Things I Love Thursday: 7.31.08

♥ Bienvenue, Chere! ♥ Welcome to another week, and a week that I've got a lot of things to love!

The unimitable ♥ Doe Deere ♥ (featured left). I've been meaning to write about her incredible first, self-released album (and how it's music for the people: she has digital copies available for free for those who are pinching pennies in this tight recession!), and now she has the great new Doe Deere Blogazine. I've been a great fan of the tour de force behind Doe Deere (Xenia) for years, and I'm excited to see all of the projects she is coming out with.

♥ Home Cooking ♥ As le faux beau is out of town for his Brother's wedding, I've been left to my own devices. Mainly eating in & hanging out at home. As much as I love good quality time with him, it's been wonderful to make delish dishes at home! From penne alfredo to jambalaya to ghetto gourmet pizzas, my belly has been happy and feeling healthier!

♥ Family Ties ♥ Sometimes I take for granted the value of my family, but other times I cannot mistake their open hearts and generosity. Within the next few weeks to months, I should have a very special surprise arriving-- I don't want to jinx myself somehow, but perhaps a Mischief Mobile may be arriving soon...

♥ Six Feet Under ♥ I've finally found time to finish watching this series, and the way that Alan Ball presents the world is heartbreakingly tragic, beautiful, and epically touching. The relationships to the spiritual world and physical world are amazing, as are the relationships and changes that the characters undergo. It really makes me reflective on my own life, and at times a bit depressed to think of it all. (And I just found out one of my undergrad professors is teaching a course on it!)

Your turn, chere! Tell me what things you love this week (or if you need a break, tell me what you're really wanting to snark about ;) )

And don't forget-- tomorrow is the deadline for the Fabulous Festival! Submit your wonderful articles, blogs, thoughts-- I'd love to have a wonderful selection in thanks to Miss Meg for letting me host again!

Fabulous Festival Entries Due Friday

This Friday is the deadline for entries for the August 4th Fabulous Festival, which will be hosted here at dramatis personae.

Submit all entries here, and I'm looking forward to the goodies you submit, cher!

The Superhero In You

After seeing The Dark Knight this weekend (and drooling endlessly over Maggie Gyllenhall's wardrobe), I've been back on my "superheroesareSOtotallycoolandIKNOWIhavemutantabilities" kick.

Then Fate got a hold of this and introduced me to Etsy seller Esta Sketch, who makes the most delightful superhero inspired art prints.

In a series titled, "My Secret Identity," Estasketch says her images depict

ordinary people who fancy themselves as a little out-of-the-ordinary. Their secret powers can range from always getting a bus first try during rush-hour, being the Pictionary champion of the family to being able to type at 92wpm without ever having taken a typing course. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it makes them feel 'super', and it's something they wear on their sleeves (chest, arms and back) with pride.

All of her pieces are created from old comic books: those with missing or torn pages, sans covers, or are otherwise destroyed. I love the way she layers various comic pages together to create color variation, depth, and pattern on each of the pieces.



What I find even better about the pieces is the super steal that Estasketch has them priced at: $35-60 each.

Cleaning House...

Image by Canonsnapper

I'm in the process of redesigning dramatis personae, hopefully with an idealistic vision of having it done before my 1 year anniversary.

But now I want to open up the floor to you...

* If I haven't updated my blog roll to include you, and you'd like to share links, please let me know!

* If there are certain features, plug-ins, or widgets that would make the site easier to navigate, cleaner, more fun or vibrant, just shout it out!

* What do you want to see? Let me know, cher!

Trashy Etiquette

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?
We all have our boundaries when it comes to biting a person's designs:
- Perhaps you think inspiration from another's work is all right,
- Or maybe say, "It's okay to copy it for myself, but I wouldn't sell it,"
- You could believe it's okay to rip off high end designers to make fashion accessible,
- And some even think that it's okay to copy another's work and sell it (without putting an original idea in to it).

But what about the person who "steals" a design and sells it alongside the original designer's pieces? Or worse, does so without always even crediting the original designer's pieces that ARE being sold? How about when it's a small & independent business ripping off another small & independent business?

Unique Vintage is one of Trashy Diva's largest wholesale buyers, particularly in their cotton dress line. While dresses at Trashy Diva have been inspired by and based on original 1940s patterns, owner & designer Candice Gwinn has extensively modified creating the modern and yet classic looks that we love.

Imagine my surprise when I hear via Miss Malaprop (former Trashy girl herself) that the Trashy Diva manager was confronted by an excited customer, eager to see that Trashy Diva had designed new prints. The customer handed over a page printed out with a black dress with white polka dots. A gown in this pattern is NOT available for sale through Trashy Diva. Upon further investigation, the staff at Trashy Diva discovered that there were at least three counterfeit products being sold along side their own.


The Problems:
1. Unique Vintage is falsifying their own garments by using the same title, price point, and description to describe their knock-offs as the Trashy Diva Garments.
2. Unique Vintage is not distinguishing between the Trashy Diva versions of the dresses and their own knock-offs.
3. Unique Vintage is misleading and tricking their customers in to believing they are buying the high quality of a Trashy Diva garment, and instead receiving poor imitations.
4. Unique Vintage does not even designate Trashy Diva as a designer to search by, despite selling more than 5 different dresses.
5. Unique Vintage does not deny allegations that they knocked off the Trashy Diva dress entirely, but rather gets hostile and angry at those who confront them.

In reaction to this, Trashy Diva has pulled their Trixie dress from all of their wholesellers, and is now offering it on their website for THE LOW COST OF $34. That's half off their original cost, and half off the knock off cost! I can say with all honesty, that's not a huge mark-up from their own wholesale costs of production.

For more information:
Trashy Diva's Blog Post
Miss Malaprop
Miss Malaprop for StyleDash
The Coveted's Coverage

ETA: Humid City: this is an AMAZING post where they interviewed Veronica (Trashy Girl and performer) and manager Angie, along with trying in efforts to get in touch with Katie from Unique Vintage. Apparently she still refuses to talk, but has no problem emailing blogs to complain about slander.

25 for 25 [The Oops! Edition]

It turns out that tomorrow is my 25th birthday, and I have failed to find 25 things that I would like. Or have failed to like them enough to want them, or failed to at least put them together in a post.

I'll try to vindicate my failure by saying, perhaps it just means that I have refined my tastes. As a child, I could have easily imagined 25 things I wanted at any given time. Now that I'm older, and have steadily worked to decrease my consumption habits, I'm finding it harder. It can also be said that many of the things I want cannot be given as gifts.

That being said, here is a list of magical things I'd like, that may partially make up for my missing 15:
♥ A hybrid vehicle (Prius, Escape, or Civic, preferred)
♥ A vegetable garden & compost bin
♥ A bed frame (Oops! Mamacita took care of that one)
♥ A job where I am happy
♥ The Disney Couture "Curiouser & Curiouser" Alice necklace
♥ A week-long trip for 2 to Fiji
♥ A Mario-Kart birthday cake
♥ Magically smaller waistline



Nom!

Why Being a Heavy-Weight Rocks

On this glorious [and grossly raining] July 4th weekend, I am going to reacquaint myself with a previous fling, but long-time love: Mario Kart

I have a long lasting love with Daisy, the perky and precocious redhead counterpart to Princess Peach; however, on the new Mario Kart, she's the last person to be unlocked.

In the meantime, I've fallen in love with someone new. Someone bold and brash and blonde...

Someone named Rosalina.



Oh Rosalina, how I love thee, and let me count the ways..

You've got a slight sexy Southern drawl, which appeals to my roots. [I spent half of my life living in the Deep South.]

You're not a medium weight gal; you're a HEAVY WEIGHT woman. In my mind, this means you're not comparable to the size 2 coeds I see all the time, but a fiesty and foxy Amazon at 6' tall and a size 12. And I like a video game making a female a heavy weight, in the likes of Donkey Kong, Bowser, and King Boo.

Not only are you a heavy weight, you can knock the shit out of my arch-nemesis, Bowser. Bowser and I have a long standing rivalry, and with you by my side, he never comes in first.

You look jaunty and cute in your little motorcycle outfit.

With you at the wheels, I am learning to defeat the malicious and fear inspiring Rainbow Road, one lap at a time.



Together, Rosalina, you and I can defeat the game. I will be the King of the Lab! No one will be able to break my high scores [no one being the lovely Boy, who has crushed all of my high scores the Game Cube version of Mario Kart, or any of his friends].

YOU AND I ARE UNSTOPPABLE!

Sorry, Daisy. You may not be worth unlocking afterall.

Squeak! TiLT! [7.3.08]

Yikes, I'm 35 minutes late on Things I Love Thursday! Can you blame me though, for starting my July 4th weekend a wee bit early? (Or leaving work a bit early, too? ;) )

On to the love!
(And there is so much to love this week!)

The Farmer's Market How much do I love it! In Bloomington, it represents the best of the city: buskers, musicians, Amish & Mennonites, fresh tamales, scones, duck eggs, lamb, elk, & buffalo meats, fresh fruits & veggies, home made maple syrup, and amazing coffee. It always smells magical.

Boxer Briefs! I bought these in lieu of my need for bike shorts (as a practical thing to wear under dresses, so as to go sans tights). And would you know, how comfy are these bastards? I don't understand why men complain at all; I'd wear them over tights & hose any day.

Second Interviews Keep your fingers crossed, cheries! (Or give love to your favorite god or goddess.) I am very excited about this job opportunity, and the extra weekend day is driving me insane (one less day I will find out!). So let's send major mojo my way-- it'd be an amazing early birthday present!

Secret Cheats! If you follow my Twitter, you will know that I'm in phase one of the South Beach Diet (which I will discuss more on later). But I have to say, I love the days when I can cheat just a little! Lunch with a friend, a lazy night of pizza, or walking to get an ice cream. I don't mind if I don't lose an extra few pounds, if it means keeping my sanity a bit more!

Green Tea with Jasmine is one of my most favorite teas ever! (Especially delicious with blackberry added in, too.) I've been drinking a glass of this a day, and it is an enjoyable way to start my mornings-- more refreshing than coffee and probably more healthy, too.

Happiness Abounds With the rare exception of a PMS induced Sunday, I have been feeling an abundance of positive and happy energy my way. Is it astronomical? Is it hormonal, or perhaps a reaction to the diet? I'm not sure, but I love having such a nice balance of mind. Now if only I weren't so darn sleepy all of the time!

& the best for last....

La Mamacita! My mother is owed huge amounts of love this week (and every week!). As a single mother, she had to make sacrifices, and I know how she always wanted to give me more than she could. So I always appreciate it, even as an adult, when she manages to provide me with little treats, visits, and signs of her love. I'm especially smitten with the emails she has sent recently telling me how proud she is of me. <3 <3 <3


Is there anything particularly spectacular that you love this week, or any fantastic & fun events going on in your lives? For those in the U.S., have a wonderful (and safe) 4th of July! Happy belated Canada Day to those North of the Border.

Just Take a Look, It's in a Book... [A Reading Rainbow]

The ever vibrant Queen Gilda tagged me in a rare meme, and who am I to say no to such a lovely gal? It helps that I'm in the middle of several great books, so it's another chance to share those as well!

1. pick up nearest book
2. open to page 123
3. find the 5th sentence
4. post the next 3 sentences
5. tag 5 people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Ian McEwan's Atonement:
Briefly, he closed his eyes. A two-pint jug of custard was placed beside him, and he wondered if he had the strength to lift it.
"I'm sorry, Emily. But she has been quite over the top all day long."
(Admittedly, it's taken me a while to get in to Atonement, mostly because I was so disappointed with the film. However, the book takes care of my main problem with the film, which was I felt that I was missing out on a story. The film is so very pretty and very well shot, but I couldn't help feeling like I had been missing something. There was this feeling that there was a story I wasn't a part of, that I was missing out of it, and my suspicions were right! There is so much more depth to this novel than the film would make you believe.)



Molly Haskell's From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies:
(The offending passages are omitted from his collected reviews.) Actually, that John Ford film was one of her more appealling and forthright vehicles, her Lolita-ish. Generally, her fliratiousness with her daddy figures was outdone, in precociousness, only by the patronizing way in which she treated contemporaries.
(This particular chapter in on women in the 1930s, and this passage talks about Shirley Temple, who is "one of the great vessels of virgin worship in this period." While I am not far in this book, I recommend it if you have an interest in women's studies, film theory, or film history.)




Mineko Iwasaki's Geisha: A Life:
"My what?"
"Your period. You are menstruating. It's perfectly normal. Didn't you learn about this at school?"
"They told us something. But that was a long time ago."
(I picked this up when I spotted it at the bookstore; for a few years I have been interested in the art of geisha, and thought this would be a nice, more autobiographical rendition of the beauty of Memoirs of a Geisha. It has exceeded my expectations; I love the casual, unimposing writing style, her candor for details, and the sense of interest the book creates. While I'm only a quarter in to it, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about geisha.)



Tag Time! (I don't doubt you ladies have great books by your bedside)
♥ Miss Meg
♥ Chic & Charming
♥ (Into) The Fray
♥ Miss Kori
♥ & you! Please leave me comments with your books, their passages & prose.