Let's Go!!

Ok.  Normally, this type of commercial would elicit a groan from me.  It's sort of like that whole creepy Burger King vibe because it's sort of stark and just there, if you know what I mean.  But there's something about this one that just cracks me up. 



I don't know if it's the decor, the wardrobe, his crazy eye, or just the overall effect.  Funny, no?

A Wayne Pate Weekend?

It could be.  I've been thinking about buying a couple of these prints for a while.  When I got my new computer last week (whoops...forgot to mention!), I thought I had transferred all of my bookmarks from the old computer.  Nope.  I had lost Wayne, and I couldn't remember his name. 

Thankfully, I ran across a link on a blog or website the other day.  Wayne Pate is an illustrator from Brooklyn who's done tons of stuff, including some national campaigns for the likes of Target.  Here are some of my favorites.

You know how I loves my stripes.  Have a great weekend!

My Always List: Burt's Bees

Ahh...lips.  I'm hooked on lip balm, and there's no telling how many I've tried over the years.  Some were cheap; others were not.  Some were too shiny; others didn't last long enough.  One even made my lips more chapped.  WTH? 

But Burt's Bees is my everyday go-to.  It's reasonably priced, goes on matte (what a concept!), and has that peppermint tingle going on.  Plus, I'm digging the brand's eco-factor.  I realize that this stuff is extremely popular, so I'm definitely not trying to reinvent the wheel.  This is just another of my staples for living.

Are you hooked on lip balm?  If so, what's your favorite?

More Crewcuts

Again with the crazy stylish kids from J.Crew.  Is there any way that we looked that cool at their age? 

I'm guessing no.

WE Love

By now you know that I tend to heart West Elm.  If I hadn't been inspired to start my Lust List with the spring preview a few months back, then this ad surely would have done the trick.

I am digging the awesome paint color and the duvet cover and that industrial looking lamp.  After getting this e-mail, I had to swing by the store today. 

And guess what.  Remember these?  They're mine.  $35, down from $89.  A steal.  I also picked up (doesn't that sound like stealing?) a cool blanket that was on sale, too.  It was a good day.

I hope that your weekend is following suit.

My Always List: Fresh Linen

Ok.  You know how much I love a good scent.  And don't shoot, but one of the best ones I know of is Fresh Linen over and Bath & Body Works.  Admittedly, walking into that store is sometimes overwhelming, but this is a little diamond in the rough.  It's been one of my favorites for about ten years, I guess.

The candle is great, and I usually burn one on Sunday nights, for some reason.  I think I'm trying to banish those end-of-weekend blues.  Plus, I tend to change my sheets on Sunday afternoon, so it all conspires to make for a, well, fresh start to the week. 

Alright.  I also bought the spray and the portable scent ring thingy, too, for my car.  It's just really clean without being too flowery or powdery.  Definitely worth a sniff or two.  (And I just realized that my little candle made an appearance on this blog a while back.)

"Wilsoooon!!"

Wilson (C+) One fairly recent comic character trope that I've noticed is what could be called the Emotionally Autistic Lout. His (it's always a he.) standard comic bit is to behave in an insensitive and socially inappropriate way around others, and in this way comedic juice is squeezed. His earliest appearance is in John Cleese's Basil Fawlty character, but he's come a cropper in the past decade. Off the top of my head, you've seen him in Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge, Sacha Baron Cohen's characters, and most notably in Ricky Gervais' leads in Gervais' T.V. series. He's a mostly British character, since their sense of social propriety is more rigid. Over on this end of the pond, you'll see him in embryonic form in Seinfeld, advancing to Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I'm bringing him up in discussing Dan Clowes' Wilson, since Clowes' title character is an E.A.L in human form. By which I mean, he engages in the type of boorish behavior that Larry David does in Curb Your Enthusiasm, but Clowes plays it for drama, not for chuckles. The problem is, we as readers wind up writing Wilson off after about four or five pages in. So we're following the story only to see how bad Wilson's self-deception will lead him. (Turns out, it's pretty bad. He kidnaps his estranged wife and the here-to-unknown daughter she gave up for adoption after they separated. He goes to prison for six years as a result.)

Because Clowes plays the character for drama, the more well-adjusted characters in his life write him off as quickly as we do. (Meeting his daughter, post-prison, she points out that 'she doesn't want any more drama in her life'.) The only human contact he has is by childishly bullying random strangers he meets and becoming intimate with the woman who pet-sat his beloved dog. (She moves in with him as an alternative to being homeless.) If Clowes had played the character darker, he would've been moving into Ivan Brunetti territory, and Brunetti's stratagem is to distance the reader from actual suffering.

In reading interviews with Clowes, I got the impression that he was trying to use classic comic book idioms from strips like 'Peanuts' and 'Barnaby' to tell adult stories. I don't think it succeeded, entirely, partly for the reasons above, and partly for the stylistic technique he uses.
(The book consists of 77 one page black-out strips, drawn in different styles.) The whole book feels like an epilogue to a bigger story, like the epigram to a John Cheever or John Updike novel.

And I Don't Love You Anymore...

...so says weary Joanna Kramer to workaholic husband Ted.

In my quest to (slowly but surely) catch all of those movies that I've only heard about for years, I recently recorded Kramer vs. Kramer from a movie channel.  Have you seen it?  It's Dustin Hoffman versus Meryl Streep in a divorce case for their son Billy. 

This movie came out in 1979, which was a time when divorce was just picking up steam in America.  I don't want to say too much about the plot, for fear of getting over-excited and ruining it.  Honestly, it's not as epic as I had anticipated, but on second thought, that's a good thing.  

Although my own child-of-divorce story is not much like Billy's, I could definitely relate.  The director steered it toward the more believable.  Also smart.  Plus, it takes place in New York, and it's great to see that sort of late 70s urban style. 

Both of the stars won Oscars and Golden Globes for their roles, and the movie itself won Best Picture at the Oscars in 1980.  I highly recommend catching this movie the next time you get a chance.  It made me laugh at times and cry a little bit, too, I'm not ashamed to say. 

Wall Plaque?

Of course they don't make 'em like they used to.  I ran across this poster on Hickoree's Hard Goods while browsing from a blog post the other day.  I am so tempted to buy this, frame it, and hang it up in my apartment.  But at a cool C-note, the price is a bit much. 

It is a good message, though.  Have a great weekend! 

And welcome to my new followers/commenters!  I see you.  :)  Thanks.

My Always List: Flip Flops

Usually they're J.Crew.  And there's a good chance I got them on sale.  There's an even better chance I can't remember when I bought them because they last for several summers in a row. 

These are one of the bright spots of my summer because they are easy-on and -off, and they provide mondo ventilation.  Plus, they strike just the right note of 'relaxed'.

Birthdays, Bananas, and Blue Bells

This weekend my cool pal Ann Marie came to town.  Guess what.  It was her birthday.  And we had a really fun time.  It started out with an Italian dinner out and the most delicious (non-Ben-&-Jerry's) ice cream ever.

Whoa.  Up.  It really does taste just like banana pudding and includes vanilla wafers.  Whew.  We showed that bucket a thing or two.  I know I just posted about sweet frozen goodness, but I can't help myself.

On Saturday we headed out to Franklin and stopped by one of the coolest stationery stores ever.  It's called Rock Paper Scissors.  I got to chat up my fellow paper fiend/blog friend Lauren.  (Check out her blog.  It's really stylish and fun.) 

I have another friend's birthday coming up, so I picked up a few stationery items for her.  Despite my best attempts to persuade her otherwise, she's not a blog reader, so the secret is safe here. 

Then Ann Marie and I headed down the street for some cupcakes from Ivey Cake.  She got The Crazy Ex (banana walnut with cream cheese icing), and I picked up a Gold Digger (chocolate with peanut butter icing).  Good call, Lauren! 

The rest of the weekend was a blur of laughing and music and a few more sweet treats.  Times like these make the sometimes irritating days at work completely worth it.  I hope that yours was equally nice.

My Always List: T-shirts

Other than my standard white Hanes crewnecks, which I wear almost every single day, I heavily rely on solid (usually black) T-shirts.  In the winter, it's long-sleeve and usually from the Gap.  They last forever, and when those things go on sale, I just can't help myself.  (Still, I can't bring myself to purge many of those.)

This one's from J.Crew, which also churns out some great Ts, as you may have guessed.  Their garment-dyed ones (green, please) are ace, as my pal Will from Bright.Bazaar might say. 

The summer will usually find me in black, green, or something striped.  I tend to stick with the G. BI part of ROY G. BIV.  No Tuscany for me, please.

Sunny Days...Dreamin' the Day Away...

Summer days are here again.  Almost. 

Memorial Day weekend was excellent and relaxing.  Here's hoping that the rest of this season will follow suit.  Don't forget the SPF, people!

Update: This awesome calendar is from my pal Liz at Linda & Harriett.  You can even cut off the printed bottoms to send as postcards.  Here's the page for her upcoming 2011 calendar.  It's going to be just as spectacular.  Thanks for the compliment, Freck!