Explosive Heart

Karin Dreijer Andersson's "Fever Ray" is the best thing I've heard in a long time. (Originally of The Knife, this was her solo debut in '09.)

Photo courtesy of Diafero Collective.

The album is embedded below, but I also had to post the video for "If I Had A Heart" because it's exquisite. And makes me have intense dreams.

   Fever Ray by Fever Ray

Trifecta of Happiness: Round 1

1 book + 1 movie + 1 song = heck yes.

I finished "The Chronology of Water" in about 48 hours (meaning, I couldn't stop reading.)  I become leery when I see "memoir" (a conversation that has been beaten and bloodied on lit blog after lit blog) but Lidia's work is poetic and charged.  (Not to mention, this was a lovely mini-vacation between last day of classes and first day of off-the-grid-thesis-writing.)

An amazing documentary about art, trauma, what "inner life" can mean... and Barbies.  I feel certain I will watch this again.

Dance it out with The Rassle.

School Supply Shopping for Grown-Ups

Today is my last day of MFA classes.  Read: Tomorrow it is time to start cracking down on the thesis in a serious way.  A love of school supply shopping has not dissipated since the days of new crayons, skinny markers, and trapper keepers.  What better way to get motivated and inspired than stocking up on one's Absolute Necessities for Academic Success?!

And so, I bring you my favorite (and absolutely necessary) tools for this summer's write-a-thon:

1) Itoya PointKeeper Pencils - They look wooden. They are mechanical. They make the finest, darkest lines a girl could ask for. They're sustainable.  Love.

2) Moleskine Ruled Cahier Notebooks - The only notebooks for me.  Stitched binding, back pocket for scrap-storage, sleek and clean, durable yet bendy.... Poetry perfection.

3) Rickshaw Zero Messenger Bag - Perhaps my most decadent purchase, but well worth it. These urban messenger bags are made exclusively in San Francisco and are ZERO WASTE! Check out their website for customizable options and more details on the company's amazing ecological stance. They're terrific for biking with, too.

4) Summer Reading Part I (all purchased at City Lights) - 

And we're off!