I make treasuries based on my moods much like probably most people who make treasuries on Etsy. A couple days ago, though, I was in an awful mood. I felt sluggish, it was cloudy, and I didn't want to have anything to do with anyone. And of course, I wanted to make a treasury to reflect that, but I started wondering whether or not sellers would want their items associated with this type of melancholy. As a curator, I suppose that I can sort of use items any way I wish, but I was imagining a pair of my earrings or one of Marcin's photos in a treasury titled "Everyone is an idiot...and I can tell because they buy this stuff." I think I'd be pretty upset. Are treasury curators responsible for the way an item is presented? What do you think?
I ended up toning down the anger in my gray/grey treasury, and I even ended up atoning for my bad mood the next day with a sunnier treasury as if being able to put together sixteen cheerful items could in fact convey that I was in a better mood to the 43 people that had clicked on it so far.
In short, I guess I think a treasury can convey a visual aesthetic goal, but it's difficult to do that without pinpointing the emotion of it, too.
12.28.2010
12.26.2010
Favorite Albums of 2010
5. Beach House- Teen Dream
I wasn't too crazy about this album at first because I couldn't really keep the songs straight in my head. They still kind of all blend together, but now, I just kind of let it happen. There's something to be said for an ultimately calming 49 minutes that does let you sit and listen to music. I don't mean to mark it as "just for entertainment" or whathever it is people say about art. I mean more that it forces me to turn my brain off, to stop counting and analyzing.
Standout Tracks: "Used to Be", "Norway"
4. Liars- Sisterworld
I have no idea what is happening in any of these songs, but they are loud and angry and unapologetic. The opening track, "Scissor," has something to do with a dead body that turns out to be alive. It's been a while since I heard an album that manages to be haunting throughout.
Standout Tracks: "Proud Evolution", "Scissor"
3. The National- High Violet
I'm surprising myself because before this album came out I had been an adamant non-fan of The National. I remember it had something to do with the fact that I wanted to distance myself from what they were singing about. I didn't want Yuppie Malaise. I also kind of thought the music was flat. There was nothing I could listen into. But I've come around for reasons that I can't quite explain, but I need to credit the album for the conversion coupled with an always wonderful live show (including the stage banter).
Standout Tracks: "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Afraid of Everyone"
2. Foals- Total Life Forever
If you haven't yet, watch the video for "Spanish Sahara." It is amazing. Still shots of still landscapes. Small movements. As a follow-up to 2008's Antidotes, Total Life Forever is less controlled but more demure. It sounds infinitely sadder and proves that dance rock or math rock (or whatever I'm supposed to call it) cares about what is says and why it says it.
Standout Tracks: "Blue Blood", "Spanish Sahara"
1. Yeasayer- Odd Blood
This album leaked on my birthday in 2009 but wasn't officially released until 2010. Hearing it for the first time, I was disappointed not really knowing how to deal with pop thing (for lack of a better term). But then, I thought a little bit. I love the 80s. I love things that are fun and yet sometimes disturbing. I heard or read an interview with the band (wish I could cite it) that had one of the members saying that they wanted to record songs that they liked, that people could enjoy. They certainly succeeded and without sacrificing that weirdness that I had grown to love on the first album. Saw them in Prague (a show at which they were able to juggle the most disparate elements of their songs). Will be seeing them again on New Years Eve.
Standout Tracks: "Ambling Alp", "Mondegreen"
I wasn't too crazy about this album at first because I couldn't really keep the songs straight in my head. They still kind of all blend together, but now, I just kind of let it happen. There's something to be said for an ultimately calming 49 minutes that does let you sit and listen to music. I don't mean to mark it as "just for entertainment" or whathever it is people say about art. I mean more that it forces me to turn my brain off, to stop counting and analyzing.
Standout Tracks: "Used to Be", "Norway"
4. Liars- Sisterworld
I have no idea what is happening in any of these songs, but they are loud and angry and unapologetic. The opening track, "Scissor," has something to do with a dead body that turns out to be alive. It's been a while since I heard an album that manages to be haunting throughout.
Standout Tracks: "Proud Evolution", "Scissor"
3. The National- High Violet
I'm surprising myself because before this album came out I had been an adamant non-fan of The National. I remember it had something to do with the fact that I wanted to distance myself from what they were singing about. I didn't want Yuppie Malaise. I also kind of thought the music was flat. There was nothing I could listen into. But I've come around for reasons that I can't quite explain, but I need to credit the album for the conversion coupled with an always wonderful live show (including the stage banter).
Standout Tracks: "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Afraid of Everyone"
2. Foals- Total Life Forever
If you haven't yet, watch the video for "Spanish Sahara." It is amazing. Still shots of still landscapes. Small movements. As a follow-up to 2008's Antidotes, Total Life Forever is less controlled but more demure. It sounds infinitely sadder and proves that dance rock or math rock (or whatever I'm supposed to call it) cares about what is says and why it says it.
Standout Tracks: "Blue Blood", "Spanish Sahara"
1. Yeasayer- Odd Blood
This album leaked on my birthday in 2009 but wasn't officially released until 2010. Hearing it for the first time, I was disappointed not really knowing how to deal with pop thing (for lack of a better term). But then, I thought a little bit. I love the 80s. I love things that are fun and yet sometimes disturbing. I heard or read an interview with the band (wish I could cite it) that had one of the members saying that they wanted to record songs that they liked, that people could enjoy. They certainly succeeded and without sacrificing that weirdness that I had grown to love on the first album. Saw them in Prague (a show at which they were able to juggle the most disparate elements of their songs). Will be seeing them again on New Years Eve.
Standout Tracks: "Ambling Alp", "Mondegreen"
12.24.2010
12.23.2010
Treasury Time
I made a treasury for NonTeam Challenge #11.
Sometimes, I have trouble with titles, and this was one of those times, but I love all of the items on this list. Hope you find something you're a fan of.
Sometimes, I have trouble with titles, and this was one of those times, but I love all of the items on this list. Hope you find something you're a fan of.
Sickling
I've come across a ton of blogposts recently about illness, and I'd like to continue the trend. I am sick. It's just a cold, but I have this awful cough that makes me feel like I've been smoking for years. But today is an inside day, and I have a list of inside chores, most of which have something to do with Etsy.
I've spruced up the photo of my dad's giclee print, but I still haven't been able to find/buy a good frame to photograph it in.
I'm working on helping my step-dad open his own photography shop, which means coming up with exciting titles and shop names and figuring out an appealing format for descriptions. Here is a tiny version of one of the photos we will be posting soon:
I've spruced up the photo of my dad's giclee print, but I still haven't been able to find/buy a good frame to photograph it in.
I'm working on helping my step-dad open his own photography shop, which means coming up with exciting titles and shop names and figuring out an appealing format for descriptions. Here is a tiny version of one of the photos we will be posting soon:
12.20.2010
Prototype
Two things:
-There is a bananagrams facebook app. It works better than playing with real bananagrams tiles because you can highlight and drag whole sections, which makes rearranging amazing. I'm afraid I will get hooked, though. Played for an hour this morning.
-Working on a new earring prototype. Only one is finished, but let me know what you think. There's a fabric window on both sides. And I think the stitches would have to be more regular. I came up with the design when I was on the Orange Line, looking out at the desolate strip between the Western and 35th and Archer stops. In part, the earrings are a way to use vintage fabric scraps that I love to buy at thrift stores. But also, we often think of felt and cotton as soft, but I like felt for its sometimes rigidity.
-There is a bananagrams facebook app. It works better than playing with real bananagrams tiles because you can highlight and drag whole sections, which makes rearranging amazing. I'm afraid I will get hooked, though. Played for an hour this morning.
-Working on a new earring prototype. Only one is finished, but let me know what you think. There's a fabric window on both sides. And I think the stitches would have to be more regular. I came up with the design when I was on the Orange Line, looking out at the desolate strip between the Western and 35th and Archer stops. In part, the earrings are a way to use vintage fabric scraps that I love to buy at thrift stores. But also, we often think of felt and cotton as soft, but I like felt for its sometimes rigidity.
12.19.2010
Summerisle
This morning, I was featured in this beautiful treasury:
I love the colors and the arrangement.
I love the colors and the arrangement.
12.13.2010
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky's new film Black Swan was difficult to watch because I knew how it was going to end, but I didn't know why bad things were happening and whether or not they were real.
This confusion stems from the fact that the film is from Nina's (Natalie Portman's) perspective. We see what she experiences without any indication of whether or not what she's experiencing is real. Then, we start to realize that much of what we had believed to be true is not true (never even happened, really). But as soon as we start to understand this, the film reaches such a level of intensity through great use of music and frantic cutting that we forget we've been tricked by what Nina has seen before. We start believing what we see again. This part (the suspense, the fear) is very well-crafted. And it is oddly triumphant- much like The Wrestler.
What doesn't work so well is the premise itself. In the end, the question becomes "Can an artist immortalize herself through one role (or one work of art)? And can the process destroy the person inside of the artist?" We don't get the critical distance to think about the answers to this question until we start to catch on to what is going on. Throughout, we are too concerned with Nina's physical well-being as her body falls apart to care about why this is happening.
Performances from the actors are all great. Mila Kunis's rough around the edges ballerina was surprisingly believable, and Vincent Cassel was creepy as the director and (at least in part) the only character who was aware of the questions about artists, their bodies, and their legacies.
I'm always impressed but turned off by Aronofsky's films. The most disgusting things are confronted unflinchingly. He is, of course, not the only director who employs this tactic. But he is the only one who clearly (at least by the end) does it in order to make us think about why we're alive and what alive actually is.
This confusion stems from the fact that the film is from Nina's (Natalie Portman's) perspective. We see what she experiences without any indication of whether or not what she's experiencing is real. Then, we start to realize that much of what we had believed to be true is not true (never even happened, really). But as soon as we start to understand this, the film reaches such a level of intensity through great use of music and frantic cutting that we forget we've been tricked by what Nina has seen before. We start believing what we see again. This part (the suspense, the fear) is very well-crafted. And it is oddly triumphant- much like The Wrestler.
What doesn't work so well is the premise itself. In the end, the question becomes "Can an artist immortalize herself through one role (or one work of art)? And can the process destroy the person inside of the artist?" We don't get the critical distance to think about the answers to this question until we start to catch on to what is going on. Throughout, we are too concerned with Nina's physical well-being as her body falls apart to care about why this is happening.
Performances from the actors are all great. Mila Kunis's rough around the edges ballerina was surprisingly believable, and Vincent Cassel was creepy as the director and (at least in part) the only character who was aware of the questions about artists, their bodies, and their legacies.
I'm always impressed but turned off by Aronofsky's films. The most disgusting things are confronted unflinchingly. He is, of course, not the only director who employs this tactic. But he is the only one who clearly (at least by the end) does it in order to make us think about why we're alive and what alive actually is.
12.12.2010
Featured, House-sitting, Storm
On Saturday (the morning after my birthday), I found out that I was featured on a blog here: http://craftedbyhands.blogspot.com/
It's a wonderful collection of holiday items that I'm happy to be a part of. Please check it out. There might be something you really like.
I'm house-sitting and watching Arrested Development. IFC has been playing the episodes that I've seen most often, but I don't mind. It's the "musty old claptrap" episode. :)
And, of course, it is snowing all over Chicago, which means that it's difficult for me to motivate myself to go get some supplies and take the dog for a walk. I also haven't found anyone to visit me until tomorrow.
One of the cats (Myla) doesn't like her new treats, but she's managed to lose the bag of old treats that was on the couch. So now, she doesn't have anything to snack, but she thinks it's my fault.
I've got so many posts planned. I promise to write them soon. (2 product reviews and a film review)
It's a wonderful collection of holiday items that I'm happy to be a part of. Please check it out. There might be something you really like.
I'm house-sitting and watching Arrested Development. IFC has been playing the episodes that I've seen most often, but I don't mind. It's the "musty old claptrap" episode. :)
And, of course, it is snowing all over Chicago, which means that it's difficult for me to motivate myself to go get some supplies and take the dog for a walk. I also haven't found anyone to visit me until tomorrow.
One of the cats (Myla) doesn't like her new treats, but she's managed to lose the bag of old treats that was on the couch. So now, she doesn't have anything to snack, but she thinks it's my fault.
I've got so many posts planned. I promise to write them soon. (2 product reviews and a film review)
12.07.2010
Down to [a] wire
Here's a new treasury I made. I don't really know what made me think of scissors, but now I can hardly concentrate on trying to figure it out because I set a goal of two and a half new pages by 11pm, and I, of course, haven't started in part because of this treasury and in part because it is difficult for me to write new immigration stories/anecdotes. I feel like I have exhausted my options.
Actually, this treasury might be related to a song my mom used to sing in Polish. The first lines are "I'll take the scissors and cut up the curtains." And that's all I know, and I think it's about an angry housewife...
Actually, this treasury might be related to a song my mom used to sing in Polish. The first lines are "I'll take the scissors and cut up the curtains." And that's all I know, and I think it's about an angry housewife...
'Sharp Edges' by fourelephants
 The Collection Num... $20.00 |  M SNIP tshirt on Co... $21.50 |  Sewing Tag - Sewer ... $5.00 |
 Antique Vintage Ind... $140.00 |  SALE . . . amazing ... $15.00 |  little scissors $20.00 |
 Free Shipping World... $9.55 |  Silver Serving Piec... $18.99 |  Hunting Arrowhead D... $19.00 |
 Knives - Adult Smal... $18.00 |  Knife and Fork - Ca... $5.00 |  Small Dish with Blu... $12.00 |
 12oz cup scissors (... $30.00 |  The Key with the Hi... $46.00 |  DIY 23mm Wood Natur... $1.50 |
Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.
12.03.2010
Friday
Bullet point entry:
- First real snow in Chicago will happen tonight.
- I made a new treasury in anticipation of having my own apartment (eventually):
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cf96287ec858eef9d2c0b47/first-apartment
- I've got new earrings planned out which I will be working on in the car tonight on the way to see The Room in Milwaukee. If you haven't seen The Room, all you need to know about it is that it's the new Rocky Horror Picture Show in terms of how it is watched. Spoons are thrown at the screen, silly things are chanted. But it's a midnight screening, and I won't get home until what is more accurately termed Saturday morning.
- Listen to Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur" from their 1982 album "Rio" and on the Greenberg soundtrack.
- First real snow in Chicago will happen tonight.
- I made a new treasury in anticipation of having my own apartment (eventually):
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cf96287ec858eef9d2c0b47/first-apartment
- I've got new earrings planned out which I will be working on in the car tonight on the way to see The Room in Milwaukee. If you haven't seen The Room, all you need to know about it is that it's the new Rocky Horror Picture Show in terms of how it is watched. Spoons are thrown at the screen, silly things are chanted. But it's a midnight screening, and I won't get home until what is more accurately termed Saturday morning.
- Listen to Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur" from their 1982 album "Rio" and on the Greenberg soundtrack.
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