Monday, May 21, 2007

librarything.com

I own 177 books. I did not count them all, however, I did catalog them on LibraryThing.com. Why? Why not! Actually, I was just ridiculously bored and I really did need to do something about my book shelves.

You can catalog 200 books for free or buy a membership (either $10 for a year or $25 for life) to enter as many as you like. However, there is actually nothing from stopping you from making another account after your first one is full, granted you own and have the time to catalog over 200 books.

You can also post reviews of your books and find members who share the same books and tag your books. It's pretty easy to use. I used ISBNs for a lot of my books because when typing the titles the paperback editions would show up. Also, I own some Barnes & Noble editions and it is absolutely important to specify that and well LibraryThing uses Amazon.com to find books, so ISBNs were easiest to use for me since I'm picky. But if you are not particular about the edition you admit to owning, you can just type the title--you don't even have to type the entire title. I also had to use Library of Congress call numbers for a few of my old books and some books, I just had to wing it on. So, yeah, LibraryThing.com is a very good cure for boredom. It's easy to use and well, who doesn't like joining web communities? Haha.

So, if you are bored and have a lot of time on your hands and a lot of books, you may want to try out LibaryThing.com

By the by, my catalog can be found here, if you are inclined to look.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

kate nash

Last month, I found a song called Merry Happy on some random music blog--I don't even remember where I saw it. Today, an LJ friend was looking for songs by Kate Nash. I had initially dismissed it because I did not immediately recognize the name Kate Nash. Kate Nash sings the song Merry Happy.

She is also releasing a new song called Foundations soon. You should watch the video. The video is super cute. And the song is so lovely.


I have been listening to the song all day long. So enjoy Merry Happy and enjoy watching Foundations.

katenash.co.uk

kate on myspace

Pre-order the Foundations single on HMV.co.uk available June 18th.
Pre-order the Foundations single on Amazon.com available June 21st

Monday, May 14, 2007

trovata & rufus wainwright





Money can buy happiness but it can't prevent sadness or despair, or bad weather, or loneliness...

This is a pretty cool shirt. I've been interested in Trovata's work since 2005 when they won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award. I really like their clean lines and I love simple menswear and that's what Trovata did at first. I think they expanded to women last year, I'm not too sure. Regardless, I had to share this shirt.

Another thing I tried to write about earlier, but got distracted is Rufus Wainwright. Poses is one of my favorite albums, it really is. And I love most of the songs off of his self-titled. And when he and Ben Folds covered Careless Whisper, it really was a beautiful thing. And this past January when I'd listen to little else but his version of Bewitched. But I'm not too thrilled about his newest release.

Release the Stars comes out on Tuesday. You can stream it from VH1 here. The whole album sounds mostly melancholy. I didn't listen closely to the lyrics, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be, but I found it to be sad. There were two more upbeat (musically speaking) songs: "Rules and Regulations" and "Sans Souci" but that's it. I haven't bought a Rufus album since buying Poses and I really don't think I will buy this. It's not a bad album, but it really isn't my cup of tea.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

the red dress

Basically, this is one of my favorite poems. I won't bore you with my personal history of my love affair for Dorothy Parker and carrying versions of the 1943 The Portable Dorothy Parker around.

"The Red Dress"
Dorothy Parker

I always saw, I always said
If I were grown and free,
I'd have a gown of reddest red
As fine as you could see,

To wear out walking, sleek and slow,
Upon a Summer day,
And there'd be one to see me so
And flip the world away.

And he would be a gallant one,
With stars behind his eyes,
And hair like metal in the sun,
And lips too warm for lies.

I always saw us, gay and good,
High honored in the town.
Now I am grown to womanhood....
I have the silly gown.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

mad about madras!

Dooney & Bourke have a line of madras bags this season and they are to die cute. I want one. Pictured is the Bucket Bag, however, what I really want is the Medium Sac. However, the only thing I can barely even afford is the Flap Wrislet. I guess I should save my money!

Monday, May 7, 2007

summer movies

I am forever finding movie ticket stubs in my bedroom. I think there's one for Just My Luck somewhere by my bed, it just lays on the floor (amusement that I never realized until today, I saw a Lindsay Lohan movie on 06/06/06). And I have a stack in my TV stand and my In the Land of Women ticket stub is covering my face on my driver's license. I think I have one in my copy of another e.e. cummings. I know there's at least six in my old wallet from 2004 which I still have because it's Deery Lou. I love going to the movies and I don't throw my ticket stubs away. I love watching movies in a dark theatre on giant screens.

However, this summer, I honestly don't have one movie that I'm just DYING to see. I mean, there's Ocean's 13 which I will inevitably see because it's Clooney, Pitt, and Damon, but I don't think I'll be bummed if I don't see it. I will probably see Licensed to Wed because I have a girlcrush on Mandy Moore. Those are the only two movies I may spend the money to see.

This summer is full of blockbusters too: Spiderman, Shrek, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribean. Sequels, movies people are excited about, movies that have fans. I just am not excited about them. I never actually saw any of the Spiderman movies. I hated Shrek. I disliked the last Harry Potter movie, it was so boring and a waste of time. I missed the second Pirates movie and we own it, but I can't be bothered to see it.

I just wished I was more excited about summer movies. Well, at least, maybe this summer, I may actually read a book or two.

Friday, May 4, 2007

finetune & blueprint

I read about this cool thing called FineTune on Blueprint Magazine's Blog. Basically, you pick 45 song from their selections and make a playlist. It has to be 45 songs for some sort of legal reasons. likewise, you can only pick three songs per artists, but it's pretty neat. I've been listening to my playlist for at least an hour. Most of it is stuff I actually have on my itunes playlist, but it's still neat like in case your ipod's battery dies or something, you can just open a playlist from finetune and listen to music you like, instead of being stuck with internet radio. If you like internet radio, you can also pick artist radio stations which plays "related artists" selections. One downside is there's a weird limit on hitting next, which is really bad for people like me who don't actually listen to complete songs or get bored quickly. Regardless, FineTune is pretty neat.



Since I mentioned Blueprint, I thought I'd rave about it as well. Blueprint is a Martha Stewart publication and I know Martha Stewart isn't that cool, but Blueprint is incredible. Its tagline is "Design Your Life" and the magazine encompasses lots of aspects of life. I haven't had time to devour all of the May/June issue (cover pictured), but the previous three issues are INCREDIBLE. There's an article in every issue called "100 Reasons to..." which very interesting. Last issue's was "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It" and the first issue was "100 Reasons to Crack a Smile" which actually did make me smile. #41 John Cusack in Say Anything. #80 The National Spelling Bee on ESPN. #89 Chuck Norris in general. Maybe you didn't smile, but I certainly did. The magazine also recommends cool books and awesome music. The current issue suggests summer time music with a guide of Old and Newish albums to pick. All in all, I think the magazine is pretty hip. It deals with pop culture and etiquette and every day life. I really enjoy it.

So, sign up for an account on finetune.com and make a playlist and pick up a copy of the May/June issue of Blueprint, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

summer beauty

I love this Lilly Pulitzer dress. Jacqueline Dress Lace. So lovely! Lilly's released a men's line which isn't quite as lovely. Exhibit A.

Sometimes, I really wish I could afford key prep clothes.