Chen House

I'm a firm believer that good architecture and good housing planning can dispense with a lot of modern-day inventions thought up to better survive certain inhospitable climates that we later discover to have a bad impact on our environment. (I'm talking about you, AC!)

The following structure is not a place of residence, it's true. But its ideas of existing within the land it occupies certainly are worth thinking about. Read more about it from designboom.

Fiona Paxton Necklaces

These necklaces are so amazing. Seriously, aren't they fabulous? I love how they would totally jazz up my wardrobe (of tees and boy-beaters exclusively ;-p ) 

Made of silver chains and glass/silver beads by textile-designer, Fiona Paxton, these works of art cost a pretty penny, though. So that rules out buying options for me, unfortch :-( What else is new, sigh.

I'm showing the ones I fancy here, there are some colorful patterned ones in her collection.

Images from Nina & Lola.

Fabulous find via Jessica Stites.

Um, is it wrong to covet axes?

Id: Course not, not when they are these pretty. Come to mama, bad boy #2 aka Jim Dandy!

Happy socks, anyone?

I used to be a colorful sock fiend. I bet you didn't know that about me ;-p I even showed up at work in bright orange socks with attached fluffy cotton balls a couple of times. Alright, that was a bald-faced lie. It was a lot of times.

Anyhoo, I don't wear socks anymore (suck it up with the collective eww, peeps. It's hot here in tropical-country land, ok?) but these colorful ones still managed to turn my head, so to speak. 

By, appropriately enough, Happy Socks. They really are quite cheery, aren't they.

via journal.byhiroshi.com.

Polite Umbrella

What a cute idea by JooYoun Paek.

via ignant.

A Kiss From Tokyo

Via Jean Snow, a book trailer, 007-style. Too cute.

"A Kiss From Tokyo" Theatrical trailer from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

Aww....

Worms in love.

Azuma Makoto

Is it obvious, this need of mine for some color? ;-) 

From Spoon & Tamago, (a really cool site I stumbled upon recently), I learnt of Distortion x Flowers by Azuma Makoto, a floral-slash-musical installation in Harajuku that hell-o! would give my right arm to go see???

James Roper

Finding inspiration from the colors in James Roper's work. I love how he's unafraid to use bright bold hues in his work. So much more to see, at his site. Would love to be able to see this in person.

India's General Election

Call me an idealist, but seeing people exercise their belief in democracy chokes me up a little.

Design for a Living World

Design for a Living World is an exhibition of products made using sustainable materials from around the world. For me, it's eye-opening to see such beautiful yet ecologically-conscious designs. If you're in New York, you might want to pop by Cooper-Hewitt, where the exhibit is at. Otherwise, Dezeen is the spot to be at for loads more images and info.

Left A dress using salmon skin by Isaac Mizrahi

Right Vegetable ivory necklace by (swoon!) Ted Muehling

Hero's Rain Collector & Drying Rack

Would so love to see this in my garden. Plastic buckets fall way short in the looks department, you know? ;-) And how cool is that drying rack that doubles as a screen!

via swissmiss.

"Living Low" by ii-ne-kore

I've always wanted to do away with bed frames in the bedroom, and if tatami weren't so expensive, I would be all over it ;-)  If you're of the same mindset, you'd definitely love this post at ii-ne-kore. It's a collection of images showing lifestyles that don't revolve around furniture, a way of living that I've always thought reduces clutter and encourages smaller and quieter movements, très zen, non? 

Melancholy is the order of the day

These two images are making me pine for bygone days. 

And how are you feeling today?

Top photograph, of an abandoned clothing factory in the 80s, from here.

Bottom photograph, by Floriane de Lassée, reminds me of my 7-year commute, which I never imagined I would one day miss.

Birdhouse

This ad is too cute. I got a kick out of something that happened at mark 0:30 sec, he he.

via Paper Cut Panic.

Tteok fair

Enjoying a little "trip" to Seoul's International Tteok fair via Serious Eats. I love ordering the different variety of rice cake dishes at a Korean restaurant (can't get enough of the chewiness! miam!), but didn't realize they can also be cute like that bottom pic.

Update: More photos from the fair to ogle at!

The Missing Link

Are you excited about this? I kinda am. Curious though, does this mean we won't be looking out for Yeti anymore?

Update: A related article here.

Diversity in food

Anyone who has a genuine interest to learn about lives as led by others (yes, that means you, dear voyeur) would be pleased as pie (like I am) with these two finds:

You Are What You Eat, by Mark Menjivar -- a photographic exhibit of people's refrigerators. Pictured above is one belonging to documentary film makers who managed to raise a lot of moolah for kids in Uganda. (Boy o boy, do I miss those beers!)

and

What the World Eats -- a collection of images from the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio showing families from around the world and the food they consume in a week. I really appreciate the amount of work that goes into eye-opening projects like this. I love this one so much I can't decide which of the images to post :-)

via PSFK.

Update: A friend told me that the last link is old news, sorry if it is to you too. But it's new to me, and I think it's fab!

I can't claim to know much about world economy, it's a subject matter that eludes me. As such, it's hard to form intelligent opinions about things of that realm. However, I feel strongly that no good can come of the growing disparity between those who have and the ones who have not. 

Anyway, I feel ill qualified to even rant about that, so I'm not gonna bore you. I just wanted to share a byline that caught my eye when going through my news aggregator so you can share in my quiet indignation, or if you know something that I don't, to write and tell me to buzz off with my ill-prepared knowledge of world finances and such :-)

Contrary to what you might think, many of the world’s desperately poor do not live hand to mouth. They save to smooth out the roughest edges of existence, yet pay dearly for the privilege. (emphasis my own)

How's that, you ask? I know, I was curious myself. Actually still am, and going to read on to find out more. If you are too, here's the link that got me started.

Collecting recipes

I hate to be the type of blogger who keeps posting about recipes that they never try, but I have to say -- I am truly and deeply chicken-shit scared when it comes to trying out recipes. Unless it's to fill my own growling tummy, trying anything new in the kitchen somehow stresses me out no end. 

Anyway, I harbor hopes that this will change in the future when I have my own kitchen to work from. Therefore, in the meantime, I'm afraid the recipes will keep on coming. Just turn a blind eye will ya?

I've posted about my love for umeshu before here, it's kind of a pricey indulgence for me. So this is something I would definitely like to give a whirl some day.

via Craft.

Fluid by Claire Morgan

I don't know about you, but this work of art is leaving me absolutely awed. Rotting strawberries and a taxidermied crow, who woulda thought, huh? To view better-resolution images, visit claire-morgan.co.uk. Man, talk about surreal, what an image. Still in awe. But will shut up now. Seriously, go to her site, so much goodness there. Ok ok. Going now.

Impactist

I honestly can't remember where I found out about Impactist from, but I'm grateful. Their work is lovely! My ISP is being a smidge miserly with its bandwidth allocation, so I couldn't check out the rest of their work, but what I see from just the miscellaneous section is leaving me wow-ed. Check it out if you don't believe me, click here.

Jan Vormann

I am a fan of street art, by and large. The ones that give me the most pleasure are those that surprise me, when I least expect it. Like these by Jan Vormann in Berlin, Bocchignano (a village near Rome) and Tel Aviv. Now tell me, wouldn't you want to stumble upon something like that on the way to work?

via woostercollective.

Baguette Recipe by Samuel Fromartz

I miss a good freshly-baked baguette, and this intimidating-looking recipe isn't helping, sniff. Anyone else up for the challenge though? A hungry cheekycicak tummy awaits ;-p

via Serious Eats.

Update: A video from a bread-making festival in Paris by a blogger I've followed for manymany years, Paris Daily Photo. Speed's too slow for me to check the video out right now but it's definitely on my list to watch....

Another awesome short

Gary from Gary on Vimeo. Via Drawn!

Selgas Cano Office

Wow. If the place I used to work at was this piece of magnificence, i might have dreaded going to work less :-)

Max Hamilton

Admiring the work of Max Hamilton. I've always had a thing for photography that is part documentation, part art. My favorite from his sets.

via featureshoot.

Getting past blocks

A few links with helpful ideas to move past creative blocks:

• 100 ideas to spark you into creative action by Hanna Anderson
• 75 ways to draw more by Michael Nobbs
• 100 ideas by Keri Smith

Do share if you know of any more. I need all the help I can get.

Quimby the Mouse

Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.

Following on the heels of yesterday's find is this lil gem. I feel like I hit a streak of good fortune, since I adore short animations. Also, I've loved Chris Ware's work ever since Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth. (P/S: A bitty confession: I know it's not in good form, but I've always regretted gifting my copy of it --I believe in recycling books-- to a co-worker. Oh well.)

via Drawn!

A gothic story, me fave!

So totally up my alley! White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. 

BTW, book trailers? Really? Book trailers??? Although, I have to admit, it did catch my attention.

Superkül's Laneway House

Loving this. Looks unassuming on the outside, and yet surprisingly cosy on the inside. And how can you top that deck with the sky view? 

via where-else-but-designboom.

Easy bread recipe from Eatdrinkonewoman

I've always wanted to try make bread. Even though I'm completely intimidated by anything to do with baking. If you are the same, you'll probably love this too.

Cooper Point House

Oh lookie, another cool house with grasses on its roof -- I like, I like! The genius behind this creation is Mickey Muennig and there's lots more to eye at his site.

via designboom.

P/S: My last grass-on-roof post here.

A happy video

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

via swissmiss.

A Quote After My Own Heart

Can't resist posting this.

Chris Jordan: An American Self-Portrait

Sobering images to go with sobering subject matters. Chris Jordan is an American artist who, in his series "Running the Numbers", uses a composite of photographs to show us the ugly side of statistics. How else could we visualize the two million plastic beverage bottles consumed in the U.S. every five minutes, or the 60,000 plastic bags used every second in America alone? A quick calculation later, that's over three million bags in a minute, and in an hour - gulp - just over 200 million used! How many end up in landfills, not really degrading back into the soil? Scary scary thoughts. 

Go here to see more.

Top  Packing Peanuts, 2009, , 60" x 80"

Middle  Plastic Bottles, 2007, 60" x 120"

Bottom  Shipping Containers, 2007, 60" x 120"

(images from Chris Jordan's site)

via picocool.

Korean food

One of the things I miss about living in a metropolitan city is being able to indulge in food from different culture. Top among the list is Korean meals. I suppose looking at pictures will have to suffice for now, sigh sigh. I'm also finding out about other dishes I haven't tried before, such as sundae (would you believe, it's not ice-cream?) and yakbap. Don't you just love glossary sites like this? With pictures to boot??

Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann

Am so in love with the work of Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann. People with talent like that are so inspiring, don't ya agree?

via featureshoot.