The day has come: my Parlor Sparrow!

At the start of 2013, I, trapped miles and miles from any semblance of decent skiing (see Sugar Mountain), began dreaming of something that seemed incredibly silly and farfetched: designing and skiing on my own pair of skis. Now, as 2013 draws to a close, I have to keep pinching myself as I sit and stare at the pair of purple/yellow Sparrow Parlor skis sitting in my SF apartment.  

These birds, my friends, are mine in a very special way -- in a months-long process, I brought them to virtual life in Photoshop, and the Parlor guys brought them to real life in their Boston workshop. Pretty surreal. They're so beautiful, and in all honesty, I'm kind of scared to ski on them for fear of ruining them! I am, after all, a fairly reckless skier. Ack!

I can't really recall many other occasions that caused me to feel much prouder than I am right now. Being able to create something like this has been so different from anything else I've done (which, granted, isn't much, but still), and it's just been ridiculously rewarding! AHHHH! Thank you Mark, Pete, and Jay at Parlor for taking on Sparrow and Heron -- it's been a true pleasure. And I haven't forgotten about you, Mary! 

If I see anyone with either of these babies (or any of the other awesome Parlor skis available) on the slopes, rest assured that I will chase you down and proceed to, how shall I say this gracefully... lose my shit! In the best way possible, of course. :)

Holidaze

Thanksgiving hasn't even come and gone yet, but Christmas decorations are already up on the lamp posts in Union Square. Facebook statuses about Christmas music are starting to appear. And when I was at Trader Joe's yesterday, shelves of prettily-packaged peppermint bark (along with a host of other candy-cane-derived treats) lured me into at least 20 minutes of pacing, inward drooling, and ruminating on the importance of self indulgence (never mind the pounds of fresh pastries I regularly consume).

This is all very confusing to me, but as I'm still in a jolly mood (see last post), I'm simply going to accept it like the obedient consumer that I am. Hooray for the holidays! Soon it'll be time to break out the wrapping paper, bwuahahaha. That said, here's a take on Thanksgiving giftwrap, just to tickle my own fancy:

"Scalloped"

P.S. For other giftwrap designs, see here and here!

Intergalactic

It's become weirdly luxurious to just sit at home and fiddle around in Photoshop. What's going on? Who am I?! Lol. 

Anyway, I can barely keep my eyes open, so all I have for you today is this cheesy, retro galactic graphic (with some Halloween colors forcibly mixed in)!

"Intergalactic"

 

Zen

Step 1 is finally here, and I'm doing everything in my power to remain calm. I'm so scared to wake up tomorrow, but I'm also SO EXCITED to get it over with! Now, excuse me as I fake a zen state by bingeing 'Breaking Bad' until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Ha! 

"Zen"

SF! SF! SF!

My SAN FRANCISCO adventure is right around the corner! Feeling giddy and empowered! Whooooooo!

"SFO"

Cycling

A lot of people I know are really into road biking. This is something I will never understand, as I hate both biking near cars and driving near bikes. If there are any hills involved, forget it. The stress! The anger! The crotchal pain! And those leotard... costumes... You freaks.

Anyway, from the most unenthusiastic cyclist ever to the most hardcore one I know -- happy belated, R! 

"Roy"

-.-

I'm trying to juggle so many things right now. Everything's a colorful blur -- it's like looking through a kaleidoscope!

"Kaleidoscope"

 

Hide and seek

I'm into disguising things today. Can you spot the oh-so-well-hidden vegetables? Hehe.
 

"Farmer's market"

 

Spin spin spin

So much to do! Sometimes I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. 

"Wheels"

 

Retro

When I was a kid, I loved drawing out good 'ol fashioned bubble letters. Any poster project was a chance to showcase my superior artistic skillz! This, mind you, was ages before I discovered the scourge that is Comic Sans. 

Here's to the days in which I worshiped balloon letters, the curvier the better!

"Retro"

The cave

When Brett and I were in Paris two summers ago, we checked out the Pompidou, a fantastic modern art museum just a few blocks from where we were staying. There were several exhibits that blew my mind, but there's one in particular that still stands out quite vividly (possibly because I have a picture of it on display in my apartment): Jean Dubuffet's "Cave," a whacky, cavernous installation that invited visitors to enter and romp around to their hearts' content. The thick black lines, which seemingly flowed without direction, made the walls appear simultaneously flat and bulging. I kept thinking of rubber bands and Dr. Seuss when I was in there!

"Pompidou?"

Royal hues

Anyone who knows me even peripherally knows that I'm utterly obsessed with the color purple. I've got purple shirts, dresses, outerwear (including ski jacket), pants (including ski pants and trendy shiny pants), pajamas, handbags, jewelry, scarves, shoes (athletic and formal), socks, stethoscope, eyeglasses, water bottle, binders blah blah blah. I'll buy ANYTHING (even something as mundane as a piece of felt) if I'm attracted to the shade of purple it features. 

Naturally, I would really like a pair of purple skis. Pretty please.

"Violaceous"

Movie mania

I started watching movies in movie theaters at a very late age, and the excitement of watching anything on the big screen made me incapable of separating good movies from bad ones. I do remember, however, that in the prime of my movie ignorance, a "two thumbs up" from the mysterious "Siskel and Ebert" meant that I ought to be extra enthusiastic about a film, and so I was careful to be extra impressed by it. 

As I grew up, Siskel died, Roeper came and went, Ebert's lone voice remained, and I became more discerning in my choice of movies. But it still mattered a bit to me what Ebert had to say about certain movies, and I would occasionally seek out his review of a film before deciding to watch it. Granted, I started doubting his opinions when he started giving rave reviews to movies like "The Last Song" starring Miley Cyrus and her now fiance Liam Hemsworth, but it was hard to completely abandon someone who was such a force in movie culture as well as my personal experience with the movies. 

Now that Ebert is gone (I miss him already -- who's going to do a serious review of Adam Sandler's next movie??), I'm not sure who I'll turn to next. At least I can tell on my own now that a movie like "Mulan II" is waaaay worse than its predecessor. The ninth-grade (who am I kidding -- probably more like eleventh-grade) version of myself would be very impressed. 

Q 

"Ebert"

Poipo

I love purple! I also love pronouncing purple as "poipo" -- a dumb but incredibly gratifying act. Plus, doesn't it look so funny on paper/screen?

Q

"Skylark"

 

Paris blues

It's the weekend! Time for leisure, in theory. While I don't have much time for that nowadays, I do like to think of the things I would do and places I would go if I led a more freewheeling life. A life in Paris, for instance. My, those few weeks I spent there were some of the most leisurely ones I've ever had. Fresh croissants and madeleines and creamy whole milk (I don't think skim milk exists in France) in the morning, lunch on the benches of Place des Vogues, fist-sized macarons devoured as snacks.... 

Le sigh. 

Q

"Paris, Je T'aime"

 

Growler

From time to time, I'll think of Killington, VT, where I first learned how to ski. Oh how I miss it! My favorite trail there is Growler -- it's so fun to dodge trees, make sharp jumps/turns, skim over rocks, and sometimes float, sometimes plummet downhill. 

Here's one in honor of good 'ole GROWLER! 

-Q

"Growling"

 

Warped

Purple...stripes...swirls...some of my favorite elements mushed into an end-of-the-world-ish graphic!

Q

"Apocalyptic"