Sweedeedee

by Michael Hurley

First of all, if you're not checking out Cabin Porn, you're missing out! Epic amazingness...


And second, 2011 was the blurriest year of my life -- it just flew on by before I could even properly get acquainted with it! I am so grateful for all the new experiences I had this year in particular. I nabbed a new job (eh.), found myself with the sudden chance to rekindle an old passion (horses) and even randomly became utterly obsessed with something that I previously woulda said was thoroughly inconceivable for me...a baseball team (The Giants)!

All this has taught me that sometimes life really, truly hands us the unexpected and that it can be an awesome thing! Responding to how you feel deep in your heart, to what moves you, even if it's inexplicable, silly, or something you're unsure of (and even if it doesn't turn out as you'd hoped), is one large part of what makes life worth living. This year for me included major movement forward, lots of joy and then some frustrations too, but I'm ready for what's coming next and appreciate what I have. Thoughts for 2012:

1. More patience when it comes to life and where it's headed.

2. More listening, less talking. (Didn't I say something similar last year?! Still something to focus on. ;)

3. Find a job that is meaningful and pays the bills. (Isn't this everyone's quandry?)

4. Tidy up more often, continue to get ridda stuff and bring in only the essential.

5. Get my money outta that big, bad bank and into a proper credit union asap. One tiny way to give the govt the middle finger and I'm all for it!

6. As much horsemanship as the year will allow!

Happy 2012! Looking forward to all the astonishing, unexpected things that it will bring.

You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley

Aside from mooning over Inuit art lately, I also HAD to have this sweater from the lovely Sasha of Astral Boutique. It was too good to pass up...angora, plus all angles, plus harvesty colors, plus triangle buttons!? I mean, come on! A girl can always use another cardigan!

Ain't That Enough

by Teenage Fanclub


Aside from riding, I have become more obsessed with Inuit art lately, especially stone prints from the Cape Dorset area. It's really hard to find prints of any kind from these makers, but there's an amazing one on ebay right now that I wish I had the dough for. I am lost in those owl eyeballs! The above piece is by Lucy Quinnuayuak.

More affordably, Pomegranate Press is offering some cards and ephemera by Cape Dorset artists, so I settled on a little card with this image by Kenojuak Ashevak:


Also into these embossed cards:

Go here to see 'em larger.

Simple, beautiful...this kind of work hits on all levels. I wish I could hang all of it all 'round my apt and be surrounded by sublimely rendered and fantastical birds!

To Live's To Fly

by Townes Van Zandt


Been out riding Reno multiple times a week, and have fallen more and more in love with riding again. Being outside and hanging with such a gentlemanly creature, learning new things, galloping and spinning and climbing ridgelines -- it's all so much fun.


I think I wanna be a cowgirl when I grow up!

On a related note, if you have not seen the documentary Buck yet, about the stellar horseman, I highly recommend it. Natural Horsemanship has totally absorbed my mind the last few months, and Buck is one of its premier statesmen. Learning to foster partnership instead of brutally imposing one's will on a horse is a relatively new philosophy in the equestrian world, one long overdue.

Grinnin' in Your Face

Well, these days that ol' fall fashion bug has bitten me hard and I'm utterly failing in my attempts to hold back from shopping too much...


Had to get this necklace to brighten up my fall colored outfits...

While I'm at it, I also am obsessing over this here necklace...

Oh etsy, you are my downfall tonight and always...

High, Low and In Between

by TVZ


Native American porcupine quill pieces are beyond gorgeous and often complex, but I found these simple quill earrings that are equally fab...Striking, no?

Salvador Sanchez

by Sun Kil Moon




Total omg.

On a more personal note...I've been drawn to pre-Columbian Latin American history and tradition ever since I first learned about it in high school.

Back then, when I was a naive and fully sheltered teenager, I went to the Yucatan to climb Chichen Itza, which itself was a completely magical experience I have never forgotten. I must say though, what struck me most on the trip was the poverty and chaos I witnessed around the area, and it broke my young heart, leaving a deep impact on me. It seems odd to say, but I haven't been back since, despite my only growing interest over the years in Mexican folk art and history. I have felt in the passing years that it's beyond time for me to go back and see the country and all its infinite realities with adult eyes.