IMG_2576.jpg, originally uploaded by sylviaguillen818.

LOOK how cute Obi was. He looks so grown up now that I can look back on these pics. I can’t wait to let his hair grow so he can have a lion cut like his big brother Cha Cha.

IMG_2576.jpg, originally uploaded by sylviaguillen818.

LOOK how cute Obi was. He looks so grown up now that I can look back on these pics. I can’t wait to let his hair grow so he can have a lion cut like his big brother Cha Cha.

P073009PS-0451, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

no words are really even necessary.

But seriously, the thrill has been gone. I mourned Michael Jackson around the same time the court hearings started, his release of History and the lease of the Beatles catalog back to Sony. I mean, I know that as an artist, you can’t continue to create masterpieces, but MJ did a nice 20 year stint of doing just that.

I’m not much for one of admiring an artist for their personality…I am a fan of the art. And so, in my mind, the day that MJ started putting out bullshit, I mourned the loss of a great artist. What will always remain though, even during his not-so-great work, are the memories of great times, amazing visuals, and fantastic music. And for that, I do thank you Michael Jackson.

I remember watching the Jackson 5 cartoon on saturday morning with my aunt Angelica and Adela and trying to get first ‘dibs’ on which 5 was our boyfriend. We didn’t always want Michael..we liked the ‘older guys’.

I still remember doing the moonwalk with my brothers, aunts and cousins on Mom Marianna’s wood ring shalacked table. The feel of my Off The Wall album cover, the smell of the fresh ink and the feel of the smooth vinyl. I remember waiting in line for hours in the hot ass Anaheim heat to see Captain Eo, not realizing that it wasn’t really a ‘ride’ but a moving ’show’ hence the line crawling worse than the 405 freeway during rush hour. But we waited, and we saw.

I remember my BFF Cecily and I being SO excited because her parents bought her Thriller and we argued over who’s boyfriend MJ was. I think that by posession, we agreed that since it was her album, MJ would be her boyfriend.

I remember selling lemonade outside in Oxnard and drawing pictures, selling toys at garage sales and backyard so that we could raise money to by the 12″ mix. I don’t think we ever raised the money.

I remember lying to my parents so that I could go to a general admission MJ concert, totally getting caught, being put on severe punishment, and losing my radio/record player and posters as part of the 3 month long sentencing/punishment. I remember my soft cotton concert t-shirts that I kept in between my mattresses because if I wore them, my parents would know I went, and then I might get my album taken too.

When Bad came out, I was just starting to go through my ‘badboy’ phase and kind of never left that part of my musical preference. BAD was officially my last Michael Jackson purchase.influx into my life. I had grown musically, and begun to appreciate the artistic intensity of the live instrument and it’s fusion with other instruments. I’m still there, actually.

so yea. I do hope MJ rests in peace, but he was resting in my peace long, long ago. And on that note, please enjoy my favorite & life changing MJ contribution to my world

SylviaG Is A Pretty Young Thing

Symbolic recycled material fuses with fashion in these Claire Vivier handbags that I saw this morning:

here is my quicklist editorial, dash marked…of course.  And before I get into the list, I would like to point out that I am ALL about eco-chic fashion.

Things that rock about this bag:
- It’s so symbolic, come on now, a MONEY bag? That’s right. That’s pretty damn hardcore.
- It’s recycled, from imperfect materials (read: heavily discounted)
- It’s remade in America
- It’s just all around cool

Things that really REALLY suck about the bag:
Um…it’s ALREADY MADE. Why on earth do you feel the need to charge $159 for this bag?? I feel like businesses like yours are the reason why we continue to cycle into recession. Mind you, it’s merely the way I feel. I am by no means a certified economist, but I feel that if the item is already made, already recycled, and minimally embellished, it should be priced accordingly.

So there you have it. Alot of things really rock about the bag, but the thing that sucks is almost offensive to me as a consumer and so I will resort to Etsy.com to find one that is probably priced under $20. I really cannot stand when retailers attempt to exploit consumers.

If there was some sort of artwork or embellishment of a sort, I a may feel differently. That’s all.

]]> http://sylviag.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/money-bags-attn-all-golddiggers/feed/ 0 sylviag remakecollage http://sylviag.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/the-ankle-and-the-5-thousand-tweets/ http://sylviag.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/the-ankle-and-the-5-thousand-tweets/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:12:32 +0000 sylviag http://sylviag.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/the-ankle-and-the-5-thousand-tweets/ ]]>

I just noticed that my twitter account is at 4790 updates. That’s alot of stuff on my mind…but more than that, its alot of words on my keyboard.

I joined twitter.com when I had rolled my ankle out of sheer necessity to do something that would take my mind off the total bummer of being immobile. Whenever I would start to feel frustrated over my inability to do what I really wanted to do, I would tweet about something that was immediately on my mind, even if it was second to being sad.mad.frustrated at my physical condition.

It’s been around 6 weeks now, my ankle is still folded, still swollen, my mobility still limited – and although I can do alot of excercise, I can’t really do everything I love doing – i.e. hiking, bellydance, step, salsa…I get depressed just thinking about it.

anyway, this particular post doesn’t really have any relevance whatsoever besides the hope that perhaps I will read it and get my ass into the doctor’s office to see what the heck could be wrong with the ankle. After 2 surgeries since January on this leg, I really am sad that I still have a prolonged rehabilitation. I’m SO READY to move forward. progress. live. etc. I never thought that I would hit more than 500 updates, Dr. Marks had told me that I would be back to normal in 2 weeks. I’m really hoping that the 5kth post doesn’t make me mad and sad.

it seems like 2009 has devoted itself to providing obstacles to my left leg…I really need to figure out a way to win the war, even after feeling like I’ve lost some of the battles. Word up.

I have a real love-hate relationship of birds. Well, actually, I don’t. Because I don’t like birds. But what is really strange, is that I love the sound of birds chirping outside at the first sign of nice weather on the horizon, and I love the sound of birds in the morning when it’s warm enough to sleep with my window open. Right now, there are birds chirping outside, and it makes me smile…but I do cognitively know that I really don’t like the sound of birds in other situations.

Actually, I can’t stand the sound of birds in other instances. I will write one of my infamous lists. Then I can be like my sister-in-law Staci who has an extensive No-Food list, but mine can be my No Birds list.

Instances of where bird sounds should never be:

Inside a house.
I think that this kind of traces back to my grandmother taking us to some lady’s house in La Colonia where there was tourquoise carpeting, plastic runners and the smell of fried liver and pork. It was after church service at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I remember feeling like I had been abandoned in a tourquoise-carpeted house with plastic runners and the sound of birds chirping driving me to the brink of insanity on a hot sunday morning in La Colonia. And we went on numerous occassions. Yuck. I don’t like the sound of birds indoors.

On music tracks.
On occassion, I listen to the New Age Spa channel on Sirius. When a song comes on that is supposed to trigger relaxation, and I hear birds chirping, I instantly freeze up thinking that perhaps there is a bird in my car. Now, I realize that the chance of a bird being in my car is rather slim, but I’m talking about that “OMFG THERE IS A FUCKING BIRD IN MY CAR WTF DO I DO” feeling that comes and is gone instantly within a moment, but still, I really hate that feeling and don’t wish to ever experience it. Bird sounds should not be on music tracks.

On TV
Ok, now if the show actually has a bird in it, and the bird is making noise, then I suppose the bird can make noise. Recently I was watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in Sri Lanka. Have you seen it?? There really was no need to have the excessive amount of graphic enhanced crows during the transitions to commercial break. I really don’t appreciate it. Bird graphics with excessive bird sounds should not be on tv.

In a Spa
I recently went and got a facial at a local spa. The esthetician wrapped me up, and when it was time for the mask, she left me alone for a few minutes to let the mask work. Coincidentally, at that moment, the timer had one of those spa-sound things that has either crickets, water sounds or…bird sounds. Yes. Digital bird sound. I wanted to cry. You can guess that she had by default selected the bird sounds. Digital bird sounds should not be in a spa.

Birds are the devil’s shitty little messengers.

So last year, I was wearing my peacock earrings on a day shopping trip with my BGFF. Now mind you, I had on peacock feather earrings, a black Diane Von Furstenburg dress with wooden embellishments on the straps and wooden embellished flip flops. Totally bohemian chic…but Brianette (My BGFF) is the type of person who has to see things MATCH, unlike me, who prefers things to “GO” because I enjoy each item to have it’s own unique identity.

She, however, is the type to match her shoes, socks, capris, shirt, earrings, lipstick, eyeshow, earrings, purse and wallet. And even her sunglasses. True story. So anyway…my peacock earrings were bothering her, so she asked me to take them off, and offered to buy me a pair of wooden earrings to match the embellishments on my dress. Yes, I do adore my OCD friends, and being that I rarely get to hang out with her anymore, I said ok I put my peacock earrings somewhere, and I never found them again. It could be very possible that Brianette threw them away, but I have no recollection or proof if that is what went down. I really, REALLY missed my peacock earrings, especially because they were humanely and handmade, and that kind of stuff is important to me. With the summertime right around the corner, I am feeling the feather adornments, so I put out a microprayer to the Universe via Twitter (LOL!) asking for the earrings to make their way back into my life, and wouldn’t you know that a vendor was selling them at the UCLA Reggae festival that I went to that day. Woot!! Salud por Twitter, vendors & the peacock and the Universe!

I’ve gotten a whole bunch of links for my makeup organization project, but out of ALL of them, this one looks the most interesting. Of course, I would have to add some sort of flair to it so that it doesn’t look so pre-schoolish but you get the general idea.

Thanks to SMuFlo on Flckr for posting her collection!!! Click on the image to go to her photo set to see different angles.

I need a solution to make up storage/organization. And puhhhleazzze before you start sending me all these gushing comments about plastic bins at walmart, DO NOTE the following:

1. I loathe tupperware, or any sort of plastic materials unless they are going to be put into a cabinet. And I’m not sure I have all that cabinet space.

2. I already have 2 huge ass train cases. I’m looking for a more home-based, sturdy solution.

3. Please do not suggest that I get rid of some of my stuff. Not going to happen.

ok. start your suggestions!! thank you, ladies. I only mean to call you whores in the most loving of ways, you do know that, right? xoxo