The Art of Time Suckage 101

Winona Ryder circa 1994 is eternal. Thanks for making me feel better, girl.



And yes, I have endured a jeans folding seminar.

Next paycheck, next paycheck...

...This will be hanging on my wall.

For your edification, courtesy of wikipedia:

Laika was a Soviet space dog who became the first animal to orbit the Earth and the first orbital death. Little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched. Some scientists believed humans would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so engineers viewed flights by non-human animals as a necessary precursor to human missions. Laika, a stray, underwent training with two other dogs, and was eventually chosen as the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957. Sputnik 2 was not designed to be retrievable, and Laika had always been intended to die.

So sad! And yet so endearing, somehow. Also helps that one of my most beloved books, Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami prominently features Laika in all her poetic contradiction. The picture--which, by the by, is from the shop of two super-talented Portland artists, one of my faves on etsy--is actually of Strelka, another space pup who apparently lived to tell the tale.

Laika:

Desolee

Imagine that title with an accent over the second "e." You have to do this because I am posting from my shiny new MacBook Pro, and I'm still getting used to its non-PC (personal computer, not politically correct...this machine is racist as SHIT) ways. Meaning I have no idea how to type an "e" with an accent over it, and various other Euro stylings.

I also haven't moved over any pictures from my old computer. In its final act of spite and destruction, the old 'puter infested my trusty memory stick with a virus, causing all but 24 MBs of its 8 GBs to mysteriously vanish. I guess if it was going down, it wasn't going down alone. The point is that while I have taken several nice pictures over the course of the...2?...3?...months since I last posted, I am unable to share them because I am unwilling to go back to the old computer to compose this post. But stay tuned! I have some especially rad pictures from that one time my sister was a complete badass at art, aka the opening of her Siena show.

In the mean time, I don't have much in the way of updates. It was a long holiday season of slaving away at a souless retailer that rhymes with "pap" and is just as unpleasant as one. Come to think of it, that's probably a big reason why I haven't posted these long winter months. My thoughts mostly consist of "Go back to Bellevue, bitch" while I'm working there, and that doesn't really make for great posts. However, now that Christmas is over my hours have dwindled and I find myself in need of another source of income. But since the 40-hours-a-week, health-benefits-endowed working world clearly wants no part with me, I'm trying to think outside the box. Which may, if I can summon enough proactiveness, include something that begins with etsy and ends with dotcom. Maybe. I've been sketching some shit, at least.

Anyway, until such time as my updates are not nonexistent/filled with vitriol and stagnation, I will direct you here: http://thesamstagblog.blogspot.com. Because these ladeez are moving and shaking.

That's it...

...I'm learning Japanese, so I can read the captions to this blog without Google's help. I have no idea who these people are, but looking at their pictures is inducing a strong desire to hop on the next train home and hole up with my family for about 10 years. Seriously, little Japanese family? You're amazing. Your dogs have the best faces. And this might be my favorite photo ever:

Serious kudos, whoever you are.

Came across all this snuggliness via this blog, in which I would like to live.

I don't know about you...

...but this is what I'm doing tonight:

Central Cinema is like Disneyland for impverished post-grads. $6 movie tickets, $10 pitchers of beer, $1 bowls of popcorn with a shiz ton of butter and some of the greatest artistic triumphs of our time.

What I'm looking forward to most: chugging an entire pint when a certain character utters a certain unforgettable line...

Currently pondering

When artists do crappy shit, does that change your attitude towards their work? I've never been a huge R. Kelly fan, but the fact that he peed on that one girl doesn't change the fact that I still listen to "I Believe I Can Fly" with tender fondness for "Space Jam" and the '90s in general. However, 2 seconds of any Chris Brown song and I'm hitting next or changing radio stations. Totally ruined for me. So, Kanye? It's been obvious for a long time that the man has an epic ego, could anyone really listen to his music without being aware of that fact? Will his gargantuan douche-move last night finally tip the scales against him?

Thank goodness we have Beyoncé to entertain us.

I forgot how to blog

Oh, uh, hey, internet, um, so about that time I surfed and surfed and surfed you without contributing anything in return for a couple--ok fine, five--months...uh...sorry?

I know I've been le suck this summer, but, to be completely honest, this summer has sort of been le suck, too. Why? Well, for starters everyone cool died! MJ, Ted Kennedy, Bea Arthur. You can't just blog away that kind of pain.

Luckily one of the biggest bummers of the summer, the absence of Maddie, is about to be rectified, and I really shouldn't whine about it because she had herself a grand ol' time in Italia (her much-more-interesting-than-my-blog blog is here). And I got some kickass presents out of the deal, so. I guess I'm ok with it.

Here's a photo of the Return of Maddie, the exact moment at which my mom exhaled for the first time in the month Maddie was abroad and at the mercy of The World:

I call it "Stripes."

Anyway, pals, I'm looking forward to the fall, which is weird and a little traitorous, but I must be honest. In exchange for this blasphemy, I promise to Be a Better Blogger.