STUDIO MAKEOVER

It has been nearly a year since I moved into my current flat.  I haven’t done much decorating but I do tend to be on the minimalist side so it hasn’t been a complete eyesore.  I ordered a sectional that’s not really a sectional.  It was a custom order and I inadvertently made it too small, so now any coffee table seems odd in front of it.  I have tried many options since, two Lack tables (two too big), a petite glass and stainless steel table that just barely fits.  My next try will perhaps be round but for now I have tired of coffee table-gate.

I decided since the sofa and table are there and not hideous, I would tackle the room I spend the most time in first–my dining room now studio. I had ordered a very inexpensive, okay cheap, version of this desk when I moved in.  I broke a whole side leg within two weeks of its arrival and the shady company I procured it from would not return my calls.  I assumed when I bought the desk it was a high gloss lacquer (the tiny photo and text were in a foreign language) but came as a matte white which became a dirt and fingerprint magnet.  I decided this week to finally give it away.  Now, desk-less and free of compulsive cleaning I am able to get to work on the space.  My budget is not huge, meager would be more accurate.  I chose two versions above, the white room is almost all from Ikea and I figured I could check Craigslist first to see if I could get any of the pieces second hand (thus getting better pricing). The black room is completely out of my budget but I thought maybe, I could recreate the look of the library shelves with kitchen cabinets and molding?  The large shelving piece is $1,500 which I admit is a great price for the size and it would fit perfectly against my wall but alas that is $1,500 more than I have to spend. The small desk is from Cost Plus and very reasonable.  
Don’t worry that there’s an absence of color, I will bring that in with all my color coded books, yes, every book is organized by color and if I have my way one day I will make custom covers and my own personal Dewey Decimal system.  I digress, so you now have an idea of what I am looking for any ideas for me of how to accomplish this and not going straight to the poor house?
P.S. The swatch of carpet is what I have in that room now, I am not a fan of carpeting but as far as carpet goes it’s not that bad.  It resembles sisal and I do like that.

UNITED THREAD

I am a fan of the bee.  I always have been being a B. myself (Miss B. that is and not the other ‘b’ word). I feel a bit of a kinship.  The first time I was ever stung by one it was completely my fault and I accepted my fate.  On my pre-school playground I witnessed a bunch of bee’s that looked liked they suffered a most unfortunate accident. They were heaped haphazardly in a pile below a tree. I was convinced upper school hooligans had vandalized their hive and I mourned their loss. I decided the bee’s needed a proper burial. Whilst my brethren hung upside down from the jungle gym or joined their fellow pre-k’s in a game of chase (oblivious to the horror’s of the world at large,)  I took it upon myself to do the right thing and give the bee’s a proper burial.  One bee had not yet succumbed to the grim reaper and decidedly did not want to be buried alive thus placing it’s stinger smack in the middle of my tiny thumb–I would have done the same.  It hurt but not as much as knowing the bee died afterward as a result.  My career in bee undertaking was over in a flash.

I now prefer to admire the bee world from afar, so as to save both the bee’s and myself from any undue harm. United Threads, Three Honey Bee Hives, is one such work that instills that admiration.  I revel in the the geometric hives the artist created and you can almost hear the buzz of the busy bee’s.  It made me happy when I found it and I hope it does the same for you.

TWENTY-ELEVEN GOALS

So I mulled it over with George and she thought perhaps it was a good idea that I share some of my goals for 2011. Granted, George was sorely disappointed that none of my goals included bacon, perhaps next year.  Let me briefly walk you through my list and hopefully by the simple act of adding + airing it to the interwebs I shall magically accomplish them all, a cyber osmosis of sorts.
  • Get married. On the 30th of December my Fancy (my fiancee) and I wrote down some of our goals.  We both agreed that we should get married all ready.  We (meaning me) decided on two dates–9.10.11 or 11.11.11.
  • Launch Besotted Brand. I do have every intention of launching Besotted Brand which if you are not sure what that is or what I plan do, my tagline is ‘purveyors of fine design’,  so I plan on doing some fine purveyoring.
  • Become more proficient at Illustrator. I have never been great with Adobe’s Illustrator. In fact if there was a short bus for graphic designers I would surely be relegated to it. Good thing I am enrolled in a class next week so I will be honing those neglected skills.
  • Buy a new computer and have it calibrated. My current computer may as well be an abacus. I have needed a new computer for about oh? Half a decade now, it’s time.  My new computer will be calibrated so my print outs will actually correspond to the colors I see on the screen, how novel.
  • Learn a new language. With the exception of Pig Latin and a few key words in French my language repertoire is sorely lacking. Being that mi madre speaks mainly Spanish I figured I would try my hand (or rather my tongue) at that. It will give me someone to practice with at the very least at the very best I will finally be able to argue with her in her native tongue. I checked out the Pimsleur Spanish cd’s at the library and have been listening to them in the car and at the office.
  • Quit my job and earn a living doing what I love. Need I say more?
  • Make some $$$ from my photography. I will take it in any capacity-teaching, classes, editing, my prints, actions, textures, clients, etc.  This is the year for me to make this happen.
  • Start a creative writing project. I do a lot of writing for work but it’s the kind of insipid text that any reader unfortunate enough to have it placed in front of them can attest to it being an excellent curative for insomnia.  The dictionary would be more lively.  I am bored just writing about it. I have asked an ally in the plight against banal prose to join me in the good fight, she has agreed to help save me from myself.
I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory, but if you need clarification I am here. I am pretty thrilled that I am head long into day five of this new year and have actually made some progress on my list.  At this rate I may actually be able to accomplish some of the above.

xx, besos, mi amigas!

READING LIST::JANUARY 2011

I am a voracious reader.  I have been since I was a wee lass and my eccentric mother taught me to read at an age when most children are still trying to make sounds that resemble words.  I don’t believe for a second my mother taught me to read for my edification but rather as a means to get me to stop harassing her to read the same book over and over again each night (as most parents are challenged to do).  My reading has never been linear, I am of the ‘more is more’ camp when it comes to reading and often start multiple books at a time.  I haven’t met many individuals like myself but when I do, we feel a certain kinship, we are like a secret society of reading rebels. For all the readers and rebels alike I shall let you in on what is currently stacked precariously on my nightstand:

So there you go my fine friends this is my reading list for January 2011, which I am sure will continue to grow as the months progress. What books shall I add?  You know now I have a soft spot for Swedish thrillers as well.