Monday, December 10, 2012
Mae's Youtube Recommendations To Help You Waste Time!
Here are some good youtube channels I’ve been lurking about on recently!
1) http://www.youtube.com/user/PeachieAngelPrincess (she’s a super cute gal who wears Lolita fashion)
2) http://www.youtube.com/user/JacksGap My latest obsession...
3)http://www.youtube.com/user/charlieissocoollike For funny/intelligent videos
4)http://www.youtube.com/user/deerstalkerpictures These are some really great short films
5) http://www.youtube.com/user/Nanalew and http://www.youtube.com/user/meekakitty are both lovely ladies
6) http://www.youtube.com/user/albinwonderland Is an absolute pleasure to watch. Possibly my favorite feminist/quirky person on youtube. Also her tumblr http://albinwonderland.tumblr.com/ is worth checking out as well..
That’s it for now! I hope this helps you waste time!
xoxo Mae
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Mom Interview: Deirdre Edition
Shana: Is there anything that happened a while ago that seemed horrible at the time that now seems really funny?
Deirdre: My dad used to always walk me to school through Central Park. I really wanted to take the bus, but I had to walk, because he insisted. I guess I’m a good walker now because of that. One day, I don’t even remember getting stung, but my foot started swelling up as we was on our way to school. It was in first grade, and I’m probably remembering this wrong, but this is how I remember it: I was on my way to school, and my foot started hurting and swelling up, and by the time I was in school my father was having to practically carry me. He didn’t like dealing with these kinds of things. If somebody got hurt he always left it to my mother, but he was alone with me. When we got to the school, he kept shouting “She got a stee bing! She got a stee bing!” And he could just not say bee sting! He was frantic. They dealt with it at the school, and actually I had to wear a slipper for a few days because my whole leg swelled up, but I’ve never had much of an allergy since then. My father and I still laugh about that.
Shana: Okay. If there was an object, like something you used to own, but you don’t own it anymore, ‘cause you threw it out or had to give it away or something, and you could get it back again, what do you think that would be?
Deirdre: Stacy, my pet stuffed rabbit. She was brown and fluffy and had a white tail once upon a time. By the time I was done with her, she was this sort of brown, bedraggled thing with just a hint of white on her tail. She was just my favorite stuffed animal in the world. My cousin Edward had a stuffed bunny too. His stuffed bunny was also called Stacy -- because he used to copy me. Anyway, we used to have these wild crazy times with our stuffed bunnies named Stacy. I miss Stacy a lot.
Shana: Okay. I don’t know if you’d be able to remember this, but do you remember what the first album you bought is?
Deirdre: Oh gosh. Can I say the one that I’m proud of? I bought two at the same time.
Shana: Okay. Yeah, it can be a few.
Deirdre: It was Ghost in the Machine by The Police.
Shana: Okay. What’s the other one?
Deirdre I’m not telling.
Shana: Are you embarrassed?
Deirdre: [laughs]
Shana: Please tell me! You can tell me you didn’t know what it was like--
Deirdre: I didn’t know what it was like, and I didn’t even like it once I got it home much, but... Air Supply. I don’t remember the name of the album. They weren’t records, they were cassette tapes.
Shana: Okay.
Deirdre: [laughs]
Shana: And why is it so embarrassing? ‘Cause I don’t know them.
Deirdre: Because they’re horrible in my opinion. You can try listening.
Shana: [laughs] Okay. What is the place, that you’ve been that’s the farthest from home.
Deirdre: Probably... Israel? Jerusalem?
Shana: Why did you go to Israel?
Deirdre: At the time we were religious... orthodox Jewish. We had been given a little money, and we had just had a new baby (you!), and we were feeling like, “oh goodness, we’re going to be parents for the rest of our lives, let’s do something crazy while we have some money and this little baby who we can take anywhere. Let’s go to Israel.” So we went and had a good time. I’ve been all over Europe, but Jerusalem was the farthest place.
Shana: Are there any risks or chances that you took that you were worried about at the time but then it ended up really good and you’re really happy about?
Deirdre: Here’s one that I’m not sure that it was a better thing, but it was a good thing at the time.
Shana: What?
Deirdre: I left college because I wasn’t doing very well and I was having a hard time concentrating and focusing. I took all the money that had been set aside for college and travelled around Europe for a year. I have amazing memories, and I learned a lot. I got a lot out of that trip, but I still don’t have a college degree. I came home with no money and ended up working as a secretary. I do regret that I didn’t finish college, but I do not regret going to Europe and spending that time there. I could have found another way to finish college.
Shana: Okay. What was college like?
Deirdre: I don’t know if I could have done well in college right after high school. I believe now that I needed some time to figure out what I wanted in life. At the time I picked a college that looked like it was very liberal and fun. I didn’t look that much at the academics and how much help I’d get with them. College turned out to be a big social experience. I lived in a dorm that was known as the hippie dorm on campus. It was pretty wild and I didn’t do a whole lot of work. I did a lot more partying. I met your father there.
Shana: What books have you read over and over and over?
Deirdre: When I was a kid I read Pride and Prejudice at least thirteen times. I read it over and over and I read everything else by Jane Austen over and over and over and over. I read Pride and Prejudice the first time in, I think, third grade? The last time I tried reading it was when you were younger. I still like it but it doesn’t speak to me in the same way.
Shana: Okay. Do you want to talk about playing the flute?
Deirdre: The reason I started to play the flute is I went to a Waldorf school. It’s like the Hawthorne Valley school up here but in New York City, and everybody there had to learn to play an instrument, and I wanted to play the flute because one of my teachers was a flute player, and I remember that her flute case had this gorgeous silk scarf in it, and I guess that was what she cleaned her flute with. I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world to be able to clean your flute with this gorgeous silk scarf, and that’s what I wanted. It had much more to do with the silk scarf than the flute. So, I waited and waited and finally got started and I think it was third grade. I remember being a little bit surprised and disappointed that the silk scarf didn’t somehow function more into my playing and I actually never got a silk scarf for cleaning my flute (I probably should now). But I took to it anyway. I was pretty good at it and it allowed me to go to a different high school-- to Music and Art, which is kind of an exciting place to go and memories of it are pretty fun ‘cause I realize had a little bit of a different sort of high school experience than a lot of people.
Shana: Why was your high school experience different?
Deirdre: Well, living in New York City, people were more open, and there were more artsy people. There was a lot more acceptance of people being different. Actually in my school, the more normal you were, the more people looked down on you. It was actually encouraged to attract attention in kind of crazy ways. When you look through my high school yearbook, there were a lot of people with crazy clothes and hair, but there were a lot of people also with normal clothes who did other things. They were incredible artists and musicians and dancers and a lot of them have gone on to do great things.
Shana: Why do you want to be a photographer?
Deirdre: The funny thing is that when I was younger I didn’t actually like to take photos much, partly because my father, who was the photographer in the house, made a lot of rules about photography and I didn’t like rules so much. And when I would go on vacation I often felt like the camera would get between me and the vacation. When I travelled around Europe, I felt like a camera got between me and the experiences and buying film and developing film was too much of a pain. So when you girls were young, I didn’t even have a camera, until at some point digital cameras were a little more affordable and my parents gave me a digital point and shoot. I was glad to have something to take photos of you girls, just capture life. I enjoyed taking photos, and I started getting compliments, and that made me feel good. I started paying more attention to composition and lighting, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed trying new things and then I started a 365 project where I tried to take a photo and post it everyday, and that challenged me to look at things in new ways. Digital photography made a lot of sense to me, because I’m much more comfortable with storing things on a computer and being able to see my photos right away than I ever was with film. It was just too much time between taking my photo and getting my photo back with film, and I felt too restricted by the 36 or 24 exposures, and it was expensive too. I just always felt worried about using shots and making mistakes. Digital meant I didn’t have to worry about any of that. Eventually I started craving a better camera. I saved up for it and I got some help from my parents and bought my first digital SLR. I taught myself. I did a lot of learning on the internet, and slowly I got better. What I really love about photography is how even when maybe I’m not having a great day, or I’m in a difficult situation, like maybe at a party or something where I don’t know anyone very well and I don’t know what to say, I try to find something beautiful with the camera or something interesting or enjoyable with the camera .It helps me to find the interesting and beautiful things in life.
Deirdre: My dad used to always walk me to school through Central Park. I really wanted to take the bus, but I had to walk, because he insisted. I guess I’m a good walker now because of that. One day, I don’t even remember getting stung, but my foot started swelling up as we was on our way to school. It was in first grade, and I’m probably remembering this wrong, but this is how I remember it: I was on my way to school, and my foot started hurting and swelling up, and by the time I was in school my father was having to practically carry me. He didn’t like dealing with these kinds of things. If somebody got hurt he always left it to my mother, but he was alone with me. When we got to the school, he kept shouting “She got a stee bing! She got a stee bing!” And he could just not say bee sting! He was frantic. They dealt with it at the school, and actually I had to wear a slipper for a few days because my whole leg swelled up, but I’ve never had much of an allergy since then. My father and I still laugh about that.
Shana: Okay. If there was an object, like something you used to own, but you don’t own it anymore, ‘cause you threw it out or had to give it away or something, and you could get it back again, what do you think that would be?
Deirdre: Stacy, my pet stuffed rabbit. She was brown and fluffy and had a white tail once upon a time. By the time I was done with her, she was this sort of brown, bedraggled thing with just a hint of white on her tail. She was just my favorite stuffed animal in the world. My cousin Edward had a stuffed bunny too. His stuffed bunny was also called Stacy -- because he used to copy me. Anyway, we used to have these wild crazy times with our stuffed bunnies named Stacy. I miss Stacy a lot.
Shana: Okay. I don’t know if you’d be able to remember this, but do you remember what the first album you bought is?
Deirdre: Oh gosh. Can I say the one that I’m proud of? I bought two at the same time.
Shana: Okay. Yeah, it can be a few.
Deirdre: It was Ghost in the Machine by The Police.
Shana: Okay. What’s the other one?
Deirdre I’m not telling.
Shana: Are you embarrassed?
Deirdre: [laughs]
Shana: Please tell me! You can tell me you didn’t know what it was like--
Deirdre: I didn’t know what it was like, and I didn’t even like it once I got it home much, but... Air Supply. I don’t remember the name of the album. They weren’t records, they were cassette tapes.
Shana: Okay.
Deirdre: [laughs]
Shana: And why is it so embarrassing? ‘Cause I don’t know them.
Deirdre: Because they’re horrible in my opinion. You can try listening.
Shana: [laughs] Okay. What is the place, that you’ve been that’s the farthest from home.
Deirdre: Probably... Israel? Jerusalem?
Shana: Why did you go to Israel?
Deirdre: At the time we were religious... orthodox Jewish. We had been given a little money, and we had just had a new baby (you!), and we were feeling like, “oh goodness, we’re going to be parents for the rest of our lives, let’s do something crazy while we have some money and this little baby who we can take anywhere. Let’s go to Israel.” So we went and had a good time. I’ve been all over Europe, but Jerusalem was the farthest place.
Shana: Are there any risks or chances that you took that you were worried about at the time but then it ended up really good and you’re really happy about?
Deirdre: Here’s one that I’m not sure that it was a better thing, but it was a good thing at the time.
Shana: What?
Deirdre: I left college because I wasn’t doing very well and I was having a hard time concentrating and focusing. I took all the money that had been set aside for college and travelled around Europe for a year. I have amazing memories, and I learned a lot. I got a lot out of that trip, but I still don’t have a college degree. I came home with no money and ended up working as a secretary. I do regret that I didn’t finish college, but I do not regret going to Europe and spending that time there. I could have found another way to finish college.
Shana: Okay. What was college like?
Deirdre: I don’t know if I could have done well in college right after high school. I believe now that I needed some time to figure out what I wanted in life. At the time I picked a college that looked like it was very liberal and fun. I didn’t look that much at the academics and how much help I’d get with them. College turned out to be a big social experience. I lived in a dorm that was known as the hippie dorm on campus. It was pretty wild and I didn’t do a whole lot of work. I did a lot more partying. I met your father there.
Shana: What books have you read over and over and over?
Deirdre: When I was a kid I read Pride and Prejudice at least thirteen times. I read it over and over and I read everything else by Jane Austen over and over and over and over. I read Pride and Prejudice the first time in, I think, third grade? The last time I tried reading it was when you were younger. I still like it but it doesn’t speak to me in the same way.
Shana: Okay. Do you want to talk about playing the flute?
Deirdre: The reason I started to play the flute is I went to a Waldorf school. It’s like the Hawthorne Valley school up here but in New York City, and everybody there had to learn to play an instrument, and I wanted to play the flute because one of my teachers was a flute player, and I remember that her flute case had this gorgeous silk scarf in it, and I guess that was what she cleaned her flute with. I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world to be able to clean your flute with this gorgeous silk scarf, and that’s what I wanted. It had much more to do with the silk scarf than the flute. So, I waited and waited and finally got started and I think it was third grade. I remember being a little bit surprised and disappointed that the silk scarf didn’t somehow function more into my playing and I actually never got a silk scarf for cleaning my flute (I probably should now). But I took to it anyway. I was pretty good at it and it allowed me to go to a different high school-- to Music and Art, which is kind of an exciting place to go and memories of it are pretty fun ‘cause I realize had a little bit of a different sort of high school experience than a lot of people.
Shana: Why was your high school experience different?
Deirdre: Well, living in New York City, people were more open, and there were more artsy people. There was a lot more acceptance of people being different. Actually in my school, the more normal you were, the more people looked down on you. It was actually encouraged to attract attention in kind of crazy ways. When you look through my high school yearbook, there were a lot of people with crazy clothes and hair, but there were a lot of people also with normal clothes who did other things. They were incredible artists and musicians and dancers and a lot of them have gone on to do great things.
Shana: Why do you want to be a photographer?
Deirdre: The funny thing is that when I was younger I didn’t actually like to take photos much, partly because my father, who was the photographer in the house, made a lot of rules about photography and I didn’t like rules so much. And when I would go on vacation I often felt like the camera would get between me and the vacation. When I travelled around Europe, I felt like a camera got between me and the experiences and buying film and developing film was too much of a pain. So when you girls were young, I didn’t even have a camera, until at some point digital cameras were a little more affordable and my parents gave me a digital point and shoot. I was glad to have something to take photos of you girls, just capture life. I enjoyed taking photos, and I started getting compliments, and that made me feel good. I started paying more attention to composition and lighting, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed trying new things and then I started a 365 project where I tried to take a photo and post it everyday, and that challenged me to look at things in new ways. Digital photography made a lot of sense to me, because I’m much more comfortable with storing things on a computer and being able to see my photos right away than I ever was with film. It was just too much time between taking my photo and getting my photo back with film, and I felt too restricted by the 36 or 24 exposures, and it was expensive too. I just always felt worried about using shots and making mistakes. Digital meant I didn’t have to worry about any of that. Eventually I started craving a better camera. I saved up for it and I got some help from my parents and bought my first digital SLR. I taught myself. I did a lot of learning on the internet, and slowly I got better. What I really love about photography is how even when maybe I’m not having a great day, or I’m in a difficult situation, like maybe at a party or something where I don’t know anyone very well and I don’t know what to say, I try to find something beautiful with the camera or something interesting or enjoyable with the camera .It helps me to find the interesting and beautiful things in life.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Neck Candy
So there’s this totally cool, creative, unique, DIY that’s been floating around this year, that I like to call art collars. They are practically impractical, but they are also so so so cute. or classy. or romantic. or crazy. That’s the awesome part about them! You can customize them however you want! They look fabitty fab with chunky sweaters or just a causal shirt, and they are very eye catching. They’re a new breed of accessory.
ulookhaute.com
hercampus.com
refinery29.com
rookiemag.com
There are SO many decorating options for these snazzy accessories. Here are some ideas of how to decorate them:
pins or badges (make sure they don’t poke your neck)
beads (sewed or glued)
small dice (glued)
ribbons
pompoms
faux fur
fun trim
broken CD pieces (glued)
googley eyes
rhinestones
studs
small fake flowers
buttons
fabric paint
lace
safety pins (make sure they don’t poke your neck)
vintage stickers (sewed or glued)
pretty cloth
and if you really have a lot of time on your hands you could even embroider something!
Go crazy with it kids!
xoxo Mae
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Taking Slightly Better Photos
I’m not going to pretend I’m an amazing photographer. I’m no Annie Leibovitz or Ansel Adams. Also, you may already know this stuff, but in case you don’t, here are some things you should know about photography that you can use with pretty much any camera:
ISO
Changing the ISO on your camera (and I can’t tell you how to change it because it’s different on every camera) will make the photo lighter or darker. The numbers are in hundreds, and the higher the number, the lighter the photo, as you would expect. However, if you raise the ISO, the photo becomes noisier (or grainier if you are using film). If you are using a film camera, you can change the ISO by using certain rolls of film.
Changing the ISO on your camera (and I can’t tell you how to change it because it’s different on every camera) will make the photo lighter or darker. The numbers are in hundreds, and the higher the number, the lighter the photo, as you would expect. However, if you raise the ISO, the photo becomes noisier (or grainier if you are using film). If you are using a film camera, you can change the ISO by using certain rolls of film.
Shutter Speed
The shutter is the part on the camera that opens up to let the light in when you take a photo. The higher the shutter speed, the faster the shutter opens and closes. This means you can take photos without them being blurry. Unfortunately, when the shutter speed is faster, it lets in less light so the photo is darker, and this can often be a problem. You can also purposefully make the photo blurry by using a slow shutter speed.
The shutter is the part on the camera that opens up to let the light in when you take a photo. The higher the shutter speed, the faster the shutter opens and closes. This means you can take photos without them being blurry. Unfortunately, when the shutter speed is faster, it lets in less light so the photo is darker, and this can often be a problem. You can also purposefully make the photo blurry by using a slow shutter speed.
Aperture
Adjusting the aperture changes how much the shutter opens when you take a photo, so that more or less light is let into the camera. This makes the photos lighter or darker, and changes the depth of field so you can add blur in the background. Aperture is a little bit more confusing than the others, because when the aperture is higher, the photo is actually darker, because the shutter doesn’t open as wide. A lower aperture (or a brighter photo) is more likely to have a blurred background.
Adjusting the aperture changes how much the shutter opens when you take a photo, so that more or less light is let into the camera. This makes the photos lighter or darker, and changes the depth of field so you can add blur in the background. Aperture is a little bit more confusing than the others, because when the aperture is higher, the photo is actually darker, because the shutter doesn’t open as wide. A lower aperture (or a brighter photo) is more likely to have a blurred background.
Rule of Thirds
Imagine there are four lines on your photo: two are horizontal and two are vertical, dividing the image into nine equal parts. When you are using the rule of thirds, you try to line up the objects or scenery in the photo with the lines. This is somehow often more visually pleasing than a random or centered picture, though that is not always the case and this rule can be broken with good results. On some digital cameras, you can change the settings so that there is a grid on the screen which makes it easy to follow the rule of thirds.
Imagine there are four lines on your photo: two are horizontal and two are vertical, dividing the image into nine equal parts. When you are using the rule of thirds, you try to line up the objects or scenery in the photo with the lines. This is somehow often more visually pleasing than a random or centered picture, though that is not always the case and this rule can be broken with good results. On some digital cameras, you can change the settings so that there is a grid on the screen which makes it easy to follow the rule of thirds.
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| (rule of thirds) |
This may seem obvious, but keeping your camera still can make a big difference if you don’t want a blurry photo. You can hold the camera still against your body or you can set the camera on a flat, sturdy surface. You can use a timer so you don’t move the camera at all while hitting the button. You can also get hold of a tripod or monopod if you’re willing to lug it around with you.
Lastly, don’t forget to focus. Or you could forget everything I just said and keep your camera on auto.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
DIY Sock Bun
Hellooo. Here's a quick and easy hairstyle. Enjoy!
XXO -Fi
Song: Nobody by Eliza Doolittle
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Food Adventure -- Asian Food Market
Food Adventure -- Asian Food Market
*some friends and I try some new edibles*
I recently visited the Asian Food Market in Albany, NY with some friends. The market had displays of cool looking spiky fruit; dried octopus; tanks full of live fish, crabs, and eel; and aisles full of candy.
We spent most of our time in the sweets section... of course!
The aisles were long, narrow, and filled to the brim with fun colorfully packaged treats. There was such a large selection but we managed to pick out just a few things to try. Our decisions were almost purely made on how marvelous we thought the packaging was... and we were not disappointed!
We found Lychee Gummies that tasted like flowers, Melon Gummies shaped like hearts, and Yuzu Gummies that were fresh and lemony. All the Gummies had a light powdery coating and were really fragrant. We tried Choco Baby tic tac shaped chocolates, Lychee Fruit, Meiji Apollo strawberry chocolates, Pocky (chocolate covered pretzels) which are very onomatopoeic and such fun to eat! High Chew had a super strange texture. It seemed like really hard gum at first, or soft chewy plastic. It eventually dissolved and tasted faintly like a green apple. And we ended with thick creamy ice cream balls covered in rice dough, called Mochi.
Overall the trip was yummy and we found some scrumptious new food favorites.
I challenge you to try a strange new food!
XXO -Fi
Friday, September 21, 2012
Interview with Mumzy
Fi: What were some of your favorite statement pieces of clothing?
Mum: Umm, well, I remember I had this wonderful shopping trip once where I went with a friend who was purposely trying to dress me a little more fashionably or daringly than I normally do. We ended up getting me three black and white pieces. Black jeans with white polka dots that were very fitted. Then two great dresses. One was an A frame with capped sleeves and these wide black and white diagonal stripes.
F: What was a hair style you remember?
M: I used to roll my hair in high school so that I had hair that was... how do I wanna say it... It smoothly came off the top of my head and then curled all the way around to the bottom. BIG CURLS. So when I was in gym class everything would just bounce.
F: What was something that set you apart from your friends?
M: I was always known for having a very positive attitude. Very energetic.
F: What were some hobbies you had?
M: I loved making things that i designed myself! I would just come up with gifts for someone. I loved knitting and sewing. I was a cheerleader...
F: One of your fondest childhood memories?
W: Well, there’s a whole lot of little ones that rival each other. All kinds of things with my sister and me. The radio shows. We used to play the Catalina sisters and we would each put a dress up skirt on and we would sit on top of the TV cabinet and sing Twenty Six Miles Across the Sea. When I was little we lived in Italy and we would picnic in the ruins. We would go to the beach and my brothers and father would build these enormous beautiful detailed sand castles and all the little kids would wander over and watch. I was young enough that when I was there I learned Italian and apparently spoke it more readily than English.
F: What is one of the most mischievous things you’ve done
W: I don’t know that I was very mischievous. I took a pencil once. Hahha
F: What?
W: I took a tiny little pencil from girl scouts and it was really traumatizing... not traumatizing but like... whoa.
XXO -Fi
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Karni Mata Temple
By Shana
In the town
of Deshnoke, which is in India, there is a Hindu temple where thousands
of rats live: sleeping, eating and drinking the food that is given to
them, and just crawling about doing whatever rats choose to do in their
free time. The rats, called kabbas, are not considered pests, they are supposed to be there. They are sacred.
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| Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/19429963@N00/2281682645/ |
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| Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaatra/258383801/ |
People who visit the temple hope to have rats walk across
their feet, because it is a sign of good luck. It is even better to see a
white rat. People also drink or eat the leftovers of the rats. If
someone kills a rat, they must buy a figure of a rat made of gold or
silver to replace him or her (I really do not like calling animals “it”
if I can avoid it, because they are not things in my opinion.)
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Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/owen-pics/2559023409/
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As a person with pet rats, I love that there’s somewhere in
the world where rats are not considered gross. Some people have this
idea in their heads that all rats are scary, unsanitary, ugly, spread
diseases, and that everyone else in the world agrees with them. Rats are
adorable, and I wish I could visit this amazing temple.
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