Friday, July 30, 2010

what i wore: lucha libre

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when we told pati, the housekeeper at la casa d'escritor in mexico city, that we were going on a date to the lucha libre, she exclaimed: "wearing THAT?!" i was wearing what i normally wear on a nice summer day; a simple red knee-length dress with white piping, and comfortable sandals. no no no, she insisted. i should wear a t-shirt and jeans.

ha! me, in a t-shirt and jeans. i thought...

why not.

for those of you who know me in person or have seen what outfits i have posted online... well, i am hardly a t-shirt and jeans kind of person. in fact, i do not and have not owned jeans in a good three or four years now. but my relationship to denim and pants is a whole other story... i scrambled through simon's closet and dug out two of my favourite of his clothing. seriously doubting my ample hips would be able to squeeze into his already skin-tight jeans, i gave it a go anyway. pairing it with his awesome "SCREAMING FLAMING OHMYGAW EAGLE" t-shirt, as we love to call it, a gift from a stylish belgian friend, i found i looked, in fact, quite badass.

and here is some proof.

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photos by simon, edited by me.

honestly i've found many people's concerns about what i "should" and "should not" be wearing on the streets of one of the world's largest cities slightly exagerrated... but that said, i really did not end up spending much time in the city itself, and only went out by myself once. in fact, my experience with mexico city have really reminded me of people's reactions when i first moved to toronto: omg you can't ever go out by yourself/wearing that/in neighbourhood x/don't talk to strangers/etc. this is something i could really go on about at length but! another day, another time.

i have three days left in this wonderful country; tonight we are going to celebrate at los toros in colima, simon's favourite bar in the world. tomorrow, we are waking up early, packing a bus with food and friends, and celebrating our three year anniversary while playing in the waves of the pacific ocean. sunday, a goodbye party in mexico city. monday, we catch our flights back to québec city.

i know july has been slow here posting-wise, but believe you me i'll have LOTS to share with everyone in august, i promise.

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Friday, July 16, 2010

self-portraits: characters/decay

the "artist" at work

a bad habit of mine i've been trying to change is actually sharing some of the thousands of photos i take. i still have ones from last fall i took with the explicit goal of sharing them here and other places online... but here they are, still stagnating and find ways to get lost on my harddrive. but not this time.

on my last day in quebec city before i head to mexico via toronto, i decided to sneak into an apartment in the midst of renovations with some tools of my own: vintage dresses, lingerie, jewelry and of course my trusty pentax. the canon rebel doing the photo taking is courtesy of my wonderful friend ben. here are a handful of the results... i'll upload a few more to flickr later.

bride

bride

knobby knees

jewelry

peek

.

ode to tamil


also, off-topic: i'm looking for inspiration for a new layout. i still have a lot of love for the one susanna made for me, but i keep thinking back to why i made this blog in the first place... it's time for something more streamlined so you can easily see where else i post online, and an atmosphere that fosters more comments and discussions (i don't know about you guys, but i really dislike the way blogger handles comments and have been seriously considering moving to something more like wordpress). one of my main goals with this blog was to generate discussions and i often end up feeling like we don't get the chance to respond to one another individually.

aside from that aspect, aesthetically i'd really love something vintage inspired and classic, kind of like clevernettle, verhext, celine pinckers or katerina d'autremont. or perhaps i should just go the simple route and go for a nice header, something like cardboard sea has, or the wonderful nikki dekker. last but not least, what do you bloggers use for stat counter? i've been applying for guest blogging positions and things of the sort and the one i've been using for a month is not really cutting it. if anyone has any tips in this html department, suggestions of how to make or adapt your own layouts, your favourite blog layouts, etc, send me an email (juliacaron AT gmail DOT com) or leave a comment! sorry for all the technical boring discussions.

Monday, July 12, 2010

hiatus: on the road

on the road

as you may have noticed, i have been away from the internet for the past little while and will have sporadic access for another week or two. i miss you guys, but it's been a good break. the more time i spend away from the internet, the more i think about what i love about social media and, let's be honest, what i hate about it. remembering what is so great about dis/re/connecting...

but to be brief: i've been having some really amazing experiences here in mexico and i can't wait to write about them and share them with family and friends. i've been listening to (and trying to understand) a lot of spanish, learning how to use an SLR, taking many rolls of film, and traveling all over the place with strangers, lovers, and best friends. writing, thinking, singing, and laughing. i lost my moleskin in estacion de catorze, sadly, but i'm telling myself it is probably the world's way of telling me i may need a fresh start. july has been all about renewal.

to tide you over until i provide you with some more cultural criticism and fashion discussions, here is a mix i made for our nine day road trip through distrio federal, san luis potosi, queretaro, and veracruz. it starts off dancy and ends mellow and slow, with a lot of simon's favourites scattered throughout (i thought i should cater to his tastes seeing as he did all of the driving over the course of nine days). enjoy!

1. a sweet summer's night on hammer hill - jens lekman
2. down in mexico - the coasters
3. swimming - martha & the muffins
4. on vacation - the robot ate me
5. odessa - caribou
6. 16th & valencia, roxy music - devendra banhart
7. timebomb - beck
8. IRM - charlotte gainsbourg
9. desert eagle - ratatat
10. texico bitches - broken social scene
11. you're the one - the black keys
12. drivin' on 9 - the black keys
13. summer light - the cave singers
14. you're dead - richard laviolette
15. game shows - plants and animals
16. wet road - scout niblett
17. jesus loves me - cocorosie
18. chocolate jesus - tom waits

as always, if you like the songs, support the artists by buying their cds
at your local record store and going to their shows!

in the desert