and she was

I’ve finished moving over to AndSheWas.org! It’s such a relief. I feel free from the confines of Word Press. And She Was is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs and unlike other songs or bands that I like a whole lot, they’re extra special to me. Before I was born, my parents went on a date to a Talking Heads show, I recently inherited some of their vinyls from my Dad, and one of the first times we hung out as a couple, my boyfriend and I were watching Stop Making Sense. My love for them is not just musical but sentimental; the best people I’ve met love them and the best car rides have been spent singing along.

I’ve had some days off from my day job for the first time since May. Much of this free time has been devoted to reworking the blog and my etsy shop. Though, I have managed to do a lot of swimming, film-watching, and quality time with my family and my boyfriend.

I was so focused on getting the technical work done on this move that I haven’t had much time to work on the post I’ve been planning, so here’s a quick rundown of my current favorites.

- Inception in Imax was amazing. I think I will go see it again, though probably not in Imax (much too expensive). At the very least, I’ll buy it when it comes out. I love it when a great film (or song, book, painting, etc) has you thinking about its concept for days afterward. Not to mention JGL looking dapper. (Find an interview of him at NY Times’ T Magazine.)
- I’ve been going through all the videos, and watching T Magazine’s video of Ryan McGinley’s Spring opening at Team Gallery is just about enough to cure any nervous post-grad feelings I’ve been having.
- Speaking of dapper, Annabel’s latest outfit post is exactly what I want on my body right now, but it’s so hot I can’t manage to get out of shorts and a men’s Hanes v-neck.
- I know a lot of people who read this are people I know in person and thus probably from Boston, so I have to recommend stalking the blog Wicked Cheap in Boston. It’s pretty new, but Molly is quite the motivated cheapskate (I mean that in the BEST way). There’s also a good amount of information and links that apply to people that don’t live in Boston- or you might as well bookmark it in case you decide to plan a visit.

Hi, I moved from ithrowyouin.wordpress.com to finally have my own domain for my blog. If I’m entirely new to you, my name is Kristine. I’m a 22 year old college graduate with a racing mind and a need to put things in a proper place. And She Was will function as a conglomeration of the hot mess that is my head, my inspiration, my own work, and my thoughts.

Oh, and that up there, is me when I was around seven years old.

© kristine asta helgason

Summer’s pretty much here as the birthday season has begun. My boyfriend turned 23 on Thursday and my niece turned 2 yesterday. Tim took the day off on Thursday so I took him to American Firearms School in North Attleboro where we did the “Learn to Shoot” package. Neither of us had shot a gun prior to Thursday and neither of us expected that I would like it so much. The instructor was really friendly and informative and the atmosphere at AFS was so less weird than I thought it would be, it really helped me feel more at ease. And it was only 45 minutes south of Boston. We shot .22 pistols and did pretty well for our first time! We’re planning on going back for dates, our anniversary, my birthday, etc…

That night, we looked into acquiring/owning guns more for the convenience of not paying for rentals and being able to adjust the sighting than anything else. We’re not hunters and we’re not violent at all. Both of us were surprised at how easy it is to own and carry guns. After having the experience, I think it’s worth knowing how to safely operate a gun even if you aren’t planning to own one. I also think it’s well within our rights to own and carry guns. My moral dilemma is in the fact that it’s easier to own and carry guns than it is to drive and own a car. Around 13,000 more people die in car accidents than by gun per year, but you never hear about intentional vehicular homicide whereas around 40% of gun fatalities are homicides and 56% are suicides.

On a lighter note, we’ve been talking about decorating a wall of our future apartment with targets. Here are two from Etsy, if you click on the images it’ll take you right to the listings. I’m not sure why I like the crow one so much. It’s kind of morbid, but the placement of the head target looks like an eye coyly looking in my direction.

© kristine asta helgason

My niece’s birthday party was this weekend and her birthday was yesterday. I may be bragging, but my niece and nephews are such good, sweet kids that they make spoiling them justified by the big, long hugs and smiles upon opening a gift. It’s also really fun to buy toys for kids, but perhaps I’m just a kid at heart. I really love wrapping them too, even if only to have the kids wildly tear it off. I’ve had this roll of brown Kraft paper for four years and it’s only now starting to dwindle. I made the little dots by punching holes in round labels and using them as stencils. The ribbon is from a collection of vintage sewing supplies I bought from Savers a while ago. I like using rick-rack and pom-pom trim too.

I have two weeks of school left and it’s too hot to sleep with more than a sheet.

I’m looking forward to this summer in a way I haven’t in years. I’m ready to work a lot this summer to save money and try to have a lot of summer fun on the cheap. I’m looking forward to picnics, fireworks, shooting with film, reading, eating the strawberries that are growing in the backyard, and best of all… getting to know my new nephew. He should be here any day now! My sister’s due date was this past Friday. We’re all starting to get antsy.

As a graduation present to myself, I want to get a new tattoo. I think it’d be worth the trip to get a piece done by Amanda Wachob, painter-turned-tattoo-artist whose work ranges from abstract to modern/representational to conceptual. Come summer, I plan to paint my toes a lot more since they’ll be visible and not under stockings, maybe lapis of luxury. I think it’d look cute with round Cheap Monday sunglasses and a floppy straw hat. Alas, I do need to save quite a bit of money this summer so maybe I’ll be painting this summer girl instead of wearing it.

Eels, the – Mansions of Los Feliz

image courtesy of future museum, © christine borland.

I know some other bloggers regularly make posts of lists of things they like. I’m not exactly a creature of habit so I doubt this will be a regular thing, but it works for my busy schedule of painting, printing, writing, studying, and worrying.

Christine Borland is a sculptor who is responsible for the above image. She works with medicine, science, and anatomy (she even got a fellowship at a medical institute) so I feel a deep connection to her work. I have kind of an artist crush on her! I found her through researching Rachel Whiteread and other Young British Artists for a research paper for seminar. I’d like to get a tattoo inspired by one of her sculptures, but I’m not sure if I need to contact her first. Or rather, her artist liaison at the gallery that represents her, since that’s all the contact information I can find. Any thoughts?

I’m getting really excited about my group senior show. We ordered 1,000 postcards of the image in the last post, started a blog, and figured out a window display and lobby idea. My awesome big sister is even baking cookies to reflect our decorations. Needless to say, we’re going all out. I’d like to get a nice dress and I’m really tempted to order this piece from Mociun. I wish I could try it on, though, they don’t sell anywhere in Massachusetts!

I’ve been looking at a lot of rings lately. I dug up a trunk of my old things a few weeks ago because I was dying to bring a mood ring for my trip to LA (I found one that I’ve had since childhood) and I’ve been acquiring more every so often. Eerie Basin of Brooklyn specializes in antique jewelry and also features some contemporary work. They range from a $160 turquoise Navajo ring circa 1930s to a $4,700 Victorian diamond ring circa 1880s (as well as many between and beyond). I’m a pretty simple girl when it comes to jewelry. Anyway, Stainless Steel Style is an ebay shop specializing in gothy mens rings, but I’m sure if you measure your finger they’d fit a girl just fine.

I needed new music so I went on a hunt today. Here are some of my findings.
Surfer Blood – Take it Easy
Japandroids – Art Czars

The weather for tomorrow is a prediction of 85 degrees. (In Boston! Really!) I plan on celebrating this with a new mix cd, windows down, an iced latte (why doesn’t Starbucks offer raspberry lime rickies? I have a giftcard!), and following up class with doing homework and painting my toenails a bright coral in the sun.