Seen at The Art of Nonconformity.  Purchase limited edition prints here.

I wouldn’t mind having this mounted behind my couch…to remind me of what I should be doing when I’m actually doing things that aren’t nearly as productive as talking or working…things like like posting a video of Lykke Li covering Rick Ross’s “Hustlin’.”

Seen over at Rush Miller’s blog which comes with the highest commendations for you luvahs of music.

Pretty freakin’ sweet, eh?

Get The Inbetweeners via Netflix; see promos & clips on Hulu; full episodes on this site that came up via search.

This may be the only reason I am wishing that Time Warner renews its contract(s) in the next coming weeks.  If you are unfamiliar, please rectify that as soon as possible.  I’ve provided links to the right for your perusal and convenience. 

The Inbetweeners. Season 3.

I CAN’T WAIT.

Seen over at Style Porn.  Thank you ten-thousand times.

This may be the greatest song in the history of the world.

Why?

Because I said so.  Yep.  That simple.

Cee-Lo Green can do no wrong in my eyes.  Ever.  Here is another example of why:

I would try to break down how great this video is, but that would take about three straight days of typing and a lot of research.  I don’t have that kind of time.

——–

Are we sensing a theme yet?  A sort of “Alicia likes people who are weird for the sake of weird and embrace the hell out of it” theme?  Yeah?  Good, because that’s kind of the theme.

A couple of posts ago, my damie kips asked what a soul clap was.  I’m using this as an excuse to post one of my favorite music videos: Conversations by Mannie Fresh. 

Despite the numerous moments of WIN contained in this visual masterpiece, I don’t think it was widely released.  Between Mannie’s wig game, dance tutorials, and all the glitter/leopard print/crushed velvet, I still can’t comprehend why this happened. 

Now sliiiide and do the waterfall.  Sliiiide and let the rain come down.

Who knew that these little birds would have caused a mini-movement? 

Answer: definitely not me.  In fact, I’m still trying to process how and if all of this really happened.  

Only in America can a lowly “fashun” blogger get on a respected news outlet for Photoshop fuckery. 

My mind is blown. 

Thank you to @LidiaAnain for making this.  Humbling and hilarious.

While I really didn’t expect the #brownTwitterbird thing to become a meme on Twitter, go viral, and then land me a mention on NPR’s “All Things Considered” (umm, WHAT?!?!) I was happy to have played a part in fostering creativity while “taking the piss” out of an article that ruffled a lot of feathers (no pun intended…ok, maybe a little bit).

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!

Thank you to everyone who joined in on the fun, made a bird, posted a blog response, or *fist pumped* in solidarity.  You guys are great.

I think this .gif accurately displays how I feel right now.  The burning building represents this week, I am Pee-Wee, and the snakes are the fragile bits of sanity, awareness and control of my future that I am both struggling to hold onto and deathly afraid of. 

I’m all about symbolism.  Now run and tell that.  Homeboy. 

It’s FRIDAY!!!!

“Cold War” by Janelle Monae.  Seen over at Style Porn

Janelle Monae is a pro at “reading my mail.”  Right now, this song is speaking to my very core. 

I think I welled up a little…not much…just a little.

UPDATE:  Chomy of The Culture Cynic is a sage.  If you missed her comment below, here is an excerpt:

i like the bit she sings, ‘i was made to believe something was wrong with me’. that line is my LIFE..and i keep going back to it. she expresses everything i feel about rebellion…don’t just rebel cuz it is cool, you had better know exactly what you are fighting for or else someone will make up a cause and convince you that it is yours. A lot of people are rebels without reason, and i personally think it is pointless to push back if you don’t even know what you are against. A lot of people are fighting for shit they don’t even believe in. Anti without a cause. A lot of people are outward rebels but try having a conversation with them about their life principles and you realize they have no bloody idea what they believe.

WORD.

This post is from Sui’s blog Cynosure – a place where good words aren’t in short supply.  Her book of poetry and prose, Pleiades will be available to order on August 15.  She’s also a freakin’ sweet photographer and I love and admire her dearly.

Sui.  RSS.  Bloglovin’. Twitter.

——–

Photo hijacked from Sui’s blog.  I didn’t ask first.  I probably should have.  Sorry Sui!!

We don’t have to follow in our mother and father’s footsteps.
We don’t have to treat our children the same way we were raised.
We don’t have to teach them how to fear, how to worry, how to dislike themselves, how to forget how to dream and play and imagine and live in the moment.

We don’t have to abuse ourselves, everyone we encounter, or the planet that provides us with a home.

We don’t have to believe that talent or skills or fulfillment or contentment lie outside of us in fancy equipment or expensive gadgets.
We don’t have to believe that happiness lies within the accumulation of material stuff. Or anything external at all.

We don’t have to follow the rules that someone else wrote out years ago, expecting us to obey without question.
We don’t have to listen to the shoulds or should nots.
We don’t have to live up to anyone else’s standards.

We don’t have to mistreat the earth, pollute the sea with plastic, waste water, or waste our money.

We don’t have to hate ourselves, feel depressed or guilty, not take care of ourselves, feel terrible when things don’t go our way, punish ourselves, let the external dictate our emotions, think negative thoughts.
We don’t have to believe we’re weak, give up when things get tough, lose hope in life when it’s just trying to teach us something.
We don’t have to believe we can’t be happy just loving and being ourselves.

We don’t have to judge others before we even get to know them, hate others because they’re not like us, hold grudges, blame others for our circumstances.
We don’t have to believe that people are either “good” or “bad”, or that “evil people” exist at all.
We don’t have to put ourselves in neat little boxes, give ourselves labels of what we are and what we aren’t, pigeonhole everyone else who we think is “different”, and distance “us” from “them”.
We don’t have to believe that there even is a “them” separate from “us” to begin with.

We don’t have to believe we’re not beautiful just because we have short legs, long legs, no butt, big butt, flabby arms, strong arms, short fingers, long necks, big ears, bushy eyebrows, no eyebrows, big feet, thick feet, wide feet, small hands, short hair, long hair, frizzy hair, straight hair, nappy hair, little hair, no hair, stretchmarks and cellulite.
We don’t have to believe we’re not beautiful because the movies and the magazines and the media tell us a terrible untruth.

We don’t have to believe we’re just a number on a scale, a shirt, or a driver’s license. We don’t have to define ourselves by the brands we wear, the color of our hair, or anything outside of our souls.

We don’t have to believe we’re not smart just because they told us we weren’t, because we don’t speak ten languages, didn’t do well on the SAT, don’t get straight As, never went to college, didn’t make the honor roll, completely tanked a class or test or two or three, refused to accept that a dogmatic professor was absolutely right, didn’t graduate middle school, would rather chase our dreams than sit at a desk.

We don’t have to deny our natural selves.
We don’t have to hold back our hunger, our laughter, our flatulence. Our sweat, our scent, our scars. Our sexiness, our sexuality, our sex drive. Our menstruation, our erections, our wet dreams, our fun dreams, our tears.

We don’t have to eat mindlessly just because advertisements and marketing aimed to make us unhealthy say so.
We don’t have to use self-harming addictions to numb ourselves or escape from our lives.

We don’t have to be ashamed of our unshaved legs, unperfumed armpits, unpainted fingernails, untrimmed toenails, unstyled hair, unpainted faces.

We don’t have to hide our true beauty.
We don’t have to hide who we are.
We don’t have to wear the clothes, have the body, fit the size, look like the actor or the model.

We don’t have to be scared anymore. Of flying, of being wonderful, of being ourselves, of talking to new and exciting people, of going for what you thought impossible, of asking that cute sweetie out, of rejection, of acceptance, of trusting ourselves and others, of letting go, of healing, of moving on, of loving and living limitlessly.

We don’t have to listen to our brother, sister, mother, father, best friend, stranger, lover, spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, teacher, mentor, therapist, cousin, who tells us we’re not good enough– no matter how much we love them.
We don’t have to believe a bar of “good enough” even exists.

We don’t have to suppress, deny, or otherwise squelch our awesomeness.

We don’t have to pretend anymore. Not for a single second longer.

Enjoy Yo’self…

…and try not to get lost in all this funk…

And of course, because the bassline is one of the greatest of ALL TIME and I don’t care that I’ve posted this video about three times before:

=D

Photo by Robin Callender / Ice Photography
Styled by Estasha Goodwin

Those chain dangly earring joints?  Yeah, I DID that (word to Eli Porter).

Get them here.  And yes, I do customs.  =D

</shameless self promotion>