AROUND THE INTERNET #4

I'm currently posting from New Zealand but this was back when the snow was minimal and charming, I switched hemispheres before it got real. 

An accurate description of what it's like to work from home. 

Let's all just start dressing in full monochrome because how great does this gal look doing it?  

You know what you're probably missing in your life? An all-girl, low fi Spanish indie rock band from Madrid that wear scrunchies. Start here and here with Hinds. 

Someone buy me this. 

Like I needed another reason to adore Chance the Rapper. 

Quite a bit of my days this fall and winter was spent sloshing around JP listening to How I Built This + 2 Dope Queens. I highly recommend both. 

A Better Way to Argue About Politics

Paula Scher on the creative process: "I think your mind is like a giant slot machine. On one side of your brain, you have all the experiences of your life: every influence, everything that ever inspired you, everything that’s ever made you angry, everything you’ve ever thought, just rolling around in there. It’s fodder. On the other side of your brain is where you input a specific brief, and the specific brief has all the constraints and needs of the particular situation. It all sort of rolls around like a slot machine. You want the brief to line up with a perfect piece of fodder. You pull that fodder to make analogies and make points. It may be something that’s stylistic, or may be a pointed reference of some sort, and these things come together and solve the problem. Now, how does the machine work? How do you know it’s going to work? You don’t."

PREACH: Being Lazy Is the Key to Success. 

AROUND THE INTERNET #3

It's winter coat weather here in Boston, so I'm officially wistfully thinking of summer days -- like this one from camping in Newport in August. 

A PRELUDE: You never feel more patriotic than once you've actually left your country, so traveling the last 2 years has definitely boosted my sense of America pride.  

I think the American work ethic (while perhaps relentless and unbalanced) is something to admire -- it's nearly impossible to get anything done past 3 PM on a Friday in New Zealand.

I stand by our portion sizes.

And I really like that we're a big, giant, ever-evolving mix of people. I like that the USA is very different from Italy, for instance, where everyone kind of looked the same. And I know, because they all looked LIKE ME: big brown eyes, big noses and curly hair -- these Italian chicks were copping my look LEFT AND RIGHT.

With that (freshly amplified) pride, being back in the USA for this election season has been a bit confusing and soul-crushing. So in that spirit:

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried" - Winston Churchill, 1947

"It's like Humpty Dumpty fell and broke, then a giant lawn mower ran over it, acid was thrown on the pieces -- and a bunch of racist idiots ran off with an arm and a leg" -John Weaver, longtime Republican consultant on the state of the GOP 

Brilliantly edited, completely terrifying video on The Authorization for Use of Military Force which our next President will continue to have. 

What Obama told his daughters after Trump won the election. 

...and in other news: 

Women Having a Terrible Time Parties in Western Art History.

Words for Emotions You Didn't Know You Had -- I was relieved to see I'm not the only weirdo who experiences "L'appel du vide". 

Tricky and Brilliant: 10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Vacation Time

A photography project that makes you notice (the usually cramped + crowded) New York buildings as the incredible feats of architecture (that they are): Misplaced New York. 

A stunning collection at NYFW and a smart kickstarter worth supporting. 

I was reading a post about Pipilotti Rist's (a video and multimedia artist) new exhibit at The New Museum in NYC and of course, fell down an internet rabbit hole to one of her other works Ever Is Over All... which, reminded me an awful lot of Beyonce's "Hold Up" music video... and then the internet confirmed that Beyonce's video is indeed paying homage to Rist:

"The exuberant display of female power - the juxtaposition between Rist's cheerful demeanor and violent actions - is both charming and cryptic. It seems obvious that Rist is commenting on the false expectations of feminine delicacy, but the deeper significance isn't so easy to divine. All this makes it a perfect point of reference for Beyonce, whose work frequently charts the intersection between female power and sexuality." 

That's all. Thanks again for reading my particular contribution to the liberal echo chamber and I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, filled with hearty American portion sizes. 

AROUND THE INTERNET #2

Because you haven't seen enough Bali sunset photos on this blog. 

Links for your Thursday/Wednesday (depending on what part of the world you're reading from): 

A good read: This interesting + witty article by Helen Kim whose author blurb reads "Helen S. Kim made her Korean immigrants' parents dream come true by graduating from from Harvard Law. She then horrified them by leaving her law firm job to write."

Untranslatable Words. My favorites: "eudaimonia" and "fika".

I'm not super into fashion but I do love me some street style photography... so this collection is a bit of a jackpot. 

With EditMate now on in full-force, the books + podcasts I've been consuming lately have all been in the "for work-related educational purposes" category. This Start-Up podcast is full of gems of wisdom if you're building a business, plus it's just wildly fascinating to hear how the start up world operates (Season 2 is proving to be particularly juicy). 

Videos of folks slowly taking off their clothes sounds like click bait but this series by StyleLikeU is wonderful, specifically this interview with an incredibly articulate Australian actress. 

Watching American current events from a distance (the other hemisphere and the other side of the world) has been interesting this year... this is baffling + concerning while this is horrifying. However, this gorgeous example of freedom of speech (while being a super hot jam) makes me proud to be an American. 

Speaking of which... while I do feel the Bern, I feel like everyone needs to remember this as well. 

I want to read this and this and this as soon as my "for work-related educational purposes" consumption phase takes a break. 

Made me laugh. 

Lastly, a song -- from me to you. 

AROUND THE INTERNET

An Ubud home temple, all dressed up for a ceremony. 

For me, working on a computer leads to the inevitable: screwing around online. If you happen to run out of internet and need new distractions, here's a few:

If you like Chance the Rapper (you should), Busta Rhymes (he produced it!) or just good music that makes you think of your Grandma while wanting to dance at the same time, you ought to check out this album by Donnie Trumpet. Specifically this song. 

I can't wait to see this and this and this as soon as I'm back in a place that has a proper movie theater or fast enough internet that I can watch them on Popcorn Time, which is like a free version of Netflix. And an absolute god send. 

A video that utilizes video footage, photo stills and sound effects in THE most perfect way. Plus, this dude -- "Somehow we walk through life intellectually knowing the vastness and uselessness of existence... and on a micro-scale, really giving a shit about tiny small things."  The video was created by the fellow who runs Like Knows Like, which is rarely updated anymore but is still one of my favorites. 

After the Paris attacks, the coverage about of ISIS/Daesh seemed a little too black and white, good vs. archaic religious nuts. This article added more context and is worth a read. 

I loved this interview. 

My work-life balance has been in a risky and experimental state of flux for over a year now (more life, less work) so this article was particularly interesting: "Once upon a time, it was taken for granted that the wealthier classes enjoyed a life of leisure on the backs of the proletariat. Today it is people in skilled trades who can most find reasonable hours coupled with good pay; the American professional is among those subject to humiliation and driven like a beast of burden."

Piecaken. WHY IS THIS BEING UNVEILED WHILE I'M ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. And where are these "underground dessert eating circles"? How does one get involved in such circles?

Yoga in Bali incorporated a little more meditation than usual. I downloaded the Headspace App to keep it up outside of class and it's great. It has beautiful animations and is narrated with a charming British accent. 

My homegirl Jenny started a darling global goods online shop, called Pip's Marche. It's worth checking out for the product descriptions alone and also may be perfect for your holiday shopping list. 

Lastly! I hope everyone had a lovely and piecaken filled Thanksgiving.