Domestic, a wall decal company I was previously unfamiliar with, was featured on d*s today. In general, I love the concept of wall decals, interesting options for wall decor are always nice, many of us live in places where we can't put up wallpaper, etc., but for the most part I've never really found much that I thought I might actually use. Some of the ones from Blik are cool. I've always been a fan of the Fly, Heads and Flock, and the new Iron Vines is pretty cool, But I'm not sure I would actually use any of them, at least not in the place I have now. I feel the same way about most of the designs from Domestic. Most of their designs are very cool, but too silly, whimsical, or just not my style. However the one pictured above I really adore. It's fun, but not too out there, the colors would work great in my place, and it's not so big. But it is, like all the wall decals I've ever seen, on the expensive side. So most likely it won't be showing up on my wall anytime soon, but I just thought I'd share with you all since I think it's pretty great. And like I said the concepts of wall decals are pretty awesome.
So I just caught a glimpse of yesterday's post on 3191, my absolute favorite visual blog. And Steph's post includes the Believer, which is (as I'm sure you all know) my absolute favorite magazine. I love seeing things I like come together.
So last night The Black Donnellys premiered on NBC in place of Studio 60, and while I am disappointed about the (hopefully temporary) loss of Studio 60, I actually really liked The Black Donnellys. Looking at the reviews on imbd, they look very mixed. People seemed to love it or hate it, but I enjoyed it. I've never been a huge fan of mob related entertainment (which I guess it isn't exactly), but I dunno it's an interesting story and it seems like it has heart. For those of you who haven't heard anything about it (as far as I can tel pretty much anyone who doesn't watch either Heroes or Studio 60) it's a show about 4 Irish brothers who grew up and live in Hell's Kitchen. One brother, Tommy, has a dream to get out and be an artist, but pretty much gives it up and becomes a thug in order to protect his brothers, who are already thugs. Maybe doesn't sound fantastic when described that way (I am pretty awful at describing shows in a way that makes people want to see them without giving away tons of plot details, see me trying to describe Veronica Mars to anyone who has never heard of it), but I found it enjoyable. We'll see if it keeps up after the pilot I guess, but I still wish they'd bring back Studio 60. Can't they get rid of ER and put one in that time slot. I mean does anyone watch that show anymore? I mean other than my Mom.
Last night I watched The Science of Sleep. It had been in my netflix queue for awhile, and when I was recently reminded how gorgeous Gael Garcia Bernal is, I decided to move it up (and the real truth about the ordering of my netflix queue comes out). I was reminded of how fantastic looking he is by Babel, which I saw pretty recently, and didn't particularly like. In fact, I thought that the only things worth watching in that movie were him, and the tangent about the deaf girl in Tokyo, which was pretty much unrelated to the rest of the movie, but absolutely beautiful. The Science of Sleep, however, I did really like. It was completely bizarre, but absolutely fantastic. There were so many moments when I found myself thinking what the hell is wrong with this guy?, about the main character, Stephane, and would then realize about 6 seconds later that my imagination (especially while dreaming) has come up with thing equally as weird. There are moments when I felt like he was crazy (and he is a little since he has some problem where he can't really seem to tell when he's dreaming & when he's not), but then quickly I'd remember that we're all a little crazy when we're willing to admit it to ourselves. The unchecked human mind seems to come up with some pretty outlandish things no matter who you are. So suspend your disbelief, and put aside your judgement and see The Science of Sleep, because even if he's crazy, it's still beautiful and creative.
And one side note on how life is so random sometimes...the female lead in The Science of Sleep is played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, which I didn't know until this seeing the credits of the movie. Before yesterday I had never heard of her, or at least not in anyway that I had taken notice, but yesterday I read an article in the new NYLON about Air (that is the french band, not the substance which we all breath). She is the daughter of composer Serge Gainsbourg, and Air wrote an albums worth of music for Charlotte to record, which was released a few months back in France. It was mentioned in the article because it has apparently made Air more recognizable in France. When I put in the DVD yesterday (after moving to the top of my netflix queue in the beginning of the week), I had no clue that the actress was the same person that I had been reading about earlier in the day. These kinds of things seem to happen to me a lot. Like when I had never heard of the 80s movie Repo Man, but then read two articles about it in the same week, just by stumbling across them. What cosmic force is it that draws mostly meaningless parts of my life together in ways that correspond? I ask because it seems to be happening more and more frequently lately and I really have no idea why.
So I recently finished reading The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia. It was actually the first book for our book club. And I thought it was fantastic. It was however incredibly complex, and seemed to function on so many layers, that I think I still haven't grasped all of it, and I probably never will. But the books is still wonderful, and well worth reading. Plascencia has a really beautiful voice, and I think that alone makes the book worth reading. But on top of that there is a great deal of fascinating symbolism, and tons of experimentation with form. In addition to being a really great book to read, it was an awesome book to discuss for our book club. I really enjoyed the whole thing, and felt like I got a lot more out of the book because of it. Which is just what I had hoped with the whole thing. It was really fantastic.
So last night Sarah and I went to see Breaking and Entering, which I mentioned wanting to see in my last post about Children of Men. And I absolutely loved it. It was a great movie for so many reasons. I really liked the plot. I thought the acting was great. The cinematography was beautiful. And the presentation of London was amazing and fantastic. Maybe I'm a little partial, but it looked great and felt great in the movie. And it was very real in many ways. The plot also felt very real. It was very human, and it mostly felt like it was a slice of some one's life. And it had a very serene feeling too it. Mostly it was one of those movies that is so great that I can't really say anything about it. So I will stop trying. But I thought it was important to say how much I loved it.
It also has joined the list of films that make me like Jude Law against my will. Based on what I know of his personal life and choices, I really don't want to like him. But he seems so human and likable in the movies I see him in that it really makes me like him. If only as an actor.
So last night I went and saw Children of Men with my Dad, and I thought it was really great. After seeing the preview awhile back, I was interested in seeing it, but was not about to immediately run out and watch it. It wasn't on the absolute top of my list. We ended up seeing it last night because the timing and the location worked out best. What I had really wanted to see last night was Breaking and Entering, because I read a review recently saying that while not every part of the movie is amazing, it does a great job of portraying the heartbeat of contemporary life in London. Which for me is enough of a reason to see a movie. But it was playing too early and only at E Street, which was in the opposite direction of dinner with my brother, so we went with Children of Men instead. And while I would still like to see Breaking and Entering, I am really glad we ended up seeing Children of Men.
If you like dystopian stories (and it's based on the novel of the same name by P.D. James, so it's an actual story), it's a good one. What would happen to the world if humans stopped being able to reproduce? One might guess that most of the world would collapse, which is what happens in the movie, with the exception of the UK. And what is life like when you live in the only country left in the world, which has closed its borders, is in a constant battle to kick out illegal immigrants, and never has any new citizens born? Well that's what you'll find out if you see the movie. I've always really enjoyed this kind of story, so if you do too I think you will really like the movie. If dystopian stories aren't really your bag, then I would say that you might want to pass on this one.
But I will say that the historical and cultural references (mostly in the imagery) are pretty phenomenal. So if you see it, I would suggest you keep your eyes open, and if you can managed to not get SO wrapped up in the story that you can pay attention to what things look like (and I would guess that's gotta be pretty hard, because the story definitely consumes you) I would guess you will have an even more rewarding experience than I did. After reading about some of those aspects of the film I wish I could see it again. But it's not surprising, since Alfonso Caurón is really very talented, and seems to be an incredibly thoughtful director.
One last thought, I'm not really sure how I managed to make it this far without realizing how super sexy Clive Owen is, but I'm glad I'm in the know these days. I think I had just legitimately not noticed before, but it's kind of hard to miss in Children of Men.
So for awhile now I've been toying with the idea of downsizing from my serious leather KS planner. It is great, but it's heavy and I had begun feeling awhile ago like it was unnecessary for my life these days. It was beginning to get beat up, and there is no reason at this point for me to have a planner that nice, so I figure why not save it for later, when I will need it more, and be glad to have a nice planner that is in good condition. I also felt like I could save my shoulder a little bit. Yesterday I finally found one that I liked and went ahead and ordered it. It's the first Little Otsu Annual Weekly Planner. Little Otsu is a great little company that publishes all sorts of fun things, and apparently they're going to do a new planner each year from now on. Because it's not pre-numbered (you fill it in yourself) I don't have to worry about the fact that I've decided to do this in mid-February.
I think that the layout is really great, and the coolest part is that each week is completely different. It's not just your typical 4-6 page repeat, or a few weeks with a picture here or there. Every week has a new design. Here's a sample week.
Since the front isn't my absolute favorite part about it, I decided to get this awesome cover to go with it. Part of what I was worried about sacrificing by retiring the planner I have now was all the pockets I use to keep random stuff in, like my paychecks before I deposit them, important cards, prescriptions, stamps, a list of current addresses of friends, etc. This will keep the planner from getting totally beat up, and it will help me organize.
The planner only has four address pages (not really enough for serious usage), but the cover has a pocket for this mini address book too, so I picked that up as well. The Little Otsu stuff is just so great and funky that I couldn't help myself from letting them completely organize my life. 
Here's a sample entry page for the address book. So super cool looking. I really can't wait for the stuff to show up, so I can switch everything over!
So we had dinner at Mandu this evening, which if I understand correctly is a pretty new Korean restaurant in Dupont Circle. It is definitely in Dupont and it is definitely Korean, it is the new part I am less sure about, but I was told it is, so I will take that to be true. There was a little issue with us being seated, they seem to have forgotten about us, but after we were seated things were great. The decor was nice, pretty spare, but in a good way, with warm woods, and nice tea sets as accents on the second floor. The food was fantastic. Especially the green tea ice cream, which is the best I've had in awhile. It was actually the best experience I've had with Korean food to date. The prices were also quite good. Everything was pretty affordable, which is always nice, especially since I've been to too many expensive restaurants lately. All in all it was very enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it.
So I'm a little bummed because I found these valentines on etsy over a week ago, but due to internet issues, didn't get to post them until now, and they have since been posted on design*sponge. Don't get me wrong, d*s is fantastic and Grace has amazing taste, and is a superb and dedicated blogger (far beyond the quality of my own blogging skills), but it just takes a little out of the novelty of my own post on these cards. I thought about not posting them since I had been beat to it, but they're just too beautiful, and they are some of my favorites of the ones I have seen on etsy. They all come from etsy seller studioepaper, and are parts of two different sets. These first 3 are from the 3 Victorian Inspired Letterpressed Gift Cards set that is available for $8.50. All three cards are gorgeous but my favorite is the first with the blue flowers. I love the way the two patterns overlap. Hopefully is you like these cards you will still have time to get them and give them before Valentine's Day.
The next two cards are from the Set of 3 Old Hollywood Letterpressed Valentine Gift Cards. I love twenties-style illustrations in general (anyone remember that piece of tissue I got from Mint Julep and put up on my wall poster style last year?) and printed on top of the over sized florals they are just exquisite. Of course I especially like the "be my dah-ling" inscription, since it's a little more creative than just "be mine".
So as I'm sure some of you have noticed, I haven't been posting as much lately. With the job change and the lack of reliable internet at home it has been, and I'm afraid will be, harder for me to update as regularly as before. I was really liking getting to update a lot, but there is not too much I can do about it. I'm sorry things won't change as much as before, but I promise to do my best to keep up with it as much as I possibly can. Since the posts well necessarily be a little more selected, I would love some feedback from all of you, about what you enjoy reading most, so I can hopefully make what I get to post of interest. Thanks for your patience and please don't give up on me!
