A Tally of Two Cities

{via Paris vs New York}

"Write fiction, Michael. You can tell the truth."

-Kirk Douglas to Michael Caine

Look Twice

...

Yup, these are real people. Painted. By Alexa Meade.

{via The Senses Five and A Cup of Jo}

"Let's be magical together!"

-Adam

Second to the Right and Straight on Till Morning

{via Mike Bailey-Gates}

A Shabu-Shabu Good Time

 I'm not normally a fan of this Japanese-style hot pot business, but after Thursday night, I've changed my mind. Thanks to the wonderful Charles, our whole family was treated to a delicious preview meal at Ka Shabu, which Charles' family is opening up on Main Street in Huntington Beach. In fact, it opens tomorrow at 5 p.m., so if you're in the area and in the mood for a nourishing, healthy meal, go!

...

The entire experience is hands-on, starting with the sesame seeds that you mash up yourself, as demonstrated by my sister, Olivia. (My dad is intensely studying her method.):

Appetizers included sweet potato fries & garlic sauce, which are my weakness in every sense of the word:

 The man of the hour, Charles, managing his proud new restaurant: 

 The salmon entree my sister and I ordered, with heaps of vegetables (plus some amazing sesame and ponzu dipping sauces):

...

Thank you, Charles, for an amazing meal! In my most biased opinion, all of the food was fresh and flavorful, and the service was impeccable :)

No but really, it was. I suspect this place will have very long lines soon.

Grover's Old Spice Spoof

Sesame Street is AWESOME.

Halloween Decorations are Out to Play

Oh, festive decor, I enjoy you.

I love when fall kicks in and people in the neighborhood start bringing out their wreaths, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, and enormous fake black spiders that cling from the highest windows. It marks the beginning of a brand new year. (I still think of years in terms of school years, so forget January--September is where it's at for a fresh start.) From here on out, it's Thanksgiving decor, Christmas decor, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's day, and Easter. Our family usually only decorates for Christmas, but I'm determined to hit up all the holidays this year. My neighbors also know how to get really creative and it's wonderful to see people enjoying the seasons and enjoying their homes, too.

...

I daydream about having a cozy little house to decorate one day, but for now, I'm making do with my parents' house. And so is Adam. We brought out some of the decor we scooped up last year at a store in LA after Halloween was over and everything was half off. Then we took a couple of trips to Target, Big Lots, and the Dollar Tree. I think we spent a good two whole days looking at dangling goblins, glow-in-the-dark witches, orange lights, and motion-sensor zombies that say the creepiest/cheesiest things to you. 

We showed a little restraint though and didn't buy too much. Here's how the inventory turned out at both our houses...

...
  Now, time to make corn bread and pie!

DO Jump on the bed!

Just about the sweetest video I've ever seen, from the always lovable NieNie...

"In An Upside Down Style"

 Bordello Bar and all of its dark & dreamy Victorian decor

This weekend was quite a doozy.
Saturday night, I accompanied Adam, Jon, Chris & Tobin to our first ever burlesque show, put on by Courtney Cruz and Devil's Playground at Bordello Bar in Downtown LA. 

But it wasn't just any burlesque show...it was SCREAM QUEENS burlesque! An evening of seductive dance, theatrics, and parody in the spirit of classic Halloween horror movies. Yes, there was plenty of strawberry jam blood, lady vampires, big plastic knives, and a hard metal band (which I'm sure has permanently damaged my poor ears). 

I'll keep it PG-13, but here are a few snapshots from the evening. Can you guess the movies?

 (...and that was King Kong, Psycho, Vampira and Carrie. Ok fine, so only Psycho and Carrie were obvious.)

 The show was terrific and very well done, and it was just one of those wonderful evenings that reminded me of all the shades of artistic expression out there. The best part is also having friends who can enjoy this at the same time they enjoy opera (wink wink, Jon).

...

Sunday afternoon, I went to downtown Long Beach to meet up with Leslie, Tim & Lisa for a mini Columbia reunion. We lunched outside by the water and boats and...melted. 91 degrees in October! Beautiful day though and nothing to complain about when I get to see some of my favorite people. I can't wait until Christmas--fingers crossed--to see them again. Leslie, I plan to have MANY holiday adventures with you! (p.s. I also had the most delicious chopped salad at Yard House...hold the bacon and it's the best vegan lunch.) 

...

The evening ended with some Halloween shopping at Target and the Goodwill store with Adam. Halloween is normally my least favorite time of the year (a few terrible childhood costumes can do that to you), but I'm feeling so festive this year. We have pumpkin candles burning in the house and my sister and I have already lined up plenty of pumpkin pie and corn bread recipes. Plus, Adam and I are on the hunt for our costume pieces. I won't tell you what we're going as, but let's just say it involves a hat, suspenders, a chimney sweeper, a red bow-tie, and a VERY big bag.

Behind the Scenes of Mad Men

My favorite TV show and all of its in-the-makings, captured by Rolling Stone...

Missed Connections

Putting all of Sophie Blackall's "Missed Connections" artwork at the top of my wishlist...

Come and Get Your Happiness

I used to watch Shirley Temple movies religiously as a little girl and this just reminded me of exactly why I fell in love with her...because really, how could you not?

Napping Under the Stars

{via Julie Cerise}

Note To Self

{by Matt Jones}

The Last Days of Summer...say it ain't so

 {via Photo Booth}

The Art of Tea Bags

{via Uppercase Magazine}

Let's All Just Get Along Now

Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: 

 "Can't you people see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism... every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you're supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It's not that hard a concept to grasp." 

{via my all-time favorite article from The Onion}

Bathtub IV

This is so fantastic and almost too good to be a true story... (but it is!)

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

MemeWar

{via Adbusters}

Marcel The Shell

Too cute/funny/clever/awesome...

"I'm not young enough to know everything."

-Oscar Wilde

Sweet Dreams

 {via hitRECord}

Tutoring 101

I recently picked up a tutoring job to support the writing and it's turned out to be one of the best part-time jobs I could ask for because I get to teach (mostly) charming little kids who provide amazing dialogue gems:

Freckles
6-year-old Aidan is a precious little kid with freckles all over his face who gets confronted by Little Boy #2:

Little Boy #2: What's wrong with your face?

Aidan: What do you mean?

Little Boy #2: Why are there dots all over it?

Aidan: They're called freckles. They're what make me so adorable.

Reading
6-year-old Zane pitches me an idea:

Zane: Can I, can I, can I read out silent?

Me: You mean out loud?

Zane: No, I mean out silent.

Me: Oh, you mean you want to read silently to yourself?

Zane: Nooo, I want to read out but I don't want you to hear me.

Here's to You, Mrs. Chen

Grace with Erika and me, the maids of honor charged with "keepin' it classy" during the trip.

 

Last weekend was an epic road trip to Vegas. My dear friend Grace is getting married and we marked her last days as a single lady with some preeetty interesting events that went something like this...

-Piled 9 girls into a massive white van, only to drive to Barstow and park next to another massive white van stuffed with 9 guys on their way to a bachelor party. Quote from one of the guys: "How about we do a trade. Three of you girls in our van and three of us guys in your van. Deal?" No deal.

-Snuck 18 girls into the Aria suite, which immediately became strewn with clothes, makeup, shoes, a blow-up doll of Richard, candy necklaces, goofy glasses, nicknamed sashes given to each girl by Grace, truth or dare cards, and enough alcohol to fill a liquor store. Quote from Erika: "Whose panties are these?"

-Drank and danced all of Friday night at Haze...literally. We all pooped out by midnight. Quote from a few girls after 15 minutes inside: "We lost Grace! Where's Grace?" "Oh, she's upstairs." (Thirty minutes pass with us going up to the second floor of Haze looking for her.) "Ohhhh, when you said upstairs, you meant in the hotel room upstairs."

-Got pimped out at the Liquid Pool Party to an Australian guy sitting alone in a cabana with a zoot suit hanging on the wall. Strangest scenario ever. There's no quote for this one because we high-tailed it out of there.

-Dined at Mix in Mandalay Bay, where Tammy worked her charms and got herself a customized dessert...unfortunately, she couldn't save herself from the cold zucchini soup. Quote from Tammy: "What is this? Where's the bacon? There needs to be some bacon in here!"

-Took a separate van home with Nadia where a crazy man wearing white pants with mysterious stains all over them squeezed in next to us and proceeded to have this outburst about 90 minutes into the car ride:

Crazy man: "Driver! Stop the van! There's no oxygen in here!" 

Driver: "Huh?"

Crazy man: "Really, I smell carbon monoxide! I can smell it! We need to stop the van!"

Me and Nadia: "Actually, carbon monoxide is odorless."

Crazy man: (silence the rest of the ride home.)

The End.

My Sister Made Carrot Cake Cupcakes

 ...and they were sooo delicious! Best part? The entire thing is fat-free, vegan, and made with whole wheat. And no, it doesn't taste like cardboard. They're sweet and moist and perfect. Go here if you'd like to make your own batch. Yum!

Welcome to Elderland

What will the future look like for the elderly? A cute cartoon take on a fictional 2035 community from the talented journalists of Columbia News 21...

Otherworldly Desires

{via The Undesirable}

Conversations With My Hairdresser

Courtesy of a 33-year-old male we'll call J.

J: Let me guess, you don't have a boyfriend.

Me: Oh, actually, I do.

J: Really? I would've never guessed.

Me: Why's that?

J: Just looking at you, I was so sure you wouldn't have a boyfriend.

Me: .........................

J: I just spotted a couple of gray hairs. You're thinking too much. Stop it.

J: Blegh, I hate reading.

Me: Maybe you haven't found the right books.

J: You're right, I've been meaning to get into self-help.

J: You wanna be a writer? That's it? You don't wanna be on TV or something that's more worth your time?

J: I get the sense that you're a very calm and relaxed girl. But then sometimes I sense there's an animal inside ready to claw its way out whenever it feels like it.

Touring With Sketchbooks

The Sketchbook Project is more than a year old but I just found out about it now (there's a lot of news out there) and I love it. How amazing would it be to be a part of this??

Flying Pictures

“I think what appealed to me about flying is that I shouldn’t be able to do it, but through photography it is possible." -Daniel Gordon

{via Photo Booth: The New Yorker}

When Kanye's Tweets Become The New Yorker's Captions

 

{via Josh Cagan}

Teenage Dream, Indeed

we can dance until we die
you and I
we'll be young forever.
(Thank you, Katy Perry.)

I'll Never Tire of Stop Motion

...especially when they're this fantastic:

A Necessary Ingredient

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” -Dr. Seuss

So True.

{via Stuff No One Told Me}

Jonsi

This is a pretty awesome cover of MGMT's "Time to Pretend" by Jonsi:

Cedric Bihr

I love Cedric Bihr for his ethereal, enduring photographs: