Marvelous Music

Another musician I saw opening for someone else is Matt Bauer. He looks like someone you might avoid when you're on the street late at night, but he's actually a really nice and talented guy who makes amazing music.

I bought one of his cd's after the concert and got it signed, unfortunately it was a 17 minute cd. I really wanted more, so I ordered his cd "the Island Moved In The storm". It arrived this week and I've been listening to it a lot. It's really great, especially whilst crafting. To top it off he has a song called "Barn Owl".

Here's a cute music video for a great song:

Feel Good Food

Some people don't like it 'cause of they jello-like pieces in it, but I love aloe vera drinks. Even though there are so many flavors I have to say I like the original best. I've had peach, mango, banana, strawberry, grape which was suprisingly good, lemon and kiwi. I recently bought coconut and guave, but have yet to try them. As we speak I'm trying tamarind for the first time, it's really spicy, didn't expect that. It might take a little getting used to, but it's not bad.

The bottle claims it's good for you, but then again some people say it's really bad for your health. I don't know what to believe, but I drink it because I love it.

It's really good with fravoured rice crackers by the way.

If you tried a few yourself, what's your favorite? Got any tips?

I promised I'd tell you about the book fair.

It was great although I came back with a lot more than I intended. They had so many books on so many different things.

I made a list, which I forgot, of course. But I still managed to find a few books from it: "the book thief", "a fraction of the whole", some baking cookbooks and a book on calligraphy. I got a lot of art books and books on knitting, crocheting and jewelry as well. They even had some craft things: stamps, inkpads, ribbons.

It's a good thing I saved up for it. Carrying it all back was a real workout, I still have aching muscles. But the joy of all the books and the thought of all the new crafting skills I can learn from them really make up for that.

As you can guess I'll probably be spending a lot of my time reading, learning and crafting. I'll tell you about it some day if a book's worth sharing.

If you have any new books you're excited about or would love to share, let me know in the comments.

I'd love to...

>go to a film festival

>bake cake or muffins without sugar

>knit or crochet stuffed animals

Lovely Movies

I went to this bookfair yesterday and I'll tell you all about it some other time. Since then I've been a bit under the weather, so I'll keep this one short.

Amelie is one of my favorite movies, for when you feel a bit ill or any other day. I think most of you have seen it already. If not I urge you to do so. If you have, either do so again or enjoy the memory of it.

Here's the french trailer:

Pretty Paintings

As you know, I love lowbrow art, especially creepy and cute lowbrow art. The coloring is always so pretty and it has the best out of both worlds; cuteness without being corny and creepiness without being scary.

The most popular painter who fits in that category is Mark Ryden, whom I talked about last week.

Another artist who makes some awesome cute and creepy lowbrow art is Tara McPherson. Or maybe it's not really that cute, but the colors are amazing, surreal and calm at the same time. I absolutely adore her artwork.

She made some great merchandise too. I ordered the "somewhere under the rainbow kit", I just had to have it. But now that I do, I can't use it in fear of spoiling it, so I just look at it from time to time.

Owl Things Considered

I don't have a tattoo but I love looking at them and watching tattoo shows on tv. I figured I could combine it with another thing I love: owls. Turns out there's an entire blog devided to owl tattoos: http://owltattoos.blogspot.com/

Of course there are more natural looking owls, but I thought I'd show you some really lovely colourful ones.

I think this little one is really cute and the more real looking one by Corey Miller (L.A. Ink) is still one of my favorites.

I thought I'd also let you know I'll be posting pictures of some recently finished projects. Here's a little taste of what you can expect.

Marvelous Music

I saw Anais Mitchell was opening for an artist I bought tickets for. So I listened to her music and was hooked instantly. Since then I have seen her once more, in a tiny little cafe. When she walked through the tiny little café to the tiny little stage I asked her if she could play my favorite song: Old Fashioned Hat, and she did.

She has released two CD's and an EP so far and she will release two new CD's this year. One regular album and one CD with the songs from her folk-opera, Hadestown, which is based on the Hades and Euredice myth and will feature artists such as Ani DiFranco.

There will be a song on it I've seen her perform and therefore can tell you it is great for sure; it's called Persephone's Song.

So if you're as enthousiastic about her music as I am, you don't have to wait long to hear some more.

Feel Good Food

From the moment I knew macarons existed I'd been dying to try one. It took me two holidays to France, but last time I managed to try a few. Only to find out they sold them around the block from my house as well.

I always imagined them to be really light, but they're actually pretty firm and sweeter than I'd expected, but really good.

I was first drawn to them, because they looked so cute. I figured they must be good too, because they're quite expensive. And they were. Good, I mean (and expensive too, for a cookie that size). So if you get the chance to try one of the many flavors I suggest you do.

On a final note, I found these keychains so adorable and definitely worth sharing with you. Aren't they cute?

I'd love to

>receive a letter by post

>burn incense more often

>read and watch the Time Traveller's Wife

Lovely Movies

Some people may find Dogma 95 movies boring, because there isn't any background music, there isn't any lighting, everything is done on location and it's always in the here and now. But Italian for Beginners is not a movie anyone could hate.

It's a story of people's lifes intertwining during Italian Class. And it's rather hartwarming, you probably won't forget it.

I'm sorry about the cheesy trailer with the awful voice-over, but it's really a lovely movie. I swear ;)

Wishlist

I would kill for a pair of Blowfish shoes. Sadly I haven't been able to find them anywhere. I know one store where they might have them, or at least if they don't have them there they're probably not available where I live. But I'm not ready to give up the search yet. As you might have guessed they are pretty high on my wishlist.

Personally I love the grey/purple or black/purple shoes, but there are a lot of different styles and colors. From more serene to bright red plaid.

Their hobbit booties are probably the best known and definately my favorite, although I think they have some amazing flats as well.

If you're in love at first sight too I hope you have better luck in finding them than I do!

Pretty Paintings

Even though some of his paintings sell for a million dollars, most people don't know who I'm talking about when I mention Mark Ryden. I love art that's cute and creepy at the same time and I think it's safe to say Mark Ryden is the king of cute and creepy.

He usually has a theme for every series he does; such as blood, trees, meat or the Snow Yak. And he's painted Christina Ricci and Leonardo DiCaprio, who in my opinion are cut out for a Mark Ryden. They too have that unique quality you find in all of his paintings. I love that it's surreal, yet so lifelike.

I don't really have anything else to say on the subject. I think you should just check out his website and be prepared to get hooked.

Moustache Madness

Fake moustaches are awesome and I think it's save to assume I'm not the only one who thinks they are. They're getting more and more popular. Because of that it's easier to get your hands on moustache merchandise. Thankfully they're not to the point of being cliché. I hope it stays that way. Cross your fingers!

I found these (men's) socks on fredflare's and I love them. It would be nice if they were in women's sizes as well. And I'd love some different colors. The yellow and black is nice too, but some choice in color never hurt anyone...

Marvelous Music

Andrew Bird is not just a musician, he's a magician or at least it feels like it. In order to understand that you'd have to see him live. It was the single most magical experience I've had in my entire life. I can't put my finger on it, but there was something about seeing him make music and the spinning double grammophone he had in the back.

His lyrics are great, creepy at times, but really original. He plays the guitar, plays violin in such a unique way and he can make it sound like any instrument, sings, whistles beautifully. I'm not sure if there's anything he can't do.

Here's a music video:

I wanted you to hear this next song. It is so amazing, it sounds like Santana, but then on violin. It might be his best known song and every one is always dying to hear it in concert.

Feel Good Food

It's hard to get around here, but it's worth the struggle. From the moment I first tried it, bubble tea has been one of my favorite drinks. It comes in so many flavors and it's like food, ice cream and a drink in one.

I'm always afraid I'll choke on one of those tapioca pearls, but they do taste good.

It's very popular in some countries, but not yet discovered in others. This might be a love it or hate it kind of drink. But if you haven't tried it yet, you should go taste one for yourself, especially if you're a sucker for japanese food as well.

I hope you like it!

I'd love to...

I have this little notebook I use for lists only. I write what I would love to do, have, learn, buy, see, read, be. Anything really. After seeing a drawn list on Notebook Doodles (check it out, it's a lovely blog) , I got inspired to share some things from my book of lists with you. In order to keep things interesting I thougt I'd only share a couple each time and add some pictures.

So here we go.

I'd love to:

>visit Sweden

>make my own ice cream

>be really good at calligraphy

Lovely Movies

My mom accuses me of saying "this is my new favorite movie" after every one I see. Now I don't say that after EVERY movie, but I do tend to love movies a lot. So as you can guess I have many favorite movies, but this one is really somewhere in the top, I swear.

"Wonderboys" is an amazing movie. I won't bore you with a complete synopsis; instead I'll tell you somethings about the atmosphere: It's slow, but not too slow. It's dreamy, yet not too unrealistic. It has humor without being slapstick. And although it's not an arthouse movie, it feels a little like it.

It was originally a book by Michael Chabon. I bought it, but, as it is usually the case with me, it's still on my yet-to-read pile. So I can't tell you whether the book was good or not, but I can advise you strongly to go see it. I don't think you'll regret it.

Here's the trailer to catch a glimpse of the movie you will probably see multiple times in your life: