Tuesday, August 31

"I have lived on the lip of insanity" - Ruma

Liquify by Aira


Music for The Late Summer Blues


Arms of a Thief by Iron & Wine
My Will is Good by Port O'Brien
Animal by Neon Trees
The Infinite Pet by Spoon
More To Luv by Minnutes
Coastal Brake by Tycho
Play by Stephen Fretwell


Books to Fill The Silence 


Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
The Thorn Birds by Colleen Mccullough
The Group by Mary Mccarthy

Tattoo Subjects Part Trois.

I love the simplicity of these two, a paper airplane and a homage to the perfect cup of coffee.

"I live to let you shine" from Boats & Birds song on the inside of the foot & two feathers facing opposite directions, the detail is so beautiful.                                              

Anchor piece "I woke up near the sea" & LOOK at the shading on the skull on chest. Lovely

"Shake the dust" (from poem above) i hate that placement, & an adorable airplane.

I would never do this. Pug owners are so insane.



Monday, August 30

Grease is The Word.



I am very proud of my hair. Ask any of my friends, i just can't shut the fuck up about how adoringly healthy it is. I've never dyed it, i get regular trims, but insist on growing it long. Though lately, after washing it once, or sometimes, twice a day I've really noticed that without a days wash it gets excessively oily. It does that to compensate for the insane amount of chemicals that strip out all of the natural healthy oils from my hair. During a journey through the depths of the interwebs I came across this article, about a BBC reporter who quit washing his hair (gross)- then BBC somehow convinced 5 women to participate in this experiment & they all had wonderful things to say. After further research i found that tons of people have changed their relationship status with a sudsy scalp massage every morning & are thrilled with the natural, thicker look of the new organic do. Were you aware, observing public, that shampoo's/ conditioners weren't even invented until the 30's? Pretty sure everyone wasn't running around stinking up a storm. In fact many women have replaced their pink plastic shampoo bottles with teaspoons of baking soda to soak up grease, and cider vinegar to recondition & have found the transition has made a world of difference.  I, Brittany Wood, annoying model of hair health, being of relatively sound mind, have committed to the No Shampoo Experiment. "How will i do it?!" you may be asking


1. Go from washing hair everyday to every second day & after a week, ween yourself down to every three days. 
2. Try to go 4 days without washing, just rinsing with water, massaging your scalp the same way you would when you wash it with shampoo.
3. After the fourth day try the baking SODA/ vinegar solution.
4. Report back. 

Wish me luck!

Sunday, August 29

Come Frye With Me, Let's Frye, Let's Frye Away.

The highlight of my day is.. The arrival of the new Fall Frye Shoe styles! That's not pathetic at all! 



From top left, clockwise: Harlow Stitch Oxford $198, Melissa Button Boot $318 (nice & low so that you can wear high knit sock underneath), Veronica Motorcross Boot $288,  Deborah Studded Cowboy Ankle Boot $498

Showing Off The Fruits of My Post Secondary Education: Shake The Dust

Shake The Dust by Anis Mojgani


This is for the fat girls, this is for the little brothers,
this is for the school yard wimps, and for the childhood bullies that tormented them,
for the former prom queen,
and for the milk crate ball players, for the Night Time cereal eaters,
and for the retired elderly Wal-Mart store front door greeters
Shake the Dust
This is for the benches and the people sitting on them
for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns,
for the men who have to hold down three jobs simply to hold up their children
for the nighttime schoolers and for the midnight bikers who are trying to fly
Shake the Dust
This is for the two year olds who can not be understood
because they speak half English and half God
Shake the Dust,
for the girls whose brothers are going crazy!
For those gym class wall flowers and for the twelve year old kids afraid of taking public showers
for the kid whose always late to class because he forgets the combination to his locker
for a girl who loves somebody else
Shake the Dust.
This is for the hard men who want love but know that it won’t come.
For the ones who are forgotten, for the ones the amendments do not stand up for
for the ones who are told to speak only when spoken to and then are never spoken to.
Speak every time you stand so that you do not forget yourself,
never let a moment go by you that doesn’t remind you that 

your heart beats 900 times a day.
That there are enough gallons of blood to make you an ocean.
Do not settle for letting these waves that settle and for the dust to collect in your veins.
This is for the celibate pedophile who keeps on struggling,
for the poetry teachers and for the people who go on vacation alone,
and for the sweat that drips off of a Mick Jaggers singing lips, and for the shaking skirt on Tina Turner’s shaking hips,
and for the heavens and for the hells for which Tina has lived.
This is for the tired and for the dreamers, for those families that will never be like the Cleavers,
with perfectly made dinners and sons like Wally and the Beaver.
This! Is for the bigots, the sexists, and for the killers,
this is for the Big House; pin sentenced cats becoming redeemers,
and for the springtime that always shows up right after the winter,
Make sure that by the time the fishermen returns you are gone,
because just like the days I burn at both ends,
every time I write, every time I open my eyes I’m cutting out a part of myself to give to you.
So Shake the Dust, and take me with you when you do none of this has ever been for me,
everything that pushes and pulls, pulls for you.
So grab this world by it’s clothes pins and shake it out again and again
and jump on top and take it for a spin and when you hop off
shake it again for this is yours.
Make my words worth, make it not just another poem that I write
not just another poem like just another night that sits heavy above all of us,
walk into it, breath it in, let it crash through the halls of your arms
like the millions of years of millions poets coursing like blood pumping, pushing
and making you live, shaking the dust
So when the world knocks at your front door clutch the knob tightly and open on up,
running forward into it’s wide spread greeting arms
with your hands before you your fingertips 

trembling,
though they may be.



See it in its Spoken Word Glory HERE


The Interiors.

Getting excited to be moving into a new place & starting completely fresh. You know what makes me more excited? The concept of a black ceiling, black lace curtains & wall collages. Yay. 




Wednesday, August 25

The Grilled Cheese Academy.

Nothing in my life comes higher on my personal priority list than melty cheese. I consider grilled cheese a reason to live. My ecstasy at the discovery of the Grilled Cheese Academy (Sponsored by Wisconsin Cheese) was insurmountable. The Grilled Cheese Academy features the best Grilled Cheese recipes in all the land. The recipes are dictated to you by Jenna Fisher... from The Office. I couldn't make this shit up...


Tuesday, August 24

Golden Girls.

Items of Admiration: Golden Girls


From Top Left, Clockwise: Jules Smith 18k Yellow Gold Anchor Necklace, Alexander Mcqueen Clutch, 3.1 Phillip Lim Eyelet Ruffle Bralette, Argento Vivo Lace Linear Leaf Earrings. 



Monday, August 23

Nothing of Use.

The following links are not useful for anything, but I have personally spent hours just staring at them. Anything that's consumed that much of my attention deserves blog recognition. Enjoy munchkins.

Photobucket

Zefrank Scribbler : Scribble your impaired little doodle and watch this website make your chicken scratch sad excuse for a penis drawing a masterpiece you'll be proud to tell your friends you're associated with.

HevelticToc : This tells time. I have no idea why i like it so much. 

Screen Cleaner : This look just like my Puggers. 

Jackson Pollock.Org : This is so that you can make a pathetic half cocked version of a Jackson Pollock painting. 

Wonderfl : I honestly can't even tell you what this is. It makes you feel like a spider fucking up a tightly knit web and spreading lice around. 

Mr.Doob Lab : The experience of being on LSD. Like being stuck in a fishbowl of frozen water droplets. 

Suess Doesn't Mind


Be who you are & say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, & those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Seuss

Sunday, August 22

Rusty Rockets

My favorite twitter friend who isn't my friend is Russell Brand. He recently married Katy Perry who i like almost immediately after i watched her interview with Secrest on the Red Carpet at the VMA's, when asked what she had in her clutch she had only a lock of Taylor Swifts hair. Therefor I approve  of the marital bond, you're welcome. Here are my favorite Russell Brand tweets. 



If life gives you lemons, politely thank life, then, when life's not looking, throw the lemons into a duck pond.

@katyperry Erm,I thought a Shirley Temple sounded butch. What should I order? A pint of HEROIN!! A crack popsicle? Crack-sicle?

Murderers! Stop murdering. Everyone will die eventually. Just sit down and be patient.

In Brooklyn "showing off" for a job. Take that Grays School Careers Advisor- if that's your real name - which I doubt.

Mum. Leonardo DiCaprio sneaked into my dream and tried to plant ideas. In other news I've decided to become a spy. Send condoms.

I have been watching Fox News for six hours and there has been no news about foxes. #Iwantmymoneyback

@katyperry Prop8 dropped! Now you can lose the wig, lipstick and frocks we can wed as a pair of Cali-hunks.

Twitter doesn't recognise the spelling of the word "twitter". And this blackberry isn't a berry. And my rocket is rust free.

Friday, August 20

I might die if i don't get...

The Fall '10 Odd Molly Multicolored, Hand Knit, 80% Lambswool, 20% Nylon, Thigh high 
(at least on my smurf legs) Socks. OH MY GOD. 



Speaking of lambs.
I had a dream last night that i owned a pet lamb. I imagine it would look something like this: 


Awe look at how adorable it is. 
I'm going to name him Harvey.  


By the way. This is my 200th post. Yay. 

Monday, August 16

Simple Minded.




I am currently in the process of preparing to move to the other end of the country, where i have no family & only one little frolicking friend (really, she frolics) Everything about my life in Calgary HAS to stay temporary & easy, I'm noticing that my efforts to keep things that way are blowing up in my face. (I'll stop there because I started this blog with the specific intention that i wouldn't write about my irrational feelings, my love life, my family life, which one of my co-workers i hate most etc. ) Lately I've been nursing this obsession with cleanliness, order & more importantly simplicity. I have so much more control over my life than i think i do & things don't need to be as over-complicated as i make them. I found this great article about how to simplify things.

The Two Most Important Things to Remember on The Road to Simplicity
1. Identify what’s most important to you.
2. Eliminate everything else.
So the tough part would be to apply that, to the many areas of your life, hence - The Long List. 

Authors Disclaimer: "There can be no step-by-step guide to simplifying your life, but I’ve compiled an incomplete list of ideas that should help anyone trying to find the simple life. Not every tip will work for you — choose the ones that appeal and apply to your life."
1. Make a list of your top 4-5 important things. What do you value most? What 4-5 things do you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying to make room in your life so you have more time for these things." (Brittany's List of Priorities : My writing & my art, loving my family but not being right in the middle of everything that happens to them, stability & doing well school.) 
2. "Evaluate your commitments. Look at everything you’ve got going on in your life. Everything, from work to home, (...) to hobbies to side businesses to other projects. Think about which of these really gives you value, which ones you love doing. Which of these are in line with the 4-5 most important things you listed above? Drop those that aren’t in line with those things."
(Things Going On in Brittany's Life: Trying to build stronger relationships with my family before i leave for Montreal, trying to find an apartment, being a Retail Warrior at the Crab (making monies), tame the wild mess of the thousands & thousands of dollars worth of clothing accumulating on my floor, coping with the loss of life i gave up, supporting my shopping addiction, budgeting, general crafting, my two spring courses, being a good friend, a good girlfriend, a well read student, building my portfolio.... & this blog. 
Things for Brittany to Drop: Excessive spending on trivial things that don't fulfill me... like more harem pants... )
3. Evaluate your time. How do you spend your day? What things do you do, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep? Make a list, and evaluate whether they’re in line with your priorities. If not, eliminate the things that aren’t, and focus on what’s important. Redesign your day.
(Change: I really need to spend an entire day getting organized because it's perpetuating a feeling of unmotivated hopelessness. )
4Simplify work tasks. Our work day is made up of an endless list of work tasks. If you simply try to knock off all the tasks on your to-do list, you’ll never get everything done, and worse yet, you’ll never get the important stuff done. Focus on the essential tasks and eliminate the rest. Try condensing the list into the the three most important things.
5. Learn to say no. This is actually one of the key habits for those trying to simplify their lives. If you can’t say no, you will take on too much. " A few of Leo Balbauta's '8 Essential Strategies to Saying No' : Know your commitments, Value your time, be polite but firm &  never apologize.
6. Limit your communications. Our lives these days are filled with a vast flow of communications: email, text, cell phones,(..) Skype, Twitter, Facebook, BBM etc. It can take up your whole day if you let it. Instead, put a limit on your communications: only go one Facebook at certain times of the day. Limit phone calls to certain times too. Set a schedule and stick to it.
(I probably spend an innumerable amount of hours on facebook a week, it wouldn't kill me to limit myself to 30mins a day, i don't need to respond to every text, i can make "skype date's" with friends living in different provinces.)
8. Purge your stuff. If you can devote a weekend to purging the stuff you don’t want, it feels seriously terrific. Get boxes and trash bags for the stuff you want to donate or toss. Good tips: Be MERCILESS, make an "On-The-Fence" box, make quick decisions & celebrate your accomplishment!
9. Simplify your wardrobe. Is your closet bursting full? Yes. Are your drawers so stuffed they can’t close. Simplify your wardrobe by getting rid of anything you don’t actually wear. 
10. Simplify your computing life. If you have trouble with too many files and too much disorganization, consider online computing. It can simplify things greatly. (For those of you like myself who have folders and folders of everything from the millions of FFFFOUND finds to literary snippets, to old assignments there's still hope for you.) Declutter your digital packrattery. Do a major purge and then establish regular purging habits, remember "a place for everything", store things immediately into the categories you've set out for them .
11. Create a simplicity statement. What do you want your simple life to look like? Write it out. Need this concept explained?! Probably. (Brittany's Simplicity Statement: "My life is filled with beautiful things, each things with its own place." 
12. Limit your buying habits. If you can escape materialism, you can get into the habit of buying less. And that will mean less stuff, less spending, less freneticism. Good Tip: Use a30-day list - if there's something you want, put it on a list, and write down the date you added the item to the list. Now tell yourself you cannot buy that item for 30 days. When the 30 days have passed, if you still want it, then buy it. 
13. Free up time. Find ways to free up time for the important stuff. That means eliminating the stuff you don’t like, cutting back on time wasters, and making room for what you want to do.
14. Spend time alone. Alone time is good for you, although some people aren’t comfortable with it. It could take practice getting used to the quiet, and making room for your inner voice. This quiet is necessary for finding out what’s important to you.
15. Eat slowly. If you cram your food down your throat, you are not only missing out on the great taste of the food, you are not eating healthy. Slow down to lose weight, improve digestion, and enjoy life more. 
Be present
These two words can make a huge difference in simplifying your life. Living here and now, in the moment, keeps you aware of life, of what is going on around you and within you. Good tips: Be attentive, observe - you don't always have to engage, breathe , meditate - 30 minutes of just sitting in complete silence, examine your own thoughts. 
16. Establish routines. The key to keeping your life simple is to create simple routines. Establish routines for each separate area of your life - laundry, cooking, cleaning, budgeting, meditation, internet/ media use. 
17. Keep your email inbox empty. Delete things immediately after reading them, do regular purges. 
18. Live frugally. Living frugally means buying less, wanting less, and leaving less of a footprint on the earth. (Ways i HAVE achieved this... as of late: 

  • Eat Out Less: I've begun cooking instead of spending 20$-30$ every time i eat.
  • Packing a lunch
  • Stop Shopping  - Don't even go anywhere near clothing boutiques OR home decor
  • By books online for your Kindle, which cuts the price almost in half
  • WALK
  • Sell or Pawn things you don't wear/ have already read/ never use
  • Stay Home
  • DIY Projects! I've started making jewelry! )
19. Learn what “enough” is. Our materialistic society today is about getting more and more, with no end in sight. Sure, you can get the latest gadget, and more clothes and shoes. More stuff. But when will you have enough? Most people don’t know, and thus they keep buying more. It’s a neverending cycle. Get off the cycle by figuring out how much is enough. And then stop when you get there. 
20. Create a simple weekly dinner menu. Decide on a week’s worth of simple dinners, set a specific dinner for each night of the week, go grocery shopping for the ingredients. Now you know what’s for dinner each night, and you have all the ingredients necessary. 
21. Eat healthy. It might not be obvious how eating healthy relates to simplicity, but think about the opposite: if you eat fatty, greasy, salty, sugary, fried foods all the time, you are sure to have higher medical needs over the long term. We could be talking years from now, but imagine frequent doctor visits, going to the pharmacist, getting therapy, having surgery, taking insulin shots etc. Being unhealthy is complicated. Eating healthy simplifies all of that greatly, over the long term. 
22. Declutter before organizing. Many people make the mistake of taking a cluttered desk or filing cabinet or closet or drawer, and trying to organize it. Unfortunately, that’s not only hard to do, it keeps things complicated. Simplify the process by getting rid of as much of the junk as possible, and then organizing. 
23. Have a place for everything
24. Find inner simplicity. Spending a little time with your inner self creates a peaceful simplicity rather than a chaotic confusion. This could be time praying or communing with God, or time spent meditating or journaling or getting to know yourself, or time spent in nature. However you do it, working on your inner self is worth the time.
25. Learn to decompress from stress. Every life is filled with stress — no matter how much you simplify your life, you’ll still have stress (except in the case of the ultimate simplifier, death). Way's to decompress: Deep breathing, exercise, be outdoors, have sex, take a day off, meditate, read, turn your phone off, take a nap.
26. Find a creative outlet for self-expression.  We have a need for self-expression, and finding a way to do that makes your life much more fulfilling. 
27. Develop equanimity. If every little thing that happens to you sends you into anger or stress, your life might never be simple. Learn to detach yourself, and be more at peace. "This is not a hill to die on" - David's Dad.
28. Live life more deliberately. Do every task slowly, with ease, paying full attention to what you’re doing. 
29. Make a Most Important Tasks (MITs) list each day. Set just 3 very important things you want to accomplish each day. Don’t start with a long list of things you probably won’t get done by the end of the day. A simple list of 3 things, ones that would make you feel like you accomplished something. S
30. Create morning and evening routines. A great way to simplify your life is to create routines at the start and end of your day. 
31. Go for quality, not quantity. Try not to have a ton of stuff in your life … instead, have just a few possessions, but ones that you really love, and that will last for a long time.
32. Fill your day with simple pleasures. Make a list of your favorite simple pleasures, and sprinkle them throughout your day. (My Simple Pleasures: fresh fruit, calm music, long showers, coffee, a good book, an old movie, popcorn, yoga, napping, good wine, white chocolate, walking into a clean house, cooking, rock climbing, time spent with friends, walking my dog & swimming)
33. Carry less stuff. Do you really need 4 types of lip gloss in your purse? Or more than one book at a time?
 Always ask: Will this simplify my life? 
If the answer is no, reconsider.

Free The Vintage.

So Free People is currently featuring a vintage collection lace, hippy & denim. I sifted through plucking my personal favorites to share.

(From Luther to Ruby) Floral Babydoll dress $133CA, Oversized Carpet Bag $446CA, Crinkled Fabric Crop Top with Black Bows (Such an incredible layering piece) $133CA.

 
(From Luther to Ruby) 1970's Koos van Den Akker Blouse $133CA, 1990's Floral Boned Corset $41CA, 1970's Pink Silk Slip $133CA.

(From Luther to Ruby) Embroidered Vest $220CA, Eyelet Blouse $258CA, Painted Leather Cape $883CA.

(From Luther to Ruby) Patchwork Mini Dress $362CA, 1960's Levis Denim Shirt (so unique!) $258CA, Pink Cashmere Cardigan $310CA