It's Fridaaaay, Bitches

happy Friday all you pyt’s.
if you are down in the dumpster,
listen to the song and let it make
you feel cool. cool like debbie
harry cool. cool like Sofia.
cool like wes’s brain and the
rodarte girls. if you are high
on life, remember a bird could
poop on your head. like it did
us. monday afternoon.

keep it real, keep it calm.
keep it strong and keep it cool.

*f

Love & Memories

Why do some songs pull on your heartstrings? Why do some songs resonate in the deepest part of your gut? They ignite flashes of memories in your brain. You remember the first time you fell off your bike. Hit your head (you were wearing a helmet) and scratched up both knees (two giant strawberries). The first time you cried over those sharp pains in your heart (you really loved him, how could you live without him??). Hugs at the visitation (why am I consoling other people? you thought). Blink of the eye lucid images appear. Your mom’s laugh. Your friends at the beach. Your visceral reaction toward tragedy: 9/11, shootings, Katrina, tsunamis, tornadoes, warfare…bursts of color. Red hues. Black smoke. Blue skies.

Maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t.

For us, music has always been profoundly personal, private, shared and deeply loved. It began with a summer of Kurt Cobain fascination (an entire summer of music video watching: Soundgarden, Blind Melon, even Snoop and Dre). Inspired crushes with each verse, notably “She Loves You” by the Beatles per a grade school chorus concert solo. Our heart soared and lept. We might have even wept a little.

We clung to DMB in high school, just like our friends. We wore only clothes from Express. Just like our friends. We secretly adored Ani, unlike most of our friends. We secretly wanted to go to art school, unlike our friends. We wore mostly black for a while, our math teacher (Algebra III, don’t ask) pegging us the “Princess of Darkness.” Rebel phase. We progressed and developed devotional crushes on classic rock. Van Morrison. The Stones. John Hiatt. The Doors. Bonded with Rick Springfield, Joan Jett, Bob Marley, Zeppelin, and Cougar Mellencamp at all our local college bars. Bonded with them more than a few of our college crushes? Definitely. Seeing as this relationship lasted longer than the inevitable 2 am last call.

Now? We breeze through hip-hop, jazz, sultry soul, and mellow indie rockers. Music ignites us, always excites us. And we love, love this song by Oren Lavie. It’s a LOT Badly Drawn Boy. A little Postal Service. A little Nick Drake. A little Hellogoodbye. A little John Mayer-ish with deeper, more poetic lyrics. It’s a resonator and definite stimulator. Lovestring-tugger and heartfelt melodic dreamweaver.

Jason & Colbie Foreva

Are you:

*heartbroken?
*in love?
*wistful? lustful? dreamful? romantic?

you'll love this song.

*f & j

It's Friday, We're in Love.

Solange - I Decided Music Video

*Could be our Summer Song.
*Is our favorite new video.
*Is our favorite song right now.
*Not overly catchy, just subtly and quietly catchy= we won't get sick of it.
*We predict a nice, long summer shelf life.
*And are currently trying to learn Solange's moves in the vid. Retrosexy, vintage vixen!

*f

We're Famous

Bowler Hat art party. Chicago. We whiskied 'round the room, taking in the pretty pieces and the strange artists and the fabulosity DJ duo and even donned a bowler hat for the occasion.

We chatted up Mr. Bizarro in the top pic with our sista and marveled at the different sorts that perused the party rounds in this here town. Us in flip-flops and rained-on hair, them in sparkly gowns and black ties.

What a night, what a town. We think we'll always feel more comfortable with movie nights and good friends, but what the hey. It's good to test your comfort zone, eh, moonpies?


*j

This Year's Love

"Maybe that’s what they should be selling in the
fairytales. That we all have the capacity to fall
in love over and over again. That’s much more
beautiful..."

-Jude

a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down*

thanks jude for your charismatic wizardry.

-f

*by sugar we mean whiskey and beer

Wheel of Fortune

danae diaz is the shit.

this lass puts the 'c' in class, and makes us wanna hip, holla, and spit. the way she uses black, white, and red is so spanish and excellent! we wanna draw and paint and make images this fuggin' sexcellent.

and while we're at it, do you ever get that urge? the urge to dump everything you're doing, scale back, and purge? not like in that way, but in like getting back to the basics. throw out your tv set and paint a few faces. or puppies or bunnies or your great uncle Theodore. or grandmas with slippers or the Roosevelt, Eleanor.

well we sure do. so we keep this quote in our room. to remind us to rewind us and think, dare, and bloom:

"i want to create something brilliant genius never done before beautiful crazy and new something totally avante garde"

or something to that effect, at this very moment we just can't remember. but you get the gist, just take it, spin it, give it your twist (be the next tupac).*

*life's a wheel of fortune, and it's my turn to spin it.

-tupac

xxf

Love You No Shit

(fast-forward to 1:30 to get things going) This vid's for you, Frank.

Sometimes things don't work out. You don't get the job, the guy's not a fit, the CD you bought really only has two solid songs on it, which you could've bought for for $1.99 instead of $5 for each good song.

But that's okay, and you have to know it's okay. Alexander was right. Some days are no good and very bad and beyond. But Annie was oh so right and righteous and above and beyond. So keep waking up for a fresh start, a tabula rasa, a new world, and all that jazz. Eat cupcakes for breakfast and sip champagne here and there throughout your rough and tumble day. Because we don't just say that stuff, we abide by it.* When life gives you crap, get through it, remember to like yourself, and try to laugh when dogs poop. Because that is seriously hilarious.

*j

*Not that we're tipsy the whole time. Geez, get your minds outta the gutters, bellas.

Spring Chiggen.

happy post-easter day y'all.

hope yours was good, warm, and cluttered

with folks that matter the most and somewhat

soaked in day drinks and toast on the balcony

or in a home that is warm and charming.

ours was pleasant and kind and easy unwind

style. church in the city was jazzy and pretty

and even the homeless were there to share

in some sort of big unified lack of divide.

but sometimes we miss the glitter and mist

of egg design and all of that vinegar. 

so this year we bought a stuffed chick 

to cuddle in bed, flowers for ourselves

 and two friends, and ate chocolate

bunnies 'till  late into the night! 

hoppy spring!

*f

Valentastic.

You're not that Valentine-enthused?
Your heart is broken?
Your cavity is killing you!
You feel shitty.
You stomach hurts.
The dog ate your shorts again.
You got into a fight with your bf or gf, fiancee, hubcap or wifaraner.
You just really really wanna buy a fucking puppy already but the timing is just not right.
Your mom is doing another weird mid-life thing.
You're secretly bored of all the talking heads. Republican. Democrat. Baloney mish mash diarrhea mouth bash blah blah green al gore likeability polls states primaries the election.
You're listless.
You're frustrated again, and guess what? It's sexual.
You can't figure out that last crossword puzzle clue and it's driving you totally bonk.
You're sick of staying IN and PLAYING BOGGLE all the goddam time.
The cold.
The snow.
The seeping ice in your boots and salt marks on your pants!!!!!!!

THEN
TURN
THIS
SONG
UP.

And get happy with Will.i.am's Jackson 5-ish "Fantastic." It'll make ya feel groovy, no time flat. Don't worry (be happy) winter is almost over. Get laid.

*f

2nd Star & Straight On Till the Orient

Where would you go, if you had everything in front of you? Where would you venture, if money didn't matter and time was all you had? Some would choose the moon, some would choose the sea, some would choose pretty black mountains to climb away to the very same moon.
*
But we, we cannot choose. Maybe because money does matter, and maybe because time is not all we have, but definitely maybe because there are so many wonderful places we want to walk through and live through during this little ol' life of ours. But you see, don't you see, India's too security warning-heavy, vietnam is too monsoon-ensconsed, and New Zealand is too pricey. So where would we go, if we knew we'd only be going once, just once, in our deary little lifetime?
*
Maybe South Africa,
maybe Brazil.
Maybe Morocco
to the pretty-ditty land of Fes.
*
Who knows, but then again, why not throw back to the good ol' days. Really now, how de lovely would it be to go on an adventure on rail? A divine, old-school throwback to the times of ladies in frocks and liquid eyeliner and dining cars in which you sing about washing your hair with the snow in Vermont. The days of Harry Potter.
*
Well hello and how are you to the very fine Orient-Express. Can't you just feel Ms. Christie getting chills and thrills of excitement down her pretty little spine?
*
And if money didn't matter (which it shouldn't) and spending wasn't no thing (which it shouldn't be), then we think we just might embark upon such a journey, skirting through the wide wicked world of Italy sunsets and inviting grape fields and pretty women in colorful scarves.


*j

2 Things We Want More Than Sex.*

Just so ya know. And you should. As She is one of the The
Most Innovative Avant-garde Trendsetter Fashion Flowers
and Icons of recent times. Even her logo is cool. Check out
Her new line. And let yourself get a little Mary Katealicious
styletastically badassically Mormon-chic. Liberating!



And this dvd. The documentary from the magical breath-defying work of Marc & Louis. No explanation ness here.

*That is just for title truth stretching dramatic effect and grab-you-by-the-skinny-jeans-and-eff-me-boots attention gettingness.

To Be Continued.

So like it's time for New Year's resolutions blah blah blah. No but it is and you know it too. And we for one, are kinda like involved in a bet-contest sort of thing this year with our boy and let's just say we are a sore loser so, We Will Not Lose. But that means we are working toward getting ours uh, resolved. Resoluted? Be soluted?

So, with a heavy heart we are giving up sugary sweets. Cause sweets have caused us uh, like at least twelve cavities. And candies are kinda like our drugsies. And drugs are bad, McGruff. Of course, we have also made several personal resolutions. Like the one below. Share yours! And let's see if we can make some changes in 2008, Tupac. Or as our daddio says, Twopack.

it's
okay to
just be.

be a daredevil. be a bridesmaid. be an educator.be a sore loser. be an adventurer.be a walking conundrum. be a napper.be a hefty tipper. be free. be an open book.be loud. be soft. be sensitive.be afraid of squirrels. be a skeptic of going green. be a believer in going green. be a takeout queen.be on a search. be a vegetarian. be in love.be a component to something BIGGER.be a doctor. be a leftist. be a grocery store bagger. be a believer. be a bright light. be an alchemist. be a wordsmith.be a trendsetter. be a bartender.be dangerous. be careful. be up for the cause.be down for a good time. be thoughtful.be kind. be slow with your words. be an example. be the change you want to see. be a radical. be quick to pitch in. be altruistic. be a giver. be a friend. be your best.
be something. be anything. be yourself.

And we say that, because we want that to be our new 2008 line of reasoning. Like well, maybe we are a fan of cartoons (not the tv kind), gold, the tacky wacky and kitschy, tiny cute miniature everything, stationary and greeting cards- and um, that is all okay. That is good. Ya know?

2008 is lookin' great!
*f

Another Update from F & J Illustration News.

the cutest thing we saw this past week

looked kinda like this.

and it was about two feet tall.

*f

spoonful of sugar & a little ginger nutty spice.

how to be an artist

stay loose. learn to watch snails. plant impossible gardens. invite someone dangerous to tea. make little signs that say yes! and post them all over your house. make friends with freedom & uncertainty. look forward to dreams. cry during movies. swing as high as you can on a swingset, by moonlight. cultivated moods. refuse to "be responsible." do it for love. take lots of naps. give money away. do it now. the money will follow. believe in magic. laugh a lot. celebrate every gorgeous moment. take moonbaths. have wild imaginings, transformative dreams, and perfect calm. draw on the wall. read everyday. imagine yourself magic. giggle with children. listen to old people. open up. dive in. be free. bless yourself. drive aways fear. play with everything. entertain your inner child. you are innocent. build a fort with blankets. get wet. hug trees. write love letters.
(sark)

If we created a metaphorical Strawberry and Vanilla Frosting Golden Delicious Cupcake Guide For Daily Living, Sark would most definitely be the main ingredient. In fact, the recipe we would keep inside our darling little heirloom Swedish wooden recipe box would look something like this:

9 cups Sark (for a vibrant livelihood and to make the dough rise each day with a glimmer)
1/4 cup Tina Fey (for geeky hilarious intellect and to keep it genuine and realzy)
1 heaping spooful Gwen (for rad girl Rastafarian attitude and penchant for beautiful aesthetic and fierceness)
2 tblsp Ayn Rand (for a unique individual radical attitude and unexpected bite)
A dash of Wes Anderson (for imagination and the courage to bring that to life)
5 teaspoons Ben Harper (for honey glow and mellow yellow hello fellow warm heart sweetness)
1 cup J.K. (for keeping a child's curiousity, a brilliance to shine, and capacity to dream big)
4 cups Spice Girls (for sexy neverending fun and ability to keep the good girls of your heart close)

What's in your Magic Cupcake Guide you sexy PYT?
*f

A Tuesday - Er, Monday - Truth

art love

Here, here, old man. And heeere we go...

1. The next 12 issues of The New Yorker, at our right
2. Sofia champy, at our left
3. A pretty cerulean-colored plane ticket for two that works on any airline on any flight at any time of the day. Forever.
4. When we think of a book, it appears
5. Newsies, on repeat
6. Dancing allll night long
7. Lots of orange juice. Because we heart orange juice. And no, that's not code for something more subversive. It's just orange juice, which is yummy enough in itself, if we do say so ourselves. In fact, if we are talking fantasy, which we are, let's make that orange juice straight from that stand in New Smyrna that sold the freshest of fresh just-squeezed orange goodness. YUM.
8. Little pugs, all around and upside down
9. A wardrobe filled with very colorful dresses, a la Pushing Daisies costume closet
10. Banksy and Gandalf, in a tent on our porch, to talk to whenever we need them

Okay, pretties, what abouts you??


*j

Syrup Love.

Where: The Bathroom.

When: This Morning, after Breakfast.

Why: To clarify why it is we do wash, after Pancakes.

Fran (ageless): "Okay, let's wash up. Come on, faces and..."  

Alex (7): "I know! I already know!!!!!! Cause you get fuzzies on your hands after you eat pancakes!"

hahahaha,

*f

Art Imitating Music Imitating Cartoons...What?

We can't say we 'get' everything David Shrigley does with Worried Noodles (this visual artist's collection of lyrics and cartoonish outlandish-ism). We can't say we agree with some of his disturbing outbursts (any bash toward an animal= no cupcakes for you, our friend. no matter how pretty are. stop batting your eyelashes at us! stop it!).

But we can say uh, hey that's kinda interesting. Hey uh, Shrigley is kinda undeniably poetic. If only in an-insane-in-the-membrane kinda way. Hey, so Franz Ferdinand, David Byrne, Hot Chip, Islands, Liars, Grizzly Bear, and Deerhoof (buzzworthy name drop) all jumped on board to record the 39 'tracks' off this booklet. And uh, that's just cool. And we just have a fondness for like nonsensical noncompoopness combined with the art of doodling and cartoon madness.

It would, at least, make for a good conversation piece slash coffee table book. Just don't have Granny over for tea and crumpets. She would have a hard time swallowing her biscuit.

*f

Wake the Shake Up! Wednesday

A vampire, a zombie and a ninja sat down for tea on the roof of the old red barn.

They chitted, they chatted, they laughed like only outcasts can laugh.

And then they decided to take life by the balls and go for it. We mean really go for it.

And that, deary moonpies, is your lesson and our lesson of the day. So grab those balls and take a leap.

*j

Cubicle Escapism 101

photo love

Two beautiful-quirky city dwellers who skipped town and cubicles to embark upon a new adventure and an promising venture: a kitschy-classy store called The Curiosity Shoppe. In need of a whittling kit? Searching for un perfecto slingshot pencil for the bus driver who failed to STOP or even slow down at your bus stop this morning? And a new pinhole camera to capture the moment? Well oh boy, we know where to send ya. And if you just need some inspiration on a Tuesday when your brain is foggy and your glass is half-empty, then head over and get your fill. Because the world is full of possibilities, and we're just waiting to see what you come up with, mon cheries. Time to get crackin'...


*j