There are times in life when we just need a pick me up, or in the case of us creative types, some inspiration. For me, this little book called, “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon, was exactly that. A friend of mine gave me this little book a while back and while it is only about 140 pages, it’s anything but tiny with the wisdom it shares. This baby packs a punch! I have read it numerous times and have often just randomly skimmed through it whenever I am in need of some useful thoughts and it has brought my mind to new levels when considering my work. The intention is to basically show people that we can “steal” from the work of others without it being a negative thing because the evolution of art, in all forms, comes from such inspiration or “stealing” as it were. This book uses that word, which most people would immediately take in a negative way, and puts a spin on it that blows the entire concept of thievery out of the water. Kleon encourages people to abandon the cookie-cutter way of thinking and promotes the idea that we can essentially learn from what others have done before us in order to inspire the work that will come from us and long after us.
It took me all of an hour to go through this book but it stayed with me long after finishing it because the honesty and non-traditional mindset is just so intriguing. Whether you think you could benefit from these thoughts or not, I encourage you all to check this book out. It couldn’t hurt right? Get your steal on y’all!
I had some thoughts yesterday, not anything as in depth as an epiphany but still, I felt the silliness might be worth mentioning. These thoughts were of the random variety, as most thoughts tend to be, especially mine, and those thoughts have carried over into today like a steaming train blowing its horn into the station. Toot toooooooottt!!! All aboard Krystal’s random railroad!! Watch your feet as you enter the train! I bet you’re just clinging to the edge of your seats awaiting my genius to take you away, across the country, on this little trip. A trip so grandiose that it will put all other mental vacations to shame, but alas, it is just a pretty mundane adventure into my mind…oh come on, who are we kidding? Nothing about me is mundane! So sit up, perhaps get a steaming mug of coffee, and enjoy the ride! You know you’re excited!
1. I have been thinking about this blog a lot lately and I realized that while I absolutely love it, I mean I really, REALLY love it and all of you, I want a bit more out of my blogging life. SO, with that in mind, I have created a little spin-off blog here on WordPress. It is called Love & Lemonades and it is basically just a stripped down version of my life. I’m using it to talk about my marriage, domestic stuff here on the home front, DIY projects, cooking, and etc. This blog will remain my fun, silly, random outlet for the absurd thoughts I have and for the things I love or don’t love in media, relationships, the world, and life in general, and this new blog will be about the aforementioned stuff. Please check it out!
2. Awkward, on MTV, is hysterical! I have been hooked now for three seasons and it only gets funnier with every episode. If you’re not watching it, you should be. YOU’RE WELCOME.
3. Summer semester is kicking my ass and I am hardly a fan of that…my bum is feeling quite bruised. I need a refresh button!! I am not sure if my professors all got together and came to a general consensus that I’ve been having too good of a time thus far and figured they’d jack my shit up or if I am just burnt out. I’m leaning toward the former…it’s all a conspiracy I tell you! I feel like Mel Gibson waking up strapped to a chair with some weird chemicals in my system. HELP!
4. What is the obsession with fear in this country??? There are scary movies, tv shows, and books in such abundance that you can’t get away from it no matter how fast you run. You’d think that with so much to torture our minds with in the daily news, which is free, we wouldn’t even bother paying money to put such fears into our minds via the “creative” options. Just log onto your Twitter feed, tune in to any cable network, pick up a newspaper, or just walk outside your door and listen to the chatter of flapping mouths all discussing the negative crap going on all over the world. There’s no shortage of mass media chaos being spewed on any given subject at any given time. Go ahead, indulge yourselves.
5. I love Twitter like Michelle Tanner loves chocolate cake…it is real and it is serious. If you also love to tweet it up, follow me here (or in that nifty widget to the left ) twitter.com/iChicky
6. According to the Huff Post’s Weddings and a study funded by eHarmony, 35% of Americans find their spouses online AND those unions are less likely to end in divorce than couples who didn’t meet online. So, that means that my hubby and I are part of that 35 percent…Woohoo! Go us!
7. Melissa McCarthy rules…and for all of you who just “discovered” her in recent years, welcome to the party! I’ve been getting my McCarthy on since she graced my screen back in the days of Gilmore Girls from 2000-2007. Whoop whoop!
8. Is anyone else confused as to why people drinking smoothies in the new McDonald’s commercial suddenly get the urge to go splashing around in a fountain? I just don’t see the transition from drinking a smoothie to playing in filthy, coin-soiled water…unless that is a hint as to what they’re actually drinking?
9. Cold leftover pizza for breakfast is amazing! Mmhmm
10. I’d love to know how Florida got the name “The Sunshine State” because I don’t think we’ve seen the sun in weeks. I mean, I like rain and all of that gloominess in the sky sometimes but it gets to be a bit much…plus it is making my flip flops all mushy. Ew.
11. The hubs and I just went and saw Fast 6 and it was AWESOME!!! What made it even better was the sneak peek at the end that showed Jason Statham’s beautiful face paired with the title of FAST 7! Yep, it’s coming…2014 hurry on up!
12. As you all know, I am in love with John Krasinski (my husband is aware too, don’t worry!) Anyway, I recently saw this clip from a guest spot he did on Jimmy Fallon’s show and to say it is hysterical and quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen would be an understatement. Watch it. Love it. Repeat it.
13. I think somebody needs some conditioner and a comb. Well folks, this concludes our little adventure. I know you’re all torn up about it already coming to an end but just think, now you can get a dose of me on TWO blogs! (See number 1 again) Also, please be careful while exiting the train and don’t forget to take along any personal baggage you’ve brought with you, we surely have enough of our own here. Have a wonderful day and always be kind to one another.
Normally I fast forward all commercials whenever I watch television, you know, because I am part of the “always in a rush” generation and all of that hoopla. However, every now and then I come across a little gem of advertising genius in the midst of my need for speed and I slow it on down and take notice. This is one of those times, and trust me when I tell you that this commercial could be on repeat and never get old. I’ve been watching it every time I need a good laugh (always) and I thought what better day to share this with my blogger friends than on the actual “Hump Day!” So, play this and don’t feel silly hitting the replay button when it’s done…You. Are. Not. Alone.
There are those moments when you are just quiet, still even, and all of a sudden a sound so in tune with your silence speaks to you. It breaks into your reverie like a twisting tornado filled with tinkling beauty and a sparkling presence. That joyful noise, for me, was a voice that came to my ears in the form of a beautiful woman named Emile Sandé, a British lass who has touched me with her hit song Next to Me. She’s a tour de force who hit the American music scene like a bolt of lightning, perking up ears with every word passing through her lips. This gorgeous gal, with soul resting comfortably in her pocket, has been on repeat in my home, my car, and on my iPhone ever since I first heard her. So, here is the music video and lyrics (taken directly from her website) in case you haven’t yet been touched by this windstorm…go ahead, get swept away.
You won’t find him drinking under tables
Rolling dice or staying out ’til three
You won’t ever find him be unfaithful
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
You won’t find him tryna change the devil
For money, fame, for power out of greed
You won’t ever find him where the rest go
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
When the money’s spent and all my friends have vanished
And I can’t seem to find no help or love for free
I know there’s no need for me to panic
Cos I’ll find him, I’ll find him next to me
When the skies are grey and all the doors are closing
And the rising pressure makes it hard to breathe
When all I need’s a hand to stop the tears from falling
I will find him, I’ll find him next to me
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
I will find him, I’ll find him next to me
When the end has come and buildings falling down fast
When we’ve spoilt the land and dried up all the sea
When everyone has lost their heads around us
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
Next to me – wooh hooo
You will find him, you’ll find him next to me
Being a student in college and working full time doesn’t provide much free time but every week, my husband likes to do the laundry for us. I don’t expect him to help out much around the house given his schedule but then again, nobody should look a gift horse in the mouth either, should they?
Anyway, I always thought of my hubby’s help as just a nice gesture, by itself, and that is mostly still true but that sneaky guy has been keeping a secret from me in all of that fluff and folding going on. So last night I decided to get in there and do the laundry myself, after all, I do like doing it even though most people tell me I’m nuts or they say “That will change once you have kids!” whenever I mention this admiration I have for laundry, to which I just roll my eyes and scoff, but hey, I am sure they’re right. I’ll get back to you on that when I do end up having some little ones running about the house but, I digress. While I was sorting through our laundry, I kept finding pieces of paper, coins, and other stuff that I would simply classify as garbage, in my husband’s pockets. Anywhere from his work pants to his everyday jeans and shorts to his collared shirts that have pockets, there was some sort of paper trash tucked away in each opening. It was completely insane! By the end of sorting through all of the clothes I could have probably made a pillow out of all of that trash and then gotten an ice cream from the truck that annoys me every day around 4pm as it circles endlessly through the outside parking lot.
I mean, what is this madness and does it happen to anyone else or am I the only one who is finding an episode of hoarders within their husband’s pockets? I just don’t understand why someone would choose to walk around with so much useless stuff in their pants. Isn’t that completely uncomfortable and doesn’t it become quite bothersome when trying to find something of value amongst all that trash? Doesn’t the crinkling noise as your walking irritate you, or are you so accustomed to the noise that it is now second nature to your ears?
The answer to these questions begin with a series of “uhh’s” and “I don’t know’s” and then become, “well then let me go through my own clothes.” My reply to that one is, “well you didn’t think to remove the junk prior to dumping the clothes into the hamper so what will be different now, prior to dumping those same clothes into the washing machine?” I don’t usually get a response to this particular question though, because he is usually too busy giving me that look that translates into: “Damn! That’s a valid point but I don’t want to tell you this so instead I will just sit here and we’ll have a staring contest!” and I end up just walking away and leaving him to throw away the pile of paper that has accumulated from his clothes. To be fair though, my purse sometimes accumulates receipts and things like that but I don’t hold any sentimental claims on those items, nor do I put them carelessly into my washing machine where they will wreak havoc on my other clothes. This pocket nonsense is just plain silly and I don’t get it, at all, but I love my guy…the hoarder that he is and all. I mean, if this is my biggest battle in my domestic life then I will take it! And hey, thankfully it’s just pocket trash and not a skid mark situation, if you know what I mean! Haha!
There are times in life when we just need a pick me up, or in the case of us creative types, some inspiration. For me, this little book called, “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon, was exactly that. A friend of mine gave me this little book a while back and while it is only about 140 pages, it’s anything but tiny with the wisdom it shares. This baby packs a punch! I have read it numerous times and have often just randomly skimmed through it whenever I am in need of some useful thoughts and it has brought my mind to new levels when considering my work. The intention is to basically show people that we can 
“steal” from the work of others without it being a negative thing because the evolution of art, in all forms, comes from such inspiration or “stealing” as it were. This book uses that word, which most people would immediately take in a negative way, and puts a spin on it that blows the entire concept of thievery out of the water. Kleon encourages people to abandon the cookie-cutter way of thinking and promotes the idea that we can essentially learn from what others have done before us in order to inspire the work that will come from us and long after us. 
Get your steal on y’all!
) 
