Just Because...

"Activism and Change Through Art"

"The real treasure, that which we all seek, is never very far; there is no real need to seek it in a distant place, for it lies buried within our own hearts. And yet, there is this strange and persistent fact, that it is only after a journey in a distant region, in a new land, that the way to that treasure becomes clear." Heinrich Zimmer

In addition to the place where you can see Caitlin's beautiful photos, you can also visit her blog to read her interesting and meaningful story about how she got started working with elephants and traveling in search of places where her skills would be helpful to others. The pictures make great gifts...well in theory at least because the one I gave Johnny is still in my room, I'm having a hard time sending it away....Here are a few:





VISIT HER BLOG HERE.

Fall is My Favorite

Look how beautiful these pumpkins are! And there are sooo many more, and squashes and all sorts of colors and shapes. All I had with me to take pictures was a Blackberry or else I would have taken many more. But basically this picture combines two loves of mine: fall and Central Market. Central Market is a magical place that makes me very happy.

In the Pursuit of Trivia: Tyrian Purple

"When the Romans took over the Phoenician salt fish trade, they discovered how to make their purple dye. A logical by-product of fish salting, the dye was produced by salting murex, a Mediterranean mollusk whose three inch shell resembles a dainty whelk.

According to legend, the presence of this dye was discovered when Hercules took his sheepdog for a walk along the beach in Tyre. When the inquisitive dog bit into a shellfish, his mouth turned a strange dark color. From at least as early as 1500 bc, this dye brought wealth to merchants in Tyre.
The painstakingly extracted purple dye was a luxury item of such prestige that the color purple became a way of showing wealth and power."

- from Salt by Mark Kurlansky

And who knew Hercules had a sheep dog? Very cute choice, Hercules.

Perfection. I wish I could dance, at all.

New Music - More Music Videos

This could be one of the best jobs. Right up there with coming up with OPI nail colors (which I'm pretty sure is Amelita's second dream job)-- "Your Villa Or Mine" "I Don't Do Dishes" "Mauve-less Memories" "Cajun Shrimp" "Chocolate Moose"... and the list goes on. To come up with those names you need a bit of wit and lots of sass. To make Leiber bags you'd probably need coke bottle glasses, steady hands, weekly massages, frownies
and botox, but oh! How much fun they are! And at the end of it, that little elephant, or sweet little heart would just be sparkling up at you and that'd be enough to keep going. You could have a whole zoo! And some.


Look at some more here.

Where the Wild Things Are-Trailer

epic, adventure, imaginative, nostalgic, fun, artistic, touching, awesome.

can't wait.

This is Just Happy

A spread from the October issue of Elle...

And if that giraffe sweater was a bit more in my price range, or atleast in the price range of what a giraffe sweatshirt should be (less than $250) you'd better believe I'd be putting that on with some leggings. A) because giraffes are very high ranking in my top favorite animals
(how could they not be, look how beautiful-picture's actually from Tito's blog...)

and B) because I take just about any chance to put on leggings, or spandex. (Which you pretty much know if you were friends with me my freshman year of college when I wore spandex pants and an SMU sweatshirt like every day)
And, if my trip goes according to plan, taking Catesby to Yellowstone at age 5 on the train, I may be so high on endorphins that that little bear jumper might look appropriate...

Agreed!...

With the only exception being that I find Pimm's Cups and Dark and Stormies more fun than paddle surfing...

Anyway, yay for Tommy and Perla's! A "shout out" from San Antonio:

"With its fresh seafood and wide range of wine, beer and cocktails, Perla's Seafood and Oyster Bar is already positioning itself as a must-visit Austin restaurant. Order a margarita and some cornmeal fried Gulf oysters, grab a seat on the patio and pretend you're at the beach."

Yelle-Ce Jeu

Can't Wait For My Very Important Date

Obssessed with you.. Audrey Tautou

Photo from Style.com

I am getting more and more excited about the upcoming Coco Before Chanel film. Both because Audrey Tautou is my stock answer for "if you could be any celebrity/have any celebrity body" and to actually learn about Coco before Chanel.

Especially after visiting the movie's website and reading quotes like these:




I didn't see DaVinci Code, but aftering seeing Priceless a few years ago, well I'm basically obsessed. (Well, and Amelie was obviously good too.)
Watching the movie makes you as giddy as if your the one drinking all the champagne they pour. Even Johnny, who is not especially easily persuaded to watch a movie with subtitles, left the theatre grinning. Maybe that's what she is- bubbly? No, no, she's too elegant to be described as bubbly. She just makes you feel a little bubbly. So she's more the intoxicant, and you are left with the effect, which is how it should be. Because you can't call someone so gorgeous, cute or bubbly. Although her counterpart in the movie, Gad Elmaleh, is definitely cute. Anyway, I highly recommend you rent it, especially to get excited for the next one.

For bubbles:


For goosebumps:


Click here for the film's website

So if the blogging wasn't enough...

I just participated in the interactive episode of Flipping Out. I was so glad they asked if I would have fired Shawn. I was all fired up about it because Shawn should have been canned not for asking for a day off too soon, but for asking permission to go to the Jimmy Buffet concert at all.
Had he not been fired I bet he would have eventually strolled in late to work, in a cloud of Axe body spray (for the ladies) mixed with pina colada and long island ice tea after hearing that there was this amazing place called Senor Frogs where they serve drinks in a plastic cup a yard tall. (yesssss!!!!)

And if being a peep isn't grounds for firing him then how about just some good old fashioned sexual harassment (say it like harris-ment) ...because when he asks Zoila if she "Got her sexy on?" he sounds like a senior in high school trying to impress an 8th grader. Which more or less means he's a lester.
Anyway, comment didn't make it on air... probably didn't fit in (what that it was 6 lines long?) because the first comment that made it on air was "Hire him again, he's so cute!" ...so in the end blogging is just enough. Queen of the castle.

"Just Plant a Watermelon on My Grave..."

Well the title really doesn't have much to do with the post but that song just popped into my head... Anyway, I sometimes can't tell whether I'm watching a new episode or a rerun of Iron Chef America. Either way, it doesn't matter but last night, rerun or not, I saw something I had never seen before. It was a watermelon radish, and it was beautiful. I'm not sure where you would get one, but I'd like to figure that out. From the looks of it I'm sure it must delicious. Isn't it amazing that these things just come from the earth??
And I looove radishes. I think the most favorite ones I've eaten were at The Spotted Pig in New York. This far away from them all I can remember is that the high price seemed justified for a plate of probably no more than ten...only after we ate them though. Before we ate them we were a bit skeptical...feeling a bit "had" because there were so few. But they were yummm and that was the point.

"This is the Water"

(image came out mirrored... from photobooth.)
There's always a stack of books piled at least three tall on my bedside. Books that I've loved and then been interrupted with another book that I love... It's like being at a cocktail party where you start talking to someone, having a good conversation, then you see someone else who you start talking to promising you will resume your prior conversation with the other, then you get carried away with your new one...
on and on. Or, I'll start reading and notice it's about to be 11 o'clock and I can't resist finding out what Niles and Frasier are up to. I mean I'll say "I love to read" and then feel nervous about books I haven't finished that someone will question my love. But it's just the way it goes when you lack discipline and pool lounging time that doesn't involve daiquiris or micheladas-because I love those things also.

Anyway, my stack of books ranges from fictional and fun, to non-fictional about something I feel I need to know more about, ie politics, health, religion, philosophy, economics, etc., classics that I need to finish before I die, and usually a Bible at the bottom-a constant reminder of my consecutively failed New Years resolutions to get through the Bible in a year. Most important book in the world, and I haven't read it. Nevertheless, always good to have around.

And that's the thing. All of the books are good to have around. Twenty minutes to spare, pick one up, whatever's on top or whatever I'm in the mood for, it's almost like using the time to call a friend you have been meaning to catch up with...another thing that can pile up if you're not careful...But, it wasn't until a friend of mine, Mary Claire, sent me a link to the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address by David Foster Wallace that I thought what a great idea that is. First of all, the address blew me out of the water- maybe literally speaking from the context of the speech.

Wallace is genuine, real, and maybe a bit harsh but he leaves you with an honest perspective on what the true value of our (sometimes overpriced) educations (especially when people aren't just dying to give you a job) is--that it is all about being trained to make decisions. That by opening up your world to everything a university has to offer about the world you are basically blessed with a gift that puts you ahead more than by adding another bullet to your resume. Instead it's about helping you realize all of the possibilities life has and all of your potential and capabilty to seek and achieve those things as long as you can keep in mind that "This is the water." It's what you are swimming in or breathing (as per the fish joke he opens with) everyday.

Anyway, the speech is brilliant. If I could, I would invite David Foster Wallace to be at my dinner table for sure. He preaches the sermon of the prodigal s'more. Of seeing life from a distance, beyond the package, of having a general awareness of something beyond yourself and trying to see how you fit into the larger picture of the world rather than how the world fits into you. So by the end of the speech I felt inspired, and more aware, and I was thinking about art, and life, and love, and religion, and basically every theme that I could find lengthily expanded on right next to me on my nightstand. All of that in under 5 minutes. I almost felt like I'd put on those electric stomach exercisers that make your abs contract without you actually having to do a situp?
I mean, what a great idea to look up those speeches all the time. And not to say I won't keep piling up books, I will because I love books, but for a sure result in less time I think it's perfect. Of course you wish you could run 45 minutes (that's if you liked to run and were physically capable) in order to be thin and healthy (and hot) but if all your really in the mood for is a fruit smoothy then by all means pat yourself on the back for going out and getting those anti-oxidants and maybe an immune booster.
I hope that analogy makes sense, but even if it doesn't it doesn't matter because you'll forget all about my babble when you read THIS AWESOME ADDRESS NOW.

Remember These?

These pictures and poems were so fun to read when we were little.

I still remember having to memorize a poem to recite in front of my 4th grade class I think? With Mrs. Titus? And I chose "Bear in There" by Shel Silverstein because I thought the illustration was so funny...and pretty much still do.
I wish I could still find my copy of that book somewhere... but, I also wonder if Shel Silverstein is sort of a weirdo? When I wiki'd him, it said he was a children's writer as well as a writer for Playboy Magazine...? Then again I guess a male interested in naked ladies can lead to children...the modern answer to "where do babies come from?" Other than that I don't really see how those connect... odd jobs. But, then again most of the things I really liked in childhood are somehow a bit odd...those Tim Burton movies,
and trippy Wee Sing videos, all those imaginary friends...but, it's funny because I think some of my favorite friends now had similar interests when they were little. Some might have been stranger than others...like a friend of mine who punished her imaginary friend by making her live underneath the refrigerator...and also hosted NyQuil tea parties...coveted invitations no doubt...lots of fun, lots of fun.

There's a Polar Bear

In our Frigidaire--

He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.

With his seat in the meat

And his face in the fish

And his big hairy paws

In the buttery dish,

He's nibbling the noodles,

He's munching the rice,

He's slurping the soda,

He's licking the ice.

And he lets out a roar

If you open the door.

And it gives me a scare

To know he's in there--

That Polary Bear

In our Fridgitydaire.

Click Here to Go to ShelSilverstein.com