blistering barnacles! a tintin halloween

thundering typhoons! les deux oiseaux & their beloved homie isaac have turned into captain haddock and thomson & thompson! what marvelous costumes! happy halloween you bashi-bazouks!

photos by isaac strang. 

i heart phoenix

my favourite band phoenix came to london last night and their show was AMAZING. check out their blog here.  they'll be on tour 'til december so you can still get in on the fun. highly recommended! 

looking out, looking in

puget sound from olympic sculpture park, seattle

like layli, i miss the waters of my hometown

remixed

we watched an oldie the other night at ica and it was just as adorable as the remixed version:

the world is my oyster... and chicken?

i went to marylebone farmers market this morning to visit the mushroom man (no, not those mushrooms, these mushrooms!) in addition to regular oyster mushrooms, today he also had pink oyster mushrooms. they looked very pretty. so i bought some. and in addition to those he had this massive mushroom called chicken of the woods. i was like, word? why are they called that good sir? well curious young lady with hungry eyes, because their texture is like that of chicken breast! so i bought some. see the chunk on the plate, and below is how they look in the wild:


my grandfather in-law was a mushroom farmer. i never knew him but i wish he was around to share these 'shrooms with. i bet he would've schooled me on their medicinal benefits but google will have to do. apparently, this bunch is good for muscle aches & the immune system. tasty & healthy? what a rare combo for me. bon appetit!

somewhereshire

we went to the country to get some fresh air and shoot at things (milk carton) & joust (with homemade lances). our country cousins are the best! 

sasson & james (thanks iphone for the dark image. click to view larger.)

me & co (hard to keep steady on a trampoline!) 

hello stranger

last week i opened up TimeOut london for a quick view of what's happening round town and one of the recommended events was a birthday party for philosopher, historian and author Theodore Zeldin in Regents Park. i was just re-reading his book 'Conversation' so this was exciting news.

this wasn't your normal birthday bash. while most of us celebrate with our homies & fam, zeldin likes to celebrate with complete strangers. together with social enterprise limina, he invited anyone and everyone in the world to join 'the feast of strangers'. instead of a menu of food, there was to be a menu of topics for conversation. (all were invited to bring real food & share.)

i had a nervous feeling the shindig was going to be very philosophical, intimidating and completely over my head. but as i approached the location the butterflies in my tummy went away because it looked like an Evergreen party. hippies all over dotted with a few london 'suits' free arty activities, guitar sounds in the background and fresh treehouses courtesy The Treehouse Gallery.

a friendly boy who smelled very much like Evergreen introduced me to 'my stranger'--a bright, bubbly woman who also found the event via TimeOut. what a coinky-dink, we said. we looked over the 'menu' and found the questions to be very difficult, deep and personal. we both gravitated to the same question: 'what have you learned about yourself through traveling?' and so we conversed amidst a hundred other strangers under the warm afternoon sun.

then we shook hands and went our separate ways. it was fun.

oh, and i got to talk to zeldin who is a very nice and thought-provoking gentleman with an amazing hair style.

on the up & up

we went to bristol via picturesque train ride to visit the fam & see these sweet hot air balloons take off for the annual festival. aren't they cute? they were worth waking up at 6am to watch, mos def. there were even some wacky shaped ones like a turtle, a box, a spaceship looking thing, and a chicken. they also dropped down quite low, almost touching my aunt's rooftop!

first pic from my darling diana lomo, second from the iphone. which one do you think looks better? long live film! 

fuego

we went on holiday to the southeast coast of spain. 

never in my life have i had such an adventure. one minute we were swimming in the mediterranean and drinking jasmine orange juice, the next minute we were escaping a huge fire in the hills of the town of mojacar where we were staying. 

tons of holiday makers were evacuated to the next town. we ran away even further to a city called almeria. after a good night's rest, we went to 'la alcazaba', a beautiful islamic/christian fortress overlooking the city. then we went back to mojacar as the fire was put out. we ended the holiday with a swim in the sea and a healthy dose of sunbathing. 

there was lots more drama in between but i'll spare you the details. the husband took these pictures from the iphone. i'll post some lomo pictures later if my film wasn't destroyed in the over 100 degree weather.

mojacar, spain on fire. we smelled like b-b-q all day.

the aftermath.

les deux oiseaux celebrate anniversaire de mariage

three years ago. dana passage olympia, washington.

having a bad day? have it in style!

these accessories from the french factory are so f*ckin' cute! i wish i was wearing this sh*t yesterday when i was yelling at my doctor. boo to the nhs! (that's the national health system for you yanks. socialised health ain't that great y'all.)

au revoir summer

summer has come and gone in london--it lasted about two weeks. now it's back to gray and blah. but i'm in good spirits because a) i'm listening to fun tunes, i.e. wolgang amadeus--the new album by phoenix and b) i'm reading rutu modan's graphic novel jamilti & other stories. 

Another Top, 4 only

Minus one because blogspot keeps messing up my formatting. I'm seriously thinking of moving to wordpress. 

1. Les deux oiseaux have different taste in musique, but they both agree that Stereo Total are fantastique! 

2. My only form of exercise: swimming. Now that I'm over my fear of 

deep water I actually enjoy swimming. I'd prefer the Mediterranean 

over the pool though...

3. Muji. I don't know what it is about this chain store that makes me feel at ease about shopping. Maybe it's the colour scheme, the tidy displays, or the simplicity of all the designs. Whatever it is, shopping at Muji is a dream compared to say, Walmart--ugh!--or even Ikea, double ugh! 

4. Flower Garden at Kenwood House. Check out these massive rhododendrons! The best thing is, they're just a five minute bus ride away from our pad. 

Top 5

I'm going to try a Top 5 list because I want to & I can't think of anything else to blog about that wouldn't end up a long rant--babies, yuck!--or a sappy love letter--my husband is so dreamy!

Kissley's Top 5 list of good things (better title laterz, maybe):

Movie:
Wendy & Lucy
Short & sweet & filmed in Oregon. I heart the west coast, Honda Accords & cute doggies,
(I miss you, Maggie).
Book:
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
by Allison Bechdel
THE BEST compilation ever! And a good lesson in radical lesbian politics. Plus, it's laugh out loud hilarious--my stomach is still recovering.

Muzak:

spotify.com
It's free! I'm listening to a bit of old school Nas at the moment.
(Thanks for the recommendation Isaac!)

Shop:
Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street
I bought the next Punk Rock Book Club book here. This is the kind of shop where the workers talk to you intelligently about books. Borders really sucks compared to Daunt.


Other:
3-day weekends.
This year we have 2 bank holidays in May and this first one was bliss!

from the desk of

I love when newspapers and magazines spotlight a writer's desk. Here are a few pictures of our desk where not a lot of writing goes on. It's mostly a table to put stuff on. I do however use it on Sundays to write snail mail letters to my friends & family. That has to count for something, right Dostoevsky?

Whose desk would you like to see? Me? Zadie Smith & her husband Nick Laird, Dave Eggers & his wife Vendela Vida, graphic novelist Alison Bechdel, the late Charles Schulz, Dorothy Parker, and many more.

a close-up of the amaryllis on my desk. i managed to keep it alive through the winter and it died just as spring arrived.

Holidaying with the fam

my brother & me before and after eating chicago deep dish pizza.

our cousin henry. he's so cool, he lives in park slope. 

my mister & our cousin hannah. she's so cool she lives in the upper west side.

by brother benjamin & our cousin sam playing nice.

our long lost cousin polly pocket in brooklyn.

Chi-town

This be me and my man and my brotha in Chicago. We ate deep dish pizza and the best Chinese food. 

If for some silly reason you want a closer look at our monkey faces, just click on the picture. 

I heart NY food

Les deux oiseaux are in New York for Passover & Easter! But before they sit down for a feast of chicken soup, gefilte fish, chopped liver and eggs they had to hit Crif Dogs in the Lower East Side for some serious hot dogs. Check out that sexy mural! Who wouldn't want to look at that while eating...? Then it was off to Zabars for some bagels & lox. Dee-licious--New York style!

Two-wheelin'

This weekend I conquered one of my biggest fears: bicycling in London. While the Mister is an avid cyclist--navigating London's complex streets with ease in all types of weather--I prefer to cycle only during holidays in the country where the only traffic are cows crossing. But this weekend the weather was so nice and as we're flat sitting on Warren Street again with a spare bike, I thought I'd brave the lanes and see just how far my good luck would take me. I suited up with a helmet and a bright pink shirt under a neon printed H&M dress. Surely, drivers would see my bright a$$ and steer clear! 

Through Fitzrovia we sped and over to Hyde Park where we indulged in some ice cream and a bit of sun bathing. And here I am alive, all in one piece and happy, much like the characters in Jean-Jacque Sempe's cartoons.

'A Question of Balance' is a box-set of postcards featuring Sempe's illustrations of cyclists in all types of adorable situations. It would make a great gift for a loved one. We have a set dangling on a mobile in our room. 

Death and the King's Horseman

We saw this play last night at the National Theatre. If you like Nigerian music (deeply soulful), African attire (colourful textiles), ritual suicide (no blood!), British colonialism (laughable) and proverbs (lots and lots of it!) then this is the play for you! 

Muzak - for my brother!

My brother reminded me that I haven't been bloggin' lately. I've been away stressin' at work and nursing a broken leg. I'm feeling a bit better now-- and what better way to celebrate turning a new leaf by listening to some good tunes. Check out my Evergreen homies DJ Diversify & DJ Cyclyst and their crew at grownkidsradio.com for the latest and greatest in hip-hop and all kinds of dope ish.

And check out Delta Maid, an incredible acoustic blues singer from Liverpool. I heard her at Book Slam in Notting Hill last week and her voice is so adorable and soulful.

It gets better y'all. Check out the fun tunes these music junkies are podcasting at e & r - a mixtape for you.

Where can I get fresh muzak in London you ask? Well, there are lots of good record shops in Soho. I really like Sister Ray on Berwick Street where I got Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis. The coolest kids go to Rough Trade off Brick Lane.

Design*Sponge does London & Seattle

Super fresh blog Design*Sponge has just posted a London Design Guide. Check it out here. They've highlighted lots of my favorite shops and restaurants. They've also done one on my true home, Seattle.

Oh deer!

Check out these lovely deer-- they live at the park down the street from our crib. It's so great to see this kind of 'natural' life minutes from the urban mayhem.