Art-Enjoying

This is a culture-powered week. I’m all over literature, having dusted off Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice; spirituality, having digged up Rabindranath Tagore’s Sadhana; and plunging back into the art world by going to the Art Gallery of Ontario. I forgot how peaceful walking around art galleries  makes me, I forgot how happy I become finding and looking at artworks that used to make my heart skip a beat during modern art and postmodern art classes. I am going to be buying a $45 student membership to explore the whole gallery as yesterday, for some strange reason, I spent all my time on the 2nd floor of AGO, looking at Canadian art.

I’ve never been a fan of Canadian artists, until in the middle of nowhere, I saw the piece that filled my being with winter joy – “Lake and Mountains” by Lawren S Harris. I fell in love with this painting 2.5 years ago, and bought numerous copies of the postcard. Harris’s work fills me with such sense of calm, respect for nature’s magnitute and childlike wonder that I couldn’t help buying several more postcards. Apparently he was the unofficial leader of the Group of Seven.

On a completely different note, Mary Pratt’s “Station Wagon” instills a sense of hopelessness and despair when you realize that absolution is not possible. Ukrainian-Canadian William Kurelek caught my attention as a sad artist in his day painting images of children’s fun in winter, switching to increasingly religious themes as he converted to Roman Catholicism. I managed to snap a photo of this exciting, emotional and hilarious work of art (see my flickr – thou art Peter and the rock…). Kurelek interested me most with paintings of wide open spaces and small people fiddling about. It’s the details that intrigue here – every person seems to be moving chaotically, yet at his/her own pace. Other pieces: Here, Here and Here (bear!).

Filed under: simple life , art, improvements, literature, tagore, toronto, winter

On Nicknames and Alter Egos

Today at the office my nearest and dearest proclaimed that there are two of me – there’s the Karin, the focused busy bee, the hard worker who stubbornly focuses on work and shushes (is that even a word?) any distractions or jokes. Then apparently there is Karina who laughs maniacally, talks to herself out loud, answers all kinds of trivia questions such as, “Who wrote Death in Venice” and “What is the (pocket) watch chain called” and all that. Karina is also a bit ADD, because she’ll be telling you about 2009 style trends and at the same time forward interesting articles from the Harvard Business, and confessing her love for Helvetica and informing everyone about the Helvetica the film and the limited edition Helvetica Moleskines (I ordered the red one). The happy, larger than life Karina is what I am on any given happy day, it’s just that deadlines come between me and the rest of the world, and I must switch gears.

Speaking of nicknames. Eric asked about what Hemingway’s nickname was. I’ll tell you all: Hemingway had many nicknames throughout his lifetime. To his sister Sunny, he was “Oinbones.” While in high school, he gave himself the nickname of “Hemingstein.” Because of his love of boxing and the great outdoors, he became known as “Champ.” His first wife Hadley and son John (by Hadley) affectionately referred to him as either “Ernestoic,” “Tatie,” “Tiny,” or “Wax Puppy.” Even the child shared in the fun, acquiring his own nickname of “Bumby.” Hemingway was also known in some circles as “Wemedge.” More obvious nicknames included “Ernie,” “Hem,” and “Hemmy.” But the most enduring and most recognized nickname for Hemingway would be “Papa”. Source.

Filed under: imaginings , hemingway, joy, personalities, self

L’Oreal Does It Again

Even though I am sad that L’Oreal may have discontinued my hair color, they introduced a product which made me ditch Lancome and seriously consider the Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara. Hence I was curious to try this offering from Matchstick.

This mascara easily comes off with warm water. I know, every mascara eventually comes off with water, but the whole eye area turns black and it takes some time. Also, the “tubes” in the product name play a big role – once applied, the mascara solidly wraps around your eyelashes, making them stronger, much, much longer, non-smudgy and alluring. I completely forgot about the tubes at first, so my heart skipped a beat when, after washing my face, I saw tiny little “lashes” all over my eye area. It was the tubes, and the easy removal is no myth.

There are some tricks when it comes to application. For amazing results, slowly apply a thin white basecoat, fully covering your lashes – white extensions will attach to the tips – and let dry for a moment before proceeding. While some people complain that the wand’s too short, I just learned maneuver, and my lashes turn out twice as long! I got more than I expected. The retail price is $14.99, but click here for a $5 off coupon (use this reference code: 71MF). Since Beauty Tubes don’t require a makeup remover, thus saving some bucks, every recessionista should consider the lush value for such a bargain price.

(Did you read this article? What are your thoughts on L’Oréal Paris Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara? Click here to let us know!)

Filed under: Great Products , beauty, fashion, product, review

Ketel One Strikes Again

Hey guys! If you remember my Ketel One post (or me blabbering about this in person), could you take a couple of minutes to fill out this survey please?

Matchstick is looking for feedback from anyone who may have seen my posting about Ketel One Vodka. If you click on the link below and complete the survey, you will be helping them by donating $2.00 to the Redwood Women’s Shelter, please Click Here to take the short feedback survey. For every survey that is completed, Matchstick will make a $2 donation to the Redwood Women’s Shelter. Your time and feedback is greatly appreciated”

Filed under: Great Products , help, marketing, product

You Like Girls? You Have to Know About Fashion Too

“…And that’s the way it is. That’s what I wanted to say.” 1 2 3 4 by Miss Kittin & The Hacker (download the MP3). I’ve grown increasingly annoyed with my wardrobe, as I still possessed 4-5 year old items that I would never wear again, despite my stubborn belief that I might use them. Last month I donated 2 garbage bags full of clothes, and I’m not done yet. My current wardrobe seemed disappointing too, as it represented a cool, eccentric university student look too much; the jackets, winter boots and sweaters were becoming a too old or too cute for my liking. So I decided to buy new pieces in line with the hip, sophisticated young woman image.

On a mission to sync my wardrobe with my new attitude and lifestyle, I randomly stumbled on a Henrik Vibskov unisex black crinkle trenchcoat at Delphic (they’ve got amazing stuff). Luckily it was on sale. I love its lightweight and interesting paper-like texture, metallic tone, and waterproof and windproof features. My interpretation is on the right (the belt makes all the difference), pardon the poor photo quality.

I also found a perfect elongated cardigan online, since the stores had either incredibly expensive goods (Henrik Vibskov yet again), or plain cardigans in boring colors. I found a Grey Ant knit cardigan ($352) at 75% off. More Henrik Vibskov – black stretch twill pant, originally priced at $236, and reduced to $59. If that isn’t great value for wardrobe defying pieces, then I don’t know what is. Can’t wait for them to arrive. Can’t wait for Jeffrey Campbell biz bootie – a perfect flat bootie with buckle detail, – to show up in the inventory, too.

Filed under: moving up , changes, city life, development, fashion, improvements, mp3, music, photos, self

Monopolist Half The Time

We return to you once again. In the past week our orders skyrocketed and we couldn’t manufacture enough to meet the demand. Process innovation, in which we engaged,now allows us to produce more, faster and at a lower cost.

Speaking of which, I’m enjoying my Industry Analysis class. My professor, a former art director, is an eccentric, socialist wine connoisseur Dr Richard Michon, well-versed in creative positioning. I’m loving the class, despite originally wincing at the Economics of Strategy text. You see, I didn’t really like to listen during econ lectures back in the day, but it came back to me.

Strategic thinking and seeing the big picture are my strengths. I kinda drool over the military terms that we deal with, and I learn useful things on positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. I’m eager to do the best job I can on the class project which involves a novel-long analysis of a particular industry and maybe more.

One line I’m going to remember for a while and possibly invite into my fleet of mottos, came from a discussion of early mover advantage. Some firms may not want to move in first only to share space with other, possibly improved products of competitors. But! “It’s better to be a monopolist half the time than oligopolist all the time.” I’m running for the market! Bye for now!

Filed under: moving up , changes, learning, plans, ryerson, self, strategy