The theme for this month's [The Monthly Mixtape] was a "geek" theme. I dunno, but I wasn't reeeeeally feelin' it. Maybe it was "a little derivative" ("'A parody's always a derivative.' 'But it's not organic, you know what I mean?'" Ohhh, I LOOOVE you, Kelly and Ryan!).
Anyway, I just reposted my "Open Windows" mixtape (it's a mixtape of music you'd want to hear playing out of an 'open window'. whhhaaa? self-explanatory?!) and it's a litttttle long.
**A side note to the young babies out there: no mixtape should really exceed 12 songs. I know some whiners out there are saying, "WHHHAAA? NOOOO! I have TONS of good music that everyone has to hear!!" NEWSFLASH: No. No ones wants to hear it. Get over yourself and learn some restraint.
With that being said, mine's 17 songs long (I know, I's a hypocrite), but really it's "transitional": first half is a daytime playlist which moves into the last half (aka 'nightime'). Ohhh, that sounds pretty "derivative" doesn't it?? Click on the title to download it (good for only the next 7 days). ENJOY.
::04.2010:: Open Windows Mixtape:: 001/ Talking Heads: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
002/ The Jam: That's Entertainment
003/ Shout Out Louds: Normandie
004/ The Futureheads: Hounds of Love (Kate Bush Cover)
005/ McLusky: To Hell With Good Intentions
006/ New Order: Age of Consent
007/ Passion Pit: Sleepyhead
008/ Hail Social: The One U Love
009/ Band of Skulls: Blood
010/ James Brown: It's A Man's World
011/ Suckers: It Gets Your Body Moving
012/ The Redneck Manifesto: The Dillon Family Dancers
013/ Band of Skulls: Cold Fame
014/ Hot Chip: Look After Me
015/ Hooverphonic: 2 Wicky
016/ The Gossip: Are U That Somebody (Aaliyah Cover)
017/ Seals and Croft: Summer Breeze
**OBLIGATORY PICTURE POST: "Future Native American"/Because my sister dressed better than me: Jaya FINALLY to wore her awwwesome indigenous necklace (bought in Solvang) outside of her apartment and I FINALLY convinced her that magenta/hot pink was "her color." This was the conversation we had at Sephora:
Jaya: (after applying magenta lipstick): I look like a future Native American. Me: "Future" Native American? Are you becoming Native American? So, not futuristic Native America? Jaya: *SILENT "I HATES YOU" LOOK*
***BECAUSE I'M FEELING IT: Minor Threat's Stumped.
My sister sent me this Minor Threat song a while back and I just FELL IN LOVE with it. I suggest you give this a listen, maybe when you're getting ready to step out or if you want to dance yourself out of bed. AND DANCE AND DANCE AND DANCE AND DANCE.... AND DANCE AND DANCE!
PART THREE (and, thankfully, last part): The Army Surplus Store.
What are the first places you think of when you guys want to find great vintage or used goodies? Thrift stores? Flea markets? Estate sales? Your zazzy friend's or cooler sister's closest when they're asleep in the middle of the night? I gots two words for you: BOOORRRRRRRINNG (and yes, boring becomes two words when you stretch it long enough).
Next time you get that "I-needs-to-buy-something-before-I-turn-into-a-moody-girl-monster" nervous tic in your eye, try your local Army surplus store.
BOOM. I JUST dropped some knowledge on you right now. I DOUBLE DARE YOU (ohhhh, a Mark Summers reference).
Before you wet your pants from the possible shopping excitement, here are some tips to help you guys navigate this unfamiliar territory:
How To Make Your Way Through A Surplus Store:
001/ IT WILL/MIGHT BE INTIMIDATING AT FIRST: I may come off as totally ass-facey and self-assured in my posts, but lemme tell you a little secret: I ain't (at least, not always). When my sister and I were standing in the parking lot of a surplus store near her apartment, a gallion-ty thoughts were going through my head: "What kind of people are going to be inside?", "What kind of people work there?", "Will I somehow offend the veteran with the hook hand and eye patch?" (ohhh bad joke. don't gets angry at me, hooked arm/eye patched/veterans of the great USA people).
Then we walked through the doors (I think I made Jaya go in first, ha ha) and all those questions just melted away. There were couples buying camping supplies; there was an asian lady buying some basic survival supplies; there was a dude who was yakking on about the Patriot Act and trying to find button-down shirt. All kinds of regular jack offs (hahaha, some of the things that I'm typing just sound sooo mean! Sorry, but half of the time I'm referencing/quoting television. "regular jack offs" reference? my fav: metalocalyspe).
002/ LOOK EVERYWHERE IN THE STORE: The reason I decided to go to the surplus store was because I couldn't really find the army green jacket I've looking for... and guess what? I didn't find it there either.
But you know what I did find? Cheeeeap beanie caps in various colors and sizes; A hat for people longing to be the Captain in a "Captain and Tennille" cover band; Cooool canvas-covered canteens for hippies who don't want to cover the planet with their plastic bottles.
No, I didn't find my dream army jacket but I came away with two purses, a belt fannypack, and the most awesome leather wallet (and a gold whistle for my sister's necklace collection). Don'ts believe me?? Check out the pictures below!!
003/ GO IN WITH A GOOOD ATTITUDE: Hmmm, that sounds like New Age-y advice but it might help some of you. I know if I feel shitty when I go shopping, I end up acting like a dick and a fool and I don't spend the time looking for hidden gems. And who knows, if you act nice and ask for help from the sales staff, you might get the story about the origins of an AWESOME bag (mine came from China!).
004/ "I DON'T GOTS A SURPLUS STORE NEAR ME!": I know some whiny babies out there might not have a surplus store near them (or they didn't look hard enough!), then, like everything else, go to the internet! Back in the day, Jaya and I signed up for Cheaper Than Dirt's free catalogue and found some very usable bags and small duffles. I suggest you sign up for the catalogue because it's STREETS AHEAD (hahahahah) of looking through the website. Plus, if you thumb through the catalogue in a public place it might stop strangers from striking up a conversation with you (or maybe the complete opposite???).
005/ "LESS YAP YAP, MORE SNAP SNAP!": That's my awkward segue into PICTURE MONTAGE TIME!!
A Map bag:: I'm gonna try to sell this on my Etsy store (and yes, it's still empty. booo on me).:
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An Austrian Belt Pouch:: Another Etsy item. It fits on almost any belt; it relieves you from wearing a purse at shows and other "bag-unfriendly" outtings.:
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A Swiss Post Bag:: This bag can hold ANYTHING: tons and tons of laundry; that pile of dirty magazines strewn around your room you don't want your friends to see (I know you have Teen Bop,TigerBeat, and Playgirl under your mattresses); the clothes you keep on stealing from your frenemy/sister; a couple of dead bodies (ohhh, I'm forcing myself not to make crass "dead baby" jokes)., etc etc. Size? About 3.5 ft. tall, maybe 18" across:
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A Leather Wallet with Chain:: I was contemplating buying this beautiful wallet but the price was off-putting. $60?! My sister found something similar at a flea market for $5 (granted, awesome mountain landscape not included) and now it was MY TURN TO HAVE A LOVELY LEATHER WALLET. I love it's color; I love it's simplicity; and yes, I love the chain, too. I loved it so much that I quickly transfered all my contents of my old wallet into it before taking a decent picture.
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A Chinese Shoulder Bag:: My new favorite purse. PERIOD. And whaaaat? Yes, it turns into a backpack (90s dreammmmings coming true):
And so I'm not a tease, Matthew Wilder's BREAK MY STRIDE:
Ummm, I strangely don't know how to intro this one. Sooooo many people have talked about how/where/why they shop at thrift stores so lemme shut my face up with just three words: PICTURE MONTAGE TIME!! (p.s. I'm only going to annotate the clothes that are thrifted. If you want to know where I got one of the things not mentioned, well, then tough shit. Hahaha, joking! Just ask).
-- 001/ The things my sister makes me do: Whenever Jaya takes my picture she screams, "And now JUMP! Ohhh, I didn't get it. JUMP again! Almost!" Necklaces and boobs are smacking me in the face while my knees are making this crackling noise every time I hit the floor. But you know what's just the pits? When she crops various body parts out of the picture (note: LH side picture)! But she manages to get at least a couple of shots, so one point for Jaya.
+Jacket: Salvation Army.
+Belt: Salvation Army.
+Skirt: Salvation Army (same location as above, but at different time).
**SAME DIFFERENCE: Here's Jaya in the same jacket but "jazzing" it up in a different way.
+Jacket: Salvation Army.
+Skirt: Salvation Army.
+[I know I'm making a liar out of myself but...] California Bear Shirt: Flea Market (maybe PCC or Rose Bowl).
Oh, and sorry for the long Family Guy quote, but in all honesty, while I was taking these picture I kept on saying, "This is what it feels like to be a bear. This is what it feel like to ba-hr."
+Romper: Salvation Army.
**INTERESTED?: Here's the other romper that I'm gonna sell:
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003/ Raccoons love Palm Springs:
Apologies now, sister, but this one of the only pictures I have of this strangely adorable raccoon/Palm Springs shirt.
I should prefix that sentence with the fact that I collect and own state/city graphic tees. This one happens to be for Palm Springs, CA (why there's a raccoon on it, who knows?); others that I own: Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta, GA; Toronto, (something state? something) Canada; the states of CA, Maine, and VA; a couple of Jamaican ones ("Hey Mon" & "Jus' Cool"); and one that I thought was for Salem (for either Massachusetts or Oregon) but it turns out to be for the cigarettes. Woh woh.
This a sartorial ode to one of literary's most fashionable gal, Claudia Kishi. Here's my little description that I wrote when I posted this outfit on Flickr's various fashion groups: "Trying to channel Claudia's frenetic energy but mixed in with Dawn's hippie hopes and dreams. I'm off to go eat tons of candy and read ghost stories with my favorite Baby-sitters Club."
If you have no idea what I'm referencing, then you should go die in a fire.
Hahaha, I kid. But seriously, toss your compu-tater outside the nearest window and go pick up a goddang book. Preferably, read one out of Ms. Ann M. Martin's The Baby-sitters Club series (one of the earlier books, not the ones with "Abby." Who the hell does she think she is??) and bone up on some of my first style icons.
This, crazily enough, doesn't even BEGINNING to showcase our recent finds. I found a long sleeve, forest green velvet tunic top, which I understand "sounds" ridonculous, but in actuality is equal parts juvenile figure skater + Christmastime elf; a hand-crocheted top; a jacket and skirt combo; the most adorable (although entirely polyester) floral+black dress.
I have one last part to this shenanigans: The Army Surplus Store.
