Say what you mean

Simple packaging is underrated.

Light

Feeling light and edgeless and open and free. Also a little sleepy.

A Boombox is Not a Toy

It was a rainbow coalition of dancing. I think this is my favourite SNL Digital Short yet. The classics: Lazy Sunday and Natalie's Rap (*Both links are uncensored.) My other favourite is Iran so Far. I used to sing a version of this at Mo, 'And Iran, Iran so far away!' Poor love.

While we're on the subject of SNL, sometimes Mo uses Luna as a weapon.

Want Hope

Want.

Float

Jabberwocky

T'was brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

- Lewis Carroll

Feral Houses

Nature takes back it's natural home.


Images by James Griffioen, prints available on 20x200, taken in Detroit, Michigan.

Paper Airplanes

I love kids, I love hanging out with them and hearing what they think, playing games, jumping around, chatting about rhinoceroses or karate. But sometimes you need a little something to focus on. And if you have access to paper, then you have access to awesome. Paper airplanes are fun for everyone, you can decorate them, make whole fleets, create your own airline or design your very own folding technique. You can have races to see whose goes furthest or fastest or straightest. Make them really big or really small and see which ones fly best. Here are 9 airplane designs complete with animated folding diagrams. Last time Mo's niece and nephew were bored at a dinner party we made our own airlines complete with cohesive branding and logos and then launched them down a flight of stairs to see whose flew best. Not mine. Must practice more. :D

I'm Yours, the awesome version

Covering Jason Mraz's I'm Yours.

I have a thing for covers, they're almost always at least a little better than the original. This is no exception. Facial expressions alone and I'm sold. Bang bang!

What Colour's the Future?

The future is blue. Squint hard
and it blackens: a bruise, sour plum,
at daylight-savings retreating,
its mouth in its hand. Is near. 
Is the refusal to harvest the root: 
carrot, parsnip, all troops deployed.
You know who I mean. The one
on the hunt, on the prowl, with blood 
on his hands. The fate of the future,
make no mistake, the favoured side
of the coin. Don't forget fear 
(o the future is here!): the rubble 
and gray of the twin match-
stick towers ashing down.
Is a gas —: burns orange, burns
white —: a year that combusts half-way, 
on the fourth of July. The future's 
a palate of colours too foreign 
to worry the tongue: cobalt, 
azure, the future is clear, 
the glass you hold up to the past 
to make it make sense. Make do. 
Make an attempt: put your 
change in the pot. The future 
is green, the green of a well, 
the o of its open, its poison, its entrance
to hell. Is road-kill, rodent, 
near-extinct reptile —: the future's 
a lizard that loses its tail. And
grows back a new one. Or doesn't. 

- Alison Pick

Good night

MOA

The Museum of Anthropology is tucked away, at the very far side of the UBC campus. It's just as beautiful inside where there is a huge collection of First Nations art and artifacts.
It would be a beautiful space to have an event or a wedding. It's lovely to visit on a sunny day, but the windows make for a beautiful frame even on Vancouver's typically grey days.

Michael

It's been a Michael Jackson kind of day today at my place.

Oops, I redesigned again

That didn't take long. Eleven days. That must be a record.

Bye Old!

Hello New!

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, hope it's good and green for you.

Rubber Stamps

I want to buy up a big collection of stamps to make thank you cards and birthday cards and general hello I like you cards.

I rarely get a chance to send anything except invoices or bills in the mail and I love all things post related. I used to have a pen pal in elementary school and checking the mail became so much fun when there was the possibility that there may be something special hiding in the mail box. Where would one find a pen pal these days?


1. Tresijas
2. Norajane
3. Corrabelle

Gravité Gravitas

From Renaud Hallee on Vimeo.

Collected sounds made into music are like collages for you ears. I especially love the visual, you can see the sound.

Here's a small collection of similar posts you may have missed: Bonsai Music, Playing the Audience, Upular.

Tree House, House Tree

I love the whimsy of these houses. I spent half of my childhood in the suburbs and half in the country. Both of our houses had tree houses, the first built by my dad at the back of our postage stamp yard. The second a rotting, crumbling little thing that was tucked away in a break in the trees on our four acres of property. The first I loved, it had a rope swing, trap doors and was in a very good climbing tree. It was a great outlook for checking out the neighbour's pools and surveying the garden. The second, however, seemed so much more mysterious surrounded by a cocoon of greenery. Who knew where it came from or who had built it? I still love the idea of creating a space within the trees, or allowing trees to grow in your space. Some of our clients have a tree growing on their multi-story balcony courtyard twenty-something floors up in a high rise building. It seems so unexpected. Maybe it's just the juxtaposition of the natural and the man made that I like so much. Either way it kind of feels like magic.

حــنــا

Beautiful henna designs found on flickr, click the images to see more designs. I've always admired the intricacy and symmetry of this kind of ornate design. Henna is a plant based dye that stains the skin temporarily, fading from the dark colour you see above to a light reddish brown, eventually fading completely. Bridal mehndi like the above designs are usually applied for special occasions like weddings mostly on the hands and feet. Aren't they beautiful? Next time I'm considering getting a pedicure with a friend, maybe I'll suggest a henna date. Sandal seasons is quickly approaching!

Shades of Pink and Orange

I made some strawberry and lemon iced tea today. Loose leaf black tea with a dash of lapsang souchong brewed up nice and strong. The flesh of a lemon squeezed and thrown into the bottle, two or three sliced strawberries and agave nectar to taste. Yum!

I also picked up a miniature rose plant last week. All the blooms were tightly closed and I wasn't sure what colour they would be when they opened. This week they're wide open, smelling lovely and such a pretty soft orange and pink.

It's in the little things. ♥

Let me tell you a story

There was a Grandfather who had a Grandson who came to him with anger at a schoolmate that had done him an injustice.

"Let me tell you a story," said the Grandfather.

"I too at times have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. I've struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "it is as if there are two wolves inside me.

One is good and he does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended.

But the other wolf, ah. He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper.

It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me. Both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The Grandson turned to his Grandfather and said, "But Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The Grandfather replied: "The one I feed."


Story by Loretta Todd - Cree/Métis Filmaker, transcribed from Telling Stories on Definitely Not the Opera. Listen here.
Image from Totoro Forest Project by Jackson Sze. 

The Shadow by William Carlos Williams

Soft as the bed in the earth
Where a stone has lain—
So soft, so smooth and so cool,
Spring closes me in
With her arms and her hands.

Rich as the smell
Of new earth on a stone,
That has lain, breathing
The damp through its pores—
Spring closes me in
With her blossomy hair;
Brings dark to my eyes.

Tip on the Tightrope

There's a lot to love about this video: the bouncy tune, the free form dancing, the colour palette, everyone in tuxedos. I wish dance parties like that were a reality. Oh well, for now here's more Janelle Monae on Myspace. Let's have a virtual sock hop :)

Turban!

I love the balance of a neutral beige coat with all that colour and the way the berry flows from head to toe. These gorgeous pictures are from Hanneli Mustaparta.

I've been wondering for a while why it is that turbans aren't seen more often. There was potential for them to become more mainstream with introduction of the jewel toned Prada turbans of 2007 but they didn't manage the usual runway-to-mallrat trickle down effect. Susie of Style Bubble does her own approximation here.

I only wear a scarf wrapped around my head once in a while, and never out on the town. But really, it seems the sort of thing that might do well on the street. Bad hair day? Who cares? Hack your favourite scarf and wear it as a turban. Problem solved.

P.S.: How to at vogue.com

GingerLillyTea's Photography

I'm loving the soft light of gingerlillytea's images.

Prints of her photos are available in her etsy shop: gingerlillytea.

Life and Love

While listening to Mo speak with an Italian client, I realized that his accent is only really audible when speaking to a non-native english speaker. He stops using articles and his words take on a farsi flair.

I think that means he'll never lose it completely no matter how great his mastery or how Canadian his tongue becomes. It reminds me of our early days together, he was so cute!
Clearly he still is.

Both of these images are from a project that featured young photographers photographing their favourite people. At least, I think they are. Of course, I can't find the link in my bazillions of bookmarks and tineye.com gave me nothing. Note to self: be better organized!

Forever ever, forever ever?

A Forever Thing has seen a bit of a design overhaul this week. I've been messing around, attempting to marry my own design style with the constraints of blogger and mostly just playing.

I design websites and other things by day, well, mostly by night if I'm honest. Playing with blogging platforms and doing multiple redesigns is a bit of a hobby and a bit of a habit for me. I tend to get bored quickly with blogs and want to move on the a new project. That's why I've called this space a forever thing. Hopefully the name will remind me that it's about the journey, the process and not the finished product.

What do you think of the changes? What is your favourite thing to do at night when you can't sleep? What's your favourite colour? Your favourite website strictly because of its lovely design?

Most of my favourite websites are simple, minimal, all white and fairly quiet. This new design here is muted but it has colour. Colour is going out on a limb for me! Mostly because I get sick of it too quickly.

Hey future self, let's see how long it takes you to redesign again!

Image credit: Sam Winston

Adora Svitak at Ted

I watched Adora's talk without knowing who she was or what she has accomplished in her young life and I was surprised at how commanding she was in front of such a large and intimidating audience. Then I googled her and realized that this sort of thing is old hat for her. She's a published author, a teacher and a consultant for educators. The fact that she has experience, however, doesn't make her commanding confidence any less impressive. I love that a child is advocating for children, for the worth of imagination and idealistic belief. Watching her speak took me back to when I was younger and genuinely believed that world peace and saving the planet were possible if only we tried hard enough or all worked together. It made me miss the idealistic little kid who didn't believe in limits. Thinking like her might be a good plan for my present. If all things are possible, all things are possible.

Sewing, sorta

I loved sewing in middle school. Coming up with strange little projects, sewing stuffed animals, pillows, head bands, whatever I could think of was a fun way to be creative. Unfortunately the sewing machine was always a little too cumbersome for me, the bobbin and I were not friends, so I gave up and moved on to other pursuits. Last week I saw an ad on craigslist for a vintage singer sewing machine. Mo wanted it immediately. So did I, despite the fact that neither of us really knew if we'd be able to get it working.

So, after picking up the monster from its former home, we are the proud owners of a very heavy piece of machinery that we have yet to figure out.

I may have found my first project, if I can unravel the inner workings of my lovely beast:

I recently stumbled across the lovely blog Between the Lines on Design*Sponge and was happy to find a tutorial for a lovely shopping bag made out of a recycled tshirt. It seems easy enough and if I can manage to sew a few relatively straight lines I will consider my new purchase a very good one.

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