Ridiculously self-absorbent.
cooksnbooks@gmail.com
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Flash Photography and Screams: Merry Giftmas 2011: Win This Swatch Watch!
Isn’t it adorbs?
Tita Virgie Ramos always sends me cute new watches (I’ve been cycling between the gorgeous Chinese New Year Dragon watch, a fabulous pink camouflage watch, and a lovely burgundy watch—the batch she sent me for Christmas, thanks, Tita V! I love you!) and it never fails to…
My answer:
If Father Time grants me an extra 24 hours for free (no obligations / strings attached), I’ll gladly do the next 16 things (aiming for the do-able ones) — it isn’t everyday you get your day’s worth! :)
1) Make french toast for breakfast (and make them perfect!)
2) Spend time fixing my unruly, fluffy hair for once (because I always leave the house with hair still wet and barely combed)
3) Give the plants a good trimming (since they’re the other only ‘living things’ in the house aside from humans)
4) Fix the bodega… er, my room.
5) Finish that darn essay (though honestly this is not feasible - it might take forever!)
6) Make a good mixtape of my favorite Broadway / jazz covers to take on the road
7) Update my growing ‘compendium’ of essays, compile and hopefully get it bound somewhere in Recto
8) Render an accounting of unread books/novels - stack into “must read NOW”, “save for later” and “resell” piles.
9) Have an ‘bondat’ lunch of Chinese food (esp with all time fave, yang chow fried rice!)
10) Chill out and watch an episode or two of my favorite series (in this case, Downton Abbey. But I might not stop myself from a marathon!)
11) Take the first concrete step into relaunching the blog I’ve always planned.
12) Get acquainted with a sport and let loose some flab — say, tennis?
13) Then Mom and I can get royally pampered with a full body massage (we’ve craved that for ages!)
14) Hear Mass after a long, long time.
15) Have a light, no meat dinner (that’s a rarity!)
16) (Then assuming everyone else has the same 24 hours) Have that long-delayed reunion with old buddies — chat and sing the night away! I’ll say it again: There’s nothing like good friends and warm conversation to ease you through the lonesome road. Icing on an already delicious cake! <3
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Steve Jobs (Commencement Address for Stanford Class of 2005)
(Source: news.stanford.edu)
(Source: catsexualll)
Colors - Amos Lee
Because I told you so.
(This stripped-down version makes it even more blissful to hear on any occasion.)
(Source: jenniferdesigns-online.com)
Curl up into the cubbyhole with Amos Lee
So I was rummaging through my favorite soundtracks list last Saturday whilst bitching on the laptop for a pending work submission (I get so riled up over “what happened”, don’t ask), when I came upon The Last Kiss OST where a lot of my favorite songs were (Reason Why, Hide and Seek, Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk, Paperweight, et al) and for once I didn’t skip over tracks. I guess it was only now that I actually “discovered” Amos Lee, and his lovely song “Arms of a Woman”. (You must listen to this!!!) I melted when I heard it in its conscious, glorious entirety and got very curious about this man.
He’s been around for a while (Ryan Anthony Massaro in real life), releasing four albums (the latest offering is Mission Bell) under the Blue Note record label, which is most famous for producing Norah Jones’. There a relative similarity between the two — come to think of it, he’s like a male Jones — the kind of sound you’d feel comfortable listening to on coffee shops. He’s a contemporary of Ryan Adams and Ray Lamontagne (two artists I also like but somehow haven’t gotten attached to their discography), and to some extent people compare him to his musical influences (among them) early James Taylor, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Bob Dylan. I think what distinguishes him from the rest of the modern male folk-jazz-blues artists is that he’s got this great, rich, earnest, down-to-earth vibe emanating from his music. The simplicity of the acoustic accompaniments, the resonance of his voice, and the beauty of his words and how his thoughts and emotions transcend enraptures you into that warm familiar place and sets you into a hearty, mellow mood. I’m so glad that I finally heard of this talented guy and am in the process of loving his music as I hear more of him, like the way I stumbled upon Melody Gardot on Last.fm and now consider her to be one of my foremost favorite artists. I’ve been listening to Lee’s songs all day and somehow my work-related stress and tension dissipates. He’s that awesome.
And that I haven’t had a man(’s voice) in my life for a long while now.
(Then I found out as of late that he’s the opening act for (all of) Adele’s UK Tour. Cosmic affinity strikes again! I wonder if he’s the one who kinda inspired her to go country/folk. Gawd, I’d pay good money to see these two perform live. ♥)
Recommended tracks: Colors, Arms of a Woman, Sweet Pea, Keep It Loose Keep It Tight, Careless, Seen It All Before
I implore you to listen to Amos Lee. NOW.
Win a PRAKTICA MTL3 Film Camera!
It’s a film SLR and as well as giving that away I will also give you a 70-210mm zoom lens (the one in the picture above), a standard 35mm lens, two flashes, the strap, a camera bag and 6 film canisters (24 shots each).
Here are the rules:
1. You must follow me: www.blueberryspokes.tumblr.com
2. You need to reblog this post, no likes will be counted.
3. The randomly selected winner will be announced 8th April, 8PM GMT.
4. I will pay for worldwide shipping!
YES, even if you live in like Narnia, you can still win the camera. You can reblog as many times as you like. The winner will also be notified in their ask box. 8PM GMT is 3PM EST.
Good Luck! Love BlueberrySpokes (Michael) <3
… I’m in it to win it! :)
(Source: just-another-teen-blogger)
Uber Fangirliness: Colin Firth lets children take his Oscar to school for everybody (teachers, parents) to touch
NOW COVERED IN CHOCOLATE AND BITEMARKS
Anyway, today’s story to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside (from happiness rather than Scotch, you jaded ratbags) is about King Colin Firth, recent Oscar winner and seemingly all-round nice guy, good dad and sexual pioneer. Last bit’s kind of an assumption, we’ll admit.
So, as was overheard at a Sod Cancer charity quiz by one of our higher-rolling moles, it seems that as soon as Colin got home with his Oscar statuette, he let his kids take it into school, where not only was it fondled by other children, but also by the staff and parents. Colin, you dirty dog.
ROFL.
I approve of this very, very licentious behavior.
(Yes, this is the right time to use that word!)
I MISS MAD MEN!!!
(Well, there’s Boardwalk Empire for anti-withdrawal but it’s just not the same.)
I haven’t seen Season 4, actually. (Nothing on TV, downloads are far and few and take too long, and I wouldn’t want to buy a pirated dvd with missing episodes.) I’ll just have to hang around and see what comes up…
-> I loved Jon Hamm in The Town and wish he’d just do more of drama and maybe a little comedy a la SNL (kinda mum on him being on Sucker Punch — what is his role anyway? But I know there’s also a chick flick co-starring him in the dude part so that must work.) I still have to watch Unknown with Liam Neeson and January Jones (I wanted to watch Taken as primer, so that will wait.) …And just last week I was up in arms over John Slattery’s appearance in The Adjustment Bureau (a fairly enjoyable movie if you ask me), because every time he did appear, I launch into a goofy grin and immediately think of Sterling in a fedora and being his crazy, conniving, adorable self — oh that silver fox! :)
A flower’s fragrance declares to all the world that it is fertile, available, and desirable, its sex organs oozing with nectar. Its smell reminds us in vestigial ways of fertility, vigor, life-force, all the optimism, expectancy, and passionate bloom of youth. We inhale its ardent aroma and, no matter what our ages, we feel young and nubile in a world aflame with desire. (Diane Ackerman)
![“[On his name] well it doesn’t exactly have a ring to it, does it? It’s more the sort of name you’d give to your goldfish for a joke.”
Oh, Colin! I LOVE THIS MAN. Seriously.
I think my celebrity crush circuitry has been rewired — no longer the infatuated fangirl type, just the delusional lover supportive observer. I know that in every thing he does, he will be flawless.
That, and way too much ONTD for my own good.
Hey! Here’s more:
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/57031/colin-firth-life-and-times?xid=celebrityrss#index/27
… And if you haven’t noticed, I’m back! It’s been forever since I last saw you. :)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lerqxsgvjn1qa5ff2o1_500.png)
“[On his name] well it doesn’t exactly have a ring to it, does it? It’s more the sort of name you’d give to your goldfish for a joke.”
Oh, Colin! I LOVE THIS MAN. Seriously.
I think my celebrity crush circuitry has been rewired — no longer the infatuated fangirl type, just the delusional lover supportive observer. I know that in every thing he does, he will be flawless.
That, and way too much ONTD for my own good.
Hey! Here’s more:
… And if you haven’t noticed, I’m back! It’s been forever since I last saw you. :)
static hysteria: Which Are you? A Reason, A Season, or A Lifetime?
People always come into your life for a reason, a season and a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.
They have come to assist you through a…
(Source: facebook.com)
AND I LOVE JON HAMM. ;)Why He’s Hot {REDUX}:
- No one can epitomize the
grandpa era1960’s style better in a sharp suit and slicked hair, with a cigarette in one hand and bourbon on the other. He IS the sexiest man on primetime television… even the grannies are rockin’ their granny panties of approval.- There is a tacit intrigue ensconced in those smoldering olive eyes, coupled with a calm demeanor and gentlemanly charm in or out of persona. He’s a pleasurable guy who knows your desires, hinting a little and holding the rest back, leaving you with an unquenchable thirst for more…
- He’s paid his dues and now reaps the rewards, but he isn’t letting the prestige muddle his head. A blend of invincibility and vulnerability, whether decked as clean-shaven cover debonair or scruffed in a down to earth casual. He inflects his candor with modesty and self-awareness, plus a manic sense of humor (and he digs math, lit & science!) which makes him all the more adorkable.
- He can cook! What with a decade’s worth of waiting tables wouldn’t he pick up a thing or two in gastropornic satisfaction? That must also explain the delectable meat-and-muscles package.
- He’s Jon Hamm. As in Jonathan Daniel Hamm — NOT John Ham or well, Sergio the Sax Symbol as you secretly lust him to be. Brusque, mysterious, brooding, romantic, dirty, funny, sexy. Heck, he can be James Bond and make mad love on my Vespa anytime.
{submission}
FUCK. I LOVE DON DRAPER.
