Androgynous beauty.

 

Photo from here.

"She is the Boy and He is the Girl" 

photos by Michelle Du Xuan for Carbon Copy.

I just discovered the most beautiful, androgynous creature. Andrej Pejic is a 19 year old model that has rapidly become a muse for major designers and who models both menswear and womenswear. Sadly I heard about him because a photo of him on the cover of Dossier Journal has created some controversy. Here it is:

This photo by Collier Schorr and the controversy story found here.

Some retailers want the cover of the magazine to be covered up (like a porno magazine would be) because of Andrej's feminine looks. To me, that approach is absurd and simplistic but raises some interesting questions. Why do "manly" men are expected to show their muscles while Andrej's body is not acceptable? And even further, why can men expose their torsos while females can't? It is complicated and unfair. I look forwards Bitch Magazine's take on the whole issue (if you have not read Bitch you should!).

For now, I am glad someone like him is out there to make the world more interesting and beautiful.

And of course I will but that issue of Dossier (with the added bonus of a David Lynch article!).


9/16/11 UPDATE. New York Magazine has an interesting article about Andrej. As it turns out, he is not only beautiful. but has a great sense of humor.

Butterfly.

Beauty in a jar.

How pretty is that?

I know it looks cruel, but the butterfly is not real.

I bet it would drive my cats insane.

You can buy it here.

The (never ending) move.

J and I had this image of our move as just putting "it all" in our car and driving away towards our bright new future while singing happily with the radio turned to the loudest possible volume. It would look something like this (add favorite tunes as loud as they can go and happy purring cats in the back seat):

You can buy this pretty embroidery here.

Well, it turns out the move is actually harder than previously thought.

As of right now it has been almost a month, we are not done moving, and have driven back and forth between our places for what feels like a trillion times. One of those trips involved boxes with cat limbs coming out from every possible corner and me crying because we had uprooted them from a happy place. 

Our old home is little and we assumed we could empty it in a couple of trips, so we just got enough boxes to fit in J's parent's van thinking we could fill them up, drive them to our new place, unpack them and go back a couple of times with the same boxes. Easy! Practical! NOT.

How could so many things fit in a 365 square feet little cabin?

Last time I moved 6 years ago all I brought with me was a backpack with a couple of clothes changes. That was it. And maybe some shampoo and a hair band. Now J and I find ourselves the proud owners of tons of stuff. How did this happen? We have collected some useful artifacts for the kitchen (like the prettiest mugs we got for our wedding). We are both readers, and while we support our public library, somehow we have amassed a fair amount of books. Then there are plants, driftwood, rocks, bones, clothes and the infamous shoes...

I wish this moving option had been a possibility, or that I had found* Jennifer earlier! No, she is not a super efficient muscular mover, but a smart girl who has decided to let go of most of her worldly possessions and drive away without turning back. I know how to shed everything away feels like and it is liberating and refreshing, but for whatever reasons it is not where I am at now, so on and on I go carrying the load of my stuff.

I think this weekend we will finally make our last trip to move and then I will allow myself to sit still and have a cup of tea.

I have to tell you, that first cup of tea at our new place better taste good in those pretty mugs!

PS. The cats are happy and adjusting to our new home quite nicely.

* Jennifer found via Mighty Girl

Happy Weekend!

The world is still here, and today is splendid.

Have a happy weekend!

I took these photos in Hawaii.
Most of the time I wish I was there,
but not today.

And just in case...

And just in case the rumors are true and the world is really ending, here is a lovely son jarocho by Mono Blanco that goes:

El mundo se va a acabar, el mundo se va a acabar,
si un día me has de querer, te debes apresurar.

The world is going to end, the world is going to end,
if someday you are to love me, you must hurry.

The images are sad, but the song is truly lovely and hints at not wasting any time.
That is something I try to apply to my own daily life.
Tomorrow is never granted!

Invisible. (Liu Bolin)

Can you spot him?
It's Liu Bolin and his amazing Ghost Man self portraits!
He painstakingly paints himself, sometimes taking many hours to set up a single frame.

Image from here.

from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Discovered via Honestly WTF.

The Move has begun!

Mom.

In Mexico Mother's Day is always on May 10th, no matter what day of the week it falls on (this is the case with all holidays in Mexico, which makes for very interesting middle-of-the week parties that of course begin one day previous and sometimes go until the following Monday).

But in the sake of my adopted new Homeland and, more importantly, because she is going to the Hospital today because she will undergo surgery tomorrow, I am thinking of my Mom.

Sending her love and well wishes.

This is the most difficult thing bout being far away.

Mom and me (and proto-sister, too).

Pre-dawn conversation.

Me:   I am cold.
Him:  Me too.
Me:   Can I close the window?
Him:  I prefer to have fresh air.
Me:   Don't mind if my chattering teeth wake you up.
Him:  No problem. As soon as you get seizures you will
      warm up and they will stop.

More Cues.

We must be on the right track, since life keeps sending signals to confirm it.

Here is what I stumbled upon after writing my life as a Wave update:

Image from here.

 You can buy this here

Isn't it wonderful?

So on we go...
and today we get the keys to our new home!

Cinco de Mayo.

Oaxacan embroidery by RR

Growing up in Mexico I don't remember celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Not once.

So when I moved to the States I found it very puzzling that it is the ultimate Gringo-Mexican celebration and, frankly, it used to irritate me (just search for images about it on line and you will find tons of incredibly offensive stereotypes). Even more annoying was that people attribute the date to the Mexican Independence, which is wrong.

Why celebrate so excessibly such a random date? That I know of, maybe just Puebla celebrates cinco de Mayo, but for the rest of Mexico it is just the anniversary of an 1862 battle against the French mentioned in passing at school.

The best explanation I have heard about the randomness of the holiday is that the American government did not feel right to celebrate any of the major Mexican Holidays like Febuary 24th (Flag Day), September 16th (Independence Day) and November 20th (Revolution Day) because they commemorate Mexico's sovereignty and thus observing any of those dates could give all the mexican immigrants a reason to up raise. 

Their solution was to choose an "innocuous" date (but is it realy?).

Voilá, Cinco de Mayo!

As time has gone by I have come to embrace the holiday (as well as burritos, something else that was completely new to me when I immigrated to the States).

After all, any excuse is a good excuse for a party.

And a Mexican party? Even better!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Tequila image from here

The Wave.

Hokusai's "The Great Wave of Kanawaga".

Remember those doors I mentioned before?

They are life changing experiences that leave you wondering what is waiting for you on the other side. Usually, what awaits you is not what you thought, and I strongly believe everything (good or bad) happens for a reason.

When I began this blog I was facing the unknown (more than usual, that is), and that was a major factor in my deciding to write my daily rants. I have not been explicit about this, but last December I was laid off from my job. It was scary and uncertainty was eating me away. 

Since then life has not been easy, and J and I have been through a lot.

Our lives have been a roller coaster. 

What seemed to be the worst experiences (losing my job, not finding another one straight away, stress and uncertainty) have all lined up to set up what is the most exciting thing that has happened to us in a long, long time.

J has found the P E R F E C T job. He is so excited! People at his new workplace are very happy about him joining their team, he will use his skills in a very cool project (he will start from zero an organic edible garden and a small farm for a winery) while he will learn tons of new things about vine cultivation and wine making.

It was him -who was not really looking- and not I who found a new job, and because I have not found one yet it is easy for us to relocate. We have found a lovely new home and cannot wait to explore the beautiful area we are moving to.

Life has a funny sense of humor, and it loves to play with your head. 

I see it as a huge wave that tumbles me around at its will and have learnt to trust it because, 

in the end, everything works out just fine.

Bicycle ride (with a twist).

I wonder if it could hold a bottle of wine.
If so, I will need this in my next life.

This holder can be yours from Walnut Studiolo at Etsy

5/5  Update! 

Look what I found! 

Buy it from Oopsmark (via a cup of Jo).