Open Windows Mixtape.

The September theme for [The Monthly Mixtape] at Last.fm was "Open Windows." Here is the description:

What does that mean? For the last days of summer, or if you're on the southern half of the coin the first of spring, let's make a mix that you'd (like to) hear through the open windows of your neighbourhood. The laid-back tunes that just give you a good feeling, make you break into song, attracted to strangers and have you dance on the street... you know, the tunes that make you act like a drunk in the middle of the day. Have fun and good luck making it!

I was paired with A-bay, who I, miraculously, have a "musical compatibility of HIGH" (first time that has ever happened). This is the mixtape she sent me: 09.2009 Open Window Mixtape 01 Stars: My Favourite Book 02 Andrew Kenny & Ben Gibbard: You Remind Me of Home 03 James Morrison: You Give Me Something 04 Ben Kweller: Run 05 Missy Higgins: Peachy 06 Ukesperience: Oceanside 07 Tom Petty: Mary Jane's Last Dance 08 Matt White: Love 09 Mason Jennings: Keepin It Real 10 Feist: I Feel It All 11 Meiko: How Lucky We Are 12 Sondre Lerche & Regina Spektor: Hell No 13 The Rolling Stones: Happy 14 Michael Jackon: Enjoy Yourself 15 Chairlift: Bruises I've only listened to the mix, fully, once and it was all right. There are some hits (Feist is always good, as is Tom Petty) and misses (ugggghhh on James Morrison- stop. making. music.) but I have to listen to it a couple more times. OBLIGATORY PICTURE POST: Jaya found this outside her door at her new apartment the other day:

WHAAAAA??

WHAAAAA?? is right. Someone, evidently, went smashy-smashy on their 40" (ohhhh for realssss) TV.

This is how I DO.

The other night when I was having dinner with my dad, he torn into what he thought was a "french baguette." That is what the generic plastic bag it came in said it was. But what it was was TERRIBLE. The crust was chewy-looking and when he tried spreading some Nutella on it, the whole thing crumbled into a sad mess. He looked up at me and said, "Good bread is important to me. Crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. I can eat anything but I like a good bread. What is this? This isn't french bread, is it?" Awwwww. Poignant, Dad. Well said. With that- I MAKE MY OWN FRENCH BREAD. From scratch. What, I know. JEALOUS. It's easy, fun, a bit time consuming, but very cathartic. Plus, there is nothing better than the smell of fresh bread wafting through the house.

"Oh, FANCY."

I plaited one loaf and the other is done classic french bread style.

I'm slowing doing things from my list. Mmmmmm, delicious.

Leather-FACED.

PROOF THAT MY MEMORY SUCKS BALLS: The other week, Jaya started to reminisce about a pair of eyeglasses that our Mom owned, used, and apparently LOVED. I, of course, have vague recollection ("they were round" and "they were big," yah??) and the nights she wore them while driving in her equally-beloved but since-replaced green BMW. Then Jaya looks at me and says, "Yah, and they were LEATHER." WHAAAA? Well, here they are:

Check out that stitching! Gives a new meaning to "Leathah-face."

That's right: JEALOUSLY. A couple of days later I asked my mom about the glasses and she busted them out from the depths of her neverending closet. They're about 20 years old and they are pretty much still BOMB. She told me, "Oh, I LOVED those glasses! They were my favorite. When I was getting prescriptions put in them the guy said, 'Oh, I don't know if I can do this. I might ruin the leather.' I told him, 'I don't care- JUST DO IT.' They're cool, huh?" Hahahahaha, Mom. Hmmmm. They is COOOOL. When I asked her to put them on I almost died. She looked like smiling baby owl.

"My Log Has Something to Tell You."

image via... the internet? I honestly don't know. SADFACE.

This photo of the Log Lady, from everybody's favorite show Twin Peaks, encompasses a lot of what I am loving right now -- wood anything (faux bois included), old lady sweaters, and Sally Jesse Raphael glasses. Okay, so the last thing might not be true but you better believe that after finding this photo, I'm HUNTING THEM DOWN. Is there, like, a poster-sized version of this photo anywhere or am I going to have to stoop so low as to go to Kinko's (IHATEKINKOS) to get this printed. How BOMB would this look with my wood/lucite/mirrored mess of a studio apartment? I'm just sayin'. Log Lady is my NEW THEME.

T-T-T-T-T-TOO Much Time on my HANDS. (A DIY project.)

ITEMS USED:

• 1 WHITE V-NECK SHIRT
• 1 PAIR OF WHITE CUT-OFF SHORTS
• 1 PAIR OF OPAQUE WHITE LEGGINGS
• 2 BOTTLES OF BLACK RIT DYE
• PARENTS' WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER
• 1 CUP+ OF WHITE VINEGAR
• TONS AND TONS AND TONS OF RUBBER BANDS

PROCESS: I've done lots and lots of tie-dye projects over my young adult life and my closet is proof of my past fashion misfortunes. I have camp shirts, school projects, and personal ventures clogging up the back of my cabinets. On occasions, I wear said shirts while pattering around the house and having myself a cigarette. Anyway, here is how I got everything to where it is now: #1: I found a pair of white tights amongst my sister's shit while she was packing things away. Instead of throwing it away, I decided to hold on to it becaaaauuuuuussse I don't know. Whats can I say? I gots "hoarder disease." #2: I always have a white v-neck on hand. #3: Jaya bought white jeans on sale (like, $7) and she cut them into shorts. She actually wanted these to be tie-dyed black on white (SPOILER ALERT: tooo bad). #4: I had two bottle of Rit Black Dye to dye all my light/fugly/whiskered-colored jeans into the same homogeneous blackish color (SPOILER ALERT #2: toooo bad x 2. WOHHH WOH). So, I basically dumped #s 1-4 into the washing machine (after spending some time snapping my fingers with DUMB rubber bands), plus some vinegar, and hoped to Jebus that something came out. HOOOOOLLLLLLLAAAA! It did. You best believe that I was pumping my fist in the air for this small (smallll) victory. Hey, I don't have a lot going on in my life so I'm high-fiving every success. HIGH FIVE! Now, some worked better than others, but here it be. BOOM.:

This gives another meaning to the term "THUNDER THIGHS." I can holla at that.

This venture might qualify as #10 on my list- can "Ruining clothing" be considered a hobby? Once the v-neck and the short are dry, I'll post those pictures as well.

ORPHAN ORPHAN ORPHAN

So I have this repeater disease. Okay, so maybe not so much of a disease as it is a horrible predilection of repeating words that I think sound AWESOME. That's right, AWESOME, capital everything. This article by Good magazine has explained my affliction or at least why certain words are so "attractive" to say. Whoooooa. Let's slow down the creepy train because I just called words "attractive." I just vomited on myself. Repeater words I've been jonesing on to date: * Orphan - often repeated with the word "orphanage" for good measure * Queequeg - yeah, never read Moby Dick so... I guess that makes me sound uneducated * Cube - just sounds so onomatopoetic. You know, with the four letters and the "b" sounds and the square-iness of it all. * Vampers - Damns you True Blood! Damns you to hell! There are another fist full of words, but, you know, it might get ugly. Or disturbing. Whatever. P.S. Can you tell that I've been left alone in my office for the rest of the day? Is the careless blogging and haphazard sentencing (and probably spelling) giving it away? P.P.S. Because I like to attach pictures to every post here is what I got when I typed in "vamper": WHAT. THE. HELL. All right computer. I'm turning you off.

I'm a cheesy cheese bread.

I actually hugged by old apartment goodbye yesterday. It's an end of an era, y'all! PEACE OUT TO THE BEDFORD STREET MANSION (read: not a mansion)! (trying not to shed a tear here, people) If I'm not busy cleaning and organizing (because it's a passion of mine? HA!) I will post pictures of what looks like a disaster area masquerading my studio. DO NOT BE FOOLED. To mark the end of an era and the end of summer, here is Chad & Jeremy with Summer Song (don't be too mesmerized with the karaoke quality of it all):