The art of wording

More of Nicoletta Ceccoli's work

I'm really having trouble with the English language these days. First, I spent hours and hours trying to come up with a name for my company, I actually googled "good names for company". As it turns out, there are real companies that do it for you. One company proudly lists the following names as their genius creations and brain children:

1. Jigsaw (seriously, who pays for this??)
2. Doodad
3. Willy Nilly ( apparently this company's business is also naming, now what does that tell me?)

Since not many people actually reads this blog, I confidently assume that the above comments won't offend anyone?

Secondly, my dear friend informed me today that what I refer to as "funny or weird or creepy things" that happen to me in public are actually guys' way of flirting. Of course since I generally have no clue about it, my frozen stares or bitchy remarks always manage to drive them away....Now, you can't blame me, that's a language barrier too lol


Last but not least, I'm trying to draft a job description for the camera man and production crew positions that I'll be hiring soon. This is what I have so far:

Requirements:
5+ years in related field
Can eat nothing but fish for 3 months minimum
Able to live on open water with constant storms and other dangerous situations for 3 months minimum
Male only (sorry, Chinese fishermen are still superstitious about having women on their ships)

I know, base on this description, people would probably rather be foot fetish models than applying for these positions... (it's quite alright if you don't get the comparison here ;)

I'm tired and falling asleep

After work, meeting, dinner, gym, and hours of phone calls, I finally squeezed in my two hours of daily job hunting time. Now it's 3 am, my coffee will start to make in 4 hrs, I'm most likely getting 4.5 hrs of sleep because I have interviews to prepare for early in the morning...

Tomorrow, I'll have red eyes and huge bags under....but for now, just my artistic side that's going to the shit hole....

By Nicoletta Ceccoli

Happy 4th July

For the first time since I moved here, I can hear the birds in the middle of the day, and could sleep till 12 without getting woken up by the non stopping traffic outside of my window. The Upper East Side is an empty town ;)

My heart felt a little better too. For the first time in a long time, I woke up in the middle of the day but did not feel bad for oversleeping. I made 4 espresso, savored it in my butterfly chair while browsing the web. I didn't check my email, I actually didn't feel the need to.

I opened my calendar for a second, quickly looked over the long running to-do list, and then closed it. I should be cleaning, or organizing, or making that phone call, or getting on with that task....not today. Maybe I'll actually have a weekend, I said to myself.

Update

By the way, I'm so far behind on my Infinite Jest reading, I'm almost starting to panic. Then I went to Infinite summer site, and realized that I'm not the only one....Good, but still not good...Arrrr, with net working meeting, interview, dinners, and 4th july coming up, I ask the same question that has been asked many times on the site, how the hell are you people finding the time to read???

By the way, today's Woody Allen quote is one of my favorite: 80 percent of success is showing up.

When you are in a high pressure situation, think about this, you'd feel better instantly!

Peanut butter is better than creme brulee?

Sometimes, the first bite of something can taste really ordinary, but after a second, third or a fourth spoonful, it gradually becomes tastier and tastier up to the point of irresistible. This, is the story of Peanut butter tasti D lite. (warning for a potential addiction? lol)

Today is a good day. The new arrangement of furnitures feels much more homie than before. That cup of freshly brewed coffee was intense and bursting with aroma. My 5 inches heels finally feel as comfortable as a pair of havaiana flip flop. And the list goes on....

Sometimes, a simple acknowledgment or a little confirmation has the magic power to make everything seems better, and today, is that kind of day ;)

I saw some photos of this collection from someone else's blog a few days ago. If you didn't have the best day, these pictures might still make you happy as a clown....;)

Swedish Elle Interior

What I'm actually Reading

Back at the beginning of June, I post a few books that I want to read this summer. As sincere as I was when putting together that list, things like this tend to go sour with me. Basically, my almost always hibernating productive side/righteous side kicks in once a while to remind me that there's way too many books for me to finish in this lifetime. Instead, I shall only focus on the important ones......

And it just happened that yesterday, while surfing around the web, I found out about the Infinite Summer challenge/book club. Basically, the idea is to read Infinite Jest from June 21 to September 22. This gives you about 75 pages a week, which is pretty doable for a book like this, right? I already snapped my copy at the store this afternoon, have some catch up to do while it's still early in the game.

Here are some other books that are arriving at my door on Monday, I ordered four but these two should give you an idea...



May the good weekend continue ;)

When Life gives you a steamer malfunction, you leave cappuccino for some espresso

I finally tested my espressor machine today.....only to find out that the steam knob is broken :( In the end, my milk remained cold. My espresso, bitter, but still oh so good!

Today is one of these days when nothing can mess up your mood. At least for me. Some shopping, a vitis to the book store, and a birthday party later, I'm happily in bed writing my blog while semi listening to the drunk people outside my first floor window.

Ang tomorrow, I'll be drinking more espresso, while longing for that good cup of cappuccino....

Three Blazers Later

One of the excuse why I haven't update in so long: excuse me please, I was busy shopping ;)

Three blazers, one trench, some killer heels, pants, shirts, and a bag later, I still couldn't find anything to wear on any given day. (you may feel the need to remind me that i'm kinda not really shopping for summer: I arealdy know that lol) I blame it on my yet to be fully developed style and fashion sense. I'm not really slow, it's just that I was raised in a very different culture that truly under-valued fashion for as long as I remember.

So after a week of shopping, I post shamefully the following items, which I still really really want to add to my wardrobe:

American Apparel Sexuali-Tee, everyone's favorite of the moment ;)

80/20 Hidden Wedge Boots

This cute convertible plaid jacket from Hong Kong

This summer, black and white only ;)

Back a few weeks ago, I was walking with a friend and out of nowhere, I said semi thoughtfully, " I think I'll only wear black and white this summer..." The result, of course I got laughed at and made fun of endlessly for the next few days. Of course it was a silly thought, it was also a lazy attempt to get back to my city girl status, after four years of "farm dressing". But one thing we have to admit, sometimes, black and white can be all you need.

Christian Dior 1951

Japanese Vogue, May 2009 Tanya Dziahileva by Mariano Vivanco Mixte Magazine
Sketch by Donfeld for Anjelica Huston, 1985

Next time, spf 1000 pleeeease

BBQ was lots of fun today, but I burned, just the upper back though. Silly me, not able to tell weather from the temporarily double taped curtain!! I thought it wouldn't be so sunny, therefore, I can cheat on my sunblock. Bad mistake.... Now, after 5 layers of cocoa butter and another thick layer of vitamin E mask, I'm finally done with the rescue efforts. A little tip for people who burn easily during summer: never use Aloe vera gel. Aloe vera is certain good for relieving redness and irratation, but most of the gel on the market have way too much alcohol to work. Moisturize. This is the only way to go.

Marie

Lately I've been browsing lots of home deco sites. Today, I followed my fav magazine for some really pretty prints but end up discovering this truly amazing artist: Bailey Saliwanchik. I looked through most of her stuff but unfortunately I can only find decent size image for a few. She is definitely worth checking out! I'm thinking of getting a print of Untitled below for my apartment, what do you think?

Goosebumps
Winter Painting

Untitled

Bloodie