The Fame Monster

I didn't even know she was on tour!!! I love her music, but still have mixed feelings about the whole entire Gaga package. She's not THAT original, most of the stuff she's doing Madonna has done, and Kylie Minogue has done even better. Basically she was born from what Madonna and Kylie had already trail blazed. I give her props for being grateful for her fame, her obvious hard work, and her honesty and humility in interviews.


She falls on her ass at :19 seconds, still a great song, performance.

I love this song.  Also, the message she gives before the performance about her reality before the fame.

Words

Sand Storm

by Khai Do

A taste of salt and sweat

my own lips and tongue graze

move, over smooth skin

my hand

the flavor of the universe, of oceans

foreign and forgotten, Neptune 

beyond a grey cloud hides

rain water, fresh

once it was not. I am not

washes over green grasslands,

leaving behind tiny dew 

never the desert, where I am 

belong, a reservoir of sand

an agent of fear.

A Bad Romance

They just don't make them like they use to anymore, really they don't. Sigh, for a long time now there's nothing out there that inspires me to go out and invest my time and money on a movie. Everything is geared towards tween girls and fan boys. What's a person to do if they want to see good quality movies. For me I decided to look into the past.

I had never actually seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie from beginning to end. Sure I've seen bits and pieces of Psycho and Rear Window, but I've never seen the entire picture. And I've never seen anything starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. So I decided catch up on my Hitchcock, Grant, and Bergman all in one shot and I Netflixed Notorious.

OMG. I can't believe I waited so long. The movie is really amazing--a masterpiece! It has suspense, humor, beautiful people, and above it's a dark and twisted romance story. The writing is smart and sharp-- it doesn't talk down to the audience, instead it expects the audience to elevate themselves to the high standards of the film. The movie is a testament that entertainment doesn't have to be stupid and banal.  And I could just stare and stare and stare at Bergman and Grant. I loved every second of it, and I can't wait to devour more Hitchcock. Next up, North By Northwest.

Cool Trend

photo: JakandJil

Blackout

The consuming never ends. Yesterday it was all about stuffing our faces with food, today it's all about buying stuff we don't really need. Sigh. I did my part yesterday, eating with zeal and passion, but unfortunately (or fortunately) this year I will not be partaking in any black Friday shopping. It's really a good thing. I need food, but I don't need another cashmere sweater. I'm slowly grasping the concepts of need and wants.

Living in New York City I never understood why someone would shop at the Gap or Banana Republic or any other store you would find in middle America. I like to shop at stores that you can't find in a mall in Cincinnati, Ohio.
"Where did I get that?" is always a question I'm asked, and although I'm not partaking in any black Friday activities I want to share the stores that I dress myself in.

Diesel for jeans, but lately I'm loving Topshop jeans. I don't have an ass anymore, so the Diesels I have look kinda funny. When I kindof had a butt, Diesels were great!

Uniqlo for the basics, especially socks and Tshirts. They're like the Gap, but better. Also Club Monaco for the basics, but I haven't been there in awhile so I don't know what they are up to. H&M of course, but shopping there for me is like shopping in a thrift store, you gotta search for the good stuff.

And my #1 go-to store for everything is ZARA. Gosh, I love that store. They make the best jackets and coats and everything in between too! The clothes have a very European sensibility to them--translation their clothes have style. A taste of ZARA below:

Beautiful And True

Patience

by Mary Oliver

What is the good life now? Why,

look here, consider

the moon's white crescent

rounding, slowly, over

the half month to still another 

perfect circle--

the shining eye

that lightens the hills,

that lay down the shadows

of the branches of the trees,

that summons the flowers

to open their sleepy faces and look up

into the heavens.

I used to hurry everywhere,

and leaped over the running creeks.

There wasn't 

time enough for all the wonderful things

I could think of to do

in a single day. Patience

comes to the bones

before it takes root in the heart

as another good idea.

I say this

as I stand in the woods

and study the patterns

of the moon shadows,

or stroll down into the waters

that now, late summer, have also 

caught fever, and hardly move

from one eternity to another.

from--New And Selected Poems Volume Two

Gobble Gobble

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!










photos: Steven Meisel

Quoted

"The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves. They want to be 50 cent or someone else. They do what everyone else does even if it doesn't fit where and who they are. But you get nowhere that way; your energy is weak and no one pays attention to you. You're running away from the one thing that you own--what makes you different. I lost that fear. And once I felt the power that I had by showing the world I didn't care about being like other people, I could never go back." --50 Cent

And Then

And then I would throw in some Dior, Dolce and Gabanna, and of course Gucci. Please. Thank you.

If

If I ever had (please god) unlimited funds, I would build my wardrobe starting with Burberry. In my fantasy Burberry would be like my Gap. Are you listening Universe?

Words

red, white, and blue

by khai do

the white room painted over

still wet

the red drips drips drips.

on the surface I watch and inhale 

the gasoline chemicals. and last night

and the night before and now. and now

and tomorrow and now.

the dye hardens. and now I still smell

before. yesterday. whitewash, no redwash

the stain settles. deep red. still beneath

yesterday. I open the only window.

blue sky.

Walk Walk Fashion Baby

Wow.

Words

falling star
by khai do

now. dusk. falls.
clouds still float. dark.
the vast sea shimmers in the light of stars.
the salty air. I breathe.
eyes close. I am awake.

Dear Kate, Part 7

Dear Kate,

Gorge as usual. xoxoxxo

Oh Gaga

While I read a book and was in bed by 9 p.m., this is what Gaga did last night. Her performances have been so violent and aggressive lately, and that's not a bad thing.

A Brice Moment

A word, an image, a smell,  a sound--I don't know what it was but something just reminded me of a Brice Marden painting. Marden is one of my favorite painters.  His paintings for me are easy on the eyes, and challenging on the brain.  His paintings are a constant reflection of light, and maybe that's what trigger my Brice Marden moment.  I need more light in my life right now--and always.

Gimme More Cam Gigandet

I've made it perfectly clear that I hate everything Twilight, well not everything. I love Cam Gigandet! The movie has already made zillions of dollars, and it makes me so so sad that mediocrity is again rewarded in our world. The movies and books are just so safe, so status quo. If you take the vampire elements out of the Twilight series what do you really have? What you have is a poorly written, angst ridden young adult romance novel, with undercurrents of Mormon teachings about abstinence and sexual repression.

Also, the "everyone likes it, so I will too" mentality is disturbing, but it seems like part of human nature--the feeling of wanting to belong, to be accepted by others; I completely understand that feeling, but I will not submit to the Twilight "phenomena." I want to belong to a world where people worship Haruki Murakami, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, and Pedro Almodovar. Manohla Dargis from the New York fucking Times called "New Moon" juiceless and bloodless, which basically describes the entire franchise. I want to live in a world where the juice flows plentifully, and where blood and life pulsates. I refuse to worship poorly written books and badly acted movies where teenage vampires and werewolves can't or won't have sex--I'll pass, thank you very much. But I will take a large serving of Cam Gigandet, please, thank you.

Hung Up

Hello? Can you hear me now?  I like the Pitbull "Video Phone" version + the Gaga "Telephone" song. Fate brought them together at the 2009 MTV music awards, and the rest will now be gaylicious pop history.

His Own Shirt

Just got my December 2009 issue of GQ magazine. It's their Men of the Year issue with multiple covers. For no particular reason I was just looking at the cover credits and noticed something outrageous. This is what I read:

On Tom Brady: Wool flannel suit, $4,300, shirt, $345, and tie $195, by Louis Vuitton.

In total a $5,000 outfit!!!! WTF!!! Who can afford this shit?!

On Bradley Cooper: Wool-mohair tuxedo $4,640, shirt $1,290, and bow tie, $220, by Tom Ford.

Again. WTF!!!! A $1,290 shirt!!!??? Outrageous!

And finally, On President Barack Obama: His own shirt!

Yay!!!! That's why we love him!!!!

Freja's Edge

photos: Boo George
Twin Magazine