good gifts for spoiled brats pt. 1

the gashlycrumb tinies by edward gorey

Greg and Julie sent this early for the Holiday...Thanks so much! me and my sissy-in-law share a love of bookies and...the absurd? i didn't own any edward gorey, but I know she is a huge fan and I'm not in any way disappointed by his unreserved approach...realism for the little nuggets. sorry. life is rough. 

  tryna...

happy finals

"Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like." 

— Bob Dylan

heidi: thanks for taking care of me

get it...

kelsey, one of my besties, is currently in a masters program for spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica. 
she's much better at taking care of me long-distance than i am of taking care of her. 
she's beautiful. and. she's my therapy. 
anyway, she just sent along a little gem. her friend from class, carly margolis is gifted. 
what i mean:
charming band. she and her boyfriend. learn how to be free. 
also. she makes gorgeous thought-provoking jewelry. fresh. 

you gotta see this stuff:    allforthemountain.com

i have too many favorites to mention. i'm grateful for inspiring people. 

"Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: 'here are our monsters', without immediately turning the monsters into pets." 

- Jacques Derrida

MR. FISH

cartoonist for Harper's Magazine. 
smart. controversial. questionable. liberal. hilarious. 

harpers.org

listening...

014: The Velvet Underground
Loaded 
[Cotillion/Atlantic; 1971]

Though Lou Reed might be more widely remembered for some of the most provocative and contentious experimental rock of the 20th century, his influence stretches equally far within the rock 'n' roll mainstream. A spot-on portent of Reed's vibrant solo career, Loaded witnesses The Velvet Underground emerging from the druggy maw of their late-60s work to pen some of the best vanilla rock anthems of the era, with the typically reticent Doug Yule assuming a more conspicuous role. The album is staggering not for its consistency, diversity, or technical proficiency-- something the band came to stylize-- but for the ardor and joie de vivre with which it explores the capacious boundaries of its form.

Sadly, Loaded often comes recommended with one glaring stipulation: "It's a good starting point, if you're looking to get into them." But the album is too good to be relegated to sub-intellectual standing; from the dripping tongue-in-cheek melancholy of "Who Loves the Sun", to the sultry narrative swagger of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll", to the maudlin-but-oh-so-irresistible "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'",Loaded proves the Velvets top-shelf geniuses with a vocabulary fit for the hoi polloi. It's here that they finally chose to break the din of their histrionic, often difficult 60s triumvirate, striking the hot iron of rock in a transitory period-- and what a way to do it. --Sam Ubl

via: pitchfork.com