10.30.2011

I can't stop

Drinking this


Beet juice: beets, ginger, lemon (pith, rind & all), nectarines and cilantro.

and listening to this



New Look has high blowup-ability. ;)

10.14.2011

Hello Hello!


Ah, finally dusted off the virtual shelves in my shop, Hello My Friend. Feels nice to reopen for business. Please drop by and say hello!



10.02.2011

Haider Ackermann SS 2012

You are a wisp of smoke --a blanket of fog. Make me feel protected and secure.



10.01.2011

Dynamic Blooms

It's supposed to rain this weekend.


SHOWstudio: Dynamic Blooms by Nick Knight

8.31.2011

Happy Birthday Liz

One of the most beautiful voices I ever laid ears upon.





You will always be my three-tiered secret waterfall in a bamboo grove, sleeping at the edge of a cliff waiting for sunrise, and a full moon skinny dip. Forever and ever a soundtrack for the best of times.

More: Elizabeth Fraser

8.19.2011

There's nothing wrong with a good collide






Clap your hands, slap your thighs. A skin stretched makes a beat, like when you bang your spoon on the pot. Beginning sound. Speaking of which... I watched an amazing jazz drummer go off on a level that made me transcend time.

8.12.2011

Kiki Smith




"You can have tremendous talent, but it doesn't mean that you care about it."
- Kiki Smith

8.10.2011

It's been a year since you've gone


Remembering my father --an innate musician who instilled the love of sound in me. Thank you.




And the world keeps burning and turning. I only have the capacity to engage with you. Be nice...

8.09.2011

New taco concept



I bought a bag of corn tortillas, and have been trying out new taco concepts. Unusual, but good: herring-celery salad, toasted nori, beet greens, tomato. You can't see it, but there's a lotta garlic up in there.

Herring Celery Salad
- Mash garlic, scallions, sliced celery, herring (or your seafood of choice, or even tofu) and lemon juice together.
- Add turmeric, a pinch of cumin and salt & pepper to taste. Make it spicy if you like.
- Mix through a bit of olive oil (avocado would be amazing, too).
- Taste test, then let flavors meld for a few minutes. I riffed and added ground flaxseed, and toasted sesame seeds to mine. Flavor as you like.

Enjoy!

8.08.2011

Naima

Listening to Coltrane's bio on KCSM, under the covers. God, he never disappoints. Perfect for a windy night in.

7.28.2011

Girls on Bikes

A while back, I sang the praises of Phillip Lim's 3.1 Fall/Winter 2011 collection. He claimed part of his inspiration, were the women he saw riding bikes around the city. Well now we get to see the clothes in motion. In my fantasy I'm at least one of these chickies.

7.22.2011

Because I'll only be here for a while...

The street is a great regulator. Public transportation even moreso ---if you have the fare. When you're in a good mood, the 33 is the best line: elderly couple holding hands, people smile and make conversation, the man with the portable oxygen tank is exuding good vibes, sexy girls with a non-attitude, and the sun shining in my eyes like a celestial explosion. Sometimes I feel like I'm barely hanging on, but today everything feels lovely. Carefree...

6.30.2011

Headspin

So many beautiful, natural women at the farmers market today. Said good-bye to my favorite doctor, then took a long walk and hopped the bus. A severely disfigured woman sat across from me. I thought I'd feel profound, but nothing came. High 60's and a clear, blue sky. It's a lovely day to feel glum...

4.02.2011

Make me wanna holler

Inflation, no chance / To increase, finance / Bills pile up, sky high / Send that boy off, to die...

It's Marvin Gaye's birthday today, and a hearty listen to props's tribute mix is in order.

4.01.2011

3.13.2011

Someplace with a Mountain

I just watched a film on sea water rising, ironically only a few days after the tsunami. The film made me cry & cry & cry & cry.


Lauren McKeon, To the stars through difficulties, 2011
(Luggage Store Gallery: BULLET TRAIN LA/SF Round Tripp show, 3/12 to 4/16/2011)



This film was part of the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. The atoll islands of Poluwat are not far South from my home islands of Guam & the Northern Marianas. Back home, I've already seen the waters rise, and beaches washed over. One of Guam's smaller surfing beaches is now underwater in less than 7 years. They've even installed a pier. This rapid change is very, very scary.

During director Steve Goodall's Q&A, he confessed he was distraught over the fate of the Poluwat islanders, as he has heard no word from them since the tsunami disasters. I wholeheartedly pray they survived it.

A quote from one of the island leaders, "We ask if you can include us in your plans for the future."

For more information on this movie, which will view on PBS btw, please check out the website: www.someplacewithamountain.org. They are in need of helping hands...

3.12.2011

Louis Vuitton FW 2011

I am not a fan of the monogrammed LV bag, or any sort of all-over monogramming whatsoever. However, the fanatacism for the LV bag was the jump-off inspiration for the Fall Winter 2011 Louis Vuitton collection. I like Marc Jacobs's prim, almost cartoony, take on vice, fetish and the perfect ratio of sock-to-thigh.

Note all model exits with their hands behind their backs, or wrists together are actually wearing jeweled handcuffs. That, along with the shoes --especially the laced & latex boots-- are my favorite accessories here.













Photos: Gianni Pucci/GoRunway.com via Vogue.com

3.07.2011

Haider Ackermann FW 2011

A midnight proposal... Find me in the rainfall by the balm of my night-blooming call.





www.haiderackermann.be

2.26.2011

3.1 Phillip Lim FW 2011

I haven't blogged about fashion in a while, but since watching the 2011 FW New York season --coupled with a long overdue creative streak-- my interest in sharing my style thoughts have resurfaced.

I've never paid much attention to designer Phillip Lim, but his recent collection really knocked my socks off. I'm in this performance sportswear meets vintage knits meets menswear phase, and Lim's FW 2011 collection kind of touched on many of these notes, but in a different way. The fact that I'm trying to acquire a bike again this year, and the designer stating this collection was inspired by such women-on-bikes, I'm all the more charmed.






This is a good example of my vintage knits/menswear/performance sportswear mixing. Not that it is exactly that, but the feeling is there. Hard and soft redefined.


I absolutely love how the baseball t-shirt is re-interpreted.




This color-mixing turns me on.




I'm obsessed with this look: the model's slicked back just-got-out-of-the-shower hair, roomy green shirt-dress simply accessorized with a fleshy leather shoe. I love these shoes! There's something about that 80's style high-cut vamp that is very sexy to me --revealing more with less.



The sleeve detailing on this dress is both gorgeous and dangerous-looking --kind of armor-like even. Note the very cool french-manicured nails with navy tipping over natural. I'll have to try this on my next trip to the nail salon.



All photos: Marcio Madeira/firstVIEW via Vogue.com

2.23.2011

Feel it all around


Artist: Washed Out

Been having serious thoughts of mortality lately ---but without fear. Maybe with affection even.

2.14.2011

Feel better soup




I keep hearing a rumor some nasty cold has been making its rounds. Sure enough, as soon as that rumor hit my ears, I woke up this morning in sneezy/cold mode. Ugh! I've decided to devote my day to copious amounts of green tea, and soup. I had a daikon radish in my fridge, which I usually use for miso soup, but honestly, I'm starting to tire of the taste of miso. I wanted something more "clear" tasting, if you know what I mean. Less salty with more of the essence of the daikon.

One of my favorite YT cooking channels is Maangchi. She's been my go-to for many Korean dishes, and I had a feeling she'd have something posted in the realm of daikon radish and soup. Sure enough, she did. I checked out her video (shown below), as a jump off point in making my own version (pictured above). I often include ground turmeric in my dishes, for their proposed health benefits, and decided to add it to my soup, in the hopes of boosting its healing power.

Note: With the exception of the black salt, all ingredients can be found at your local Asian grocer, or a market with an Asian section. The black salt can be found at grocers carrying Indian ingredients.

Feel Better Daikon Radish Soup
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup green tea
- 1 1/2 cups daikon radish, cut into equivalent of large dice or triangle wedge slices
- 2 thumb-size rectangles of dried kombu kelp, cut into thin strips
- 1/4 wedge of onion, chopped
- 3 Tbs. fish sauce, or to taste
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6 oz. turkey (I used leftover roast turkey, but you can use any kind of protein you like, or shiitake mushrooms.)
- 1 Tbs. ground turmeric
- salt to taste (I used black salt, or kala namak, since it's very "mineraly" in flavor, and not as harsh as regular table salt)
- 2 Tbs. dried wakame seaweed
- 1 1/2 stalks of scallion, chopped
- Squeeze of lemon (optional)

Add the chopped daikon radish and kombu strips to the water & green tea. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower heat to a simmer. When the radish starts to look clear around the edges, but still white in their centers, add the chopped onions. Simmer till radish just becomes translucent.

Add fish sauce, minced garlic, protein (in my case, the turkey), ground turmeric, and salt to taste. Note: you do not want this to be a salty soup, so please go easy on the salt flavor. You should be able to eat this straight, without rice.

When the soup heats up to a gentle simmer again, add the dried wakame seaweed & chopped scallion, and cook for about 2-4 minutes till the seaweed expands. Serve immediately, topped with a squeeze of lemon.

Here's Maangchi's episode on her beef & radish soup. Cucumber kimchee is a bonus!

2.02.2011

Different levels of defacing

A few weeks ago, my friend & I took a stroll around my neighborhood, and noticed a few things...

Funny mustache-defacing of mural by artist Rocky Villanueva. It was originally clean-shaven, like this. Located next to The Summit.





Typical deface tagging of Banksy chief on Sycamore at Mission (near 17th St). We noticed someone tried to preserve the piece by painting around the original figure. This "save" resulted in a more abstract result of the original, I have to admit I quite like. Photo of original before.




Defacing in the manner of delightful inspiration! Banksy birdsong piece that sparked an entire mural. I love this kind of stuff. On Erie at Mission (near 14th St).

1.30.2011

The never-ending Summer

Don't brush my wind-blown hair just yet....

(play at the same time)


1.15.2011

Dare I say?

She's as good as the original. Oh, a trance.... What have you done to me?