GOOD ADVICE

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Image The Apartment, By the Line and Sketch42 Blog

While I think we would all say "YES" to the question "do you like to look at beautiful things?", the crazy interesting thing to me as that all of those beautiful things that we'd all like to look at would be so darn different for each and every one of us.

I mean, there are people out there whose job it is to track down beautiful things (museum curators), create beautiful things (artists, designers, architects, filmmakers hell, even bloggers) stare at beautiful things (critics), track which beautiful things people are digging (trend forecaster), document beautiful things (photographers, writers, 98% of the sites on Tumblr), and gawd knows any of us who spend good chunks of time online easily can get addicted to looking at beautiful things, searching for more beautiful things, and simply "consuming" beautiful things ad nauseum each and every day. 

Image via Zack Seckler and Sketch42 Blog

I wonder sometimes if I've even become slightly immune to recognizing something beautiful now? I mean now that the internet has been completely and totally democratized, I see beautiful/inspiring/cool shit ALL. THE. TIME. I worry that I somehow don't appreciate it as much as I used to before Pinterest and blogs and Instagram and everything in between. I see my friends creating beautiful things, and strangers I've never met online, and people in magazines who kind of look like me and have similar lives, EXCEPT their lives are all about creating beautiful things every single day. Should I be doing that? Maybe that would make my life more beautiful? Are their lives more beautiful than mine?

Image via Le Management and Sketch42 Blog

Sometimes I feel inspired to join this "beautiful things creative cult" and, in my own eensy weensy little ways, try to add to this ever growing amorphous blob that is the giant growing collection of beautiful, creative, inspiring shit all over the world. Most of the time, I feel like I fail...and that I can create things that are kinda, sorta, a little bit beautiful, but not REAL DEAL actual beautiful. And if you tell me you disagree, I'll calmy dismiss you and tell you why whatever you *think* I did that was really cool, is actually not...or a fluke...or inspired by someone else's beautiful thing, so I don't really deserve credit for its beauty after all. 

Image via Sketch42 Blog

And then I think that maybe if I was committed to a life of creating beautiful things, and pursuing creativity and beauty in everything I did, every single day, I miiiiiight be able to add a little, every once in a blue moon contribution to the beautiful things creative cult. But how in the world could I ever have a life like that, because that would mean that people were paying me lots of money to create things (artist), or assemble beautiful things (interior designer), or write beautiful things (writer), and I'm not actually good enough to do any of that. 

Sometimes I have fleeting moments where I think I am and that maybe I should try.

Image via Xu Zhen and Sketch42 Blog

Probably not, but maybe. Actually, what am I talking about: no way. And even if it was "WAY!," isn't that even scarier?! 

Then I go back to thinking about how crazy that all is and just start pinning other's peoples beautiful shit (OPBS) on Pinterest until the next time I have this conversation with myself in my head. 

**These are the sort of real life crazytown back and forths I have with myself in the shower.
***The insane Jewish neurotic mind is a REAL THING.
****I swear x a million that I am not publishing this post as a ploy to get anyone anywhere to say, "you make beautiful things!" In fact, don't...cause I will just fight you on it and not believe you.  I'm just letting loose today on how my crazy f'd up brain works, in case you have a crazy f'd up brain too and it makes you feel better that my brain is more f'd up than yours is. #noshame 

Image via Gant Rugger and Sketch42 Blog

Sidenote, all of the photos in this post are from my bud Nicole's Sketch42 Blog. Nicole's blog is where I stop, every single day, for my daily dose of beautiful. This girl is like a beautiful things undercover CIA agent, and her taste is beyond impeccable. So if you want to be inspired so hard it hurts your brain, go to her blog all day, every day. Best of all, half the time, you'll be inspired by HER own amazing art, interiors, photography, fashion and DIY ideas. Basically this girl is the president, emperor, and supreme ruler of the "beautiful things creative cult." OH, and she's actually beautiful herself too in real life! Look at this pic below! I mean!!!?? This might make you want to jealous punch her through your computer screen right now, but I promise: it's a bad idea. Cause she's amazing, and funny, and sweet, and supportive, and will always answer your texts from the Rose Bowl when you're thinking of buying a $1500 couch that you don't actually need or have room for, but want anyway because you're positive K dubs would have used something like that in her Malibu house and you think it's a good idea to buy just for solidarity sake. 

PHARRELL ON OPRAH

photos via Pharrell Williams official FB page

Holy shit, this guy is an inspiring dude.

If you have not had a chance to watch the Pharrell interview on Oprah Prime yet, you gotta get on that stat. I can't think of the last time I was so inspired/touched/moved/blown away by someone as I was after watching Mr. P spill all his beans to Oprah. I was crying through like the entire thing.

Not to mention that this dude is responsible for creating like 80% of the music I've loved the hardest over the last 20 years. If you're not familiar with Pharrell's musical legacy: basically just think about any hit song you've loved from any artist (from Gwen Stefani, to Jay-Z to Britney Spears and everything in between) and then google that shit. There's like a 50/50 chance that Pharrell had *something* to do with it. 

And yet he's so grounded and humble, and really just makes me want to go out into the world and do something great. 

Best of all: he shared that his main relationship dealbreaker was always "does this chick love Tribe Called Quest?" If the answer was no, he said it was never gonna work. 

Second best of all, he actually took the time out to call out some random chick on Instagram who was inspired by his latest album cover. She posed in a robe like the ladies on P's album cover and then basically got blasted with nasty, insensitive comments. Pharrell asked everyone to go onto Insta, follow her and shower her with positivity. I mean alja;lsfjlsjflsjflsdfjdsljf!!?? You should follow her too. 

OH, and he said that one of his managers a few years ago suggested that he read The Alchemist and that it TOTALLY and completely changed his life. 

Anyway, I was in love with this dude before, but my crush has now reached One Direction screaming 14-year-old levels. 

DO YOU GUYS TAKE CLASSES?

So my parents were hippies and smoked pot and listened to rock-n-roll music and got kicked out of school. And so I "rebelled" and got straight A's and joined the Honor Society. And while I'm definitely happy to be done with pop quizzes, research papers and all that sort of shit, I still love me a good class. 

There's something about having an assignment with a due date that just motivates my ass like nothing else. Like there is literally no space in my brain that would allow for NOT doing my homework if I know that's it's due next Weds eve at 7pm. Basically you could bet a million dollars or an opportunity to have sex with Paul Rudd that my homework is gonna be signed, sealed and delivered on my teacher's desk. 

Here is my upcoming class schedule: 

• On Wednesday I'm starting a TV pilot writing class at UCLA. It's sort of my secret fantasy to be a TV writer. I already watch every single TV show that exists on planet Earth, so I've got that going for me. 
• On May 17th I'm taking a fun photography class, Snap Class that will hopefully help with my picture takin' skills both on le blog and on le Instagram.  
• On June 21, I'm taking a loom weaving class with Janelle Pietzrack of All Roads Studio, and I'm super psyched about this one as I've pinned 8,976 pics of gorgeous wall hangings on Pinterest that I now want to blazenly copy.
• I kind of wish that I had enrolled in Marie Forleo's B-school, but I didn't so now I can't take that till next year. 
• I did an awesome group coaching class with Tiffany Han, who truly is a champion of awesome.
• And I can't stop watching youtube tutorials. Like, can't stop, won't stop. 
  • If you have short/medium hair and you want to figure out how to get beachy waves, voila. 
  • How to take a selfie like a supermodel (shut up, yes I watched). 
  • How to edit your Instagram photos (sidenote: I have to do a separate post on this as I'm newly OBSESSED with editing photos on my phone and it's so much damn fun). 
  • And like every kind of make-up tutorial you could ever imagine. I basically learned how to apply make-up on youtube like 6 months ago...not kidding. 

All this class takin' sorta makes me want to teach my own damn class too. #maybe

Anyway, so I kinda have a class problem, as you can see. Do you guys dig classes? Know any good ones I should take? (in the LA are or online?). Tell me everything you know. 

THE MOTHER OF ALL ALT DESIGN SUMMIT ROUND-UP POSTS

So the Alt Design Summit is goin' down this week in Salt Lake City and the whole internet is abuzz. The Blogarazzi are shining up their DSLR's, last minute ban.do hair pieces are being purchased, messy bun pins on pinterest are being power searched, and "express ship green party dress" is showing up in many a blogger's browser histories. Shit's about to get REAL, ppl. 

Lucky for you, virtually every blogger on planet earth has done an Alt focused blog post to help you figure out: wtf to wear, wtf to say, wtf to bring, and wtf to do every minute of every day while you're there. Whew! 

Truth time: I actually found these sorts of posts super duper helpful before my Alt maiden voyage, and so in case you are looking to read each and every one of them, I thought I'd round them all up in one spot. 

Click to read more ...