h like HaHa.

i'm going to get around to posting tomorrow, but until then, here's the new harry potter trailer. yes, i'm a nerd.

i found the f.

i slept at my parent's house last night in newport news (as i'm in between homes currently), and was floored by the amount of sound contained in such a small place. norfolk is a fairly large city. true, the bulk of its action-centers are pretty contained within themselves - like ghent, downtown, larchmont, etc... but aside from the constant sirens and incessant chirping of birds, what other noises are there? i pulled up in front of my parent's house at around 10 p.m. getting out of the car, all i could hear were the sounds of locusts and other bugs. it was nearly deafening, but so pretty.

it reminded me of a trip i took to just-a-little-bit beyond gloucester a couple of years ago with my friend c3. we went to eat dinner with her grandparents on the water. we enjoyed a huge vegetarian dinner, made with vegetables they'd grown in the garden by the house, then sat on the porch for some wine. leaving, c3 and i stopped on a dirt path and found ourselves surrounded by lightning bugs. just tiny little points of light in every direction, flashing and sending their message: "here i am. let's get it on."

though i love norfolk, i miss moments like those. getting caught up in things like promotions, music, other people's lives and just trying to establish yourself leaves little time for those very real moments of actual life. i'm most pleased about the fact that i'm moving back to ghent because it will afford me more time to enjoy my surroundings. my social hot-spots are mostly right there around the corner from my house, and having that center will allow me to calm down every now and then and just listen. exciting.

so now that i'm in full on apartment mode, i've been checking out things to fill the space with (even more than last week, pre-apartment-debaucle number 1). i want to start cooking again, especially things like fake cheeses, since i'm adamant about going vegan again. so, i've cheated a little bit and thrown in a food processor up there because the actual product name starts with an "f". i found the f, and it sounded a lot like broadcast piping through my fabulous ghent apartment.

1. fabian unternahrer. yeah, dude. i found this german-born photographer through another photography blog, and was floored by his approach. with the exception of the personified-animals i chose to showcase, he focuses a lot of time and attention to shadows, to light, to every day significance. he works with the generally surreal, but it takes a real artist to be able to capture every day events and portray them as something beautiful. his work is absolutely breathtaking. check him out at www.fu-photo.ch. 2. set of 2 branch hooks. "f"or the apartment. wow, i'm cheating a lot on this letter. i used to have two metal branch hooks in my old apartment, but i've sort of grown tired of them. these are an upgrade, most definitely. i'm not even sure i'd use them for anything, but just having them on the wall would make me feel more thoreaux-like, i think. 3. cuisinart food processor. the last time i was in california, i finally made it to real food daily. if you haven't eaten there, it's incredible. one of the only all-vegan restaurants that i consider mainstream because the food isn't "weird" and doesn't try to be any different than say a panera or baker's crust. it's still high-end, most definitely. but it is what it is - real food, daily. my favorite is the seitan club, stacked high with crispy chicken-style seitan and decked out with cashew cheddar "cheese", lettuce, avocado, tomato and of course, lots of ketchup. i've been aching to make the real food daily cashew cheddar cheese from their incredible cookbook for at least 2 years - but i've been lazy about getting a food processor to do it the right way. i will be asking for one of these for christmas i think. oh, you want the recipe for cashew cheddar cheese? i'm sure you do, because it's just as versatile as real cheese, tastes better and isn't laden with the guilt of the dairy industry. click here for goodness. 4. fuck buttons "street horrrsing". sweet love for mother earth seems to be a bit of theme for this post. and i've also got sweet love for this album. each lengthy track takes elements from ambient, noise, post-punk and prog-rock and wraps it all up in interesting and, most importantly, very well executed compositions. pitchfork and i rarely agree on "best new music", but they got it right with this one. the british duo can be found on ATP Records, and will be on tour with Mogwai this coming september.

you're invited to my housewarming party.

f'ing preview.

i couldn't wait until tomorrow to show you this gem. from german-born photographer, fabian unternahrer. i'm a little bored with the humans-in-animal-masks-personifying-every-day-animal-life schtick, but i will allow it this once.

everybody loves you.

yesterday, my best friend and i went to check out an apartment we had been eyeing for a while in the heart of ghent, one of norfolk's oldest and trendiest neighborhoods. the apartment is in an old building, but i fell in love almost the minute i walked in the door. the two bedrooms, converted from a one, are decently sized and wood floors cover every inch of the apartment except the kitchen and bathroom, which were outfitted with brand new tile. the kitchen itself is a large, rectangular space that i can see myself cooking in quite often, and the bathroom has a cute window above the shower space. what i really loved about the apartment was the balcony off the living room. it made me think about urban gardening, specifically tomatoes and herbs. (ok, two of the easiest things to grow on an apartment balcony.) the closets were just sick - deep and wide for lots of storage.

i've been sitting here all morning waiting for a call from a friend of mine that works for the management company so i know how to proceed from here. i made an appointment yesterday with the girl that showed the apartment to us to come in this afternoon and "interview" for the apartment, and perhaps sign the lease. to keep myself from entirely stressing out, i started looking around the internet for cute things to fill the new space up with. it hasn't yet worked, but i did stumble upon today's letter, "e". fitting for her, designer elizabeth paige smith heads up today's findings. smith hails from california where she specializes in photography, modern design, and dabbles in film and music videos. her work is ultra modern and colorful, with soft corners, bright, engaging shades of pinks, blues and greens, and environmentally friendly. i'm showcasing two of her projects here.

1. elizabeth paige smith kittypod. now that i'm looking forward to my reunion with my ellamonster in our new place, i wanted to get her something special to call her own in the apartment. (aside from everything i own that she's claimed for herself.) at $320, this product is a bit pricey for me, but i absolutely love the idea of it. it's very egyptian in it's approach - almost an alter or throne for your cat-friend to relax in. it's made of maple plywood and corrugated cardboard, so your cat-friend can also keep their claws in check and hopefully out of your other furniture. i can imagine ella lounging around in this, and maybe if she's lucky she'll get it for christmas. 2. elizabeth paige smith bird entertainment center. okay, aside from the fact that she uses part of my adopted name in the description of this piece, how can you not love it? this isn't just an entertainment center, it's a piece of art. sculpted and replicated out of plaster (i think), and created from pieces, you can make an entire wall out of this design and incorporate your television and what have you into your very wall. the idea is attractive, and expensive. smith has made a name for herself designing for personal homes and large, trendy restaurants in the west hollywood area, and this explains why. gorgeous work. 3. el perro del mar. i first discovered el perro del mar from thehoodinternet.com, where they remixed one of her songs, inner island. her vocals are quiet, hushed and ethereal. ranging from the sweet to the somber, this is music best suited for chill days and evenings in the fall. her name means "dog of the sea," but her music is anything but. check out her 2008 release, "from the valley to the stars". 4. comic appetizer plates from cb2. to eat on. eat starts with "e". i know that's kind of cheating, but i wanted to write about these yesterday and i didn't. the whole pop art thing is getting kind of old, i think. i'd like to see cultured people embrace something a little more organic, but these plates are so much fun. they're based on the art of roy lichtenstein, famous for his paintings of comic book storyboards and satire. they'd make either an interesting piece of kitchen art on the wall above a stove, or as actual serving plates. and at about $3 a piece, they're way more affordable than most table settings.

el perro del mar at least looks like she's enjoying them.

shirley ellis' "the clapping song".

///damn right.

cazal's "somebody somewhere"

///not about sunglasses.

kanye's fans are stronger than you.

yeah, dude. those are slotted sunglasses. i'm not jumping on the bandwagon. they're a kitschy trend, at most, that kanye sparked, which is something. he's spot on with fashion all the time. what i love about this, though, is that there's a whole section on his blog dedicated to his fans in these things. urban outfitters is selling really cheap pairs of them if you're so inclined. they're a little too ironic for me. which, in itself, is ironic. oh, the irony.