Friday Night, Saturday Morning

I love Nouvelle Vague covers.

Really?

Sometimes I wonder like, if I'm just crazy, and I have no taste, and all the crap out there I think is bad is actually great, and all the design I think is great, is terrible. But then I come to my senses again.

Brand New on the Windows redesign

Update: There, I fixed it for you, so-called graphic designers. So, this is actually how much it actually bugged me. And I still hate the stupid window thing but I refuse to spend any more time on it.

The difference:

Aging ( and the mindfuck of glorious consumerism )

I recently had a lapse in self confidence and bought an eyeshadow kit from a mega mall brand, just so I could partake of the free skincare samples. I still get carded when I buy cigarettes, so there are at least a few deli owners in the world who think I look seventeen, which is awesome, but some tiny but permanent lines around my eyes and forehead were enough to make me reconsider my stance on skincare. Now that I've been using it religiously, I can't tell if it's making any difference but I definitely feel a little worse about myself.

There was also recently an epic and unflattering article in NYT magazine on mega brands and how they target consumers. The opener actually had something like a giant chain wondering, can we find out if a customer of ours is pregnant, even if she doesn't want us to know? And the bulk of the rest of the article went on to compare is to mice in a lab who get triggered by positive/negative reinforcement into behaving a certain way (behavior = purchasing things.) There are supposedly a few major life events that create big opportunities for companies to squeeze themselves into our wallets. Which sounds super sinister, but is it really? It's kind of what I do for a living, and we use all kinds of language to rationalize what can seem like an ethical gray area. The noble purpose of a brand, the genuine human benefit that companies at least claim to be driven by, can be stripped of all the insidious financial implications into a beam of light for our most primitive needs. My new anti-aging skincare products make women feel better about themselves, and make them feel like they have some control in a chaotic world. It can stall death, and provide a second chance now that you know more about life.

And we're all the same way, really. In one moment, completely self-sacrificing and benevolent, and in other, selfish and opportunistic. Is that moment of weakness really justifiable to condemn ourselves as bad people? I'm still conflicted. But in the meantime, my skin looks the same, and I'm glad I got those samples for free.

Iceland!

My awesome friends Kat and Steve are going legit this summer in ICELAND! It's actually one of, if not the hardest trip I've had to plan, since a group of us are going together and planning on sharing house rentals and cars and other expenses. Part of the group (including us) is also planning to tack on an extra few days in Amsterdam, thanks to Icelandair's layover deals. We wavered between a bunch of other cities, including Barcelona where another friend hails from, because it's so hard to know you'll be in Europe and a hop away from other amazing destinations. But eventually you have to remember that you A) don't have an unlimited budget, and B) don't have unlimited vacation days off work.

I'm mostly excited because, let's face it, Iceland looks like Mars. I know all cities are different, and I've enjoyed other major metropolitan centers, but there's something so amazing about getting a little reminder of how big the world is, how different things could be, how small your routine is, and how insignificant your mopey daily whine can be in a bigger picture. I  know everyone loves traveling – and probably the biggest part of that is waking up every day wondering how much money you can spend that day doing whatever you feel like – but there's another part of it that can act like a big reset button to help put things in perspective, and I think I need that.

'I FINK U FREEKY' by DIE ANTWOORD (Official)

I fink the world can be divided by those who love Die Antwoord, and those who hate them.

Citizens - True Romance

Citizens - True Romance

Mobb Deep

I was in a bar in Williamsburg tonight that played this song, and now hard core rap has infiltrated everything.