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.

Photo courtesy of some guy's Wordpress site. I'll assume he swiped it from someone.

I know I’m late to the party with this whole Charlotte Gainsbourg thing. For years the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin has been floating in my periphery; but I guess I got confused as to whether she was an actress or a musician or a starlet more famous for being famous than anything else.

Never mind that I’ve actually seen her in half a dozen movies and, though her performances were staggering, for some reason I never got around to IMDB her. No, I didn’t see Antichrist. I’ll get on it. Gad, stop looking at me like that!

Call me a dolt, but there is so much talentless progeny of creative icons out there; I get confused and throw up shields impervious to any sort of cultural osmosis whenever I hear a famous last name attached to a new first name. In this instance, I’m a total idiot. I admit it. I’m trying to change.

I first (knowingly) heard Gainsbourg on KCRW a couple of weeks ago. I had no idea who was on, but I loved the song enough to whip out my iPhone and Shazam it–because I had to know who it was AT THAT VERY SECOND.

Then, this week I read a recent New York Times article on her new Beck-produced CD, “IRM.” My favorite part of the article (I’m not missing the point, I swear.) is her mother’s quote: “She is she, not Serge, not me. But, sweetly she has our voices in her head.” It’s like a tiny poem that needs not one more sentence to complete it. It’s also a two-sentence parenting philosophy–just tape it above your kid’s bed and think about it every day. That’s all you’ll ever need to have a perfectly well-adjusted kid, right?

Anyway, since you probably missed her David Letterman appearance on Friday (and her drummer in a wolf man mask!), opting instead to watch Conan O’Brien’s swan song, give the kid a moment of your time and watch her charmingly shy, inherently cool performance–and watch Beck back her up on guitar and vocals–at the KCRW studio. You won’t regret it. Promise. They even do a little bit of insightful chit-chat at the end.

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.

My jewelry obsession has taken me far and wide on the world wide interwebs, but never have I been so swoonfully (not a word, but it should be) in love with a designer as I have with Freshy Fig. I hesitated to even write about her, since I don’t want all of her stuff to get scooped up before I can afford EVERY LAST FREAKING PIECE OF IT!

I do a little bit of metal-smithing and jewelry-making myself, so when I find a designer whose art I want to utterly and completely plagiarize, I know I’ve found a favorite. Oh, Freshy Fig, you complete me. You really do. Hello, Freshy Fig… It is you I’m looking for.

*Disclaimer: While I love all of these pieces I hesitated to post my very favorites so as not to draw attention to them before I have the scratch to buy them. Sorry… no I’m not.

Courtesy of Lissie's Myspace page

Lately, it seems Los Angeles has become a hub to an ever-growing collection of alt country artists. Great timing for me, an ardent fan of alt country and Americana music. One blazing young star in Los Angeles’ ever expanding milky way of hopeful starlets is Lissie Mauris.

Hailing from Rock Island, Ill she relocated to LA about five years ago and now resides in Ojai. And having gotten herself in with the right people who knew the right people who knew the right people who knew the right people, she scored herself a touring gig with Lenny Kravitz without so much as a debut CD.

With all the promise and charm of a young Jewel (give me all the flack you want, “Who Will Save Your Soul” is a good song), but without a hint of the affected optimism or naiveté, Lissie’s sound revels in the catharsis of heartbreak before she kicks it to the curb and moves on in a “take no prisoners” sort of way, with her tar and nicotine soaked vocals.

After hearing her on KCRW back in November, I downloaded her new EP “Why You Runnin’”. Listening to it is like taking a rambling roadtrip through the past five years of heartbreak and self-discovery in Lissie’s life.

The lyrics and music are great, but it’s Lissie’s vocals: a blend of raw refinement reminiscent of a Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffith, Stevie Nicks, late-night, cigarette-smoking, slumber party that’s the real star of the CD. All of the songs are great, but the standout is a cover of Hank Williams’ “Wedding Bells”; a rendition so powerful and true it will send a chill down your spin, a knot in your stomach, and an ache in your heart.

Here, have a listen, why don’t you.

And here are some great originals that didn’t make it on her EP. Obsessed? Yes. What of it?

Your Chest
I Don’t Know