guys! guys!

this right here?
this is freakin' awesome!

and I desperately want one.

read more about it (andhowtomakeitincaseanybodywantstomakemeonecausethatwouldbewickedawesomeandIwouldloveyouforever)  
 here.

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I do believe ben and I need this poster.

it seems only right.

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my tumblr has just reached 1,000 posts.


in three and a half months.


I clearly have too much time on my hands.

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ahhhh, yes.

back when you had to consult an encyclopedia/dictionary/your parents.

I remember those days well.

though I suspect the parents may have made some stuff up when they didn't know the answer.

much like calvin and hobbes.


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this just made me smile.

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apparently these are the top US cities for young adults to live in.

connecticut's representing!
out of 64, our small little state is claiming 3.

but, really?
hartford?
I mean, I am not coming down hard on my capitol city or anything, but have these people ever been to hartford?

it is quite nice and all, but in the nice parts.
which, more often than not, are not affordable to most young people.

most young people have to live in the other parts.

maybe they should name this "the top cities for established and at least mildly successful 30-somethings to live it".

although, I will grant you, that is not as snazzy a title.

(worcester too)

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ever once and a while I get the urge to dye my hair a bolder red colour than it naturally is.

usually when I see an image like this.

look at it!
so bright red and well-behaved.

neither of which my hair is.

but I do like my hair as it is, so it gets to stay.
for now....

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I think we need to have a party like this.

quite soon.

I'm just saying, I wouldn't mind hanging from a tree holding a bottle of champagne.

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ok, the day has come.


that day your were all waiting for with bated breath.


the day bethany puts up pictures of her making funny faces in front of royalty.


you're welcome.

introductions. not too bad. (yet.)

still not too bad. this is actually probably my best one of the day.

so that's what I look like when I make that face. I always wondered...

 and the piece de resistance.
Charles looks surprised my face has the ability to distort that much.

Dominic looks stalker-ish.

I am obviously attempting to imitate a baboon or some such creature.

however, those were not the pictures that matter.

those were not the pictures I was really hoping would come out really really good.

the important pictures are as follows:

exhibit A: photo of fellows with joey and hank. (sustainability advisor/drink buyer/all-around good guy and ceo, respectively)

exhibit B: just the fellows, much more relaxed.

but there was still something missing...

there we go!!!

[all image credits (sans horrible rushed photoshop job) richard ivey]

a friend of mine realized yesterday looking  into her car, complete with yoga mat, bag of farmshare vegetables and dave eggers book, that she was a total portsmouth cliche.

another friend commented that this made her a "yippie" (being yuppie + hippie).

and then I realized that ben and I managed to find the one place in london that most closely resembles portsmouth.
stoke newington's got the young parents crowd, the farmshares, the whole foods, the cafes, the vintage shops, etc ect etc.

we are drawn to these types of places like moths to a flame.

does that make us yippies?

a few observations from my day thus far.

1. remember when I saw a woman painting her nails on the bendy bus, and I though that was bold? what I saw this morning tops that.
I saw a woman applying on mascara on the bendy bus.
have you ever been on a bendy bus? I swear those things are purposely built without shock absorbers. I've seen little kids, elderly people and teenagers alike thrown to the floor when the bus turns, stops, hits a speed bump or a bug flies into the windshield. a little nail polish where you didn't intent to put it? not that big a deal. a mascara brush forcefully jabbed into your eye? quite a bit more so.
nail polish lady was bold.
mascara lady is insane.

2. I put a little stat counter html code into my blogs, just to see if anybody reads them. so far we have a lot of people who somehow stumble onto the page and stay for approximately 0 seconds; and my mom. but a neat little extra is even if the person looks at your page and thinks "nah...", if they clicked on a referring link to get there this program will tell you what it is. one person clicked through to my blog after googling "dorky mood".

dudes!

my blog is the first thing that is listed in the whole entire wide interwebs when you google "dorky mood"!

I have never been so proud.

3. my umbrella closely resembles the upholstery on the metropolitan line.

“Triscuit’s Home Farming effort, which aims to create 50 community-based home farms across the United States in 2010.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans are interested in growing food in a backyard garden, according to a recent Triscuit survey, and three out of four of those surveyed prefer to eat foods with a few, simple ingredients. Toward that end, Kraft’s Triscuit brand recently teamed up with nonprofit group Urban Farming to launch what it calls a Home Farming movement, with a site that aims to provide a place where both beginners and seasoned gardeners can connect and get advice about growing food at home. Four million packages of Original and Reduced-Fat Triscuit crackers have been packed with cards including basil or dill seeds that are ready for planting; with the help of crop guides, a community forum and tips from master gardener Paul James, visitors to Triscuit’s new site can use those seeds to reap the rewards of home gardening. Triscuit and Urban Farming are also collaborating to create 50 community-based home farms across the U.S., starting with one in Los Angeles that launched in March; others are slated to appear in such cities as Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa, to name just a few. A full list of cities participating in the community-based program is available on the new Triscuit site, along with details about where people can volunteer or get started with their own community-based home farms. Both individual and community farms can be plotted on the site’s Google-based Live Map.”


awesome.

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dudes, I have some serious anti-photogenic genes.

the Foundation staff did their annual meet-n-greet bash (this year with CAKE!) with good ol' P Chuck earlier in the week and we were just emailed the link to the photos.

imagine the most hideous face you can imagine.

now multiply that by any double digit number.

you're getting closer to what I look like in the only photo he's facing in my direction.

and I thought last year's were bad...eek.

no matter though!

that wasn't the photo I was really hoping would come out well.

the most important one did.

and that's the one I cam going to frame and hang on my wall.

[images to follow as soon as we get the rights from the photographer.]

and as it's becoming more and more apparent that I will be on the lower end of the productivity scale today, it being friday (!!!) and quite hot in the office (little known fact: door details do not like humidity. door details will not let themselves be drawn when it is hot and humid in the office).

and I found best of front doors and best or stairways posts on design*sponge.

it was pretty much over before it even started.

my favourite door picture:

and my favourite staircase:

(though it took all my will-power not to copy in every single stairway photo.)


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well, still haven't remembered to bring the recipes in to work to post (little to no internet at flat). it's been a fairly packed week. hoping this weekend brings a little bit of restful reprieve.

but I did find some kick-ass paper goods online!

how cool are those?

and the more pressing question:
how much do I want need those?
grad school notes are just so much more formidable when taken in zig zag, spiral or squibly forms.

true story.

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oh man, have I been off the ball lately. so many recipes I need to post...

but to draw attention away from the fact that I have been slacking, let me tell you about my awesome weekend!
(which was 5 days ago. I know. the slacking thing again. shush.)

friday was fabulous, as fridays are wont to be. after work headed over to the Architectural Association (AA), which is one of the best architecture/design schools in the world, and where my friend from undergrad is currently halfway through his masters.
http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/

for those of you familiar with US architecture schools, imagine RISD, but on crack.
lots and lots of crack.

according to michael (said friend at the AA), it is not unusual to walk into the bar in the university (yes, the university has an on-site bar. necessary for architecture, don't you think?) and see Zaha Hadid (fat cow), Peter Eisenman or Rem Koolhaas just chillin, beer in hand. which is wicked cool.
the exhibitions of the student work were unbelievable. the projects by the first year students there would have kicked the ass of any masters thesis at good ol' R-Dubs. it's just a completely different approach by the school. and after being irrevertably stuck in tradiational architecture firms for the past year, and most likely again for the next year, it's really nice to see work again that is based on new thoughts, ideas and innovation. and dreams. not to say I agreed with all the thoughts, ideas and innovation, but it was remarkably refreshing to see again. and dear lord, the drawings, models and graphics are phenomenal. the visit is worth those things alone. which is good. as many of the projects lack a description as to what they are, and so you really have no idea what the hell a lot of the students were trying to achieve. especially since quite a few are not, shall we say, buildings, in the strictest sense of the word....
like I said.
RISD on crack.

so some eye candy, good conversations, new people meeting, a couple glasses of champagne and it was on to hyde park to meet up with friends and listen to pearl jam perform live! warm night, picnic on the grass, friends from all over the city, wine and beer, my justine down from amsterdam and pearl jam playing [on the other side of the barrier... what? we are cheap and tickets were expensive. plus, we could hear just as well.], it was such a great time. the image of justine waltzing around the grass, wine bottle in hand, declaring her love for eddie vedder will never leave me.

which is an excellent thing.

on to saturday!
a nice sleep in, woke up to ben cooking breakfast, always a good thing. some park time with friends, then off to the pub to watch the US vs Ghana match! then off the the other pub to drink away our sorrow....

sunday also had a nice relaxing morning with iced tea and toast (a slightly americanized british breakfast), then off to another pub for cider, pizza and the england vs germany match! then off to drink away our sorrow again.
but inbetween england getting their asses kicked and the other pub was a REAL LIFE STEAM FAIR at clissold park!
http://www.carterssteamfair.co.uk/
most of the rides are actually run on steam! and they were old fashioned arcade games! and punch and judy!
it was a lot of fun. walking around, lounging on the grass with friends.

excellent end to an excellent weekend.



oh, and way to totally let me down US and England. neither of you played well at all shame on you!
all that is left to say is, GO ARGENTINA!

(also, federer, I am sorry to see you leave wimbledon. it won't be the same without you. with both you and roddick out, I suppose now I have to root on nadal....definitely not backing murray. the bastard.)

and WOOHOO NETHERLANDS!! way to take down brazil!!!


(work in the office? nah, we listen to sports in the office!)
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 more 80's fabulousness!!!

this appealed to the organizational fiend in me on so many levels, even at a young age.

I remember the animals (though not until I saw the picture this morning...) but absolutely nothing about the show itself. which is apparently called Shirt Tales.

these were WAY harder when you wore glasses...

I don't remember much about this (rikki tikki tavi) except being terrified the cobra was a. going to eat the baby and b. going to eat the mongoose.

on the other hand, I remember a lot about this game.
mostly that I ruled at it.
and that the blue board was infinitely superior to the pink.
yellow was ok.

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 me: wow. did you know there are 43.3 million displaced people in the world due to violence in their countries of origin? that's horrible!

co-worker: nahm, mimm, mmmm, [mumble mumble mumble]

me [to myself]: one more year until I am with people who care about things other than door architraves and cornices one more year until I am with people who care about things other than door architraves and cornices one more year until I am with people who care about things other than door architraves and cornices...