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May 31, 2008
Brown Hair Signals an Economic Downturn
"On a spring afternoon, a half-dozen hairstylists to the very wealthy talked about how customers are stretching their $350 highlights and $150 haircuts to every eight weeks instead of six weeks. Some women are cutting out highlights entirely, saying they would 'rather be brunettes.'"
Via NY Times
Posted by Bree at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
Datey McDates (and TWO Five Word Movie Reviews)
Matt and I went on a special sojourn last night that did not involve either the dogs or Home Depot. That's right. A DATE. I even wore earrings.
We had dinner at Encore (the new restaurant attached to the new Tattered Cover) and many drinks later (word, they had ZOLO - made RIGHT HERE!), went to see The Visitor at the Neighborhood Flix joint attached. The Visitor was somewhat somnolent. Indeed, I had come up with my five word review PRIOR to seeing the movie, which I stand by ("Strange combination: cloying and genuine") but Matt's came mid-way when he said loudly, "Molasses uphill in the winter."
But the best part? Neighborhood Flix has loooove seats with ottomans where you can snuggle up to your sweetness (or, you know, "get to third") with no one any the wiser. Or that's what I told myself the second time I fell asleep sprawled all over Matt like a cheap date suit. Suffice it, I left the theater with my head ducked hoping no one had heard our commentary or our snoring. BUT I highly recommend the place. And hope that other theaters start following their lead in terms of having a full bar, decent independent movies and a place to catch a snooze. It's like a mozzarella, basil and tomato combo...it just works. Someone alert Images. Please.
Posted by Bree at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2008
Friday Inspo
What can I say? It's a Youtube kind of morning. And this song gets me going. That is all.
Here's a better video (though not so appealing to those prone to seizures), equally good tune:
Posted by Bree at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
Anticipation
"PC or Mac?"
Posted by Bree at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2008
Tats for my Toots
I enjoy these, so I bought them. They fit right in with my ongoing commitment to tattoo-free skin and slip-on sneaks. Plus, I think they'll look swell peeping out from under my favorite pair of dungarees.
In other news, a paycheck lasts exactly one (1) hot minute in my hands.
Posted by Bree at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)
POTD (Phrase of the Day) Part II
"[He/she] wouldn't say shit if [he/she] had a mouthful of it."
As in my friend's assertion that a mutual acquaintance "wouldn't say shit if he had a mouthful of it."
"[He/she] wouldn't say shit if [he/she] had a mouthful of it."
Posted by Bree at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
POTD (Phrase of the Day)
Swinging dick
As in my boyfriend's assertion that each time he gets a haircut he, "looks just like every other swinging dick in town."
Swinging dick
Posted by Bree at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)
Send Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Junkstore Treasures
Though I generally loathe checking my mail, I was beyond excited today to find an envelope from my boy Jake in Seattle containing...a Rolling Stones picture key ring!
I just opened it and the laminated pictures are ancient (from the Tattoo You/Mick in kneepads era), yellowed, and rusted together on the keychain. All and all, exactly my kind of gift. THANK YOU, JAKE!
Posted by Bree at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Monopolize
Abby from Style Me Pretty is guest blogging at Design*Sponge this week. I think some of the stuff she's featuring is absolutely fabs, but my favorite is that Monopoly card painting above. It reminds me of my three rules of Monopoly mastery:
1. Buy, buy, buy (except when it comes to Park Place and Boardwalk).
2. Whoever has the railroads will most likely win the game.
3. I forget this one.
If I had any kind of artistic skills or spatial understanding, I would very much like to create my own Ventnor Avenue.
"In the first few blocks, still within Atlantic City, Ventnor Avenue now is home to tattoo parlors, divorce centers and bodegas."
Divorce centers? What sort of place IS this "New Jersey"?
Posted by Bree at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
Five Word Movie Review Thursday
Steadily weakens after great beginning.
Posted by Bree at 09:47 AM | Comments (2)
May 28, 2008
Barbara Corcoran Ranks Denver in Top Five "Friendliest" Cities
Denver, Colorado: When your first building is a saloon, you know you’re a friendly town
“Denver has the easygoing and friendly nature indicative of the Midwest. Various cocktail parties sport the ‘Colorado casual’ look, which is everything from sequins and silk to jeans and cowboy boots or stiletto heels.” — Patti Johnson, Denver real estate broker
Did you know?
* Downtown in the Mile High City is one big, car-free “pedestrian mall” lined with shops, bars and restaurants where locals and tourists alike hang out. There’s even a free shuttle bus that runs along the main street.
* Denver is one of only two cities in America with eight professional sports teams.
* The first permanent structure in Denver was a saloon. Talk about hospitality.
* A cultural melting pot, Denver hosts the country’s largest Cinco de Mayo festival, the Longs Peak Scottish Festival, the National Gay Rodeo Finals, PrideFest, and it has the Black American West Museum in the historically rich African-American Five Points neighborhood. Its population is 40 percent Hispanic and 10 percent African-American.
* The city also boasts comprehensive accessibility services like wheelchair-friendly trails and accommodations and transportation services for the physically impaired.
* Denver will host the Democratic National Convention this August. For the convention, Bikes Belong will supply the city with 1,000 bicycles to be used in a system similar to that in Paris (credit card access; rates are lowest for short jaunts around the city). Seventy will be left behind as a legacy that Denver plans to grow into a city-wide public transportation system of several hundred bikes.
* The median single-family home sales price is $223,500.
Posted by Bree at 03:26 PM | Comments (2)
May 27, 2008
AAA Goes BDSM
BIG NEWS: The Annoyance Allowance is the fourth result in a Google search for "submission girlfriend." And the Flickr picture associated with that post is the fifth. Suffice it, we are already making money hand over breakaway handcuff.
Posted by Bree at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
Sic-o
I kind of love that mug down there, but only because I'm a huuuuuge fucking nerd. So, please, for the love of style, taste and discernment, don't go taking any cues from this joint.
Proofreaders Mug, $14.99
Posted by Bree at 05:53 PM | Comments (2)
Breecycle
In an effort to GIT GREEN (and by green, I mean gangrenous, which I feel strongly is the next global trend), I've posted a compelling offer on Freecycle. Read on for how NOT to write sales copy:
I have a 30-inch slide-in electric stove/oven that is probably 15 or 20 years old. It's yellowy/beige and definitely dated looking but it works fine (I used it for a year before getting a new one). Let me know if you need any more info.
Do you feel my disinterest? Do you sense my scorn? Can you tell I'm just too lazy to go out to the garage and check the brand name or take a picture? Yep, yep and yep. Good times. Oh and let me know if you need a stove/oven! She's a real beaut!
Posted by Bree at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
Magneto
I strapped on my crafty sandals this weekend and spent many hours cutting and gluing to make - ta da! - the 3/4-inch magnets seen above. Following the instructions and advice on Not Martha, I armed myself with magnetic buttons from Dick Blick, acrylic cabochons from Tap Plastics, silicon glue from Home Depot, an oversized (1-inch) hole-punch from Target, and a marathon of Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC.
I used old wallpaper samples and various patterns I punched out of magazines and print production catalogs. The glue didn't seep through any of 'em. Good glue. (Whinny.)
Matt has concluded that for my next go-round, I should buy one-inch magnets and use a mold and double-pour epoxy to make the top. I'm down, but was distressed to discover that one-inch magnets were surprisingly difficult to find online. I finally got lucky - and undistressed - at CMS Magnetics. Keep in mind, however, that if you want the one-inchers (to match the hole-punch you got at Target, DERR) you can affix the smaller, cheaper magnets to the bottom of bigger cabochons - they don't have to match up...unless, of course, you're getting all double-pour about it. In which case they clearly do, and which I clearly am.
Posted by Bree at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
No Need, Much Covet
I have no need for a calculator that the F12 key on my MacBook doesn't fulfill. However, when it comes to need and want, I find myself in a rarely the twain shall meet situation more often than not. Hence, calculator browsing at the MOMA store.
10-KeyCalculator, Ippei Matsumoto, 2004 for $58
Wooden Calculator, Takumi Shimamura, 2006 on sale for $45.95
Dot Matrix Desktop Calculator for $18
Posted by Bree at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2008
A Good Reminder
A Late Aubade by Richard Wilbur
You could be sitting now in a carrel
Turning some liver-spotted page,
Or rising in an elevator-cage
Toward Ladies' Apparel.
You could be planting a raucous bed
Of salvia, in rubber gloves,
Or lunching through a screed of someone's loves
With pitying head.
Or making some unhappy setter
Heel, or listening to a bleak
Lecture on Schoenberg's serial technique.
Isn't this better?
Think of all the time you are not
Wasting, and would not care to waste,
Such things, thank God, not being to your taste.
Think what a lot
Of time, by woman's reckoning,
You've saved, and so may spend on this,
You who had rather lie in bed and kiss
Than anything.
It's almost noon, you say? If so,
Time flies, and I need not rehearse
The rosebuds-theme of centuries of verse.
If you must go,
Wait for a while, then slip downstairs
And bring us up some chilled white wine,
And some blue cheese, and crackers, and some fine
Ruddy-skinned pears.
Posted by Bree at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2008
Amy Had Her Baby!
Addison Mia Axt
Filed under "GIMME!"
Posted by Bree at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2008
Five Word Movie Review Friday
...is neither lovely nor amazing.
Posted by Bree at 07:06 PM | Comments (1)
Spending Diet FAIL
Green Spring Flowers Neckwarmer/Cowl/Scarflette, $46 at Etsy
Via Rare Bird Finds
Posted by Bree at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
Unclear Antecedent Alert
First sentence of a short article in the Denver Post today:
Phillip Chavez beat to death a man who hit Chavez's car on the side of the road in March, killing his two stepchildren, according to police.
I had to read the whole article to understand what the fuck that meant. (And I'm lazy, so that's saying something.) Maybe you're quicker on the draw than me, but for those in the back row: it seems a man hit Chavez's car. The accident killed Chavez's two stepchildren. Chavez then beat the man to death.
The grammatical problem stems from the "his" in the parenthetical clause. His? Who's his? Chavez? Or the man (which is how I initially read it)? Avoid this dilemma when using pronouns by steering clear of the unclear antecedent. If you (or the reader) can't make an obvious and quick connection between the subject and the pronoun, then repeat the subject's proper name...or rewrite the sentence.
Posted by Bree at 11:20 PM | Comments (3)
May 21, 2008
Good Things, Small Packages
I've decided to knit everyone coffee cup cozies (koozies?) for Christmas. The only thing standing in my way is the likelihood I won't be invited home after this announcement. Or that I will be invited home, but then summarily drowned by the farrier in a pitcher of eggnog while my family stands around and bemoans the ruination of their favorite yuletide bev.
It's either that or the bat napkin(g) ring, people! Deal with it.
Posted by Bree at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Business + Pleasure
From: Eric
To: briggles
Date: Tue, May 20, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Subject: RE: Just another Sunday night in THE HOOD
[THE GANGLAND ACTIVITY IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD] is some truly scary shit. But the timing it very interesting when you think about it; right when you launch your site you have some ambitious young go-getters traipsing right by your house. Maybe with your help, they can polish their gang’s image and finally show everyone they mean well. You can be the mouthpiece for a generation of misunderstood peace-keepers. Who keeps the Crips from taking over? The Bloods. Who keeps the Bloods from dominating? The Latin Kings. Its a closed loop process that should be exalted for its efficiency and I think you’re the one for the job.
Want to get rip-roaring drunk sometime soon? I do.
- Eric
Posted by Bree at 11:41 AM | Comments (2)
May 20, 2008
The Annoyance Allowance
Angela and I have, as of today, launched a new blog (and Flickr account) called The Annoyance Allowance. It is a place for us each to document one annoyance per day. By creating an allowance of this sort, it is our mutual hope that we will be able to let the rest of our annoyances go and live in harmony and peace like a basketful of kittens. Om.
If you would like to become part of the Annoyance Allowance Alliance, simply submit photos of YOUR daily annoyances to annoyanceallowance [@] yahoo.com.
Posted by Bree at 04:51 PM | Comments (5)
Ruminations on Shoes, Killing Animals
Next time I get paid, I'm buying groceries and these:
Granted, that stretchy NUDE part in the back is kind of hein, but I'll just cover it with trousers. Freals. I need me some animal skins in this life, and since it doesn't look like I'll inherit (or be able to fit into) my mom's all-fur wardrobe (you think I kid; I don't kid) anytime soon, satin print is the way to go.
Oh and back to my mom. This is the woman who when I told her maybe not to wear her fur boots, coat, PURSE (I bought it for her in Iceland and it's very, very awesome, but still) and hat on a shopping excursion to Williamsburg due to the possibility of attack by a paint-splattering lunatic and/or a pelt trader, grumpily unearthed the most non-bloody item in her winter wardrobe: a brown wool coat with a FUR collar, and declared, "This ugly piece of shit is all I've got." And people wonder why I have conservative leanings.
Posted by Bree at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
Design Diplomacy Meets Design Dipshits
Grace from Design*Sponge is diplomatic as ever, but check this little nugget out from her time at Surtex:
"surtex was a really interesting show this year- both for the type of work shown and the difficulty i had getting some of the designers to hand me as little as a business card. the nature of the show is a bit trickier than icff and the stationery show- most of these designers are trying to find licensing deals so they’re not looking to deal with press of any type- let alone someone coming up from a website."
Because getting press on one of the most widely read and linked to design blogs would only HINDER their chances at getting a licensing deal, of course.
The fucking attitude in certain areas of the design world (Royal College of Art, I'm looking at YOU) is unfortunate and completely foolish. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, as they say. (And by they, I mean the bibles.)
Good luck with that, d-bags.
Posted by Bree at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
Love This
Zoe and her newly affianced, Ronan, killing us with their cuteness. MWAH!
Posted by Bree at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2008
Finalized Muzica Mixica
No Man's Woman - Sinead O'Connor
M79 - Vampire Weekend
If I Ever Feel Better - Phoenix
Breakin' Up - Rilo Kiley
Who the Fuck? PJ Harvey
Funkier Than a Mosquita's Tweeter - Ike and Tina Turner
I Swallowed a Dragonfly - Heartless Bastards
Trouble on the Line - Loretta Lynn
I've Been Out Walking - Nico
Rise Up With Fists!!! - Jenny Lewis
14th Street - Rufus Wainwright
Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin
Windfall - Son Volt
Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen
Lost Cause - Beck
Awkward Duet - Sons & Daughters
Bessa - Tilly and the Wall
Avenues - Whiskeytown
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Them
I Don't Know Why I Love You - The Rolling Stones
A lot of those are personal favorites from all my assorted and sundry heartbreaks over the years. Looking back, I think if it wasn't for Led Zeppelin, I wouldn't have survived 2003. And if it wasn't for Rilo Kiley, I might not have moved to Denver. And if it wasn't for Loretta Lynn, I wouldn't have learned to pronounce "bear" "baaaarrrr."
Posted by Bree at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
Dazzle 'er with Diamonds
News from the NYC e-mail front is that our favorite hot, happening girl-about-town ZOE is engaged (and no, it's not to that silliness you see next to her up there)! Congrazeeelatutions, little lady!
Posted by Bree at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)
Site's Up (aka "S'Up")
You know how just five seconds ago I wrote that the web site was so close to being up I could taste it? Well get ready to feast, Bree, because here she blows. The URL still needs to be masked, and I need to add some clients in there and somehow work the word "organic" into my copy, and maybe change that iguana picture, but still. Accolades and applause are now accepted.
Posted by Bree at 03:37 PM | Comments (2)
Para-Professional Photography
My new work web site is almost up (so close I can taste her!) but it has come to my attention I should probably have a photo of myself on it. So, I've been swabbing the decks over at Flickr and, once I take out all the ones of me in a low-cut shirt, all the ones of me with a drink in my hand, and all the ones of me looking suspicious, irritated or scornful, I'm left with just a handful. Meaning, I'm going to have to take Angela up on her offer (or, more to the point, make her capitulate to my demand) to take some action shots of me...me writing, me editing, me thinking...me filing. They'll be magnificent, I assure you.
In the meantime, I'll give you perhaps the only one ever taken of me *on the job* so that you might begin to envision just what I actually do.
That's right, I write. In sunglasses.
Posted by Bree at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
Thoughts on Making a Mixture
A friend of mine is going through a tough break-up right now and I'm trying to figure out the just right songs to put on a mix for her. I want to strike that delicate balance between survival anthems and tear-gushers; the first for obvious reasons and the second because, in delicate emotional times, it always brings some comfort to realize you're not the ONLY person to have ever suffered this way. It's a challenging task, though, so I'm considering making two: one for the cry-y times and one for the times when you're just so happy to have the dickbrains expunged from your life that you feel like shouting. And you would shout but the heartache diet (peanut butter and vodka) has sapped you of strength for such exertions. So you just smile to yourself and go put out on an Internet date.
Maybe this is just me.
Regardless, one song I know I won't be adding?
"Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" by The Magnetic Fields.
And the reason I know this?
Because I considered it.
(Male) I've enjoyed making you
miserable for years
found peace of mind in
playing on your fears
How I loved to catch your gold
and silver tears, but now my dear
(Female) What a dark and dreary life
Are you reaching for a knife?
Could you really kill your wife?
(Male) Yeah! Oh, yeah!
(Female) Oh, I die, I die, I die!
So it's over, you and I
Was my whole life just a lie?
(Male) Yeah! Oh, yeah!
Posted by Bree at 09:52 AM | Comments (1)
May 18, 2008
Talented Lady
My girlfriend-in-law has put up a web site to showcase her awesome self. It's small and lovely - just like her - and located here.
Posted by Bree at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2008
Office Shenanigans (Apacheeeee!)
If you're having difficulty justifying to your boss the hours wiled away here or at The Sartorialist or at Things You Can't Do Coked Up or whatever web site's floating your sick, sick boat, fear no longer, pilgrim. Workfriendly.net has sneakily devised Microsoft Word versions of all your favorite hunting grounds.
Behold the safe version of this site below:
Just as dry and mundane as one might expect.
If that's too much work for you, another solution would be to adopt my technique - developed and honed at Kensington Publishing Corporation - and keep a super complicated-looking excel document opened and minimized at the bottom of your screen. Boss peeks around the cube, and one quick second later, you're contentedly mired in columns and rows. This works even better if your job has nothing to do with quantitative analysis. Trust me on that. I'm a writer for Chrissake. The only thing I analyze is which Style Guide I can use to justify my rather arcane and inconsistent grammatical standards.
Please note that you could also utilize the more advanced strategy (either on its own or in tandem with the prior) of attaching a rearview mirror to your monitor (instituted and perfected at Edelman) to keep a peeled eye on those sneaky sleuths of the corporate world. You'll be one step ahead of the game in no time.
Via Denver Egotist
Posted by Bree at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Breaking: Wal-Mart Produces Well-Designed Item
White Ceramic Lamp with Brown Dot Shade, $39.76
Via Becoming Home
Posted by Bree at 08:09 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2008
Glee (P.M. Edition)
A Christian group out of San Diego has found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.
The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks."
- Source
Posted by Bree at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)
Breaking: Newfound Love
Posted by Bree at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2008
I Want to Violate You
Nine Inch Nails is giving away its latest album for free here. I downloaded, but have yet to listen...and will probably not be terribly motivated to after hearing Matt's review of it last night.
"It sounds like a video game. Just like all their albums have sounded like video games since [INSERT ALBUM NAME I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF] they made the soundtrack to Quake."
So, cool. That's nice.
I can jam to Pitfall.
Totes.
But the reeeeallly strange part of it all is that today and yesterday, Nine Inch Nails has been the featured sponsor on a frightening site called The Skinny Website. Granted, I know this because I read it, and I read it because I have no morals, but that site is skeeeery in its nitpickery of celebrity weight loss and gain. Whoever's handling the ad-buys or PPCs for Trent and the gang is way off-base with this one. Not only wouldn't I want my brand associated with a site like that, but judging from the comments, I would surmise that the average, pro-ana, 13-year old, tres misérables reader of a site like that isn't exactly NIN's target consumer.
Bow down before the one you serve? Well, maybe next time.
Posted by Bree at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
I Can Haz Crap
Because I have no standards, I kind of love all some of the stuff over at Perpetual Kid. And yes, I realize it's basically a rehash of Fred Flare, but for some reason - I find it easier surfing. Besides, no matter how many times I fill up my shopping cart o'er at Fred, I can never seem to commit to actually buying anything. Maybe it's because I really don't need any more space-eating tchotke junk, but I demand to differ.
Anyhooos, here are some favorites from Perpetual Kid:
Mr. Bacon vs. Monsieur Tofu, $8.99
Kam Kam Giant Cat Body Pillow, $34.99
Posted by Bree at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2008
Worst Video Non-Competition (Define "Worst"
As a follow-up to yesterday's post, Duffy sent the above. He assures me no Apaches were harmed during its making.
Thanks, Duff!
Posted by Bree at 08:16 AM | Comments (4)
May 12, 2008
Worst Album Cover Competition [Define "Worst"]
So hard to choose but do try and vote for your least favorite (and see all of them) here.
Thanks, Rick!
Posted by Bree at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)
Tax Deductible?
Acme Studio Crops Card Case, $31 at Colorado's own Composition
Posted by Bree at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
Doggles
The sun in Coloradey is BRIGHT. Seeing as we're a mile closer to it than most, and living in what is essentially a mountainous desert, people here are wise to use quality sunblock, gigundo eyewear and caution when blindly traveling towards the setting sun. When I walk Deuce in the afternoon, the trip west is often brutal on the peepers. I generally have a pair of enormous sunglasses to protect my sensitive iri, but the Deuce? Nothing, which bugs me, fan I am of shaded eyewear. It can't be pleasant to stare directly into a blistering star, or whatever this "sun" thing is.
Enter Doggles.
$21.99 at Doggles.com and cheaper here. I think I'll go with the metallic black frame/smoke lenses in order to assure her continued resemblance to Tom Petty.
Posted by Bree at 08:51 AM | Comments (1)
May 11, 2008
Mwah!
I love you, Mom, you black-diamond badass.
Posted by Bree at 09:49 AM | Comments (1)
May 09, 2008
Benefits of Crying (Wolf)
I haven't been able to sleep much the last few nights because I've taken to drinking Big Gulps of Diet Coke starting around 10 p.m. This new found energy allowed me to stay up until 1 last night finishing my book, (which was pretty good, but also very heavy-handed on the whole "animal abuse" front). Then, still not tired enough to sleep, I decided to cap off the evening by freaking out about weird, itchy bumps/bites that are on my arms and legs. In tears, I woke Matt up to posit the idea that there was some sort of parasite living inside of me. He failed to concur but let me have my freakout anyway, even suggesting we could go to the ER. After I said, "But they'd laugh at me..." it began to dawn that yes, I just might be overreacting. Especially since I have allergies to soap, and my friend Hannah washed all my sheets last week whilst housesitting and probably didn't use the "no-dye, no-fun" soap I like to use, and etc. etc.
This kind of behavior is not new to me, or any of my close friends and family. About once every three months, I have a major medical meltdown relating to some unexplainable problem that eventually turns into nothing and/or remains a figment of my imagination. (See: MS freakout from 1999-2004, hairloss freakout from 2004-6, bedbug freakout 2005, etc.). It's a charming attribute that really endears my friends and family to me. It also causes me to lose hours of life to anxiety, stress and worry about an issue that never comes to bear.
Luckily, as I have gotten older, I've really learned to let a lot of that go and not think so hard. But it still rears its head once in a while. And when it does, it's really awesome to have a guy around to bring you a bromeliad the next morning to make you feel better. And then make you scrambled eggs on the grill because your stove's still not set up. And then spend all day tiling your kitchen and running a gas line and setting up the new stove and dealing with the milk salesman. In short, it's really, really nice to have a Matt.
Posted by Bree at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
Brouhaha Lite
In response to the semi-interesting piece The New Yorker just published about some guy who possibly retouched the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty ads, and the semi-interesting semi-nonexistent semi-backlash against Dove and Ogilvy and Annie Liebovitz and WHATEVER - everything's fake people, let's not fool ourselves - my former employers just released this:
Statement from Dove about The New Yorker Article
Dove's mission is to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening the definition of beauty and inspiring them to take great care of themselves. Dove strives to portray women by accurately depicting their shape, size, skin color and age.The "real women" ad referenced in recent media coverage was created and produced entirely by Ogilvy, the Dove brand's advertising agency, from start to finish and the women's bodies were not digitally altered.
Pascal Dangin worked with photographer Annie Leibovitz (Ogilvy has never employed Mr. Dangin on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty), who did the photography for the launch of the Dove ProAge campaign, a new campaign within the Campaign for Real Beauty. There was an understanding between Dove and Ms. Leibovitz that the photos would not be retouched - the only actions taken were the removal of dust from the film and minor color correction.
"Let's be perfectly clear - Pascal does all kinds of work - but he is primarily a printer - and only does retouching when asked to. The idea for Dove was very clear at the beginning. There was to be NO retouching and there was not," confirmed Annie Leibovitz, commenting on the ProAge campaign.
Mr. Dangin responded, "The recent article published by The New Yorker incorrectly implies that I retouched the images in connection with the Dove "real women" ad. I only worked on the Dove ProAge campaign taken by Annie Leibovitz and was directed only to remove dust and do color correction - both the integrity of the photographs and the women's natural beauty were maintained."
So OK. Sounds great. These women don't have a zit or scar or bruise or cellulite dimple amongst them. If I wasn't allergic to every single product Dove makes (true), I'd be all up in that (false). Swears (also false).
But the real question remains (and what the press seems to have distressingly overlooked): is it ever advisable to use an apostrophe s in connection to a brand name? I mean, sure, if you're not representing them - who cares - but I seem to remember that that's a big no-no. Especially in first reference. That sentence could have easily been rewritten to avoid that (just look at the next one, no apostrophes there), and just seems a bit sloppy to me. I can't picture any of my old department heads letting that one slide, especially on a release of this magnitude that was obveez gonna get picked up by all and sundry.
I am so disappointed. I think I am going to go put on my white underthings and prance around the neighborhood yelling, "La la la, real women have strange allergies to soaps and lotions and appreciate proper PR punctuation!" until I feel better. C-U-LATE.
Posted by Bree at 12:37 PM | Comments (2)
Megalegga Hi, Mega Hi Dee Ho
I don't know what that title means, but it popped into my head the moment I saw this UNBELIEVABLY GORGE wallpaper on Design*Sponge.
What a fresh, cool take on damask (which even I am tired of seeing). It's going to be shown at ICFF but assume will be available here at some point. Perhaps the point at which I decide to wallpaper my bedroom. Such coincidences have been known to happen.
Posted by Bree at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2008
Realizations While Tiling
Matt and Nate are tiling my kitchen floor right now. I'm sure they're really enjoying listening to my Ipod on shuffle, considering that I've only uploaded artists beginning with "A" and artists beginning with "B" so we've literally had a Beastie Boys, Baby Dayliner, Beastie Boys, Beastie Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Belle & Sebastian, Alicia Keys (shuttup) set in the last half an hour. Pleasurable to all. But speaking of Bruce Springsteen, Nate just pointed out that the cover of The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle which I have hanging in my kitchen to cover up some odd hole or something, is remarkably similar to the cover of Bob Marley's Legend.
I don't see any similarities.
Posted by Bree at 02:19 PM | Comments (3)
Lyrics, Etc. = Perfection
Matt put the song "Feeling Good Again" by Robert Earl Keen on a mix for me, and I absolutely love it. Here's a blank youtube video of it in which "Again" is spelled "Agian," so that's cool. Give it a whirl. Dad, I'm talking to you.
Posted by Bree at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
Five Word Movie Review Thursday
Ironman Iron Man
Superfun! Gwyneth's overbite is Muppet-like.
Posted by Bree at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
KISS® Plasma Light Sculpted Head
In the 70's, KISS® blew our minds with fireworks, fire-breathing, (fake) blood, and larger-than-life personas! Recapture the thrill of those Double Platinum days with this wild LED sculpture featuring an 8" long light-up, flashing fiber optic glass tongue that's just as outrageous as The Demon himself! UL® listed.
$59.98 at Things You Never Knew Existed
Posted by Bree at 09:17 AM | Comments (2)
Have I Mentioned Recently...
how glad I am not to have opened a store?
NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers gave some of the nation's retailers a little relief in April after months of dismal sales, gravitating toward less expensive discounters and wholesale clubs but generally still shying away from stores selling clothes and other non-necessities.- Source
Posted by Bree at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2008
Terribly Sad Day for Broadcasting, Sexuality
Talk Sex with Sue Johanson, arguably one of the best shows ever produced, is going off the air. Sunday will be the last broadcast. This devastates me, as she's responsible for one of the best five minutes in the history of television. You know the one? When she talked with an overweight guy who was afraid his girlfriend was gay because she liked to fondle his man-boobs? No. Well, read that again. Sit with it for a minute. And believe me when I tell you it was gold. 100-percent pure Canadian gold.
I suppose this means I'm going to have to find some other octogenarian smut-talker to fill the void by Monday at the very latest. Any takers?
Posted by Bree at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
5 Word Movie Review Wednesday
Lady Lemmon strums Matt's chords.
Posted by Bree at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
Summing It All Up
Thanks Ziggy!
Posted by Bree at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2008
Man, Nay Genius, Accused of Trying to Cash Check for $360,000,000,000
A man has been accused of attempting to pass a $360 billion check, which he claims was given to him by his girlfriend’s mother to start a record business, Fort Worth police said.
Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, was arrested on April 22 on an accusation of forgery, police said. 
Police responded to a report of a man attempting to pass the check about 4 p.m. that day at the Chase bank in the 8600 block of South Hulen Street, Fort Worth police Lt. Paul Henderson said.
The personal check was not made out to Mr. Fuller and when the bank contacted the check owner, the woman said she did not write a check for $360 billion.
Mr. Fuller was also accused of unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of marijuana, Lt. Henderson said. He may also face a theft charge in Crowley.
Lt. Henderson said he did not know if Mr. Fuller and his girlfriend were still together.
Article here. Thanks, brother!
Posted by Bree at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2008
Vom
In the spirit of What Jeff Killed, may I present the above: the absolutely vomitous welcome home gift from Walter I just discovered on the steps to my basement. Guess that new bottle of stain remover won't be making the trip downstairs anytime soon.
Posted by Bree at 03:41 PM | Comments (1)
Vacation
For some reason, I loathe writing about vacations. So bear with this short description: it was fun, relaxing, and full of good, quality sleep (10 hours a night) and lots of time sweating at the beach. We rented a car and drove around the island one day, went snorkeling, swam in the pool at our place, read, bought rum drinks, freaked out about bugs (me), freaked out about lizards (me), went fishing (Matt) and ate a lot of buttery meat that came in shells.
My favorite part of the trip, however, was on the plane ride down when I woke up from a nap, looked at the book in Matt's hands and asked him if it was fiction or nonfiction.
The book he was reading? World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
This may trump the time I pronounced "oregano" like "Oregon"...and then asked Elliott what exactly this "oregano" was.
Posted by Bree at 02:59 PM | Comments (2)