ever let's you see him startled). He's a man that can punch your lights out without losing the ash off the end of his cigarette. I've never been a huge Humphrey Bogart person, myself, but I like him alot more now that I've seen him smile. He'd always seemed rather forbidding (my mom just said "I think he's creepy, myself. Even creepier when he smiles." No, she doesn't know what I'm writing), and his smile has a fantastically sinister edge to it. 

But the film, beyond the fantastic plot (fantastic because it follows the film to a T), is just a fantastic example of old film-making. The minimal (i.e. realistic) set design, the play of shadows and light that is best executed in black and white, the clothes, all prove with a wonderful concreteness that flashier isn't better. It's so odd (and odd that it's odd) that the actors look like people. They have wrinkles, they aren't perfect physical specimens (or all the same body type if they're not), and their faces tell distinct stories. Their hair moves, which is refreshing. I suppose, it was a different time.

both photos: filmnoirphotos

my heart fell at your feet.

It's been raining for over twenty-four hours, and only now have the skies really opened up. Thunder is rolling and crashing in great booms. I'm slightly exhausted, slightly anxious, and slightly excited about things to come so I figured now is as good a time as any to give a little update on the personal side of life.

I've gotten a part time job at a store near my house. It's not particularly glamorous (i.e. not at all) and definitely not in an area that I want to pursue for the rest of my life. But it gives me something to do, a little money in the bank, and most importantly it means that I interact with all sorts of different people every day. In my relatively brief stretch of unemployment I discovered that not only does sitting around all day lead to inertia and an overall lack of desire to do much of anything at all, it also makes it unbelievably easy to succumb to selfishness and a rather sullen attitude. 

 
Just before Halloween I went back to my old university stomping grounds, to do some research for a line of thinking that I may or may not incorporate into my graduate studies (if, that is, I get into graduate school!). It was wonderful to see some friends that were still around campus and very nice to be doing something academic again 
. . . but I felt so separate from everything. Like every fiber of me knew that this place is no longer my sanctuary. That I had to move on, whether I want to or not (pretty sure I do). But it's little downtown area still holds a very special place in my heart, and is continuing the renaissance that it began my freshman year. It's become quite the little indie enclave, I'm happy to say!

But despite all of that, what I actually enjoyed most was wandering around by myself. I've started carrying my camera around with me everywhere and am trying to get into the habit of being able to take photos without feeling self-conscious. I'm not sure how it's going . . . it's just a little point and shoot . . . but I am starting to feel more comfortable with it! 

They now have a lovely store for knitting, crocheting, and the like. I tend to just do it for myself, but I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to knitting . . . I picked it up in middle school (my mom taught me) and I haven't really stopped. When I recently bought (my mom bought me) J.Crew's trench coat in dried parsley for my sister's upcoming nuptials, a knit scarf and mittens were clearly in order. The woman allowed me to quietly peruse the store, where I came upon this amazing hand-painted wool that I just fell in love with. I've chosen a moss knitting pattern (I believe). Essentially, you cast on as many stitches as you want in an even number, than do two rows of knit stitch, purl stitch, knit stitch, etc. and then two rows of purl stitch, knit stitch, purl stitch, etc, until you reach the length you want! I find that I prefer the simplest patterns . . . but that's probably because that's all I can do!


Here's a little progress shot . . . and I pseudo-made my bed, just for anyone who might come across this!

Anyway, that's what's going on over here . . . a bit of cooking, a bit of knitting, a bit of studying, a bit of applying myself. A whole lot of waiting for life to start. But that's ok! As long as it doesn't take too long . . .

From the Bookshelves to Cinema

Get excited people. I know I am.

source: yahoo via I don't think Prada is the Answer

Kick Drum Heart

source

Enjoy your Saturday . . . I'm getting a flu shot.

asleignaw;ioegan I'm so excited!!!

source: SF Weekly blogs

 New Decemberists album! Coming out January 11th!! Called The King is Dead!!! Free download of new single on their website!!! I speculate they will tour again soon!!! Gah!!

 

news source: Blogtown, the Portland Mercury