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TWO.ONE.FIVE. Issue 6.

My friends at two.one.five have released their sixth issue.

Go out and pick it up, check the site, peep the blog, and keep your ears peeled for the latest on events in Philly.

Print is NOT dead!

We do things our way.

There will be no jolly holly merry Santa Baby Jesus decorations at our house. So I've taken Halloween, twisted it into reds and greens, introduced a fair amount of black into the equation, and the end result is a vision that can only be described as a uniquely festive. Today I started what will be most likely a work in progress all month long. I'm making every stride to be thrifty, creative, and resourceful- which basically means that I'm using stuff I already have, utilizing things that can be modified to fit the theme, and of course making things by hand.

Last night I started by making table top Christmas trees out of magazines. Since I have stacks and stacks of them, I decided to make three in varying sizes. I thought about painting them, but I'm fond of the recycled look.

I found the idea for my mantle center piece when I was searching online for DIY Christmas Tree alternatives. We have two cats and a dog and the three of them manage to get into absolutely everything. I wanted to find something that couldn't be disturbed [constantly needing to be re-assembled], we don't have the time- much less want to be picking up a 6 foot tree every time something shiny catches their eye. The solution is minimal, and for the most part free. I gathered dead tree branches, painted them black, stuck them in a vase, and hung Christmas balls on them. I got the ornaments at Dollar Tree, I had the paint, and the vase. The result is lovely.

The green sprays were cut off of another tree on the block, [yes, we have trees in South Philly] they aren't fragrant but they have baby pine cones on them which is an added bonus.

Spur of the moment extras are two religious candles I bought in the Italian Market last month, and a hunk of quartz that was already on the mantle. I'm pretty proud of the over all result, It's got me wanting to add more and more. Which I most likely will.

A Mash Up Of Wants & Inspirations.

Call me Wendy!!

"Casey, when Wendy's my friend in real life you're not going to be able to turn her down so just deal with it."

Inspired.

I desperately need a set of drawers/storage of some kind for our room, and I think Kompott's "Boxes" could be the DIY solution. 

Kompott is an amazing, award winning design collective that creates solutions based on human interaction [with others, and with objects]. I read about them on Apartment Therapy. Check them out. 

New Moon.

Ok so, I didn't read the Twilight books. I actually didn't see the first movie until about a week ago when my boyfriend came home saying that some cougar at the bar he works at said he [quote] "looks like that Twilight vampire Eddie boy". After careful inspection I've concluded that the similarities are non-existent and my Casey is still very much not a vampire. [sigh.]

I enjoyed it for the most part. Visually, it was really lovely to look at. But here are my beefs.

1. Strategic Product Placement- When Bella & Jacob are outside the movie theatre, there is a crumpled Burger King bag sitting on top of the trash can to their left. When Bella & Alice fly to Italy, there's a lengthy shot of a Virgin Airlines plane. The Cullens all drive Volvos. I'm just kind of confused, because it's not like they didn't make a shit ton of money off the first film. 

2. Kristen Stewart acts like a skittish kitten on screen.

I can see how she'd be afraid to kiss Edward, He's a vampire and his most deadly asset lays mostly in his mouth, but her body language backs away when he leans towards her. If you're so in love, and you're so comfortable around one of the story's most powerful family of Vampires, then what's this all about? It's annoying, and I'm going to come right out and say it- she's not the best actress ever. I got mildly annoyed towards the end of the movie.

3. I know the idea of Vampires living in modern society is not exactly a conceivable thing- but there's more non-paranormal elements in the story that I can't believe. Bella is gone for a few hours after Edward breaks up with her and the entire town of Forks is searching for her. Bella leaves with with Alice, simply says "don't worry", goes to Italy, and dad's all like "oh where were you for the past three days?". It's like- really unrealistic.

And how exactly do you tell your mom and dad that you're with a vampire, and you want him to make you one too so you can be together until infinity? Just saying, my dad wouldn't be too pleased. He'd probably ship me off to a boarding school/pseudo convent. 

4. The Twilight Saga was written by a Mormon. I understand that she has a specific way of conveying things because of her beliefs, but these Vampires are laughably tame to me. If you segue to Charlaine Harris' True Blood vampires, they're vastly different- but Harris' are more mythologically correct. Examples: Vampires can't enter a home without being invited in. See the movie "Let The Right One In", The vampire in that movie literally starts to combust after stepping into the doorway of a human's home without being invited. Traditional vampires can not be awake/outside in the daytime, period. They can't be inside, under cover, or wear dark sunglasses, they have to live under ground. So how is it that Edward will start to disintegrate in the sun at high noon in Italy, but Alice can wear sunglasses and be fine? Traditional vampires can not sufficiently live off animal blood- they have to feed off of humans or they become weak and "die" per-say. [<- I read a lot. Leave me alone.] The Cullen's don't eat humans, which I've been told is why their eyes are brown and not red. This is boring to me. 

Bottom line:

I quite like looking at Robert Pattison. I kind of like the story, but at the same time I don't. The idea of vampires I have in my head is not of glittery, waiting until marriage, occasionally kissing, nurturing, nesting, non-blood drinking vampires. The ones I'm interested in, are sex crazed, un-relenting, hungry, violent, bizarre, and nocturnal. 

Twilight is none of these things.