This is kind of a currently obsessed post in disguise… but since I’ve got road trips on the brain, I thought I’d unite under a single theme.

1. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I loved this book, and I think it’s the perfect road trip novel for several reasons: it’s long enough to last you, it is told in smaller snippets (diary entries and short-story-like “interviews”) so picking it up and putting it down is not a problem, and it’s about really road-trippy people. (Check out James Wood’s NY Times Review.)
2. Pack This! I love Knock Knock, and I actually use my Pack This! notepad before almost every trip.
3. Half Pink Hair. I feel like you should either start a road trip or return from a road trip with a new look. I really want this half-pink hair but know that I will mess it up. (Anyone died their hair pink? Half pink? Tips?!) (Found this on Suicide Blonde’s tumblr.)
4. Globetrotter Necklace. I enjoy wearing thematically appropriate jewelry.
5. Bright Backpack! I often carry way too many items for a purse alone, so I just got this Jansport backpack and I am thrilled with it. It’s high quality, has perfect pockets, fits my macbook pro, feels good on the shoulders, and is all of my favorite colors (except blue, but that’s okay).
6. Postcards from Penguin. Maybe you are wondering why I start trips with postcards. This is because I have to address them and stamp them before I leave or else I will never actually send any. (Besides, most local postcards use very ugly fonts.) But the real reason I’m posting these particular postcards is because I AM SO EXCITED that they are coming to America (…in October… but you can pre-order them!… Penguin always puts everything out in the UK first…). There are 100 Book Covers in ONE box of postcards! (We are pretty in love with book covers here at Stickers & Donuts!)

Note: Background for this post from Mike Swanson’s Blog’s Wallpaper collection.

Two Penguin mentions in one week? Maria and Tricia, you both are BATTY.

Clockwise from top: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Of the Abuse of Words by John Locke, A Confession by Leo Tolstoy, On Friendship by Michel de Montaigne, The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Where I Lived and What I Lived For by Henry Thoreau, On Natural Selection by Charles Darwin, Days of Reading by Marcel Proust

Last week, I was at The Book Cellar, passing time before a friendly dinner/ukulele and banjo lessons, and I noticed a glorious rack of Penguin Classics.  The Penguin Classics Great Ideas series features ageless works that have inspired minds and provoked change.  Although the collection includes ideas of questionable integrity (…The Communist Manifesto is not exactly exemplary…), the series heralds ideas of great influence.

There are currently four series of Great Ideas.  Each series is composed of twenty works, and has a striking color scheme.  My favorite aspect of Great Ideas is the brilliant typography and cover designs (that angled square in the cover to Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus is THE BOULDER THAT SISYPHUS HAS TO PUSH UP THE MOUNTAIN – !!!).  This might be a superficial declaration, but book covers this beautiful make even the most frighteningly heavy books exciting to read.

PS: HAPPY WEEKEND!

1. LADY GAGA’S BAD ROMANCE. I know, I know — and yet, she does write her own songs, and she has her own sense of style (the wheelchair/invalid dance in Paparazzi?!), and you can play this song over and over if you’re caught in a bad roma-roma-ramma… etc. Oh, and the monster dance moves? Go ahead, watch the video now. I’m breaking out my monster claws at the next party.

2. PRESIDENTIAL FLASHCARDS. Go to the “One Spot” at Target where everything is a dollar, and get this set of Presidential Flashcards with a prez portrait on the front and fun facts on the back. I spent yesterday memorizing all of the presidents in order. I’m sure that will come in handy… never. (Whose the dude with the cool hairdo in the pic above? ANSWER BELOW.)

3. BIG LOVE. Rumor has it, the fourth season just began, but, as an HBO-less human, behind on the times, I just finished the first season ($26). There is a voyeuristic thrill in watching this rendition of modern-day polygamy, which, according to this one time I flipped on Oprah, still happens outside of crazy, fundamentalist-Mormon compounds. Oh, and it stars Gennifer Goodwin as one of the wives, and Amanda Seyfried as one of the daughters.

4. PENGUIN DELUXE CLASSICS. The covers of the Penguin Deluxe Classics almost make we want to read books I loath, such as Ethan Frome, which has its very best heartbreaking/hysterical scene immortalized on the cover. Many of the covers instead immortalize scenes in comic strips, including Chris Ware’s (you should know him) cover for Candide:

5. TRUE BLOOD (watch the trailer!). So, I was totally not on the vampire bandwagon until I watched the first season ($45 on amazon.com, but I think it’s on sale at Target!) of True Blood (the second season didn’t do it for me, so I didn’t finish it, but I still recommend the first) about a near-future world in which Vampires have come out of hiding to attempt to peacefully co-exist with humans (and have hot, naked HBO-sex with them). Sookie (Oscar winner Anna Paquin! Love her!), a minding-reading southerner, falls in love with Vampire-Bill (hot, but pale). Best of all, it’s produced — with some episodes written and directed by — Alan Ball, Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty. Finally, the title sequence runs like a music video about redemption and sin (read about it on Wikipedia):

ANSWER: William Henry Harrison! If you can’t remember anything about him, don’t worry, he was only president for thirty-two days!

A good year. Some favorites…

1. Favorite short story: “My First Fee” by Isaac Babel
Links: The Complete Works of Isaac Babel on amazon.com ($30)
Text of Isaac Babel’s (great) short story “Guy de Maupassant”

2. Favorite album: Up From Below by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Links: Up From Below on amazon.com ($10)
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros on MySpace
Song “40 Day Dream” Live (youtube)
Official Video for “Home” (youtube)

3. Second favorite short story: “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff
Links: T. Coraghessan Boyle reads “Bullet in the Brain” on the New Yorker Fiction podcast
Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff, amazon.com ($11)

4. Favorite gift: Aerial 7 Matador headphones
Link: Aerial 7 Matador Headphones, amazon.com ($50)

5. Favorite novel: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Links: Lolita by Nabokov, amazon.com ($11)
Great Review of the Novel from The Second Pass

6. Second favorite novel: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Link: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, amazon.com ($10)

7. Favorite TV Show: In Treatment
Links: In Treatment Season 1 Trailer (youtube)
HBO’s Offical In Treatment Site
In Treatment: The Complete First Season, amazon.com ($55)
In Treatment- The Complete Second Season, amazon.com (for pre-order, $55)

8. Favorite actor: James Dean
Link: S&D Guide to becoming A Rebel, Without a Cause (including trailer, etc)

9. Favorite song: Skinny Love by Bon Iver
Links: Bon Iver playing Skinny Love live (youtube)
For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, amazon.com ($13)

10. Favorite historical figure: Napoleon (thanks, PBS)
Link: Empires: Napoleon DVD, PBS Documentary w/David McCullough, amazon.com ($17)

11. Favorite (newish) movie: Rachel Getting Married
Links: Rachel Getting Married Trailer (youtube)
Rachel Getting Married DVD, amazon.com $17

I read E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman for a class this year. It is a kind of disturbing and thrilling fairy tale that I had previously only known through Freud’s interpretation in The Uncanny. While reading it, I faintly recalled that this was the same man who authored The Nutcracker, which also always seemed disturbing, what with that seven-headed mouse and all.

So, I went in my xmas-book-archives and found the fabulous edition shown above. I am obsessed, and anyone who has come to my house in the past three weeks has been forced to look at it. It is a translation of the original text, not some dumbed-down and docile version “for children.” Not only that, but it is illustrated by Maurice Sendak, author of the children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are! He apparently drew the illustrations for the book to accompany the set and costume design for a ballet production.

Detailed illustrations occur throughout the text:

“She is overwhelmed with growing up and has no knowledge of what this means. I think the ballet is all about a strong emotional sense of something happening to her, which is bewildering.” — Maurice Sendak, NPR interview

There are also full-page illustrations, or, best of all, full-page spreads:

During the adventure to the magical capital, there are four beautiful full-page spreads in a row (oh, and a wild thing peeks his head out in one of them!):

Anyway, now that I’ve shown you all that, here’s the bad news: it’s out of print. Here’s the good news: it looks like there are still some old copies for sale on amazon.com in paperback and hardcover.

1. Chicken Skittles from MUJI, £5.95 (football is to soccer as skittles is to bowling)

2. The Africa swimsuit by We Are Handsome, $163

3. Miso Soup Ring by SouZou Creations on etsy, $8.50

4. Candy Bar Bracelet from Dylan’s Candy Bar, $50 (Wish 1.5: That Dylan offered international shipping.)

5. MacBook Pro 17-inch from Apple, $2500 (although a plain old MacBook is much more realistic!)

6. Colour In Dress by Michiel Schuurman, €250

7. Bubble Wrap Calendar from Perpetual Kid, $20

8. ASAP/OMFG Totable from Knock Knock,$10.50

9. PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God from Barnes & Noble, $14.94

10. Kron by Kron Shoes (Amirah also requests the ability to walk properly in heels!)

1. HIC Mrs. Anderson’s Dash Pinch and Smidgen Measuring Spoons from Amazon, $7.50

2. Mammal flash card from the paper flea market, $0.50 (anything from this store)

3. Derek Jarman’s Garden from Amazon, £9.60

4. Bordello Shoes from Babygirl Boutique, $62

5. Dr. Strangelove poster from VinMag, £6

6. City of Glass: Doug Coupland’s Vancouver from Amazon, $17.90

7. Vegan with a Vengeance from Amazon, $12.20

8. Mod Wall Art: Wallter Retro Teardrops from inmod, $42 (gorgeous!)

9. Punk Gardener T-Shirt from DJTees, £18

10. Aarnio Eero Bubble Chair, search here to find an authorized dealer

1. Catcher in the Rye book cover poster from AllPosters, $30 (But you can choose from over 600 other book cover posters here.)

2. TOMS Borges Cordones, $79

3. LOMO Diana F+ CMYK camera kit from Fred Flare, $99

4. Greetings from the Ocean’s Sweaty Face: 100 McSweeney’s Postcards from Amazon, $14

5. The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov from Amazon, $23 (Nabokov’s notecards for a novel he never completed. You can punch them out of the book and organize them yourself!)

6. Fleet Foxes from Amazon, $13 (Maria requests it on vinyl, because she wants to get Tricia’s portable record player and play Fleet Foxes on it.)

7. Osborn Design Sneakers, $60-130

8. Buckyballs, $30

9. Cardboard Moose bust from Perpetual Kid, $48 (large)

10. Collocation NO. 14 (NATURE) Print (left and right panels) from 20×200, $20+ (photos by Mickey Smith)

Hi everybody ! Today I’m going to share with you my current obsession : bookshelves. There’s many reasons why I love bookshelves, some are pretty straightforward, some are weird, but all are very good reasons. In a nutshell, let’s just say I love looking at bookshelves because they’re another way of knowing someone.
Look at it this way : you go to somebody’s house for the first time, take a quick look at their bookshelves and notice a copy of “So, You’re Attracted to Grandma” (no kidding, it’s on this list of 102 self-help books you can do without)… Well, let’s just say you see them in a different light.
At my place, the books are just lying around in every corner, pilled up in unbalanced towers, but that’s just because I don’t have the funds to buy some nice bookshelves. Instead, I daydream about it…
So, I have here some great bookshelves ideas for your consideration :

#1. This is a GREAT idea for those who like nice-looking things but don’t really have the money to furnish their place. Just re-organise your books by color ! The result is quite breathtaking, don’t you think ? (More pictures here)

#2. A really nice design idea. I guess you need to have a quite big flat to pull this off, but it’s definetly a winner bookshelf. Ho, and it’s $999…

#3. This is not a bookshelf, actually, but look at how cute this is ! AND you can do it yourself with not much fuss, the directions are over here.

#4. My personnal favorite. A speech bubble (well, square) bookshelf ! This is the perfect example of my idea that a person’s books speak for themselves.

#5. A bit De Stilj, a bit child-like, a lot of fun : the tree shelf ! By Thorun Arnodottir design.

#6. I really love the boudoir style of this one. Very sleek design, a perfect addition to a nicely decorated room. You can see much more images and even the makin of this shelf on Behance.

#7. I actually lost the name of this bookcase, and that bugs me because I love the overall aspect… but I just found another one in the same vein, at West Elm. Yellow + Black = NICE.

There’s a thousand other great ideas out there, so go out and look around !

Because this obsession is not just a fad, I put together a contributive blog called “Check My Shelf“, where anybody can submit pictures (photo, drawings, diagrams… anything you want!) of their bookshelves and share it with the world. Here are some examples of past posts :

If you want to contribute, you’re more than welcome ! Take a look at the website : http://checkmyshelf.blogspot.com and get in touch at contact@ookah.com.
The more the merrier !

And to finish, a fantastic poster by Mikey Burton for WILCO :

1. BOOTIES. I am too cheap to turn on my heat, thus my footwear has become extremely important. I love these because they have a soft foam bottom so you can sit on your feet with ease. Also, I am attraced to the bright, fair-isle pattern (yay!). You can get them in navy, white, or pink at Old Navy for $20, but maybe you’ll find them on sale for $8 like me.
2. WOODCHUCK CIDER. I’m not big on beer. When autumn rolls around, I like my cider spiked. You can find these in the alcoholic beverages aisle of most grocery stories, and get them in flavors like granny apple and pear.
3. RELATER BY PETE YORN & SCARLETT JOHANSSON. Here are some things I misinterpreted about this song: (1) it is not called “REALTOR”, (2) it is not bad because a famous actress sings in it, (3) the lyrics are not “I was high / I was hungry” but “I was tired / I was hungry.” I’ve been playing this song on repeat for weeks.

1. BANANAGRAMS. I AM OBSESSED. CURRENTLY. POSSIBLY FOREVER. I spent almost the entire thanksgiving weekend playing this game. If you ever loved Scrabble, and especially if you loved Scrabble but the game was TOO SLOW, then you will be in heaven when you start playing Bananagrams. In this game there is no board and each player makes their own little crossword. The first finished, wins. You can add fun twists by forcing people to use words only in a particular category.
2. AMERICAN SHORT STORY MASTERPIECES. For $8 (or less, if you buy an older used version like me!), you can have “36 Outstanding American Stories.” You might think the cover of this book is all hype, but IT IS NOT. Every story I’ve read thus far has knocked my socks off, made me either want to go write something fabulous or quit while I’m behind. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Vance Bourjaily’s “The Amish Farmer” and Tobias Wolff’s “The Liar.” SIGH. SIGH. DOUBLE SIGH. I have a super-duper, giant crush on this book. It’s also a Mass Market Paperback, which I am usually against, but I will tell you — it is great for holiday travel!