Monday:

The Snuggler

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:  

Sunday:

Monday + Tuesday:

I got a set of candles for Christmas. They smell great and I thought they would be fun to dress up. I used their scents and colors as themes, vanilla and blackberry. Also, check out the ridiculous packaging?! You would think there is a whole candle making kit in there.. nope, just the candle.

After:

Wednesday:

I have had this lotion bottle for a while. Everytime I look at it sitting on my counter I think about how ugly it is.

The glue bubbles are still drying. Meh.

Thursday:

I don’t know how it came about, other than I wanted my garbage and recycling to stay together and not wander around my awkward unfinished-studio kitchen floor, but I started using this box lid as a home. It’s really not that attractive, so I threw some paper on it.

Friday:

I love the color of this shoe box. I just keep my paints and glue and what not in it, but I thought it would look more interesting with newspaper.

Saturday:

One of my best friends was in town, so here is the project I had picked out. Any ideas?

Sunday:

Monday-Sunday:

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday:Friday: Saturday:Sunday:

Here are some pictures of things I did do:

You might remember the project I introduced in Week 9- here is the link to the completed project.

Monday: Reunited with Neon Bible. I have a deep love for Arcade Fire and since my old laptop was stolen, I have been waiting to replace this album. It’s funny that I love Arcade Fire so much, I have seen them live, yet I haven’t found out much about them as people. What I do know is that they are so wonderful live and that if you have written this band off without seeing a show, you are doing yourself a grave injustice. The band is led by Win Butler and wife Régine Chassagne- who is absolutely the best thing ever on stage. She runs around and plays every instrument and in between she sings beautifully. I love this band so much, because their first album Funeral was so amazing that I couldn’t wait to see how Neon Bible would compete and it was really phenomenal. I never get sick of listening to them. Welcome back Neon Bible.

Tuesday: Recently a friend introduced me to Yann Tierson. It’s funny how we get used to certain kinds of musical composition and then someone bursts onto the stage with his accordion and the whole room is happy. I spent today listening to Le Phare and needless to say, my life felt like a good movie.

Wednesday: Huge change of pace. Went to see Tiesto at the Crystal Ballroom. Lots of dancing and good times.

Thursday: You Tube Favorites! Pomplamoose. I wrote about these guys a while back in my other blog, but I seriously watch their video songs weekly, if not daily on some occasions.

So this is my favorite Pomplamoose video song:

And this is is my favorite Jack Conte video song/Bright Eyes cover (1 minute 52 seconds is magical, enjoy that):

Friday: Went to see Hockey and The Virgins at the Doug Fir. Before hand I went to eat with a friend and we stopped in at Anthem Records while we waited for our table at Hoda’s.

The dancing was really great. Hockey is from Portland, so it was fun to see the band come through as they are just starting to really tour. The Virgins were great to dance too, but I think I could have taught their front man a few moves. And don’t let the name mislead you, I wouldn’t believe they were virgins at all- it only helps them get chicks. You can get a free download of Hockey’s  Song Away here. It’s catchy.

Saturday: GIRL TALK!!!!! Being snowed in is the WORST!! Girl Talk feeds my boredom by keeping up with my ADD. Basically it’s Greg Gillis and his laptop. He mixes other people’s music by only using the copyright free amount (under 30 seconds of each, I think). Here is a fan made video:

Girl Talk is perfect for keeping you going during homework, keeping you sane during the holidays, road trips, crowded parties, and anytime you feel like abusing your next button.

Sunday: She and Him. Zooey Deschanel is beautiful and has the best voice ever. It’s like honey and makes me warm inside. You might recognize her from Elf. M. Ward is from Portland, and I can’t get over how much wonderful music comes out of our very own little Portland, Or. They are a real treat as a duo. Please hang out with them and feel all the warm fuzzies with me.

Song pick of the day:

Bon Iver- Skinny Love

You can get it for free here.

Sountrack pick of forever:

Rushmore

Last spring I took a course with Dave Koranda titled “Curiosity for Strategists.” Requirement = be curious. I don’t know if Dave could tell, but I actually was highly invested in the course. By the end of the term we were to take on an individual project to research anything we were curious about and I found that I had a really hard time narrowing this down. I went to lectures, I listened to public radio, even took a trip to NYC, and I found one topic that wrapped a lot of what I was thinking about at the time into one book: The Real Wealth of Nations by Riane Eisler. The book encompasses some obvious and practical solutions in curing our troubled economy. It is food for the humanitarian soul and provides a template for creating a caring economics. Portland has a pretty invested movement around this book.

So after this class, I continue on my quest for existential meaning. This week I decided the best thing for me to do was to be curious.

In light of the economy and all of the “socialist” theory people are throwing around, someone I need to understand better is Karl Marx. I wanted to take a philosophy course, but I can hardly afford my required courses right now. Well it turns out that there is a 400-500 level philosophy course dedicated to Marx and is offered this winter. I emailed the professor and explained my curiosity. I asked him if I may sit in on the course. He said that would be fine if I take the course seriously, attend regularly and try my best to keep up with the reading. I can’t think of anything better than free school. Talk about experimental education! I am pretty excited.

Next thing, I keep asking myself, “what the hell am I really doing?” What does everything mean? (thanks Bybee) I am majoring in journalism and communications and for the last few years I have lived and breathed nothing but advertising (which encompasses quite a bit, and is a pretty fantastic major). It’s all changing so quickly I am not sure where the industry will be next week, let alone the time I go looking for a job. Someone I respect on this issue is former executive creative director of Wieden + Kennedy and founder of WK12, Jelly Helm. Helm has been approaching the industry with a post industrial, post modern point of view. Recently he has developed a lot of great thoughts what he is calling “post-consumerism” and defining the role and need of 21st century brands. This has got my attention.  I have met Helm in the past, and without doing my research, later realized that I blew an opportunity to ask some great questions. Last spring, desgin guru Brian Collins spoke at the One Show‘s student lecture series. He showed us some great work, inspiring examples of past assignments he has given students and then he asked for questions. I asked him if he could give us an assignment. He already had one planned, and he passed out sheets of paper. He told us to write to someone in the industry who we respect and thank them. Part two, ask them for 15 minutes, ask them to meet with you.

For me, this is Jelly Helm. So I wrote to Jelly, and he wrote me back. He agreed to 10 questions, one at a time. My first question:

Q1: In what ways do you see that honesty has or hasn’t existed in the advertising industry so far and how would honesty exist differently within a post-consumer society for 21st century brands?

Jelly asked me if I was serious. I am. He told me this would be a lot more work for me than him- I am game. So he sent me an assignment and it’s due January 5th. I am to research advertising in publications from 1850-1910 and we will go from there. I couldn’t be more thrilled for an assignment.

Next on the topic of curiosity: Reading. I have been trying to get into a book that a friend lent me, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Since Wednesday wrapped up finals for me, I have been head first in this book and so far it is quite delicious and extremely curious. Please pick it up if you haven’t read it already.

A reassuring sign that things are on the right track:

As I was hopping out of the passenger side door of my car, I found a necklace that has been lost for well over a year. The keys, simply intrigued me. And the ‘Q’ is an old typewriter key. At the time, they were out of ‘A’s and I figured that Q could stand for something I really believe in doing, questioning.

So this week, asking questions really paid off. So my question for all of you? How do you inspire others to ask more questions and to be more curious?

This week I left quotes around campus for people to find. The first round was inspired by the quotes gathered on a tumblr that I really enjoy: a hopeful romantic

The second batch were taken from friends who had left recent posts on my facebook wall.

The last were from an old idea journal. They were quotes on creativity that my friend Brandon had gathered. Brandon is the mastermind behind the 7/52 concept. He has a lot of great stuff and you should check out his online community.