Mad Men

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it.

They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”

- Banksy

Divergence

The cats let me know when you're gone. Coraline stalks me and grumbles.

"You are the Lady of the House, you are supposed to keep the untoward from coming toward."

This is a certainty, I am the agent against chaos, against reckoning. What sort of a world is it where people can come and go so quickly? (Cat philosophy is a gloomy affair)

Marlowe doesn't have that vocabulary, but he races along the hallways and claws at my stockings. This morning the wee brat drew blood. Something is different, it's a provocation. I distract him with strings and fuzzy mice. Odds and bodkins.

Coraline's under the couch. I am not a consolation, the snow is melting, and all manner of disorienting smells are coming from the windows. 

Hey guys, it's Boxing Day!

Wikipedia offers the following history:

During the late 18th century, Lords and Ladies of the manor "boxed up" leftover food, or sometimes gifts, and distributed them the day after Christmas to tenants on their lands. Many poorly paid workers had to work on Christmas Day and took the following day off to visit family. As they prepared to leave, employers presented them with these Christmas boxes.

I am currently at the bottom of a canyon in the mountains of Orgeon, so bringing boxed goods to the poor would entail an awful lot of snow boots and trudging. Instead, I'll share a picture of the view currently to my left and continue recovering from a severe food coma.

Pictured: Splendor

Excerpt: before the trip

Scene: Joel is shaving, Robyn is deciding how many pairs of leggings are appropriate for Christmas in Bend.

Joel: (face covered in shaving cream) What if I had a giant white beard?

Robyn: You'd be called Pappy and sell maple syrup on the side of the road. On weekends you'd play in a jug band at the local gin joint. But you wouldn't be playing the jug so much as drinking moonshine and hassling the mandolin player.

Joel: Great! Just checking. (dances a bit of a jig)

Robyn:

Le Tattooiste

I recently saw a friend's gorgeously designed Art Nouveau-styled tattoo, on the theme "Death and the Maiden". What I love about her design is the way the tattooist started with images from prints and reworked them into something covering a three dimensional surface.

This brought me back to a tattoo idea I've been kicking around for a while, based on Art Deco illustrations. I recently discovered George Barbier and Georges Lepape, and am entranced. I love the way the figures work against the background patterns, and how stylized and menacing they appear.

You just know all these party guests have concealed stiletto knives and cocktail rings filled with poison.

As of now I have no idea how to work this into a concrete design, but I'd like some figures on the back of my left shoulder, framed with an abstract design that comes across the top and down my arm a bit. 

Samples below, I'm thinking of something like the theme "Murder in the Cabaret":

Travel to the Booktryst blog, for "A Decadent Night in Paris with George Barbier". 

Idle hands are the Devil's playground

Setting:
Casa del Robyn y Joel

Time:
Saturday Night

Background:
I've turned down two social engagements (pajama party, board games) for the dubious pleasure of writing a collection development policy/writing annotations for a bibliography on Indian captivities in American literature/studying for an archives exam. Joel, similarly anti-social, is shouting things at the University of Oregon football game. ABC Family has been playing Harry Potter movies all day, and I may or may not be having funny feelings about Rupert Grint:

Pictured: wizard chic

But now it's late enough that my diligent work ethic has worn off, which leaves me time to recipe-blog about what I'm wearing on my face.

Aspirin Mask:

According to expert resource Jezebel.com, aspirin is composed of the same acne-fighting acid as the spendy products I buy on Sephora, which makes it an excellent spot-treatment or ingredient in a face mask. This evening I tried out the following concoction:

• 6 non-coated aspirin tablets. Put them in a cup or a bowl (I used a martini glass) and add a few drops of water. You don't want to dissolve them, just to break them up into a gritty paste. 
• Add a heaping spoonful of plain yogurt. I used a fancy Greek-style brand from the health food store, which is thicker than the regular stuff and stayed in place better. 
• Add about a teaspoon of honey. You could also try some smashed avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, cooked oatmeal, a twist of lemon juice, or an egg white. (Now this is getting me thinking of breakfast. I'd like Eggs Florentine with sourdough toast and fruit salad, please. And another cup of coffee.)
• Spread the mixture on your face, avoiding the area around your eyes. Leave it on for about 10 minutes, and before rinsing it off massage it into your skin a bit to exfoliate. 
• Rinse thoroughly, and follow with a good moisturizer.Your skin should feel nicely cool and glowey.

Pictured: beauty, horror-show

Buenos Dias a Todos

It's going to be a dance-y @#&%ing week!