“I’m going to need a fistful of aspirin before you open your goddamn mouth again.” Oh. Hungover Owls. I CAN RELATE.
But Will It Make You Happy? New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
The surprise and delight factor. My friend Jonny wrote this nice little piece on venues: If you were your audience would you keep coming back? Super relevant to bars methinks! PS. I went to the Die!Die!Die! warehouse party described and it was brilliant. Check out their song HowYe:
William Gibson muses on the big G – Google: “To be sure, I don’t find this a very realistic idea, however much the prospect of millions of people living out their lives in individual witness protection programs, prisoners of their own youthful folly, appeals to my novelistic Kafka glands.”
September 1st. A beautiful day, even in the belly of the city. I took these snaps while walking to meet a friend at Coco’s Cantina, where we drank rosé on a sidewalk table. I can feel my spirit lifting with the temperature. Life is good.
Oh, hello! I haven’t done a week in review for a while, I guess I overload with the photos when I’m traveling and when I’m back I just want to leave the camera at home for a while… I can’t believe how much has happened, Europe feels like so long ago.
Let’s start with evidence that Auckland does have some secret architectural gems. Also, I took this photo from a lane… Durham Lane! Lanes, alleys and little nooks are what maketh a city.
It was the lovely Meg’s birthday on Tuesday night, so we ate lots of yummy Japanese and drank from a large can of beer at Tanuki’s. The tofu steak there is delicious!
Wrapping presents with tissue paper printed with a small mouthless cat.
A present for me! My friend Tessa gave me this cute narwhal badge. I offered to give everyone stick tattoos with it. Thankfully, they all declined. Easier to wear it, right?
I have been going to Revel a lot. I really like their bagels with pesto, and their dinosaur table numbers. I always feel like a winner every time I get it! They also have Space Invaders, which is a nice way to while away a Monday morning with a cute boy.
And finally, from Saturday night: me before a wonderful party, and my friend Mon in situ at the party- hanging out on an awning!
A few things of late that have been making me happy/curious/excited:
1.Actual boats. If you’re in Auckland, you can go sailing quite cheaply for a few hours on the beautiful Waitemata Harbour. Voyager, the Maritime Museum of New Zealand, has a fleet of heritage vessels that you can go to sea on. Once the weather is better, I’m out there.
2.Narcotic Venus by Nasamotto. An intoxicating scent based on tuberose blossoms, a gift to myself. I feel womanly when I wear it, as opposed to Miss Dior Cherie, which makes me feel girlish and light. Read a full fragrance review for a better idea of how amazing Narcotic Venus is.
3.Book Club For Drunks – the 4th Edition. This time we are reading and toasting to Truman Capote’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s. It’s a stellar novella, dripping with scandal, I can’t believe I never got round top reading it before. New York, flighty girls, drinking and a cat.
4.Army surplus. I bought a binocular case at my local the other day, as an alternative to a saddle shaped leather satchels (having broke a few of late). While it’s eons old, it’s well made and can withstand wars so it might be able withstand me. I’m also quite keen on buying a green M65 style field jacket. I will promise not to wear them together though.
5.Penguin classics. I feel like I only read orange books now days. My room is awash with well thumbed copies. Anyway, I just finished reading Timothy Conigrave’s Holding The Man. Are you in need of an epic sob? Read this. Heartbreaking.
Peace Atlas by AWH for Wired Italia. Each country is sized according to their peace index rating, with the larger the country code the more peaceful the country. Sometimes I curse the hippies, but gosh, how lucky am I to live in such a sweet country. Hey, what’s up Denmark? You’re chilled out too.
NIN art director, Rob Sheridan, has an amazing archive of wallpapers that are available for you to download. He has a wicked sense of humour; as evidenced by presents unwrapping children!
A sneak peek at the High Line extension in New York City. When I was there last year I spent a couple of hours up there lapping up the sunshine, it’s one of the coolest urban places I’ve ever visited.
An owl transistor radio! The owl, made in Japan, is 8 inches tall and fat with a plastic body and gold medal wings, eyes, legs and speaker holes in the crotch.
Charley wrote some wise words about the trials of being a modern woman and the ladies who inspire her. “So thank GOD for the women who inspire me. The ones who remind me that nobody ever got anywhere by compromising on their own truth. Those women who sang songs that put them in jail, wrote books that provoked, played instruments better than their male contemporaries, spoke their minds, carried on regardless.” Mandatory reading. As I said on Twitter, I feel exactly the same way except I’m shorter.
I write like? This writing analysis tool declared that my personal diaries resemble Dan Brown’s style. Guess I was recently ranting about the queues for the Louvre. Who’s tone are you perfecting?
The Concentrators – a short story by Sue Francis that nails the frozen-in-time feelings of small town New Zealand life.
An interview with Alexis from Sleighbells. I cranked the album constantly while I was away, love them. On Treats: “It’s a social record, it’s not the kind of record that you want to listen to by yourself in your room, it will make you want to go out and have fun and dance and forget about all the other crap that you normally worry about.”
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) – a number from the Hotrats, Supergrass’s covers project. The album Turn Ons came out a while ago but I have been enjoying it this week.
In spite of playing the Queen, Helen Mirren is a hot babe. “I am alittle notorious,” Mirren remarks, still teasing. She says nearly everything with a mischievous twinkle, like a naughty teenager appending “ … in bed” to the end of every sentence. NYMag delivers yet another great interview.
Issue 2 of online photography magazine Télégramme is now out. It features the work of Kelley Smith, Shannon Doubleday and Atchi Toyoshima. (And one photo from me.)
Woolfiller is an ingenious way of patching up holes in your cardigan, and gosh darn it you know I have like 30 holey jumpers.
Are blogs dying? From the Economist, ‘An empire gives way’. I don’t think they’re dying, but rather, just one part of sharing.
I am scared of black holes and space etc. I know broad topic… Anyway, this magnetic silly putty makes me feel the same way. Watch it EAT the magnet.
I find it funny when I’m far from home and I always want to listen to things from New Zealand, or things that remind me of the past. From my Europe 2010 playlist: Second Chance, Liam Finn. My arm swinging with the music as I grasp the rail on the tube, thinking about where I’ve been. This gorgeous video was directed by Angus Sutherland:
This trip. Sensational. No, better. Sorta like a dream? I flew Air France from Paris to Copenhagen then back again. I listened to Air France on my headphones. They are Swedish and good. Air France (the airline) upgraded me to business class. I thought they were pretty good too. Then they lost my luggage and my worldly possessions. It was then I learnt the phrase, c’est la vie.
This CFS Loves edition comes from Paris. I am whipping around the world at the speed of light it seems. Let’s pretend for a moment I am writing to you from a charming Parisian pied-à-terre, my dachshund at my feet.
Not a garret that somewhat resembles a hotel room, just now with 8 people sharing it. It’s so funny… the room retains the original hotel feel – tacky painting, a desk for correspondence, a side table, there are just 4 sets of bunks shoved in. It’s very ‘romantic’. That said, my fleeting roommates are lovely! We’ve been sharing beer and shampoo – instant friendship. As such, this little collection of links is vaguely travel themed…
By the way, if you want to make me happy like a crocodile at a playground, you can still cast a vote for me in Cleo’s Wonder Women campaign. Email cleo@acpmagazines.co.nz with a vote for Amber Parkin / Blogger. Put WONDER WOMEN in the subject line and include your name and contact details. Sweet as. I mean, merci!
Te puedo pedir un favor? The nice ladies at Cleo Magazine have nominated me in the blogger section of the CLEO Wonder Women Campaign. The campaign celebrates talented Kiwis doing amazing things. Our 12 finalists will be featured in the August issue and the winner gets $5,000 towards her work – but we need your votes to find her! Other women getting kudos include musicians, actresses, athletes, change makers and creatives. It’s an impressive list.
If you like CFS, vote for me! Email cleo@acpmagazines.co.nz with a vote for Amber Parkin / Blogger. Put WONDER WOMEN in the subject line and include your name and contact details. As a reward for your effort, you can win some fab bath goodies (you’ve already got the boobie prize of my unwavering love).
What would I do if I won? Bring to life the idea of a book of travel essays/photography I have floating around in my head, enlisting all the brilliant people I know.
How do you like the new The National album? It’s been growing on me. This video makes Bloodbuzz Ohio even more mellifluous. As Jess said in an email, “Sweet beard, excellent tailoring, feeding ducks. Fin!”
On Saturday night I’m going to be in South Korea. I found the picture above purely by chance, then saw it was in Seoul. I’m excited! I’ve been reading about street styles, the Hangul alphabet, and thinking of making a quick raid on the Dongdaemun night markets.
Forgotten Storefronts in Williamsburg. I liked this because I stayed just around the corner from North 5th Street and Berry Street and know the derelict air of which ScoutingNY speaks.
‘So you feel like Jim Morrison wandering the desert of Wayne’s World 2, with the claw of the hawk god about to pluck you harshly from your pleasant reality?’ Japanese ads for psychiatric drugs.
I’ve stayed the last two nights in a hotel overlooking Auckland’s ferry buildings and Voyager, the maritime museum. It seems apt that this morning I stumbled across this link: Ships In Concrete – Best Maritime Inspired Architecture.
“I don’t really like it,” he said. “It seems to me that people who are on a lot are denying a couple things. They’re making time not exist – the speed of it, the instant back and forth. And, they’re denying that people grow apart.”
Like matrons flirting with one armed bandits, I find myself increasingly refreshing the page, hoping for a little red pop-up, a reward for being witty, interesting or cute. To be honest, I feel like a rat who gets a pellet for pushing the correct buttons. No matter how much praise I get, I still want more, and I want it now. Do the words mean anything to me, or is it just the thrill of the red bubble?
From now on, I want to concentrate on slowing down. When I travel, I prefer to linger, enjoying the passage of time and the ‘I wish things would never end’ sentiment (I’m the only girl I know who hass spent 10 days straight in Bangkok, not going to the islands). Why not apply this chrono-appreciation to the every day? Learn to savour the slow things in life…
The other point about cultivating dead friendships struck me too. Perhaps we should appreciate them as flowers, and accept sometimes they’ll wither away. Again, if they’re worth saving, we should take our time in reviving them, using love and face to face interaction.
With those fresh thoughts in my head, here are several beautiful things that are slow, delightful and worth taking time over:
