My Logo-time at Elliott Bay Cafe was just interrupted by this, via text message. Enjoy.

Lara: Gossip Girl premieres tonight! I had no idea -- I guess reading the newspaper pays off sometimes

Me: HA Chuck got shot right? Are the golden children (Serena & Nate) still together?

Lara: Idk I haven't seen the season finale!! Ahh! I hope the golden retrievers are still together

Me: Ok all I know is Chuck swiped Little J's V-card and Blair found out and Chuck got shotted. P.S. Ben has season 2, I am rejoicing.

Lara: Holy shit, I must watch the finale!!!!! Also, season 2 DVDs, big score!

Me: Riiiight? The "oh my effing gawd" episode

Lara: Ahaha so great. I am a fan of the Bart Bass death, too.

Me: Poor orphaned, fatally wounded Chuck.

Lara: I wonder if he bleeds human blood; I feel like he's not as weak as the rest of us. Maybe he bleeds liquid diamonds.

Me: Good point. He knows something we don't. His maker probably gave him unobtainium blood or something.

Lara: Totally unobtainium. Agreed.

Me: I think I might blog this convo because I really enjoyed it.

Lara: I think others need to read our genius and witty GG thoughts; blog away.

the end.

Also my review of I Am Love is forthcoming. I'm working on an appropriate animated gif to include, so, patience Young Frodo.

-sem

Ok you guys, I am officially dying to see this.

THE POSTER IS A THING OF BEAUTY.

Wanna be my date?

-sem

I'm not really sure what to do with this...

Matthew Morrison & Lea Michele performed at the Tony's this year,

both of whom have spent the last year considerably OFF Broadway.

Now, I love Glee. And I love the Tony's. But I don't know what to make

of this. At about minute 4:15 it really starts to blow my mind.

Hours and hours of study could go into deciphering the look Beyonce

gives Lea Michele. It's not exactly a "Bitch plz" but it's more than a

simple "Gurl, are u ferrreal??".

Baaaa.

Currently reading

I just hit the point where you get really obsessed with what you're reading. That is, Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore.

This is how it usually happens with me & Murakami: I'm reading along and everything's fine. I'm enjoying myself quite a bit, jotting down quotes here and there. And then fish start falling from the sky or a boy falls in love with a ghost and I sort of smirk to myself as I read on and I know I'm hooked.

Here's another version of the cover I found. I'm not sure what language it is in, but it's pretty baddass. Having said this, all of his covers are pretty baddass.

Having read two of his other books (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle & Sputnik Sweetheart), I feel like I can say this some sense of certainty. Part of what I love about Murakami and, I guess, what keeps me coming back for more, is his ability to first create and then fill the hollow space within his characters. Toru Okada sits on a street corner day after day ... and is approached by Nutmeg. After Sumire disappears, one night "K" receives a phone call. And Kafka listens to a song and falls in love with a ghost. It's so great.

And the fish. Of course, the fish.

And the cats.

And the dreams.

"I get out of bed, go over to the window, and look at the night sky. And think about time that can never be regained. I think of rivers, of tides. Forests and water gushing out. Rain and lightening. Rocks and shadows. All of these are in me."

I order you to get in bed and read this book,

Sem

FUCK YEAH.

I wasn't actually there but DAMNIT I should've been.

Siena Book Show!

So we had the Siena Book Arts show last Friday night! Perhaps you recall the very reason for this blog? That is, my learnings of book making in Siena, Italy this past summer? Well, I am proud to say that my first official arty show was a success! Here are some photos of the evening, courtesy of Sonya.

Naomi. Small Japanese lady in the background. Professor/book master. Stressed, but still talkative.

Bowie and Alexa poking around.

Megan and her calloused fingers.

David and his accordion book.

Close up of one of my altered-books.

My three submissions were all my own tributes to Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. This one depicts a scene between May Kasahara and the Narrator by the well.

Close up of my second book.

This one interprets the quote "Kumiko and I felt something for each other from the very beginning" and is an altered book of hymns I found at Value Village.

My third book.

It's a 5ft. long accordion book and reflects May Kasahara's letter to the Narrator that begins, "(Hint) You can figure out where I am if you think about it really, really hard."

Also, a BIG shoutout to one Mr. Otto Semet for driving me up to Seattle at the crack of dawn to turn them in. (Whoops, m'bad). And my mom, because this was a great stress on the household.

Come see the show if you haven't already!

-sem

My soft spot for lesbian comics.

I stumbled upon this little gem on my most recent visit to Powell's. DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary by Erika Moen. As I discovered through reading, she's a working comic living in Portland and just, rad and funny as shit.

She has entire strips about being poor and making toast.

And then others devoted to living happily ever after with her boobs.

She's pretty fabulous. Check out her website www.darcomic.com

Here's another lesbian comic with whom I've been obsessed for the past two years:

Alison Bechdel.

I read her graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic my freshman year and fell in love. Eventually made my backwards way to her full-time comic Dykes to Watch Out For.

They're both snarky and tender and well, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

-sem

Muto!

If you need a break from a mid-day funk, this little stop-motion video might help. Just in cases.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

I found myself giggling out loud. Especially when it keeps sneezing and shattering its glass head. Whimsy!

Ok goodnight.

-Sem

This is a stick-up, stick-up

You want a motion study, Professor Mouton? Well how's THIS progression:

Inspired by this weekend.

Our Vices Were Magnificent

Hello ... all 4 or 5 of you.

Now that I am back at school, I fear that it is time I snap myself out of my summer travel nostalgia (although this week's Mad Men certainly did not help) and focus my attention on all things academic (shyeah, right). However, when my fun-times & my study-times collide, it truly is a cause for celebration...or better, blogging.

Being a gallery guide at the Frye Art Museum has its perks. One being the opportunity to experience the radiance of Chief Curator Robin Held. Think, Grecian goddess meets Trinity of the Matrix...of foxes. Second, being able to see the exhibitions and hear from curators before you. It makes me feel busy and important even though I haven't actually given a tour and am scared shitless of interacting with mean gradeschool children.

Which brings us to le point: The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art.

The Stranger put it on their cover (Greta Pratt's Nine Lincolns, Hodgenville, Kentucky), so, yeah, check it out.

The exhibition, which opened last Friday night, borrows its name and foundation from the music and cultural critic Greil Marcus' 1997 book of the same title which looks at the influence of folk music on Bob Dylan and The Band's album, The Basement Tapes. So it's got that going for it.

Not to mention just...rad shit, like this:

Good Luck Assholes: Thomas Jefferson's Vision of Death by Eric Beltz, 2007

Charlie White's 1957, 2006.

Cynthia Norton's Dancing Squared, 2004.

Deborah Grant's Where Good Darkies Go. This is one of my favorites. I like the confidence of silhouettes and the solidity of acrylic on the birch panels. It looks like a giant, snarky comic book.

Then there's another shadow-puppet video by Kara Walker entitled 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture (2005). If you'll harken back to her work in The Puppet Show, again, this isn't for the faint of heart. Which is nice:)

There is Jeremy Blake's digital video Winchester (2002). An intriguing representation of America-specific madness. Which is interesting given the artist's recent suicide and the rumors surrounding it (Scientology, guys).


When we were walking through the exhibition, I kept thinking about two books, specifically, but also the graphic novel genre in general. The pieces in this show are studies of American myth and the hasty sewing-together of our history. They reflect on the superhero-statuses of presidents, pilgrims, and cowboys. In essence, comic books. David Rathman's 2001 ink drawings in one of the small, back rooms show this well. Again, he uses silhouettes and text to create very specific scenes. In traditional painting, I was always told that text is a no-no, but this is intriguing and fun. Think, Art Spiegelman or Dan Clowes.

One of the books that came to mind initially was Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I just finished reading this about two weeks ago. It's all about the origin and development of the superhero during a very iconic period in American history...WWII.

The other book was Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I read this my freshman year and Lauren just finished it, so I recently started thinking about it again. In a nutshell (I guess), it asks questions about the displacement of old-world gods in new-world America. And just, general badassery.

See the show, read the books. You won't regret it.

Love, sem.

P.S. Can I just give a big thanks so everyone who helped out with Siena-funding. Very much appreciated.

Classico

So here's a little treat for all you Roman Holiday fans. I was wandering around the area by the Spanish Steps looking for that magical mid-priced in a designer neighborhood store Zara, when I stumbled upon...Via Margutta 51.

Yes. Das est where Joe Bradley lived.

Is...this the elevator?

Eternal City

Hello again, now that I've officially resettled into the plush life I live here in America, here are some last pictures from Siena and a glimpse at Rome.



Freshly liberated from the rigor of book making, we take to the Red Baron. Crack a bottle.

And dance like sluts, if I may say so.

Get that.

Nougat says arrivederci to the Campo by firing off a few bouncy balls.

Welcome to Roma!

Piazza della Repubblica.

Colosseo.

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.

St. Peter's Square.

Piazza del Popolo.

Don't judge me. (Vittoria Vetra, anyone?)

Piazza di Spagna.

View from the top of the steps.

Fontana di Trevi.

Campo de Fiori.

St. Peter's Basilica.

Pantheon.

Demon's Hole!

Raphael's tomb.

The last gelato, signori. Champagne for lunch.

love, sem-in-nation.