Excuse me, Mister.

Mustaches.

 

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, 

because I am the person I know best." 

- Frida Kahlo

Ever varying levels of mainstream popularity, but they have always had a special place my heart. 

You could say they're so last year, but you'd be wrong.

The first recorded image of a man sporting a this particular facial hair was documented around 300 BC.

Not that you care about that though.

"I mustache you a question..."

My beer mustache puts your milk or Kool-Aid to shame.

(While you're there check out their anatomical heart rocks glass, too!)

Flavor Savers are fun stuff, but like some people sporting facial hair make me a liiittle uncomfortable. 
Maybe it's all in the name.
You can find these at Fred Flare and Urban Outfitters.
Both seem to have the mustache market cornered.

'Stache it in your desk drawer and make it through Monday at the office.

Let your pooch go incognito. 
Hahahahahahahaha.
Okay...okay...this is too much.
Uncommon Goods gives you not one, but two super-fun dog toys for $10. This amazing mustache and a giant tongue. 

I think I've saved the best for last.

This lovely locket tugs at my vintage heartstrings.

                                    

"Failure is unimportant. 

It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." 

- Charlie Chaplin

"I've got the brain of a four year old. 

I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it." 

- Groucho Marx

One tough little cookie.

Flipping through the latest issue of some girl magazine I paused upon a page kissed with Nirvana lyrics, tattered jeans and plaid.

Didn't we just do this?

I'll be damned if someone's going to try and make me wear a scrunchie again.

I mean, I get it. Lots of things are cyclical. Fads and trends in pop culture come and go before you can even make it to the mall.

 At some point I stopped caring about keeping up with the catalog crowd and started creating an actual image of myself. I'm sure it won't be long before the rest of the trends I've already had to suffer through will creep back in. 

With all this laid out in front of me my thoughts on grunge soon lead me to punk. Another playlist soon followed. I make no apologies for how musical I feel lately.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you my punk rock childhood.

This list is not limited to "punk" music. I'm not good at classifying things. Keeping certain artists or songs in little boxes. Doesn't seem natural. 


Some of it's just loud.

Some of it my parents didn't like and my friends didn't get.

Call it what you will.

It all falls under the same category for me.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I was the owner of a Leonardo DiCaprio fan magazine and I thought I knew what it meant to "Spice up your life!", but that quickly segued into something like this...

Shoplifting - The Slits

Beat on the Brat - The Ramones 

Last Caress - The Misfits

Miss Take - Horrorpops

Crack Rock Steady - Choking Victim

Prisoner of Society - The Living End

Big Brat - Phantom Planet

Everything is Alright - Motion City Soundtrack

Tall Cans in the Air - The Transplants

Shut Me Up - Mindless Self Indulgence

Punk Rock Love - The Casualties

It's music like this that lead me to my first pair of fishnet stockings and my favorite tacky red lipstick.


It gave me the courage to be not one of the guys, but a girl among boys.


Made me feel strong enough to walk down the street by myself and open my own damn beer.


And yet, still soft enough to not apologize for my tears after I watch someone I love get kicked in the face.

[I was] One tough little cookie.


For all of my lovely third-shifters and insomniacs out there.
Get your free Nescafe instant coffee pack here. 
You're welcome!


Edit: Looking at this again I think...this is like Diet Punk. Punk Light. Punk with a cherry on top! 

There's such a lot of world to see.

I've had a bad week...or two.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Let's look at some cute shit.

That'll make me happy.

Ready?

I don't know about you, but Miss Audrey is in my personal dictionary as the definition of one classy ass broad.
No, really. Here are two fast facts about Holly Golightly herself that have nothing to do with Hollywood glamour.


1. Audrey volunteered at the age of sixteen as a nurse during World War II.


2. In the late eighties and early nineties she served as a special ambassador for UNICEF helping children in Africa and Latin America. 

Only seems natural that I should want to rest my weary head with images of Tiffany's and "Moon River" in mind.

Holly GoNightly Sleep Mask

"There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don't need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain." 

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness. 

 For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. 

 For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. 

 For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day. 

 For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. 

 People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. 

 As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others." 


For information on UNICEF and relief for Japan click here.

Ahem. A letter...to the editor.

In response to Dean Bruckner's letter to the editor (“Planned Parenthood letter included deceptive information and arguments,” Thursday, March 3), I get it. You're pro-life. That is the point of your letter, isn't it? I'm not mad at you; just trying to clear things up here. Education is the number one priority, right?

First and foremost, we all want our children to have a decent one. It all starts with an idea – a light bulb! – whether it be one based on well-formed, knowledge-based opinions or one formed on their own without any sexual guidance at all. From there we're led to the doors of Planned Parenthood – the ONLY place that a broke white female raised in upper-middle class suburbia like me could afford birth control or get an (all-important) annual exam as a young twenty-something. Without insurance or a well-groomed savings account, I couldn't even make an appointment elsewhere.

It was never a place I went for an abortion, but if one day I was presented with the choice, the resources were there. I know I have options! Why? Because they told me so. People before them told me so. Pamphlets in the lobby equally represent adoption and abortion. (For the branches that don't, I assure you they'd have the adoption pamphlets, too, if only they had the funding.)

Hard-working individuals behind the desk, behind office doors working for nothing. The hours have already been cut, but they're always willing to help, by comforting girls who have nowhere else to go, and wearing out their pointer fingers dialing for counselors for rape victims.

That's what we're willing to risk here. Planned Parenthood is not a drive-through baby-killing center – as much as some would love to make them out to be. I hold the personal belief that nothing should ever be forced upon anyone. If we are free to make our own choices, then we should rejoice in that fact. All options should be part of our education. Better education leads to fewer abortions. That's what you want, isn't it? So, teach them! Don't shut down our resources. Even you, sir, need them more than you realize.

Stephanie Leigh

Athens, Ohio


Stand with Planned Parenthood and show your support here.


The Planned Parenthood letter in the Athens News.


My very first rant...also in the Athens News.

I'd consider cutting my ear off for you.

Some of you out there wonder why I do my playlists in this format. I just figure that you can listen to what you want. Listen to them all. Listen to a few. Add some to your own growing list of beautiful music. Make your own playlist. Do what feels good for you.

That's the point now, isn't it?

1. M79 - Vampire Weekend

2. Sweet Dispostion - The Temper Trap 


3. Ramona - Beck


4. Modern Man - Arcade Fire


5. Stay Golden - Au Revoir Simone


6. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her - Simon & Garfunkel


7. Femme Fatale - Velvet Underground & Nico


8. Wonderwall (Oasis Cover) - Cat Power


9. When U Love Somebody - Fruit Bats


10. How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees Cover) - The Bird & the Bee


11. Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine (live!)


12. Janglin' - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros


13. And Then You - Greg Laswell


14. Down by the Water - The Decemberists


15. Write About Love - Belle & Sebastian


16. Maureen - Vetiver


17. True Affection - The Blow

[This is part of where I live.]

Most random.

Free cup of Yoplait yogurt.

If you're into that sort of thing.