New at the market

Happy autumn or fall! To ring in the squash season, I bring you zucchini bread. I love the changing of seasons. California doesn't know what they're missing.

At the Academy

Hello, Academy of Science. After a sunny day running in between and around the convention center, volunteers got free admission and a ride to the after party at the Academy of Science. The line to the planetarium show was monstrous, I'll get to it next time. The sun exited as graceful as ever in a purple glow. The moon shone bright and round from the deck of the green roof. It was lovely.

hello, brother

My brother visited me before he started school because he is on the quarter system and I'm on the semester. He really likes banana bread. I'm actually not sure if this is true, but he will eat it willingly. I will bake it willingly. We are also pizza fans. I wanted to make dough from scratch and realized that yeast takes forever and a day to rise. So we made alternative plans and postponed the pizza-making. We used unorthodox ingredients. It was whatever I had in the fridge!

My brother is the best. We have so much fun. 

Approaching Abjection

"There looms, within abjection, one of those violent, dark revolts of being, directed against a threat that seems to emanate from an exorbitant outside or inside, ejected beyond the scope of the possible, the tolerable, the thinkable. It lies there, quite close, but it cannot be assimilated. It beseeches, worries, and fascinates desire, which, nevertheless, does not let itself be seduced. Apprehensive, desire turns aside; sickened, it rejects. A certainty protects it from the shameful-a certainty of which it is proud holds on to it. But simultaneously, just the same, that impetus, that spasm, that leap is drawn toward an elsewhere as tempting as it is condemned. Unflaggingly, like an inescapable boomerang, a vortex of summons and repulsion places the one haunted by it literally beside himself." -Julia Kristeva

Falafel place

I'm on the move. Again.
I liked the stuff on their wall. Ordered a falafel wrap. It was salty. Lots of salty. Cute place, though. In Halifax, by the way. But it looks a lot like this Chinese restaurant in NYC. Could totally be the same restaurant.

Sky's the limit for fun ceilings

Often forgotten in the department of interior design are the ceilings. People don't always look up unless something has hit them on the head. Gawkers are often oblivious to ceilings. Such a shame. Here's a friendly reminder from an Indian restaurant in Berkeley to often crane your head skyward.

I'm gawking while I wonder

This is Nancy Zhang. Isn't she the cutest girls you have ever seen?



Her outfits first caught my eye on Lookbook.nu because they're usually accompanied by a cute little picture but gimmicks aside she has great style. They definitely speak volumes about her character. Seeing as I haven't met her, I'm going on the assumption that she's cute, quirky, and very laid-back- someone I'd love to meet.



She embraces trends but also retains a true sense of herself. She often includes unusual details that teeter between costume and everyday clothing which I love. The "blogosphere" seems to be dominated by teenagers who dress like they've just stepped out of a Urban Outfitters catalog which I don't have a problem with but sometimes I just wish there was something more.



People who know me well know that I have weirdly high standards to the point where even I don't meet them all that often and I'm thrilled to find someone with what I think is truely great style. Sometimes I feel I want to dress just like her.



She's talented too. She puts a lot of her artwork on her blog "It's Nancy's New Blog".

All photos taken from Lookbook.nu

Feed the Soul with Beauty and Genius. Because it is always Hungry!

It appears that I have once again fallen prey to ignoring this blog. But alas, I have not left you, my dear. I have returned to you with many things to show and talk about but all in good time. It has been a very long month. For now, I leave you with this image from Fashion Nation's new Manifesto Magazine.



Stephie and Dottie have leapt toward their dreams and have taken their love for fashion to a new level. They are in a way melding their private life with their online personas which is not easy and I applaud them for that.

Someone recently asked me if this was my blog which I for some reason or other flatly denied. I find the idea of people I actually know reading this blog very disconcerting. I will have to get over that in time but yes, this is me and I'm very sorry for lying.

Jewelry shopping

I was at the bead store this weekend when this guy walks in with his son and asks a question. He politely thanks the lady expressing that he is pressed for time, then turns and walks out saying to his son, "Let's go. This is a do-it-yourself jewelry store." Mother's Day was on Sunday. Did you do something nice? I was not at the bead store for my mom (I sent her a card). I was shopping for earring making supplies. I made my roommate this pair of earrings for her birthday. I always end up spending so much more time than I intend on whenever I go to the bead store. And buying so much more. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if I'm a student or a jewelry maker. The intensity with which I am procrastinating must be worthy of an award. I've been to the bead store everyday for the past 4 days, and oftentimes more than once a day. I decided they were probably starting to recognize me, so I ventured onto the other side of campus to go to the other bead store. And I've now been there 2 days in a row.

Obsession

I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will not drink obscene amounts of Russian tea with soymilk today.
I will tomorrow.

Life is like a romance novel by Nicholas Sparks

Just like A Walk to Remember. Bittersweet. Click on image to see their story.

Downtown Oakland

My first trip into downtown Oakland. One would have expected me to make a visit before two years, but no. It's been almost two years and here is my first trip. Now I have been to Oakland, many times. I've been mostly in the neighborhood communities - the part you might be a little wary for your safety, the part where you would believe that Oakland is the 4th most dangerous city in America. So when I saw downtown - it was a contrast, an interesting one. I always find it fascinating the way places cater to tourists. They construct these elaborate images of what a place is like, but for a resident - that image is completely different. It speaks to the display or spectacle that cities tend to put on for visitors who never get a chance to see the real communities. So when you visit a place, what are you really seeing? How can you be sure it's "authentic"? Enough of this theoretical blabbering. Just a thought.
I would like to know what is going on with this contraption, but there wasn't any placard or anything informative. There wasn't even any water in it. I do enjoy the bright colors. It looks like it would be easy to climb. I was so tempted.There was a protest going on in front of City Hall. I regret not remembering what they were protesting about now. I don't think they had very obvious signs either because it took me a while to read them. But it was a good day to protest because there were lots of people circulating the area on account of the Oakland Earth Expo was going happening.

For you

I've got some graffiti here for you. Or maybe it's for me. There's a ship in there. Now I understand that graffiti is everywhere, especially in New York, but there is a difference between art and vandalism. I found the first one on the stairs in the architecture building on campus. And I found the second one somewhere around 17th and Market in San Francisco.

The Bulb

So the weather here hasn't really changed much from two months ago. Aside from the absence of rain and rainbows, the mercury has been pretty stagnant, which I think is really odd because in Chicago there are 5-10 degree differences every month. The rainbow below was from a field trip on a rainy day to the Albany Bulb, a landfill that is now used as a park.
It used to be a dumping ground for construction debris and rebar, but some sort of lawsuit stopped that. So today it's a park and wetland habitat. Because of all the debris, a lot of urban art has been constructed (above). Some people call it garbage, others call it inspiration. It's also a popular dog park and there's a homeless community somewhere in there. It's not very strictly regulated by any sort of authority, so the community gets free reign as you can tell by the art and inhabitants.

Leanne M.

Leanne Marshall, our favorite PR alum has given us a sneak peak at her Fall09 lookbook over on her blog, Petals and Waves.


I love the gradiating colors on the skirt and how it seems at first glace to be composed of shadows. It's amazing how she managed to translate something as mundane as peeling paint into something so beautiful. I absolutely adore her design aesthetic and hope to see more of her work in the future. Plus, she's one of few designers championing the use of eco friendly textiles.

A fate or it's a desire

Is it me or are these the most amazing tights you have ever seen? I may be over exaggerating just a little bit but I almost fell out of my chair when I saw them. Well, I'm actually sprawled somewhat haphazardly on my bed since it's 1:30 in the morning but you get the idea. This month seems to but quite full of these falling out of my chair moments.

Anyway, these tights are a DIY project by a Miss Cocorosa. I'm very tempted to try to recreate my own as well as inspired as to what other embellishments I could try adding to a pair of tights. Maybe some patterns using strings of small beads? But alas, it will have to wait until after my exams are over.

It's no secret I love hosiery, especially unusual ones. I'm even somewhat okay with that whole leggings as pants thing... somewhat.

All I want to do is have some fun

Baking is my attempt to not let school be all there is to life. Or rather, baking is my attempt to procrastinate. Here is my latest experiment. By experiment I mean the edible kind, not the sorting out roots in a lab kind. Though I'm sure the roots are nontoxic and all, but they just don't quite appeal to the taste buds in the same way. Chocolate caramel crackers. Spreading the chocolate was the most fun part. I think next time I'll reduce the amount of caramel on each cracker. They're a bit on the sweet side. I know A doesn't like crackers, but they're more sweet than salty and can be made with graham crackers instead of saltine crackers. See the melty chocolate? Spreading it was the most fun part. Waiting for them to cool was the least fun part.

Velociraptor Awareness Day

Today is Velociraptor Awareness Day. Do you know how to protect yourself? Velociraptors are dangerous. They will eat you. They will be unsympathetic to your pleas, cries, and offerings of candy. Watch out for velociraptors. They are vicious and merciless. How can you tell a velociraptor is eating you? It is large. It has sharp pointy teeth and they hurt. It has short arms. It has a chunk of your flesh. Enroll yourself in the nearest velociraptor routine exercise protection program immediately. Tell your friends and family. Let's get together to safeguard the world against velociraptor attacks. Together we can make them a thing of the past.

Something green this way blows

Earthweek 2009!Earth Day is next Wednesday.
Here at Berkeley, we celebrate with a week's worth of festivities.
I'm excited.
I've been organizing the Green Business and Innovations Fair on Monday and I'm really hoping
it doesn't turn out to be a complete disaster. Eep!

You should know it's true, just now, the part about my love for you

Like many, I seem to have at some point developed a love of the way the world was and especially how people dressed in the latter half of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century. As a result, I find the livejournal community Vintage Photo infinitly fascinating. People have put up pictures of favorite celebrities of yore, photos from historic events such as the Nazi Olympics or WWI, and even their own family photos that have been handed down through generations.

These recent ones are some of my favorites.

Beach!


A 1910 photo by Heinrich Kühn


John Lennon and Yoko Ono


Paris circa 1934