Stunning New Music

Ray LaMontagne's new Cd Till the Sun Turns Black released Tuesday is a simply stunning. If you like deep bluesy, beautiful guitar work and amazing orchestrating this one is for you. To be warned this isn't the happiest music on the planet, but he is a gifted songwriter very reminiscent of Nick Drake. You can also hear the influences of Ryan Adams' detailed writing and guitar style which he has also worked with.

For it being his second album [better known as the sophomore curse], this is a treat and I can happily recommend both of his CD's. I'm so glad he's getting the attention he deserves now [a track on an upcoming movie The Last Kiss and a recent story on NPR about his music]. I hope I get a chance to see him at a small venue before he really takes off. These are tunes that are meant to be seen in a small club for certain. As for me keeping one cd in the car for months...I think I have a new one already from The Fray.

Behnaz for Target

Target has done it again...snagging Behnaz Sarafpour to do the next limited edition line for them this fall. To say I'm excited about this is an understatement. Behnaz does beautiful classics and I only hope her designs translate as well in person. My name is written all over that black trench, and provided the sizing is a little less Junior [my only complaint with their Go! line] and more womanly...the rest of the pieces will be mine as well.

Why The Post Man Hates Me

This is just a partial pile of my magazines for September..still missing a couple in the delivery. September is the biggest month in fashion publications for the fall preview ect [did you know that?]--it's also the most prestigious month to be on the cover, get coverage of a line or other variables of that. It's sad that they featured Kirsten Dunst on Vogue...one of my least favorite stars. I do have to say the dresses created especially for this issue [featured on Kirsten inside] are some of the most amazing fabrications I've ever seen. hummm I feel a future blog coming on.

For any male readers...who question the heavy fashion coverage as of late. Fashion is wearable art & design for me. I know you think women just frivously buy [and we do] but I actually like the construction and how a good outfit can alter someone's appearance. It can be a transformation and it can also be alot of fun.

I know the Post Man would like to poke my eyes out this month. Sorry for the giant load of reading material you carry around for me. If it's any consolation I do appreciate it!

The Best of Craigs List

If you've never read the Best of Craig's List...here are three of my personal favorites. When you need a little break from your day
there are some funny arse stories to read.

M.C. WITH A BOYFRIEND OR SOMEONE TO KILL A COCKROACH anyone who has dealt with one of these things will understand how incredibly large they really are.


STRIPPER RANT: Adult content of course but well done and hilarious.


I MISS YOU, I LOVE YOU really the best one of them all. so incredibly sweet I've read it half a dozen times.

Doll heads and other random thoughts

Here are some annoyingly random things that happened to me today:

•Had a conference call this morning at 7:30 am--forming thoughts at that hour is annoying.

•The painter that has been working on the exterior of my apartment building for 2 months is STILL freeking here! and is now showering my clean house with schards of [i'm sure of it, lead] paint chips. He's very sweet and is doing a good job but he makes a mess and is as slow as molasses.

•The electrical system in my car decided to quit as I drove down a busy street today. Nice of it to do that before I got on the freeway. Did I mention I've already put close to 2k into my car this summer for general matienance? Trying to do the right thing will get you no where.

•I went to call in my refill on my much needed vicoden [see bad back posting and old lady shoes to prove it] and it requires the doctor to call in since I've used my refills. That means it will take me a week just to get on the phone with someone at Kaiser to ask me 10 times what my name, address, phone numbers, and medical record number is. SERIOUSLY, no one will talk to you without that knowledge repeated every single time.

•I got my carpets cleaned in my car on friday because I was taking lattes to my client and an entire one spilled on the floor of my car...the entire thing. I put the mats back in too early when the carpets were wet. Guess what my car smells like now? Sour milk and moldy floorboards...I drove back there today at lunch and had to pay for them to reclean them. BIG FUN!

•My very sweet boyfriend [he really is] didn't call me or return my calls all day. He just left me a message after I've been plotting to kill him slowly...that his phone never rang all day because of the coverage at his house [which is true, surprisingly enough].

•He wonders why I'm so annoyed with him...but after plotting to tell someone "what the F*ck!" for 1/2 a day it takes a while to calm down.

•My scale is an asshole. Seriously, My girlfriend Pam will vouch for me on this one folks.

Happy Monday!

Your knight and shining armor

No wonder we can't find him girls...he's missing his outfit. How would we ever know if he came knocking?

overprinting

You never know what will happen when you just go for it. Trying to salvage my project gone awry... I decided to over print some more today for the last class...got some nice pieces from it...each slightly different which is cool. As a quad of pics it has a warhol vibe to it that happened by accident. Sometimes art happens when you let go...which is so difficult to do really.

R

Coveting

I have coveted these shoes now for about 3+ years. I don’t know if other women are like this or not but I see something I like and it stays with me until I have it.

I attended a wedding in Malibu approx 3 summers ago. [and here is where it gets sick] I cannot tell you the name of the bride and groom [friend’s of the ex] but I can tell you that the best dressed woman at the event was a casting director, not too much older than myself, she wore a black strapless knee length dress with an oversized pearl choker necklace and she had on a pair of patent leather sling backs that were SO AMAZING I walked across the party to ask here where she got them. Probably sensing my $29.99 Marshall’s shoes and my clearance $19.99 JCrew dress [that too, I can remember], she very sweetly said 'oh, they are Christian Louboutin’s, and you don’t want to get started buying these things they are obnoxiously expensive.' She eluded to them as a bad drug habit.

I am still dreaming of those shoes…that come dangerously close to what I pay in rent. Now, there are other women who wouldn’t think twice about taking the plunge, and I can’t say that I won’t... but I haven’t needed them that desperately yet. I’m still hoping to find them on Ebay and pay 179$ instead of $700. Yes, mom... shoes that cost $700 and that's not even that high for some of his shoes. You might ask, how can a pair of heels be that amazing? All I can say is that you have to see them in person. For someone who is as 'art damaged' as myself I can spot the quality a mile away, even when I don't know what it is that I'm drawn too. It’s a sickness, I hate myself for it…wanting these damn shoes that will most likely hurt my back and my feet. But DAMN!!! I still want em’........... red bottoms and all.

-R

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my nephew Bryan. He turns 13 this week. The land of teenager-ville is officially here. He is now in the 8th grade and a good student, a good boy [mostly] ;) This photo is a few years old but you can just tell.

I'm so proud of him, this year he was invited to participate with a college prep class with his middle school. He's so creative and a great artist I hope he goes on to pursue that. Personally, I'm voting for an architect in the family to build me my dream home when I'm 75 and can finally afford my own place. Help your Aunt Richie out!

Happy Birthday Bryan. Be good, have fun. My one piece of advice for my new teenage nephew is this...when in doubt on doing something that may or may not be good for you, ask yourself this question...."Will it make me a better person?" and most importantly "If my Mom finds out, would she ground me or kill me?" those are two good markers for questionable behavior, mine being the philosophical vein, Mom's being immediate pain.

But really, that's a great gauge to have; if it doesn't make you a better person...then it's probably not for you. Or at the very least, wait till you're 25 to ask yourself again.

love Aunt Richie

experimental art

Since this all went haywire a couple weeks ago I decided just to experiment with everything and see what would happen. I carved another block "laundryette" and printed in light pink and dark pink. I think the ones I like best are the pieces I had the pink underlay on to begin with-- the multiple overprints work the best. To do another round or not is the question? I'm going to sit on it for a couple days and see how I feel. Last week of class is next saturday so I have to decide one way or another.

-R

seriously WOW stationery

I hardly ever buy note cards from anyone else since I print alot of my own work but I couldn't pass this up. Elum also has limited edition prints to boot from their line up. Highly recommend checking them out. I ended up with the yellow lattice and the yellow mums. Elum's pricing is remarkably reasonable based on the work it takes to print like this. I would hope they post more of their custom work soon. I would love to see what happens when the sky's the limit.


Elum Designs

what would happen if you were famous?

my girlfriend and I had a interesting conversation this morning. What if we were famous and we had paparazzi following us around documenting our every move. what secrets would be revealed? For one thing...I definitely would not make it to the "Scary Thin" cover but would make it to the "healthy Hollywood look" and possibly to "what was she thinking" a few times as well. If I had someone following me around they would see...


• First off if I was in this issue of People, they would see buck teeth, bad hair, total complete geekness that was me in highschool...omg and the catapillar eyebrows that I had before I found out about waxing and arching.
• I go to buy coffee every day, sad but true...it's my morning treat.
• I talk to my girlfriend Pam every morning on the way to the office from coffee.
• I spend alot of time at my chiro's office, and still feel like I'm housed in the body of a 90 yr old person.
• I basically wear the same exact outfit every day. skirt, tank tops, little sweater. it's a sad wardrobe these days.
• At 37 I have officially moved over to old lady shoes--my back is rebelling.
• I sing in the car, and listen to the same CD for months at a time.
• I eat, talk and do way too much while driving...hence running a yellow light this morning and having someone honk at me and gesture for me to get off the phone.
•I purchase a fair amount on line and have it shipped.
• I subscribe to just about every fashion magazine on the planet. My post person will curse my name next month [September is the big daddy issues]
• essentially I'm a total bore and a creature of habit so they could stalk me at multiple locations every day.


• THE UPSIDE TO THE FAMOUS THING IS THAT I WOULD BE AIRBRUSHED TO AN INCH OF MY LIFE AT ANY PLANNED PHOTOSHOOT, AND EVENTUALLY I COULD PAY SOMEONE TO BRING ME INTERESTING CLOTHES. HUUMMM WONDER WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE!

I am the bionic woman

belly ring and broken hardware included for free.

apartment therapy posting

new stories: I'm officially posting MWF now so check back often

Room and Board's catalog supplement

Jeannette Architects

this made me laugh out loud

a new tee from the hilarious folks at Threadless....titled I'd Hit It by Robert L Wood

I think I've been working with men too long, I'm getting their sick sense of humor. I'm such a bad feminist right now.
-r