I've been thinking about tattoos for a long time, as anyone with the number 2 as the first digit in their age usually is. I'm surrounded by people with tattoos, it always seems, whether its a Latin inscription on their forearm or a Greek letter on the back of their neck. I don't think I'll ever want to cover myself in ink, just as the two piercings on my right ear will remain the only piercings I will ever get (besides my regular lobe ones, of course). The ampersand (&) is an interesting symbol, representing the word "and." As someone who obsessively writes things down, of course knowing this is second nature to me. I've had a love affair with words and letters for as long as I can remember, but this factoid has always stuck out. I once read that the "&" is used to indicate when two items or bodies are closer together than if just using the word "and." I love that meaning, and that image of two seemingly arbitrary objects or people in closer union, just because of a simple loop of script. I was also once told that, before getting a tattoo, place the desired image where you'll see it everyday for a year. So if I'm still not sick of the following image on February 22, 2014, well, I guess I'll book myself an appointment with a tattoo artist.
It seems that I only blog when I'm (a) bored or (b) terribly, desperately seeking something to procrastinate with. Tonight is a combination of both, although it's leaning dangerously towards the latter. Let's blame that on how I was forced to change the channel from the Dark Knight trilogy marathon tonight. Once in a while, I find something on the Internet that reminds me of whatever dreams baby-Janina once had. Did you know that I wanted to be a photographer at the age of 10? I've heard it said that every girl goes through a photography phase where all she takes are pictures of her feet (yes, that did indeed happen). Even then, I tend to stumble on staggeringly beautiful photos, taken by remarkably young women. Let's be glad that their dreams didn't die the minute their fancies were caught by different things. I sometimes I wished I persevered like that. These self-portraits were taken by Budapest, Hungary-based photographer Noell S. Oszvald. Her minimalist style seems to extend to her Flickr photostream, as it only contains less than 30 photos. Thanks to my friend Tiffany for alerting my eyes to this on my lowly Facebook newsfeed.
I had this six (Or seven? Or twelve?) month-long bender where all I would listen to was The Postal Service. I think I first heard of them (them being Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello) from a trailer of a movie or because I was really into Death Cab for Cutie at the time. My love affair with their first album Give Up has yet to end. Seriously. Anyways. Here's their new song. I'm always conflicted when bands releasing new songs after such perfect ones. Am I supposed to accept a new sound? Is it okay if I kind of hate you now? Well. Let's see.
Today marked one of the biggest snowstorms in recent memory. Still recuperating from last night (thank you, my darling friends) I spent most of the day in bed, willing myself to not look outside. But look outside I did. I even walked in it, if you can call slow trudging across snowbanks while almost getting hit by a car walking.
I'm staying in tonight, obviously. It's time to indulge in movies I've always wanted to watch but never had the time to.
I started watching this video because I thought it was about a 1940s newspaperman, overburdened with work and an accent only known to mid-century newsrooms. It's not, but it's still worth watching. The animation is a combination of traditional and computer techniques, which makes for an interesting way to re-envision this black and white minimalist style. Take look at Paperman. It's also been nominated for Best Animated Short at this year's Oscars.
On some nights, I forget that music even exists. I sit at my desk, reading or painting my nails or whatever, in total silence. Sometimes all I can hear is Fry (happy first birthday today, Fry!) scampering around downstairs. When I get tired of silence, though, a playlist like this one is always a good call. If you like things that sound like they should only be played at night, well, welcome to your evening.
