Better late than never: Happy, happy VDay!
Max and I have a message for thereafterish readers!
To those of you who celebrate: Happy Valentine’s Day!
For everyone else: Happy Sunday!
So, okay, I’m a day late. Sue me. I had mistakenly scheduled a post up that I shouldn’t have, so OOPSIE!
I hope all of you had a GREEN, HAPPY, SAFE and LOVE-FILLED day. Whether you were celebrating with yourself or with loved ones. After all, the spirit of this holiday is about love, and whether you’re single or no, love can still abound.
Remember, love yourself, take care of yourself, first, and then all else can be taken care of.
Webbiversary 5.0
Happy Birthday, thereafterish.! However belated…(12 days). But that’s very Maeko, to be late. Less than fashionably late. It’s how I roll.
On 1/8, thereafterish. completed its fifth year. I am now into my sixth year writing, discussing and ranting on this website, and well into my seventh year blogging overall. It’s been quite a ride!
I’ve gone from constant raging tirades against the injustices of human nature, diatribes dedicated to how I’d been stifled, jilted, slighted, mistreated, blahdidiblahdityblahblahblah–to constantly writing about love and posting my fiction and essays–to photowhoring–to documenting my fledgling running exploits–to greening up my style and trying to get people to agree with me–to fashion camwhoring. I guess really when it comes down to it, my site has evolved or devolved with my own mental/emotional progression and maturation. It is, after all, a reflection of myself, a verbal, digital portrayal of my character.
Ergo, thereafterish., whatever she is now, from the schizophrenic, bi-polar freak of nature that was my first version, “You Have My Permission to Stalk Me” (maeko.org 1.0), is a digital insight into who I am as a person now versus what I was when I started out.
I hope I have five more years with thereafterish., and that she continues to grow and reflect exactly who I am or who I wish to be, and that my readers and friends can grow with us together.
Thank you for coming back, those few of you who read on a reg. Please continue to visit and help me continue to evolve and learn as much as I can from the beautiful, complex creatures in this crazy world. This site would not be what it is without your input and perspectives, and neither would I be who I am (to a degree) without the influence of my readership and friends.
So again, my most heartfelt thanks.
Y’all come back now, ya hear!
Outfit architecture: Mohair Coat, Vera; Jeans, BDG (UO); Boots, Aldo; Belt, scarf, Target; Knit shirt, blouse, cardigan, H&M; hat, some boutique in Canada.
Muah’s to Vera for my favourite coat.
Tea for Two. Let’s get talking! And Haiti Relief
Edit: in the face of the Haiti crisis, we bloggers should use our apace to promote humanitarian causes.
I donated to Drs Without Borders today. For every comment I get on this post (casual or rearding Haiti, whatever) until Sunday, I will donate another $1 to the organization.
Please consider making your own donation to this aid org to help in the effort to provide relief to those suffering in Haiti.
Xo
Mae
Tea for Two. A little convo.
In response to SleepyJane’s monthly or more “coffee chat” in which she wills out her lurking readers, enticing them with conversation over virtual coffee, I decided to post my half of our conversation here, whilst I swill some tea heavily swirled with sweet vanilla soy cream.
One.
Hi, SJ. I’ve been reading you for some time. How’re yoU? You sound sad lately. :( I worry about you.
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Two.
Do you do certain things to break your daily routine?
I’m a terrible creature of habit. Bad ones. And then if I manage to have a routine, it usually consists of an unhealthy amount of goofing off and dilly-dallying the night away, and then piteously and acrimoniously rueing the fact that I wasted so much of the evening, I accomplished nothing. I generally nap from being tired from nothing at work–I’m an office lady–there is nothing perilous or daunting about my job; it requires little effort, and nothing physically taxing happens here, other than the walk to the far bathrooms to get a bit more exercise than normal.
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If you want you can tell me what the average day in your life is like.
Okay, here goes! Deep breath:
Wake up late after snoozing the alarm blasting National Public Radio news (Morning Edition with Renee and Steve) for thirty minutes. Roll out of bed, half cloudy, mind overcast as the sky, drag self through morning cleansing ritual, feed the dog, try to dress with some semblance of style… look in the mirror, give up the fashionable goal, trudge out the door in snow boots. Commute. Get to work 15-30 minutes late. Emails. Then work work work work, tedium ad naseum.
Around early afternoon, say, 1:30PM, or other times, 2:00PMish, I take a lunch. Usually I go home and nap, or eat left over dinner from the night before, and walk the dog. Back to work tedium boredom with afternoon lunch torpor, occasionally hating myself for still working here.
Then around 5:30PM leave work and go home. Bumble about on iPhone, make some effort at cooking 2-4 times a week. Sometimes go for a run at the gym late evening. Eat dinner around 10 or so. Dilly dally either doing house chores while watching TV. Play at the idea of doing something productive at the computer… like sell something. Then around 12AM have mini-panic attack because it’s late, and no, it’s too late for sex or cuddling and N is working anyway so nevermind. Drag self through nightly cleansing ritual–shower, serious face regimen, moisturize, teeth… Dress for bed. Kiss N goodnight. Fall into bed with book. Manage to read a few pages before looking at the clock and have last minor panic attack of the day. Fall asleep.
And that is my day in a few words. (Whew!)
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Three.
Are there any new websites I should check out? Any interesting blogs I should be reading?
Yes! These are the blogs I started reading within the last year and enjoying immensely:
Lorien, Way-Faring Stranger
Tommy, This is Naive
Shir, The Toothfairy
KellieJane, Did I Fall Asleep?
And these are some of my old favourites from 2008, and I’ve always loved them.
The Sartorialist
Rebecca, The Clothes Horse
Sandra Beijer
Hil K, Almost Literary
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Four.
How old are you and when is your birthday?
I’m twenty seven. I was born in the beautiful month of May. And my name is Mae. My parents were NOT very creative. However, Mae is not my first name, and I won’t reveal that here, neither the day of my birth. :)
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Wasn’t this fun? Wouldn’t you like to have a coffee/tea chat with me? Why don’t you? Any readers here at thereafterish. who are “new” or old, or just lurking, please de-lurk yourselves for a second and say hello. I don’t bite. And if I don’t have any new readers, well, that’s just sad, isn’t it?
Take a second and answer the questions in the comments below. It’s about time I get to know my (very small) readership!!
Thoughts, Going New Old School and Best Friends
I knew it before, but my best friend R is a writer. A GREAT writer. I stumbled back upon her blog after forgetting for months that she had one… and I’m blown away by her eloquent stream of consciousness.
The morning moved slowly, opening one eye at a time. It stirred with slow concentrated movements, from bathroom to coffee machine to feeding the puppy. This morning was a gooey cinnamon roll with extra frosting. This morning was creme brulee flavored coffee and a few hours spent reading a new book, World War Z. This morning was a comforting quiet, a settled quiet.
waiting is dying. its like treading in an endless ocean until your arms give way to the ocean spray and the bottomless deep seperates you from your breath.
{Somehow, it’s made me realize the quality of my own conscious stream and writings stemming from instrospection have degraded quite a bit over the years. I was a way better writer in 2006 than I am now. But I digress.}
We’re going old school, and coming round back again. I’m discovering things about her that I just didn’t know, or have forgotten, because it’s been over four years since she and I have spent time together regularly (not since before the Great Cross Continental Trek–San Diego to Detroit). Things that endear her even more.
She loves
Tim Burton
Saturated, lovely films like Penelope
Cheese… specifically naming Boursin cheese in one post
Quirky forms of artistic expression
Alice in Wonderland
Scifi
Audrey Hepburn type women vs. Megan Fox/Angelina Jolie type women (I love both)
“Kissing You” by Des’Ree – A song that always makes me die inside in a beautiful way, even if I’m completely content with everything.
iPods (she was the one who convinced me to buy my first iPod… she had a green iPod Mini)
Basil pesto cream sauce
She
Gave up eating red meat, only eating white meat once in awhile
She runs
She love her some food
I am falling in love with my best friend again. I miss the days we spent dancing 3 nights a week, coming home sweaty, laughing messes. I miss the days we studied in a crowded, misty, loud Starbucks, attempting our damnedest to appear every bit the ambitious students. The trips to the beach. The giddy, giggly, stupid shopping trips where we blasted through too much or our scant paychecks. The music exchanges and iPod comparisons. The emails. The dinners. The crazy, house-music-blasting-in-our-stereos going-round-the-city-pointlessly long drives. The laughing. The car karaoke. The long, heartfelt talks. The shared sadness of loneliness and heartache.The joy of friendship.
I love her over and over and over and over again and again and again. And I know deep within me, without a cloud of a doubt, that she is one of my soul mates.
to teach me things I never knew
to relearn things I should never have forgotten
to show me that beauty and goodness and wonder still exist in the world
to connect me to a deeper fabric of life, of connection to a higher existence
to remind me that love is all around.
Img. Cred. Gills and Tails.
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Read on, c’mon, you like me:
Wake Up, It’s Da First of Da Month – Resolving to be BETTER at LIFE.
Graditudinousness – Gratitude is a state of being we should adopt more frequently.
Maeko Loves #1
Maeko loves…This girl! Behind the Seams
…and her quest to be named America’s Most Stylish {fashion} Blogger. (via Blue Fly.com).
5 weeks. 8 bloggers. 5 pieces of clothing. Only one can be named the queen. Vote for her look this week at BlueFly.
Img. Behind the Seams.
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Maeko loves… MayK…all day!
She knows how to rock a pair of boots like nobody’s bidnizz. Srsly.
I mean, just look at those boots!!! Mean!
Img: Maykallday
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Maeko loves… Bringing Ridikulousity to TASK
Jon Stewart and AP (Via PopSugar) blast Palin’s Roguishness to pieces, and a Conservative Picks apart the shallow substance-lackluster Palin really is:
Stewart’s Ass tearing (via Huffington Post>:
“[I don't] dislike her because she’s from Alaska or because she hunts, but because “when you peel back the pretty, shooty layers of the Palin onion, there’s no onion. It’s just a conservative boiler plate mad lib: ‘Freedom is good and taxes are–ooh I need an adjective–how about, I don’t know, silly?’ And the worst part it’s a mad lib delivered as though it were the hard-earned wisdom of a life well lived.”
Ohh snap!
And Palin’s Facebook retorts to the Associated Press grabbing an unauthorized copy of her book (which was banned from early release to all press review–hmmm… sounds dubious and sneaky!) and doing what she dubbed “Opposition Research” which the world of Journalism generally calls “Fact Checking”. Hmmm.
AP (Via PopSugar/TresSugar) debunks a few of the myths: she was not as frugal a traveler as she claims to be; she did not run for governor on small donations; and that she was actually for the government bailouts during the campaign.
And lastly, an objective review from conservative journalist Rod Dreher on NPR.org:
Sarah Palin is back to tell us that she loves Alaska. And America. And Todd, the First Dude. She loves God, Ronald Reagan, cutting taxes and serving those she calls “ordinary hardworking people.” Who’s on Sarah’s enemies list? The media. Good ol’ boys who condescend to her. Elites like the Alaskan gadfly she describes as a “Birkenstock-and-granola Berkeley grad.” …
…That’s pretty much everything you need to know about Going Rogue…
…The rap on Palin is that she’s too shallow and inexperienced for the presidency — a conclusion that early Palin supporters like me came to during the 2008 campaign….
…Sarah Palin is selling a personality, not a platform. She quotes her father’s line upon her resignation this summer as Alaska’s governor: “Sarah’s not retreating, she’s reloading.” On evidence of this book, Sarah Palin is charging toward 2012 shooting blanks.
Pow. Sorry… even some of your former supports think you’re off your rocker.
Palin img cred: Popsugar
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Maeko loves… BABEHS
This baby, in particular. My Friend E, aka Finnspace, and her baby Sam I Am are just the cutest.
I am not a child-lover… so when someone shows me a child I adore, it is reason to marvel, indeed! How cute she is!!!
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Maeko Loves… pretty pictures of food!!
Tommy of This is Naive posts daily feasts for the eyes. This post is no exception, because not only does it delight the eyes, it delights the stomach… Pictures of food!
Tommy’s photos are a delicious (pun), striking, vintage-washy treat, and I look forward to her daily posts just to see what she’s put up… I love seeing the world through her innocent and objective point of view.
See more of Tommy HERE!
img Cred. This is Naive.
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Maeko Loves… Deep Thoughts
There is nothing more that I love, blogwise, when otherwise labeled “Fashion Bloggers” use their space to pose thoughtful questions and even more thoughtful responses…
Take Kitten of Picked Pics.
Interspersed between her many fantastic ensembles are essays (e.g., on the general attitudes of the German youngster and their grappling with the reality of what their ancestors had done in the earlier part of the 20th century), small pensive snippets like below, stories and a small day’s memoir of her life in Japan as a German Vietnamese student.
I take 30 minutes at my quickest to get totally done and ready and out of the house.
In these 30 minutes there is a transformation taking place.
30 minutes between inside and outside.
I love it when people challenge the idea that fashion love precludes brains and introspection. Why can’t we do both? Aren’t we humans complex creatures that enjoy touting our ability to multi-task? Why should we not be able to love both fashion and possess an inkling of thought?
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Maeko Loves… Retail Therapy
We’re all suffering from the recession… but sometimes we have those kinds of days in which we *have* to buy something. You know the days… just feeling like you gave it your best and you were still run over by a truck, and you come home so mentally exhausted that you collapse into a puddle in front of the TV and just zone until it’s time to sleep and start the grind all over…
Well, I’ve had WEEKS like this…
So I bought myself shoes.
*squeeeeee~ SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOE SHOPPING!!*
The Jeffrey Campbell camp sandal that was all the rage last year:
Broke! I went to San Diego in May for my Bachelorette party and wedding shower, and in a drunken dancing daze, I managed to split the wooden sole of my most fierce, fabulous and comfy shoes IN HALF.
So, well, thanks to cheapie shoe sites like GoJane… I decided to replace these strappy babies with these:
Why not? The price both of these cost are still well within half of the cost of the Campbells. Now for comfort, though. I may be needing assistance from Dr. Scholl’s on these ones!
We’ll let you all know how they pan out when I receive them and a few other pieces from GoJane (For about $100!) this week.
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Edit:
Maeko Loves… weekends, and Fall Fashion and Blog Love!
Check out my weekend two weekends ago: Here.
And I rather think layering is probably my fall fashion uniform. Check it out Here.
Yea!
Two new blog readers, whose blogs I adore! Be sure to peep them!
And a shot out to another May whose last name is also a K. Yea for May K’s all over the world!
Peep them and tell them Maeko sent you, aight!
Week’s Best: Part Deux
WHOA-HO-HO-HEY!
Link Exchange with a multi-interest style and blog outta San Frisco! I dig! For once, a blog that deals in style AND substance–not just fashion consumption (which I love, too, of course). And they like me! They really like me! (My own homage to stupid awards shows speeches.)
CHECK IT! I am floored. Major.
Hello,
My name is Cas, editor of SteelCloset.com, a fashion/culture blog based in San Francisco. We basically cover the fashion/art/lifestyle scene in the Bay Area and anything that piques our interest. I was wondering if you and your blog were interested in doing some link exchanges. I really do hope that The Steel Closet can serve as a resource for ideas, content, or support in general, for your blog.
Yes, okay, thanks! Be sure to check http://steelcloset.com/ and tell them Mae K sent you, yo! Thaz right!
And make sure they link back. POLICE THAT SHIT. ^_^ Yes. Kaythanxx.
