know your state's deadline to register. TEXAS' DEADLINE IS MONDAY.
votexas.org

there's a new member of the trigger|bear household.

please meet our thrifted harmonium.

| inside my purse | september 2008 |

♥ a carrot cake clif bar, just in case i get "hangry"* or forget to bring a meal to work. (i am also the type of person who keeps an extra coat in their car. super prepared.)

♥ a copy of dharma bums, which i am currently reading.

♥ an ipod. nothing shocking there. (odds are i'm listening to the avett brothers.)

♥ liberty bell stamps.

♥ my business/calling card. (the one with the antique key on it.)

♥ my keys with (1) my plastic skeleton key keyring, (2) a tennessee keyring from my friend's 3 month roadtrip, (4) the key to a friend's storage space, and (5) cards for hancock fabrics, my gym, petco, and cvs.

♥ my planner, which doubles as a journal. i write down and doodle EVERYTHING in there, which sometimes gets me in trouble as i am prone to leave it out. (also, if you're crafty, you can figure out my real name from looking at it.)

♥ yellow kenneth cole wallet with my incentive card from a local bead shop, two buttons for the store i buy most of my vinyl from, and a button for make magazine.





*hangry = hunger induced anger, usually cured with snacks.

♥ bear's sister came to town + i had a day off = we floated the river to celebrate the end of most folks' summer vacations. (the above picture, however, is from swimming in the pool today.)

♥ i secured a new job at a cluster of vintage specialty shops, the benefits of which strongly outweigh the eventual loss of pay when my parttime training segues into fulltime employment and i am left to leave my well-paying, scandalous job at the adult themed store. however, when you factor in the money i spend on gas because of the nature of the location, hours, and customers at my scandalous job and the new luxury of being able to bike to the vintage stores, the difference may not be that large. other luxuries include working for young women who are living my dream, with men and women who share my hobbies and passions, in a pedestrian (and pet!) friendly environment, selling items i adore.

♥ when i was in middle school, i went to california with my mom and sister to visit my uncle in san francisco and travel with him down the coast line to LA. we stayed in a cabin in big sur, watched the weight lifters in venice beach, camped in yosemite, and swam in the ocean. while in SF, we went to a museum to see a fabirgue egg exhibit and my uncle, who bought me my first pair of killer cowboy boots (with tassles all the way down) in 1988 when he was living in new mexico, told me i could pick out something from the museum gift shop. an exhibit on 1960s fashion must have recently passed through (or worse, been hidden in another part of the museume that i missed!) because there were stacks of books on the subject, and i clutched the largest, brightest book on 1960s fashion tightly to my chest. "i want this one." it's still one of my favorite books, sitting next to a vintage book on beauty "written by" twiggy (a gift from a very special man before i left new york).

♥ my friend
danny malone has made it to the third round of ACL's "sound and the jury," a multi-level election to earn local bands the opportunity to play at ACL fest this year. danny has previously been voted something-or-another at SXSW and featured on BrooklynVegan for his cover of Joanna Newsom's "sadie." he's hovering between fourth and sixth place, which is the difference between making it to the next round or not. please click here to check him out (and perhaps vote for him).

♥ check back later to learn about my adventures in making jewelry (hopefully for profit)!

refinishing furniture. entertaining guests. floating the comal river. learning to two step at the broken spoke. going to the gym. selling pornography and stripper shoes. going to the thift store. wanting a dog. moving in with bear. buying records weekly (together!). working 40+ hours. finally finishing nathan barley ("peace and fucking"). finally starting weeds. fixing up my bike. receiving care packages of books from my sister. dusting myself off.

wired.com recently reported on the affects of the recession on the porn industry, which has traditionally been one of the few exceptions in times of economic crisis. you can read about it here.

i would love for someone with artistic ability to make me a spoof on the "buy war bonds" posters of yore, proclaiming "buy porn." i have the ability to turn hi-res files into posters quite painlessly. and it would make a lovely house warming gift.

i started my final project for this quarter's sole photography course, an exploration of perceptions of "tattoo culture" through portraits. the aim is not to glorify archetypes but instead present the reality --- there is not "tattoo type." i am setting out to shoot people of all ages, races, and classes. i want to shoot people with heavy coverage to small statements. i want diversity of subjects, statements, and style.

today (at this hour, technically yesterday), i took the below picture of the texan for the series. he had been rather reluctant to pose given the small tattoo he does have, but i'm glad i coaxed him into participating. it is only one of the untouched images i snapped while waiting for water to boil for lunch, but i felt i should put something up as an example of what i'm doing. check back later for the actual images i'll be using the promote the project AND the logo i'm having designed for all future work.



if you are in the central texas area and would like to be a part of this series, please send me a PM and i will get back to you with the specifics. if you don't think you are right for the project, then you're probably exactly what i'm looking for! right now, i am especially looking for people ages 40+ and/or veterans. (being in a particularly conservative state, i feel very strongly about highlighting the military history of tattoos.)

once i have done my final presentation for school, the project won't stop. i hope to expand the series into a show by the end of summer and will be shooting in other cities (milwaukee, wi; minneapolis, mn; nyc) in the upcoming months.