New Year's Eve dinner

[via text]

me: ok, this is what I'm making tonight: fresh corn madeleines with Greek yogurt, whole wheat rotini with kale and artichoke hearts, baby spinach salad with simple vinaigrette, apple crumble, and that Moscato.

Justin: Good lord. Someone needs to marry you.

hahahahha!!

Justin, prepare to be wined and dined.

me: (on the phone, packing all the things for my super special NYE dinner with my gay bff) I'm making it fancy, there are tablecloths and shiny napkins involved.
Bates: You need candles.
me: oh gurl, I know. I'm going to seduce the shit out that boy.
Bates: Bahahah! I'm going to quote it.
me: Good, because I'm going to blog it.

Happy New Year's Eve!

image via pinkrobotboogaloo

Why is this Nivea so foamy?

Dad: (from bathroom) I've lost my mind.
me: what?
Dad: I thought about shaving, and then I thought about facial cream, and then I put shaving cream all over my face.
me: ....what?
Dad: I thought about shaving, and then I thought about putting on moisturizer, and then I put shaving cream on my face like it was facial cream. (comes out of the bathroom with shaving cream all over his face and starts laughing)

wrapping up the year

prepare for a deluge of photos.

What hipster tendencies?

Just realized that tomorrow I will be:

• attending an ugly Christmas sweater party and baking gingerbread houses
• photographing Libby's zine on a picnic table in the winter sunlight
• buying a new Moleskine planner at Barnes & Nobles

Oh look, it's Russian Rachel's sweater! 

Not much going on today so here is a photo of some pie.

I had the pie with coffee and listened to this as I pored over photos and footage for my "this was 2011" video.
Happy Thursday!

Fábio: You, The tall one and I need to get on doing something like this.

uh, DONE.

Triangular tessellation

is fun to say.

Cranberry scones and cucumber sandwiches

This was the day that Stephanie and I had lunch at the Blue Arbor Cafe (holy hell, I want to redesign their website) and then tea at the Pink Bicycle Tea Room (ahhh, them too) not half an hour later. We had clotted cream with our scones and rummaged through the vinyl records at 2nd and Charles (their website is decent). Such a pleasant afternoon. 

Cruel

Bright Eyes. Bright Lights. Mr. Brightside.

Meekus: Right! I failed to mention, Emily got me a pack of five reflectors for Christmas. We gon' have some fun :)
me: shit just got real, Thomas Rossmeissl.

Owl together now!

 

I picked up these sweet mugs for $1.90 at the thrift store the other day.
Owl love them owl-ways.
ok ok, I'll stop.

What's in a name?

Peter: Would you ever change your name?

me: uh, no. I would have to create all new blogs. Would take me forever. Come on.

Peter: hahahhaah, the blogger formerly known as vina.

Peter: but you've got a cool  name. I've never been satisfied with Peter. My brother named me after a Ghostbuster.

Peter: I think I'd make a good DeAndre or Malik. Malik Lee, awwwww shit can't wait to have a kid. 

me: That sounds like Christmas in Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka. 

Caleb: Oh man, I'm going to have five nieces. My sisters get pregnant like it's their job.

Christmas eve afternoon

Libby: so I want to illustrate your breakfast recipe with oatmeal and the egg and I will send it to you. And if you like it, we'll do like 10 more together. Food zine.

me: uh, done.

me: I'm eating this apple pastry blossom, Rachel is icing a cake, and we're talking about food zines. This is pretty much an awesome afternoon.

Libby: what if we were all TOGETHER? Actually the world might explode into zine pages and baked goods.

Oh, Dads.

Ok thanks, Dad.

Dad: vin, vin, this is my quote of the day: knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in the fruit salad.

A festivus for the rest of us!

Rawr! It's Christmas time!

[via gmail]
Justin: (sends Christmas Godzilla to Lynne)
Lynne: You clearly read even more trashy blogs than I do! And I am grateful! My favorite holiday decoration!
Justin: This I got from vina. I will forward on your gratitude.
Lynne: The two of you are dangerous.

Man, I love Lynne. One of the most adorable professors in the School of Art ever.
She knows us so well.

Godzilla Christmas tree via prosthetic knowledge

the desert raven, he has poetry

I quite like this song, despite its "where are the aliens?" introduction. Side note, you may want to seek water or assistance if you start hallucinating about poetic ravens in the desert.

Kaboom

Russian: I wonder where these photos come from. You know? Like who is the photographer that takes pictures of pretty women in exotic places and them throws them into tumblr just so people can jealously reblog.

me: I think the bigger question is why aren't we traveling to exotic places and being photographed and then publishing them on tumblr ourselves?

Russian: shit just got real.

photo via Justify Sexy

Can't tell if these are singing cabbages, artichokes, or topiaries

either way, they are adorable.

Hey, it is cold.

Justin: You've worn pants a few days in a row now. I do not know how I feel about it.

Googly eyes with Christopher Walken

Thanks, Rach!

Stephanie: Omg we were watching tv and we were like...is this a lesbian KY commercial?? then we remembered we were watching Beetlejuice on the Logo Channel hahahahahah.

Why I don't own a taser

Can you imagine?

“where were you today, vina?”

“oh...what had happened was...I, uh, may have accidentally tasered myself”

OR

“yeah, see I wanted to reheat my sandwich, right..and uh, yeah...”

I didn't even know that was possible.

GMU Artsbus promo vid: I Love New York

Hey self, you've gone on the Artsbus at least ten times. 

You should do a promo for it as your final project for motion design!

Side note, thank you to all the people who have ever let me photograph them on said trips and double thanks to Justin for all of his sound/editing help and for keeping me company until five in the morning. 

Maybe that's why they make grad school deadlines so close to Christmas.

Justin: Are you dressed yet?
me: WHY, ARE YOU HERE?

Merde, je le veux.

raindrops

Quelqu'un sait ce qu'il avance ou ce qu'il fait

Great googly moogly

me: Rachel says she will make googly eyes at you if you come visit.
Fábio: Googly eyes don't pay the bills, luv.
me: Googly eyes pay the bill of happiness.

avocado alfredo

These photos are from June.
JUNE.

avocado alfredo: 
fresh sweet basil
lemon juice
olive oil
avocado
garlic
s&p
and I'm fairly sure we used nuts. Pine nuts? Walnuts? Probably pine nuts.
I don't remember if we used cheese. The addition of dried parmesan would probably be a nice touch.

Avocado alfredo is ten shades healthier than its heavy cream/cheese alternative. Think of fresh pesto with avocado. Try it. You will not be disappointed, unless you're some kind of avocado hater. I'm not so sure we can be friends if that is the case. 

Friday night's "Let's clean all the things, convert all the files, and sing all the songs" playlist

A Very She & Him Christmas. Waltzin'.
Jimmy Durante. You must remember this.
Charles Bradley. Sir, what are you wearing?
Bombay Bicycle Club. Always like this.
Otis. Satisfaction.

You told Harpo to redraw me!

Stephanie: Sometimes when I'm reading notes in orders and they make a bad design choice, I'm all Oprah in The Color Purple, "LIKE I SAID...FIIIINE...WIT MEEEE"
Stephanie: "Celie, I'se PMS matched now!"

me: (sitting in quiet studio, checking the tumblrs)
Christine: (kicks in door) WHAT UP, BITCH?! I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I don't think of you that way.

COOKIE BUTTER

Meekus: COOKIE BUTTER VINA. COOKIE BUTTER. WE NEED IT. NOW.
me: First of all, you are typing in all caps about food. THIS EXCITES ME.
Second of all, WHAT IS COOKIE BUTTER?
Meekus: http://thephlipside.tumblr.com/post/13885479147
me: :O

Libby: My man. I feel like singing this whenever the store is out of nonfat fage yogurt.

Oh, Libby.

I would have never known.

[after Justin printed some pages for her]
Margaret: Thanks, Justin! Do you have a chu-chunka?
me: (in my mind) what did you call him!?
Justin: yeah, sure. (hands her a stapler)

Baby, I'm a fool

for this song, Neutra typeface, and that red velvet cake.

Dec. 7, a date which will live in infamy

me: Oh! I need to text Yathrib. Today is her birthday.
Justin: Hahah! Happy birthday! You da bomb!

Late night InDesign, the foosball episode of Community, and that song I can't stop humming

innit, though!

[on the Dr. Who Christmas special]
Meekus: It was brilliant though /swooon
me: oh no you done used brilliant and swoon in the same sentence.

me: Have you seen the Dr. Who Christmas episode? Meekus is swooning over it. He literally said swoon and brilliant in the same sentence.
Rachel Newdorf: oh no!
HAHAHA
not yet
HAHAHAHAH

Pa: I randomly find myself saying "HOLLAAAAAA" out loud now. I think it's my new thing.

Shoot, that's how we roll.

Libby: I told Chris I ran into you during lunch yesterday, and I was like, "we talked to a professor and ate cookies and took photos and said we'd help each other make websites!" and he just goes "...that is magical."

Cin(em)a Cucina tv bumper

Oh, look! I just made a tv bumper!

A. I'm getting better at After Effects, hayyy.
B. I still need to figure out that camera and z-axis mumbo jumbo.
C. Thank you to Justin, Newdorf, and Marzia for all your help!
D. Ten hours later, movie is uploaded, and I've JUST realized that it was supposed to be cinema cucina (from the previous project) and not cina cucina. So instead of film and movies, I have made a bumper for a Chinese kitchen. This is my life.

Justin: Well at least you didn't put, like
me: the other thing? yeah..
Justin: Cinema china cochina or something. I would die. Literally. Dead.

screen capture before I replaced the Illustrator file for a text layer directly in After Effects.
See, I had it right at some point!

*Update: I decided to fix the problem. Might as well do it right.

Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange. Or you're high as a kite.

P: I got high last night and drove while listening to the Inception soundtrack. Craziest fucking night of my life. There was this one point where the music was crescendoing, and then those massive horns blared, and then I was utterly convinced that the light poles, buildings and bushes were actually dream watchmen monitoring me as I moved through their dreamspace. And that I was reaching the end of the dream and everything was going to fold up and show the giant machinery making everything work...but then I just passed out in my bed with all my clothes on. :(

(For the record, boys and girls — smoking weed is bad. I've never even smoked a cigarette. And stay in school.)

March of the Angry

Joseph: You know that Morgan Freeman hates Black History Month?
me: probably because they keep asking him to narrate things.

And I, of all, should know this. And everyone should notice.

I don't always like roller coasters (too fast! too fast!) but I like the amusement park times of this video. Also, Jenn Wasner reminds me of Kristin Wiig.

Lineposters

 

 

Lineposters

Men are from where now?

Meekus: so girls are nuts and guys are stupid.
me: yes. we should write a book.

See, what I do know is my alter ego is upcoming

To all the other drivers:
This is my Friday song.
I will sing and dance in the car with no shame.
Don't hate.
Happy Friday!

Have waited for days to post this. Days.

Friend requested by a dog, or just a dog owner that has too much time on his hands.

ooh! Facebook notification! Who can it beeee nowwww?

oh no, Boek done made a Facebook account for his dog.

she's pretty adorable and she IS a Frenchie. I heart Frenchies.

yeah, ok, I'll accept.

Sandy, y u let dis happen.

My very own world wide web. I dig that.

[via text]
Hannah: you really entertain me on the internets.
me: yay!
Hannah: Some people have a gift for the internets.
me: i hearts internets.
Hannah: yea I just lost over a half hour of sleep I was gonna have because of your very own world wide web. laughin' and chillin' at all those dot coms.

Thanksgiving leftover sandwich

toasted sourdough
cranberry relish
romaine
stuffing
roast turkey
whole grain mustard

OH YEAH I DID THAT

Strega Nonna title sequence from vina s. on Vimeo.

It's true.

Justin: You want to go see Robin Thicke tomorrow?
me: if he's playing fo free.
Justin: yeah, me neither.

(I only know three of his songs, eep)

The Fire Pit

Meekus: vina. I'm sort of a dick. (insert reason why)
me: Meekus. I'm sort of a dick. Because that made me laugh out loud.
Meekus: oh god, we're going to hell.
me: It's all good. We can open up a restaurant there. Call it The Fire Pit. Serve bloody Marys. Play Disco Inferno.
Meekus: I'll use a mini pitchfork for the grill. ^ ^

It's that time of year!

I HATE YOU is how Libby expresses her love.

Libby: I saw that pic of pasta w/nuts you posted on Tumblr. I got Ryan Gosling angry.

Man-eating mignonettes

Kai: (running amok with his imagination) Run! Run! The man-eating clams are coming!!
Oura: Did he say what the clams are marinating in?
me: No, no, he said “man-eating.” He didn't turn into some five year old foodie.

Hinnom

Times New Roman?! Them's fightin' words.

[via text]
Caleb: Shush
me: Nah
Caleb: Yes.
me: No.
Caleb: YES.
me: NO!
Caleb: Fine...JK, YES!!
me: This can't be construed via text but no in all caps Futura, extra bold, pt size infinity.
Caleb: How about YES, all caps, bold, pt size gazillion googolplex inifnity TIMES NEW ROMAN.

Brought to you by the letter C

Cheddar cheese and club crackers, chocolate cake, chili, cornbread, and cider

bashful Lydia!

Cry-Baby!

This ain't no wow no more.

Meekus: It's a good song. I'd get down to this song too :D
me: hahah ok
Meekus: even though, you know, it's about killing someone.

I think I'm falling. I think I'm fall-all-ing.

Stupid Zales diamond commercials and their cute songs.

HE PERMED ME!!

[via text]
Russian Rachel: I'm getting my hair permed today.
me: ......
Russian Rachel: DON'T GIVE ME THAT. IT'S A BODY WAVE. I TOTES WON'T LOOK LIKE SHIRLEY TEMPLE.

Happy T.Hanks Giving!

What I'm listening to on the way to the third Thanksgiving dinner:
- The Black Keys. I forgot the stuffing. Hold on, I'll Run Right Back and get it.
- the upbeat songs from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Mighty fine pickin' and a-singin'.
- Basia Bulat. My sunglasses!
- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Yo Mike, yo Mike. Who's that girl in the corner right there? Oh, that's Alina.
- Ugly Casanova. Here's to Now.

To my black Friday shoppers out there: you are brave and I hope you were able to get whatever on-sale items you coveted enough to camp for after a full Thanksgiving dinner. That is dedication. I went home and slept. 

This is the extent of my black Friday shopping:

Wait, that's a lie. I bought a five dollar mp3 album on Amazon.

me: mang, I was vetoed on the ragout.
Stephanie: How come? And since when can ppl tell you what to BRING to a thanksgiving dinner? "Oh hell no, indians, no more corn"

We just don't care.

John Legend is good for the cloudy and cold days.
(I had literally just finished typing out that sentence and the sky became all sunny.
I HAVE MAGICAL POWERS.)

Yeah...

This. Is. FLUSHING!!

Russian Rachel: Haha! Am I gross because I don't?

me: Nah, man. I like doing it because I say "This. is. Sparta!!" in my mind when I kick the handle. I've never even seen 300.

Russian Rachel: *like* x100000

Shoot, we may have lost the war but we won that battle.

[during a round of Taboo, boys against girls, my word is "ditto"]
Matt: Ohhhh, you're not going to get that one. You should skip it. I would skip it.
me: (staring at card, not saying anything)
Matt: Come on. You want to skip it? You should skip it.
me: no, I want to try. Ok, I'm ready.
(timer starts)
me: In the movie Ghost, Demi Moore says this to Patrick Swayze.
Mariam: (no hesitation) Ditto.
All the boys: daaaaaamn.

Whisper in my ear, baby

I like the random dude at the end of the song.

Lucky Lemonade Shutters

[email chain about food and blogging]
me: oh, Meekus and I are starting a food blog together. We can't think of a name for it.
Fábio: Lemonade Lists and Lucky Shutter, how about Lucky Lemonades? Dude, that's a lot of blogs you have. Dayum.
me: Hahahahah. I already have a Lucky Lemonade.
Fábio: You've got to be joking! -.-'

We love us some butter, y'all.

me: Sagid, that pumpkin cheesecake was really good!
Sagid: Thanks! It was a Paula Deen recipe. I think it was low-fat; it called for only one stick of butter.