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February 28, 2007
my boss's photography
Here are a few of the pages I've put together for Linda's portfolio...
All of these are laid out on 8 1/2 by 11 pages. The white gets lost on my white blog, but the white negative space is important.
This project has been deeply overwhelming, but pretty fun too. Juxtaposing color and shape in images is totally what I love, but Linda has an inexhaustable library of images, and I the possibilities for laying them out are endless and she's given me total freedom. I find that the presence of limitations promotes creativity. But the limits are nowhere to be found.
Alas.
Posted by Brae at 12:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 24, 2007
fashion should be....fUn.
I adore Kate Spade's ad campaigns. They are absoutely whimsical, offbeat, funky, and enthralling for my eyes to behold. They surely can't strike everyone like this, and yet I can't imagine how they can't.
I've been working on my boss Linda's portfolio these past two weeks, laying out pages, juxtaposing images, and generally stumbling through photoshop and other technical difficulties. Alas, if only I was a techie, my life would work smoothly! Kate Spade ad spreads have been an inspiration to me.
Check it.
I want my future family to look like this.
I like what Kate Spade advertising says about how fashion should be done. It should be playful and fun. I find that it is mostly safe in America, and that makes me feel dull.
Posted by Brae at 08:27 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 23, 2007
the Ballets Russes
Lately I've been contemplating how to perceive that 80 or 90 or so years that most of us are given to live. I am absolutely sure that they are a gift and that life is a celebration, but so many times it can feel like a burden and confusion. 90 years is so long, but so short. I think it is our burden and our privelage to choose how to spend each of those years.
I watched this documentary a couple days ago called Ballets Russes about a famous Russian ballet company that existed in the earlier part of this past century. The documentary was a gift from Lowen to my little ballerina sister Chalice. Ballet has always resonated with me and this documentary was extremely moving. I was inspired by how these ballerinas chose to fill their years by using their gifts, devoting their lives to what they cared about, and blessing the world with beauty and grace. Several of the dancers, now in their 80's, were interviewed in the documentary and all of them are still involved in dance. They are teaching dance or writing about dance. They are feeding their souls and redeeming themselves with their passion. I know that the ultimate redemption can only come from Christ, and though I don't fully understand how he alone can satisfy, I do know that he gives us passions and that to pursue those passions is food to our souls.
The ballerinas in the photo above are wearing costumes designed by Henri Matisse. Isn't that wonderful?
Here is the cover of the documentary.
Rent it and be blessed by adorable old men and women reminiscing about dancing in their youth and expressing their enduring love for this art.
There is also a fair amount of entertaining scandal and conflict, as life so faithfully brings to all of us.
Posted by Brae at 10:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
my valentine
This is my Matt's facebook profile picture. He doesn't quite look like this now. This is a shot from when he was in Africa that he photoshopped. Ain't it cool?
This is what he made for me for Valentine's day and he silk screened it with his very own hands.
Scary as it seems to juxtapose 'valentine' with the slightly grimacing and hairy face of what appears to be a 45 year old man, I adore this shirt. I do. It's weird, and I fell in love with weird some years ago and we're still going strong. I look forwards to the questions I'll get about this shirt and the response I'll have to give. The conversations might go something like this:
"Who's on your shirt?"
"Oh, it's my boyfriend."
"You're dating a scary 40 yr old man??"
"No, of course not. My boyfriend is cute and young. He just looked liked this when he lived in Africa for a few years. That's all."
"I see."
Here's what Matty looks like now, sort of.
Anyway, the shirt is really my new favorite. You'll get to see me wearing it if you see me at all in the next few months, because I'll be wearing it all the time.
Posted by Brae at 11:41 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
February 13, 2007
obsolete prettyness
Lately I've developed a penchant for vintage postcards. Look at these two adorably beautiful postcards I bought at an antique store here in Cambridge. The words on each are embossed, which makes the experience of receiving one of these treasures even more tactile.
I could look through old postcards in antique stores for forever. People use to have such regal penmanship! I like to read what people thought worth writing and sending. Much of it is mundane...(i.e. "Fred and I are enjoying the warmer weather..."), but it testifies to our simple human desire to reach out and touch others. We do much of it electronically these days, which is efficient and fun, but not very touchable. I'm a toucher. I'm also a word maker-upper.
I'm going to tell you about a wonderful vintage postcard website now. I hesitate to do this. This is my little secret discovery. But I'm forcing myself to share it, against my better judement. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone about this blog entry or this website. Let's keep it among the few of us who have somehow come across my ramblings on my silly Hello Kitty blog. Click right here to find the e-cards you've been waiting for all of your life. Click on 'birthday' and 'romantic' for some of the best of the best.
Posted by Brae at 10:50 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 08, 2007
extremities
While I was driving home from work this evening I stopped at a gas station to fill up my car. I really like pumping gas.
I also really liked standing outside by the pump in the 5 degree air. Painful and inane as it sounds to be in the cold doing something as simple as putting gasoline into a car, I realize that I have a strange affinity for the extreme and a predisposition to enjoy the mundane. I feel my feelings pretty dang intensely and I like to feel the weather intensely against my skin. There's something lifegiving about extremities.
But I also love the mundane rhythms of my life like washing dishes and getting dressed and preparing my breakfast. Those are the moments of my life. I choose to enjoy them.
Here's a photo of me and my team in China at the Harbin ice festival last year. I found it on my friend Katie's facebook account tonight. It must have been negative 5 or 10 degrees in this outdoor freezer ice wonderland. Pretty dang intense.
I miss the coexisting circumstances of living in an apartment building filled with my friends and co-workers. Close community is sweetness to my soul.
Posted by Brae at 09:36 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 02, 2007
pb and j
Check out this beautiful song called Young Folks by the swedish band Peter, Bjorn, and John. Click this link to watch the video.
I love these lyrics:
Cuz we don't care about the young folks, talking bout the young style.
And we don't care about the old folks, talking bout the old style too.
And we don't care about our own faults, talking bout our own style.
All we care about is talking, talking only me and you.
Posted by Brae at 10:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack