rock 'n roll and r&b

I picked up a CD from the Listening Room of my library a few weeks ago. It is one of those compilation albums of rock 'n roll songs from the 1960s and it is so great. It is so great mostly because it introduced me to Bobby Freeman:



Not only do I love songs that promote a lot of flailing around and having fun, I LOVE songs that introduce new dance moves. Sometimes instructions within a song can go really wrong, but this is just perfect. It is a little uncomfortable watching the audience look so bored but it's actually in a funny way. Why are you just sitting there? Bobby Freeman is teaching you to do the Swim! At least the girls performing are awesome. You can tell they are thinking about how awesome they must look, being stony-faced and badass.

Some of my friends recently linked to the new Gnarls Barkley video for his single "Run." It is also great (both song and video), I think, and it really builds off of this dance show tradition.



As a longtime *N Sync fan (I'm not ashamed, I would totally be at a reunion concert), I really like the Justin Timberlake opening. Even without that, though, it is such a good video and song. There needs to be more dancing like this! Even if it is a spoof of Graffiti Rock.

flats

I've been trying to be a vegetarian for over a year now. I've been pretty successful since last June, but I also haven't purchased many shoes since last June. I've purchased two pairs, I think, and one of those I wore out during my time in Delhi.

I've found it difficult trying to find really beautiful, well-made shoes that aren't leather. I especially like to wear shoes that fully cover my feet, because the two places I spend most of my time nowadays (Minnesota and Iowa) are both rather snowy, wet, or muddy for most of the year. Plus, since I'm looking for everyday shoes, I prefer flats. That's even trickier. I've been told I could just capitalize on the synthetics used for bargain shoes at Payless, Target, and those sorts of places, but I want things to really last, you know? This hasn't been too troubling for me yet, since I haven't had to buy shoes, but my favorite old pair of purple Campers are going to wear a hole in the heel and that means I need at least one pair of new shoes. For now I'm trying not to buy so much in general, so I'm hoping to maybe pick up some nice shoes at secondhand stores (I feel ok about reused leather) but I've had a few pairs of secondhand shoes fall apart in the past. So buying new might be better? I'm still deciding, but for now I present the fruits of my hours-long vegetarian shoe shopping search:

The Irregular Choice website was pretty crummy when I last looked at it (sometime last year), but now it is fancy and full of three seasons' worth of amazing leather shoes. They have a few, well, fairly ugly veg shoes, but also a few cute pairs.
Irregular Choice Juniper yellow canvas boot, $71.25

Irregular Choice Stripes Ahoy maryjanes, $45; Irregular Choice Lea Rama red canvas flat, $39.50; Irregular Choice Jump Around satin flat, $42

Camper Casi 20783-002 synthetic leathers wedge, $105

Camper Camaleon 18036-004 cotton and rubber shoe, Camper Camaleon 20488-004, each $90
(This is the same shoe model as the first first photo, but in a faint pink and a bright red)




Camper Peu 20775-001 grey cotton and rubber maryjanes, $75



Camper Peu 20772-005 fuschia cotton and rubber sneakers, $90


Shellys London Summer Skimmer, $29.99 and Neopolitan D'Orsay Peeptoe, $29.99




These are SO Orla Kiely inspired. I'd like to have them both.
Old Navy Canvas Ankle Strap Skimmers, $7.99 and Old Navy Canvas Ballet Flats, $12.99


Old Navy Printed Satin Flats, $15; Old Navy Canvas Skimmers, $16.50; and Old Navy Canvas Skimmers, $12.99




AE Print Espadrille Ballet Flat, $19.95 and AE Springtime Flat, $14.95

summer projects

summertime scones

Mallory linked me to pretty much The Most Perfect scone recipe over at the Star Tribune a while ago. I've made both blueberry and strawberry so far this summer. And if I weren't leaving for India next Saturday(!) I'd bake a couple dozen more.

My brother graduated and my grandma brought a big pail of strawberries from the patch in her yard when she visited for the party. 1.25 cups for scones barely made a dent in the bucket.

While the recipe is meant to be for strawberry scones, my momma and I both agreed that blueberry was better. They also kept longer. I just put in a cup and a quarter blueberries and cut out the preserves, currants, and (obviously) the strawberries. In fact, I didn't put preserves or currants in my strawberry scones, either. I've been so wound up about the details in the past couple years that I think I've finally caved into a permanent state of tossing-hands-in-the-air. Don't have preserves? Who cares! I should really iron this before sewing it, huh? Oh well! Put in a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon of baking soda? Scooping parts out will be good enough, I'm sure. And it usually is.

By the way: I did manage to add a sprinkling of sugar to the top of my scones. Without the recipe telling me to and everything. I'd recommend it.

home life

I should be writing here more often. Perhaps that should be a resolution, but I don't want to seal it in just yet. For now, some photos I took around the bedroom at home.