I meant to do some advanced Christmas shopping. I really did. I booted up my laptop with so much holiday cheer you’d swear I smelled of pine needles and had snowflakes in my hair.

I truly had the utmost intention of finding lovely, unique trinkets for my family and girl friends. But then something happened. Maybe it’s that I got started on my Christmas shopping a little too early. Maybe it’s that I’m just a horribly selfish person who secretly covets anything that dangles or shimmers all for myself. Or maybe it’s that the gorgeous, gleaming, and glossy acrylic jewelry of Silvercocoon by Tia Salmela Keobounpheng was too much temptation for my tainted holiday spirit.

I shopped for myself and only myself. I’ll look forward to having nothing but coal in my Christmas stocking this year. That’s cool; I’ll console myself with my awesome new Pod earrings, and the glossy Stone Necklace, which should arrive in the next few days (squeeeee)! Bah humbug. Word! I mean, sorry.

If anyone has any jewelry websites that might give me some redemption, I’m listening.

Sometimes it’s nice just to slow down and enjoy the essence of things. I love seeing these calm, focused interpretations of some of my favorite classics. I found most of these here, but also did a little Googling to find some by BrickHut and BackstotheWall.

If you don’t click on the one with the bullet holes, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s amazing, but cut off in the thumbnail.

Speaking of being a better person, for the next couple of weeks, StudioKMO will be selling her line drawings of New Orleans for $35, and all proceeds will go to cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico, which is more than the fucktard nation that runs Best Petroleum is doing, let me tell you. And they’re pretty nifty, too: A long series of straight, vertical lines make up this drawing. Look closely, if you don’t believe me.

A beautiful gift. A good cause. Nothing better.

OMG, I so need this. Found at BeepArt on Etsy.com

A good mix has, on more occasions than I care to admit, convinced me I was completely in love with a boy… and I’m not just talking about during high school and college. And I’m not just talking about boys that were even remotely dateable… you know what, let’s just change the subject.

I’ve kept every mix ever given to me and still relish the impressive storytelling through song on favorite compilations such as “I Can’t Believe You Made Me Wear a Tie”, “Who Gives a F**K About Laura Palmer When Audrey Horne Is On?“, “OMG! Let’s Go Hiking!” (which, incidently, didn’t really have any songs related to hiking, but was given to me just prior to a major Grand Canyon hike), and a more recent favorite from a friend who actually found a punk song where the only audible word screamed by the singer was an impassioned, “Jaaaaaaanellllllllle! Jaaaaaaanellllllllle!” for the three-plus-minute track.

Sadly, the art of the mix seems to have died with the advent of the iPod. Try as I do, the hints I drop never seem to result in the bestowal of a mix. As of late I have begun to bemoan the mix as a romantic piece of nostalgia, and a craft and skill that is steadily on the wane.

So, in my single-handed crusade to revive the fine art of mixes (in particular, the ones that are given to me), ownership of the awesome laptop decal above is crucial, as is this cool print, as is this beyond adorable keychain, as is this grossly over-priced, yet fantastic embroidered pouch, as is anything found on Etsy.com under search word “cassette”. I do have a birthday coming up, people!

Eh, or maybe I’ll just start saving my pennies for cassette-inspired trinkets: I’m nothing if not self-sufficient.

Silence, remembrance, and thanks to J.D. Salinger. You were one of the best, you wonderful reclusive genius, and I–among many, many others–are forever in your debt. In a statement from his family: “Salinger had remarked that he was in this world but not of it. His body is gone but the family hopes that he is still with those he loves, whether they are religious or historical figures, personal friends or fictional characters.”

May you find the peace you were looking for on the other side. And may you know the peace you brought to others by giving such truth to a character that, for a moment (or roughly 200 pages), we felt a little less alone. Thank you, Salinger. Thanks.

And some of my favorite quotes, by the master.

“The worst that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly.” ~De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period

“It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road.” ~The Catcher in the Rye*

“I’m tired of people who don’t have the courage to be an absolute nobody.” ~Franny and Zooey

And my absolute favorite, which I found on Beliefnet, of all places: “The most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy is a liquid.” ~J.D. Salinger.

*Disclaimer. To anyone who has the urge to comment: yes, I am aware that Holden Caufield was a pretty pathetic character. At the time I read Catcher in the Rye, I was a pretty pathetic character myself. Still am, on occasion.

I met Megan Stelzer, the designer of these necklaces, last summer at a dance-party show in Kittery, Maine, a few weeks before I moved to Los Angeles. I had just taken up metal-smithing and had a hawk eye out for cool pieces to inspire me; she was wearing the coolest key necklace I had ever seen. I made a beeline for her, gushed over all things metal and inspiring, and a full-blown girl crush on this incredible designer was born.

If there was anyone I would recommend you have a crush on, it would be Megan. Over the past few months, she and I have kept in touch over Facebook and I’ve only grown to like her more. Not only is she wildly creative, whip-smart, staggeringly funny, and brimming over with warmth and purpose–and a super-fun dancer to boot–she has an incredible, indescribable, openness about her. It’s no mistake then, that a woman whose door is left wide open to welcome you in specializes in creating gorgeous key necklaces, much like the one that drew me to her many months ago.

Megan will custom-make an order using any key you want; these would be a perfect present to a child who moves away, but whom you always want to know is welcome home, or to boyfriend or girlfriend who has earned the keys to your place. Or just for someone who has unlocked something in you that’s been stowed away for a long, long time.

The keys aren’t the only beautiful pieces of jewelry Megan makes. She has a whole Etsy site. Take a peek. Feel the crush.

Photos courtesy of Megan’s Etsy site. I do not own any of these necklaces, alas. Sigh.