Body Love

 If you haven't caught wind of her on the internet yet, Jes M. Baker of The Militant Baker has been making a splash in the world of body positivity. Currently, my roommate is working together with her and a team of incredible women on the first Body Love Conference, aimed to promote body acceptance and positivity in a supportive community. In a world where society seems to hold vicious views and standards on women's (and men's) bodies thus having a negative affect on their lives, this cause is breath the fresh air. To be content, to be HAPPY, with oneself is thing we cannot lose sight of.

But movements like this have to gain traction, and events like this do cost money to put on. Although the outcome is priceless. So I'm asking you for help. Please help us get this conference off the ground and start a movement towards love- of each other and ourselves.

The Body Love Conference fundrazr can be found HERE.
AND if you'd like to attend this spectacular event, you can purchase tickets HERE.

Photo via The Militant Baker Facebook page.

Lou Reed

I can't be certain how I first discovered The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed. An avid reader of music magazines and an avid haver of crushes on musicians, it was only natural that they slip in there somewhere. And while they began to fill my iTunes collection (I graduated in 2006, I'm sorry I'm not cool enough to have had them on vinyl first) inconspicuously, the influence began to take hold.

Lou Reed is the reason I still quest for the perfect pair of black jeans.

Lou Reed is the reason that if I have a fantastic day with somebody I love, I immediately put on "Perfect Day" when I get home.

Lou Reed seems like the only person I didn't have to explain bouts of depression too. I just put on some VU and things started to feel like home. Things would freeze and I'd have time to re-group. Maybe this is why I feel the need to immediately find them in any jukebox I encounter. Feeling lost in a crowd, I can pop in a dollar and pick a few of their songs and feel less anxiety ridden. I could even feel good.

But if you're tired and you're sick of the city
Remember that it's just a flower
Made out of clay, oh, the city

Where everything seems so dirty
But if you're tired and you're filled with self-pity
Remember that you're just one more

Person who's there

Lou Reed is the reason why I hear "Sweet Jane" in my head every time I open up a pack of cigarettes. 

Thank whatever deity for The Velvet Underground. They help uncool kids with predilections for poetry feel just a little cooler. 

Lou Reed is the reason I bothered to write this shitty blog today. I haven't written much (excuse me while I replay "Oh! Sweet Nothing" for the third time) and it has been a sore spot for far too many months. The best artists inspire while simply doing their own thing. 

Thanks, Lou; for the music that was the friend I always wanted around when I just wanted to be alone. Or take a walk on the wild side. Or cool it down. 

It was a pleasure.  

Music Monday

I'm so terrible at updating these days, but explanations are kind of boilerplate.

Boredom
Uninspired
Disenchanted


But! Music has always made me happy, so I figured I would post today with something I found and cannot stop listening to-

 I think it sounds like a languid summer afternoon. Maybe a cocktail. Maybe a make out sesh with your favorite person. 

I could use both right now. 

Help Out "Wild Things: Burlesque Beauties & The Pets They Love"

 Burlesque happens to be a hobby of mine (albeit a sporadic one, but one nonetheless) and I am also the roommate/BFF to local performer, Pisa Cake. In between life we have rhinestoned into the early morning, performed and even traveled (Burlycon ‘11, WUT!) together in the name of our beloved craft. So when she gets FEATURED IN A BOOK I have to cosign that shit and buy like five copies. BUT! There will be no books to look lovely on my coffee table if the goal funds are not raised. So, I’m asking you for help. Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated! I am unable to hug through the interwebs but know that I am sending virtual hugs of thanks.


Tony Marisco’s Kickstarter for the project can be found here. 

source

Friday Fondue

Back when I was writing over at Lullabies, I was doing a weekly roundup of links that I titled Friday Fondue. I sort of miss doing it so I figured I'd bring it back here.

A friend on Facebook shared this the other day and it is too good to not share again. Ladies and gents- Christopher Walken reading Where The Wild Things Are. 

Fellow Tucsonan and vintage stylist extraordinaire, Sydney Ballesteros of Golden Girl of the West does it again with a photo shoot that makes me think "this is what Megan Draper would look like if she went to Vegas." Check it out here. 

Speaking of Megan Draper (can you tell I've been stoked on Mad Men's new season finally gracing us with it's presence on Sunday nights again?), Buzzfeed gives you 11 reasons to love her. And I have to agree. 

These chairs!

It's near Summer in the Ol' Pueblo (our Springs are really more Summer-lite) and the Stevie Nicks wannabe inside of me can't help but find these outfits perfect. One, two, three and four.

If you're looking for a nice summer cocktail, Refinery 29 has you covered. 

I can't get enough risotto, so naturally this recipe was drooled over. 

As the mother to a son, Rebecca's post on letting boys be sensitive (and the stigma of them being called "weak" for it), hit home. It is so important that we raise empathetic, caring individuals in a world that experiences such harshness these days. 

And now, off to try and capture as much as of the weekend as possible. Cheers!

It Is You

It was you that I pined over at the bar to our mutual friend who knew our feelings were mutual but we were too shy to do anything about it.
It was you whose car I had an impossible time getting out of. Another song. Another block. Maybe we should just go get coffee? It took about five of those to work up the courage to tell you to come inside.
"Will you stay here until I fall asleep?"
It is you where I find any comfort in the world.

A year ago we took a day trip. I needed a change of scenery to try and recharge after a particularly draining month. Or, rather, a particularly draining couple of years. On our way back I laid my head on your arm and remained that way for about seventy-five miles. And for the first time I felt okay. Simply at peace with everything and myself. And since then we have been inseparable.

It was you that brought me back to life.

It has been a year, sweetheart, although it is hard to mark time these days. With our eyes on the horizon and our hearts holding on to everything in between, it is simply time. But it has been the best time.  The most loved, cherished and insatiable time.



Happy Anniversary, my dear.

This blog

This blog is not a collection of beautifully photographed moments.

This blog is not filled with clothing that cost more than my phone bill.

This blog doesn't have recipes.

This blog is me.

It is imperfect and pieced together. It is whatever I can muster from exhaustion or share from joy. It is my panic and my reverie.

It changes texture, tone and interest the same way my mind, body and soul have. It is an invitation in and yet as far as some will get but it is here. I am here. I am here to create, to crumple it up and say "fuck it" and start again. I am here to reach out into a great expanse and hope that I pull back something to know we are all still moving together in this.

This blog is human.

I have clung to words and found truth in them when everything else is a question. And so I write.

I write for here. I write for this place. I write for there and then and why and how and fuck and yes and him and

Me

This blog is me.

And I hope it is as imperfect and present and filled with the truth it took to create it.