a simple truth

(photo by emman montalvan, via ben travoto)

less really is more. i've got a thing for the girls and the boys that get that. every now and again i can appreciate the over-accessorized look, but overall it's not my bag. at all. i like to see the shape of someone, uncluttered by too many possibilites. i like when someone makes small honest gestures that reveal who they are.

king of cool

image via curious graffiti

image via go rightly

image via matty bing 1025

steve mcqueen— a man's man, through and through. and handsome as hell, to boot.

glamour death transformation

'glamourdeathtransformation', a video recently released by photographer silja magg and fashion stylist masha orlov that was directed for the bookzine, tiwimuta. ratatat was into the video and used it for their song 'imperials.' it's easy on the eyes, but also dark and pretty damn unnerving.

oh johnny

image via the infinite pattern

johnny cash wrote 'to do' lists. just that alone says a lot about the man. and then, the things he put down tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

the breakaways

kreayshawn

image via rap genius

maluca mala

image via filigree feline

melody ehsani

image via ecstatic freshness

kesh kumari

image via 2 dope bitches

i like pretty girls who don't play it safe. i mean, i like anyone who doesn't play it safe— anyone who runs a little wild, who talks too much, who blunders and breaks things and knows how to keep going, whose got spirit and momentum and restlessness, and just the right amount of mischief in them.

barbarella

image via vintage gal

image via womenandcats

image via bob crane's roller boogie

image via bobby pin

jane fonda was such a babe.

dancehall queen

(image via thebvx)

(image via island def jam)

these shots are from rihanna's video "rude boy". i'm so into this 80's dancehall vibe. the in-your-face style, the big bold colors. just super rad looking. i'm not necessarily a huge fan of rihanna's music, but the video for this song is all awesomeness.

killing it

(image via last gas station)

the hundred in the hands. i love this band right now. i like they way they look together. i think she is adorable and her name— eleanore everdell— is too wonderful...it sounds like the name for a clever little girl out of a storybook...a girl full of wit and adventure and puzzling details.
here is my favorite song of theirs.

the end of it all

(image via a year without candy)

i'm reading charles bukowski's post office. it's a real banger. full of folly and something close to swagger, but not quite because the space in between every word is saturated with such sadness and despair. but still, the "fuck it, fuck the world, fuck you" moments run all over the place in this novel, and that definitely makes it a fun read. and there are sections that work like a straight, fast arrow that come right at you, hard and quick, breaking through your skin before you even know what hit you.
for me, this bit just nails it down—
God or somebody keeps creating women and tossing them out on the streets, and this one's ass is too big and that one's tits are too small, and this one is mad and that one is crazy and that one is a religionist and that one reads tea leaves and this one can't control her farts, and that one has this big nose, and that one has boney legs...
But now and then, a woman walks up, full blossom, a woman just bursting out of her dress...a sex creature, a curse, the end of it all.

swagger

a heroic age

ernest shackleton
(image via wikipedia)

tom crean, 1915

(image via 10 downing)

carsten borchgrevink, about 1898

(image via national archives of australia)

"heroic age of antarctic exploration"— a period of about 25 years from the end of the 19th century to the early 1920's when the exploration of the antarctic became an international focus. i love the the sound of it...heroic age of antarctic exploration...the syllables roll off the tongue and the words are leaden with meaning— all the implications of bravery and fortitude, adventure and endeavor, and grave grave danger. i'm reading a book right now about ernest shakleton's 1914 expedition and the failures and challenges him and his men encountered, and the heavy duty struggle to survive that they endured. it's practically unfathomable what they had to go through, and that they somehow managed to make it out alive. i've always obsessed over adventurers, explorers, wanderers, pioneers— the push, the drive, the madness, the totality of commitment, and the balls to have a daily dialogue with death.

a private affair

brigitte bardot in vie privee, 1962.

easy pieces

(image via the sartorialist)

this is my kinda outfit. about as perfect as it gets.

wild ideas let loose

(image via grab the wheel if you love me)

bunny dressing by michael sowa.

this piece throws me right back into childhood. all that adventure time— the forts, the wilderness walks, the games with my brother...but mostly the time alone, just me and the family animals, who to me were like people... the hours spent in their company, the stories i created for them, about them... all those wild ideas i let loose around them, as they silently and patiently put up with me.

a kind of fever

(image via samalamaropey)

i have this feeling inside— a kind of fever. a spring fever, i guess. nostalgia is mixed in there too, not for something i've ever had, but for something i haven't. i keep getting flashes of my mother's youth... the 60's, the 70's... i see her so vividly, my imagination and memory hard at work. i'm scared i'm not living as full as she did. i'm scared all the good stuff just goes away, so quickly, so easily. but there is this wild little fever beginning to burn inside of me, reminding me i'm still young and there is still so much up ahead.

the apache

the apache dance was popular in Parisian street culture at the beginning of the 20th century. supposedly it was a kind of reenactment of a violent "discussion" between a pimp and prostitute...a theatrical rendition of street savagery and the struggle of survival.

a single dose is all it takes

keira knightley

(image via posh 24)

claudia schiffer

(image via rdujour)

kate moss

(image via mystic medusa)

elle macpherson

(image via rdujour)

All of these women have tapped into something pretty simple— a single spectacular dose of leopard print can make all the difference. The print brings an instant cool factor to pretty much any outfit, taking someone from plain Jane territory into the realm of rebels, sex kittens, trailblazers, class acts, and bon vivants. It's not for the faint of heart or shrinking violets, it's for those who want to cut a wide swath for themselves and know how to keep their cool along the way.

back on the map

(image via elliebalfe)

This look from Derek Lam's Spring 2011 collection takes a classic 70's silhouette out of the fashion archives and makes it current. The high waist and wide legs of the jeans are slimming, the blouse is crisp, and the thin belt sleekly emphasizes the waist. This outfit could easily move from day to night, delivering impact at every turn. It's a look that embodies a pared down modernity that is so 2011, yet still manages to reference the easy, carefree spirit that the 70's were all about.

as good as gold

(image via sneakerfreaker)

(image via nah right)

(image via dallas observer)

santigold is rad. her whole deal is genre-less, indefinable... she is just a mash-up of influences, a rare bird of style and substance. and if you didn't know that she used to be in a punk/ska band called stiffed, you need to listen to this song...

plain & simple

miranda july

(image via venuszine)

josephine de la baume

(image via the vivian girl)

liv tyler

(image via joujou villeroy)

the plain white tee. preferably cotton. preferably 100%. there is nothing quite like it. understated, classic, crisp...but somehow managing to convey a sense of toughness too... i think of cowboys and mechanics and james dean. i think of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeves. it's simple, it's perfect, it's straightforward american cool.

want list

the lake and stars business model pebble knit bra

(image via journelle)

matt and nat zocalo bag

(image via arcadia boutique)

adam shearling trimmed cotton jacket

(image via the clothes whisperer)

turquoise triangle ring with wedding band

(image via hotpieceofclass)

rachel comey hitch boot

(image vis solestruck)

bardot, bringing it

because i can never get enough of her.

(image via pie shops)

the world ablaze

"the best and the worst", by charles bukowski

in the hospitals and jails
it's the worst
in madhouses
it's the worst
in penthouses
it's the worst
in skid row flophouses
it's the worst
at poetry readings
at rock concerts
at benefits for the disabled
it's the worst
at funerals
at weddings
it's the worst
at parades
at skating rinks
at sexual orgies
it's the worst
at midnight
at 3 a.m.
at 5:45 p.m.
it's the worst

falling through the sky
firing squads
that's the best

thinking of India
looking at popcorn stands
watching the bull get the matador
that's the best

boxed lightbulbs
an old dog scratching
peanuts in a celluloid bag
that's the best

spraying roaches
a clean pair of stockings
natural guts defeating natural talent
that's the best

in front of firing squads
throwing crusts to seagulls
slicing tomatoes
that's the best

rugs with cigarette burns
cracks in sidewalks
waitresses still sane
that's the best

my hands dead
my heart dead
silence
adagio of rocks
the world ablaze
that's the best
for me.

(image via popartmachine)

two-tone poem

(atlanta de cadenet, image via oh fashion models)

(vanessa paradis, image via prickly thorn sweetly worn)

(isabel lucas, image via object fashion)

oh, just exactly the kind of hair i like.

atomic

(image via nydailynews)

(image via xkookymonsterx)

(image via marlene44)

(image via nancyrommelmann)

"you know, when i woke up this morning i had a realization about myself...what i realized is that at some point i became dirty harry. i couldn't be blondie anymore, so i became dirty harry."

—debbie harry quoted from the no exit tour book

11 songs for flesh, bones and blood

1. blood of the lamb- billy bragg & wilco
2. the ballad of the raa- the rural alberta advantage
3. w.i.a.d.f.y- elliott brood
4. lies- antennas
5. valerie- mark ronson feat. amy winehouse
6. my best- lilly wood & the prick
7. obsessions- marina & the diamonds
8. spend the night- deer tick
9. angels- black mountain
10. the air near my fingers- the white stripes
11. hippie, hippie, hoorah- black lips

(image via twistedvintage)

find the wound

(image via here)

today i read an interview at one story with writer josh weil. when asked about some of the best writing advice he has ever gotten, he said that his mentor mark slouka told him "find the wound."
i think that's the most perfect advice i've ever heard for a writer. because in the end, that's what we are always after...finding a way to get to the inside, where the throbbing is...