Save the whales. Buy American.

So it’s not really news because it’s like two months old, but I just found out today when I went to check on train service beginning again after Memorial Day (I was hoping maybe they could push the date up? Maybe?). I was highly anticipating the return of train service only to be totally crushed by this news.

This sucks big ones.

- E.S. Posthumus released an album in early 2010 and then one of the forming brothers died (!?) so they’re no more.

- Nightwish changed lead singers five years ago and I had no idea until recently. Still good, but no more operatic vocals.

- The Streets released four more albums since the last time I paid attention. Their last album ever (as in no more Streets) was released early last year.

It’s like coming back to your old neighborhood and all the buildings you loved have been torn down or turned into condos. I have neglected my other genres far too long.

‘Cos life moves pretty slow
If you don’t even show up for the show, you might never know

I’m not a beach-loving warm weather kind of person, if you couldn’t tell from my past vacations (northern Europe in the dead of winter every year?), but I am really excited to be visiting southern France and Ibiza. The siblings and I are renting a cottage in Vence (about 7 miles from Nice, as the crow flies) and it feels super cool to say I’m visiting the French Riviera. And Ibiza has been on The List for a couple years now.

I’m going to try to fit everything into one carry-on. It’s going to have to be a pretty small one because I’m using budget Euro airlines to get to/from Ibiza, and they have smaller carry-on restrictions than most. I don’t think it’ll be that hard, really. I just have to consider carefully what I’ll actually be doing (I tend to bring too many dressy pieces “just in case”—just in case what? I have tea with the Queen?). Hand wash what I wore that day, dry it overnight. At worst I buy what I need there. And that really wouldn’t be so bad at all.

Which brings me to another weird thing I like to do when I’m abroad: buy everyday items. I’ve mentioned before how I like to go to supermarkets just to see what’s “normal” in foreign countries, but I also do it to buy incidentals. Things like tissues packs, eyedrops, shampoo, and other sundries are easily found all over the world so you don’t have to waste space packing them for the trip out. Then instead of souvenirs I bring these back. Since I don’t want knick-knacks cluttering up my apartment, they work as simple everyday usable reminders of the trips I’ve taken. Like whenever I use those eyedrops from HEMA (Dutch/Flemish equivalent of our Target), I think of my day trip to Belgium when I was staying in Amsterdam.

(Oh geez. You guys know I don’t smoke so I wasn’t using the eyedrops for that. I have the itchiest eyes on the planet.)

I’ve already paid for checked luggage on these airlines, so it’s not the end of the world if the stuff I acquire won’t fit or be allowed in my carry-on. It’s really more of an experiment to see if and how long I can one-bag it for trips. I will cheat and wear my Scottevest jacket on the planes since it has a zillion pockets I can stick all my little things into. At security I can just throw it in the bin with my shoes and bag, and grab and go when through. (Men, jackets are a good idea for you! Don’t be the jerk holding up the security line fishing for your cash, keys, phone(s), and crap!)

Aaaand of course I will report back on my American EMV chip card which worked fine on the Milan metro. I expect it will be just fine in France and Spain as well.

Looks like my work here is done.

*goes back to listening to K-Pop*

Congratulations, Chris Cheng, you are an inspiration to all urban desk jockeys.

I kind of want to try that FN PS90. All the contestants talked about how light and easy it was to use, it has low recoil (huge deal for me because I’m tiny and frankly scared of big booms), and I’m attracted to the ergonomic ambidextrous design because I’m not even sure which way I shoot. I write and throw left-handed, but do most other sports right-handed (could be due to equipment forcing me to since my youth, but who knows now). In high school I tried both lefty and righty bows and it didn’t make a difference, I sucked ass at both. My aim and physical prowess are so terrible it likely doesn’t matter if I’m shooting off-hand or not anyway.

I also want to meet Gabby in person to see how tall she is and so she can teach me how to shoot.

It’s been nearly a year and I finally got around to it.

Good gory gods, I hate Stravinsky. Reading up on him reveals that his “Rite of Spring” caused a riot when it came out. I can totally see it and I can totally see what that guy in the subway was telling me. I don’t care how influential he was. Sorry! Skrillex is the Stravinsky of our day. Horrible.

Seriously, thanks, Random Brooklyn Music Guy, I definitely learned something. Your comparison was spot on.

Now for some baroque style to clean out the ears.

I know I said I don’t like trance versions of classical tunes, but this is okay because technically it is baroque.

You want to take away weed for everyone else (keep up the good fight, coffee shops!) and now that ugly dipshit Wilders is trying to broaden his foothold in the US with his stupid dipshit book. We have enough dipshits of our own without this dipshit shitting things up more.

Too bad the coalition didn’t collapse sooner.

Unfortunately most of the stuff I found is way over my budget or nearly impossible for me to get, but it’s still fun to look anyway.

Anrealage FW 2011 - "Low"

Anrealage "Low" pumps

Kunihiko Morinaga’s Anrealage 2011 collection is a bit avant garde for me, but I dig the shoes. Not that wearability matters for me since I can’t buy the stuff anyway. The designer has one store in Harajuku and I’m not going to Japan any time soon. Also something tells me I’d never be able to afford any of it.

Cristian Zuzunaga Motion scarf

Cristian Zuzunaga has a collection of cushions, rugs, and scarves with prints made by zooming into photographs of cityscapes. The Motion scarf, above, is my pick of the bunch, but at 180€ it’s more than I’m willing to spend on a scarf. I prefer the bright colors on the Giant Flow scarf, but each pixel looks humongous when you see it on the model, which makes it seem less “pixely” in my humble opinion.

Repetto BB printed canvas flats

The Repetto BB printed canvas flats are much more wearable (and affordable) than the Anrealage heels. I think they’re pretty cute, but knowing the way I dress (boring greys and blacks) I have to wonder how often I’d wear them. I also destroy my shoes within minutes of putting them on so $265 is too much.

Tolani Tiles scarf

So the Tiles scarf isn’t exactly pixely, but it reminds me of a Pantone color matcher or a paint chip wall at the store or a color picker in a paint program. Confession: I own this scarf. I like it. I guess I got lucky, though, since the vibrancy of the colors seems to vary from piece to piece, according to reviews, and mine is close enough to the picture that I have no qualms. It’s $98, but Piperlime has promos pretty often, a 15% off code for signing up for their emails, and a $15 off code for your birthday, so you should never have to pay full price (I combined the 15% off and birthday code). In fact, Piperlime is having a 20% off sale today and tomorrow with code TWENTY.

Dzimitry Samal 6DPI glasses

And to take all these pixelated sights in, you can get your very own pixel sunglasses from 126-347€ (there are also non-pixel designs ranging into higher prices as well).

If you know of any other pixel or Pantone inspired stuff, let me know!

Rich got us and a couple friends into the World of Tanks one year anniversary party on Friday night, which I think would have to be the highlight of my weekend. It was open bar—top shelf included—at a nice club with not-terrible sound, and Pete Tong was on the decks (though I actually really liked the opening DJ (who isn’t even really a DJ), much more than Tong even). There was a guy making personalized dog tags for all the guests and everyone was generally cool. It was such a good party, I think I may have to give the game a try after all.

On Saturday I really wanted to check out the Video Game Orchestra, but the line was insanely long to go in. So we gave up and sat down in a random spot to figure out what to do (and so I could gather up my 3DS Streetpasses for the day), and then a panel opened up in front of us and we randomly decided to check it out since it’s not like we waited in line or anything for it (I hate lines). It ended up being a mixer for Star Wars: The Old Republic (a game which we had fortunately beta tested) and there was free alcohol. That was about the only lucky thing that happened to us this weekend since we didn’t win any raffles or end up being able to go to any of the restaurants I really wanted to check out in Boston.

Got some swag, bought some Gunnar glasses on sale (supposed to help with eye strain, dry eyes, clarity and contrast on screens? We’ll see), Rich picked up a wireless R.A.T. mouse (what a weird statement if you don’t know what I’m talking about), tried out a few silly games, got lots of Streetpasses on my 3DS. I think I would go again, but only if we plan ahead next time. We ended up spending a pretty penny on transportation and hotel because we booked everything very last minute.

I don’t understand kids and their technology these days.

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