a general sigh

My enthusiasm for this blog has been steadily dwindling. I started the thing with good intentions, but my desire to create a kind of inspirational scrapbook has become more of a chore than a relief. I used to love stumbling upon new imagery, words, sounds...but now I feel obligated to seek it out. "Stumbling" has become forced.

This is due, partly, to the fact that there is an audience, (albeit small, but wandering eyes nonetheless.) I write differently when people are watching. Whether it's one or a dozen, I create a sense of pressure for myself, and my drive to explore says "so long!"

I don't want to be boring, but I feel boring. If my original intent is for personal satisfaction, then why does it bother me when I post too much fashion and not enough interior design? I don't know.

I've reached a point where I am in dire need of inspiration. I have writer/photographer/general creator's block. Between the holidays, strep throat, moving my mother, and remodeling my house, I haven't found much time to go beneath the surface. It's starting to gnaw at me...

Nostalgia

A friend of mine at work found some neat old pictures courtesy of Shorpy. He copied his favorites onto my computer, and I decided to share a few below, but there are so many cool ones that I may do another entry down the line:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

I'm really looking forward to this movie. Not only am I a huge Terry Gilliam fan, but anything that involves fantasy, time travel, and/or dreamworlds attracts me instantly. I had an odd dream about Heath Ledger a few nights ago, and I look forward to seeing his final performance on the big screen.

Here are a few pictures from the movie:






(Official Site coming soon.)

Unicorn Code Bag

I always feel strange jumping from something dramatic to something comical, but I want this bag from Archie McPhee nonetheless. I love unicorns, and I love bags.


The Unicorn Code states:

1. Unicorns never cheat.
2. Unicorns always lend a helping hand.
3. Unicorns don't talk to strangers.
4. Unicorns respect the Earth.
5. Unicorns are never late.
6. Unicorns aren't conceited.
7. Unicorns don't judge people.
8. Unicorns always give 100%.
9. Unicorns graze on peace and love.
10. Unicorns don't do drugs.

Silent Order

Lately I've been attracted to bold colors, extreme styles, and eccentric photography. I love the selective lighting in these; I'm a sucker for eerie gothic imagery.







There are so many more wonderful images on the artists' deviantART. It was hard to make a selection!

Thoughts Are Things

Taken from "Thoughts Are Things" by Prentice Mulford:

"Our bodies also are ever throwing off through the skin matter they can no longer use. In the great city thousands on thousands of bodies are throwing out disused element too fine to rank even as dust. It is thrown off by sick bodies, and many are sick on their feet. This we breathe. We breathe each other over and over again."

Calcified

I had to take my boyfriend to the emergency room last Saturday night. They kept us there for eight hours... He has a kidney stone, and as of today, it's still floating around. The doctor, (a blonde British gent with Laryngitis that had to whisper his prognosis,) wasn't able to do much because the hospital was under-staffed and over-populated. They pumped him full of pain medicine, gave him a cat scan, and told him he'd eventually pass it. The pain has been causing him to throw up violently, there and back and into the following day. If it's not gone by this afternoon, I'm buying him a six pack and a bottle of tequila. That's sure to get it out, no?

Blueberry Bread Pudding

I tried out a yummy recipe last week! It took a while, (you have to chill it over night,) but it was well worth the wait.

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) French bread loaf, cubed
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 3 cups fresh blueberries, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 (10-ounce) jar blueberry preserves
• Garnishes: fresh mint leaves, edible pansies

Preparation

Arrange half of bread cubes in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan. Sprinkle evenly with cream cheese and 1 cup blueberries; top with remaining bread cubes.

Whisk together eggs, 4 cups milk, sugar, butter, and maple syrup; pour over bread mixture, pressing bread cubes to absorb egg mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 more minutes or until lightly browned and set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Stir together remaining 2 cups blueberries and blueberry preserves in a saucepan over low heat until warm. Serve blueberry mixture over bread pudding. Garnish, if desired.

*****

After bringing half of it to the office, a fellow co-worker asked for the recipe and tried it out with strawberries. Yum! It would be really tasty with peaches or apricots as well.

See more recipes at Southern Living.

Photosketch

A new way to photoshop?

"A group of students in China have created PhotoSketch, a project that takes a rough, hand-drawn sketch, scours the web for photos that match, and runs them through an algorithm, stitching it all together." Check out the video below to see how it's done:

Editors

I just found out that Editors will be releasing their third studio album entitled "In This Light & On This Evening" on 10/13/09. I had the opportunity to see them in San Francisco a few years back, and they put on an amazing show. I can't wait!

Check out their newest single below:

Editors - Papillon

And check out their official site for videos and news.