some thoughts & a time warp

so this week is a tad hellish for me (surprise, surprise). this might be a little blasphemous for me to say, but i kind of hate school. i love learning, though, if that makes sense. as a kid, i was one of those quiet ones that was perfectly content to curl up with a good book and let my imagination run wild, and nowadays, i can hear a name or phrase that will randomly spark my interest, and i'll do quick bursts of intensive research on it for the sheer sake of knowing. but the whole institution of schooling more or less feels like a rat race and a demonstration that i'm putting on for other people. i have a million and one assignments and whatnot to prepare for, and while everyone says that the goal is to have learned something and truly assimilated some knowledge, what i'm doing in reality is showing to my professor or teaching fellow, on their terms, that i know what it is that they want me to know. and for that reason, i often feel that the past year and a half and the upcoming two and a half years are a series of a motions that I simply must go through. it all gets a little depressing from time to time, to be honest, and when it (it being schooling) starts to take away from interests and passions and relationships with other people is when i really, really start to feel down.

but i'm taking baby steps towards reconciling some of these issues. instead of casting disapproving glances at the outfits of my classmates as i go to class and lamenting the lack of a fashion presence on campus, i've decided to first of all, stop being a bitch (pardon my french), and second of all, open my eyes to groups and organizations on campus that do address fashion. instead of throwing on crappy clothes in the morning and feeling blah all day, i figure it won't kill me to wake up slightly earlier and dress myself well enough to boost my mood a bit. being in college drains my budget in general, but i should pounce on the opportunities that this gives me to scour local vintage and thrift shops, and by extension the cities of cambridge and boston. and lastly, i plan to dedicate some more time and effort to this blog. i think february 22's "can we talk?" was sort of the cutoff point, where i decided to revamp a little, start maintaining posts and tags, put up a banner, and start making collages and focused posts, etc. etc. since then i've been really scouring the blogosphere, really trying to get a feel for what it is that i want to tackle with this blog, and i think the general verdict is that i don't want to limit myself. i'm pretty positive that most of the things i write about will be fashion-related, but i don't want to promise that they won't be rambling, overtly opinionated, super long, or downright nonsensical (though i'll try my best to keep it coherent). inspirational designers, collection, pieces, people, magazines, pictures, my own outfits (that is, when me and my camera cooperate), my quest for fashion on campus, snippets of or full conversations that i have with others, interesting articles, and gushing over fun public or blogger figures are all fair game. yes? yes.

and now on to the good stuff.




so i got an e-mail today announcing, "urban outfitters is coming to brooklyn!" my initial reaction was surprise. seriously? brooklyn? of all places.. doesn't have an urban? how did that happen? i mean we don't have one in staten island (where i'm from), which is no surprise, but brooklyn? the borough competing with manhattan itself for trendy street cred? odd.

the pictures they used in the e-mail poster were a lot of fun and realized that i have a lot of mental associations with the borough (aside from the fact that a lot of my family resides there): coney island, the site of so many summer memories and my first real date with cameron, the notorious b.i.g. (god i can't wait to wear that shirt), a tree grows in brooklyn, still one of my favorite books, cliche or not, the l train, welcome back, mr. kotter, which i watched all the time back when nickatnite actually showed classic (or at least relatively old) tv, jay-z (i went through a big jay-z phase), and mike tyson, who i have no personal connection with, but the pixelated likeness of him does take me back to the days of playing (and losing) mike tyson's punch-out.

there was also a huxtable family photo on the poster. i love the cosby show, and even though i used to watch it alot, i couldn't escape the nagging notion that, well, it was a little boring. but looking at it now, what a stylish family those huxtables were! the picture above is one of the most toned-down ones that i could find, but still you can't suppress all of that 1980's finery. shoulder pads and big hair galore! love it. i love vanessa's jacket and i actually own that shirt, and i think rudy might be wearing lederhosen, but whatever. denise looks like a pioneer wife, but bohemian and unattainably cool as always. which brings me to my next point..



*giuseppe zanotti sandals, urbanoutfitters hat & bag

well, heathcliff had his coogi sweaters, and claire had all that attitude and poise.. theo had his high-top fade, and olivia had a cute face, but no one could come close to the effortless cool that was denise huxtable, also known as lisa bonet. while i was looking for pictures i found a whowhatwear daily post also paying homage to her, but to be honest, if i channel lisa bonet, i most likely will not do it in hammer pants. so for the sake of not wanting to look like i'm going to an costume party as lisa bonet, i've opted for a few earth-toned accessories to add a touch of bohemian without taking it to that terrible boho chic phase the world suffered through a couple of years back. i'm really into the purse. only $34, but as i'm currently broke, i'm leaving it up to someone who loves me to buy it for me.. early birthday gift? belated half-birthday gift?

also, could zoe kravitz possibly have gotten a better deal from the genetic pool?

*related music: kanye west, can't tell me nothing