These are a few of my (current) favorite things...

Audrey Kawasaki
I came across this artist by accident on LiveJournal. Her paintings had been fashioned into icons for the site, and I downloaded a couple of them for my own use. Then I got curious about the artist and googled her. (Can you believe we use the word "google" now as a verb? Sigh...) Anyways, I fell for her style -- hard -- when I took a look at the rest of her work. The one at your left, "My Dishonest Heart," is my favorite piece of hers. Here is a description of her style from her website:
The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter.
I think that's pretty much accurate! To view more of her work, you can visit her site, and to learn more about the artist, you can visit her blog.


Neverwhere

What is Neverwhere? It's a book by Neil Gaiman that tells the story of Richard Mayhew, an ordinary man just going about his business in London when he discovers that he may not know London as well as he thinks he does. After coming to the aid of an injured girl on the street (no good deed goes unpunished...), he opens the portal to a shadowy new world that exists beneath his, London Below, which he must travel and ultimately conquer if he wishes to go back home to London Above. This is one of the most satisfying books I've read in a while. I started it on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago and finished it in a matter of hours. It's got action, romance, mystery, danger -- all the elements you can hope for in a great book. I highly recommend it!

You can click on the book cover to read a snippet from Amazon.com. If you've read this before and are looking for another good book by Gaiman, I recommend The Graveyard Book.




Transit Lounge
Now let me get this straight -- I am not that big into clubs. Yes, I may live in Miami, but I don't eat sleep breathe clubs. I can't even remember the last time I was in one. So I tend to prefer more laid-back places, like bars. I discovered a great one recently.

If you live in South Florida or just happen to be visiting, you might want to check out Transit Lounge, a very cool bar in the downtown Miami area. There's no charge to get in at all, for guys or girls, and the drinks are reasonably priced. It's a very low-key place and the crowd is mostly people in their late 20's, early 30's. They feature great live music plus karaoke on most nights. I've enjoyed myself the two times I've been there, both on a Saturday night and on a Wednesday night, so that tells you the place is good on any night.

For more information, visit their website.



Ropes of Silicon
I am a movie fanatic. I actually used to have a less discerning taste before I met le boyf. He's an uber film buff who has taught me to be more discriminating with the movies I watch. But truthfully? I still enjoy watching laugh-out-loud grossout films and romantic comedies, even if they aren't exactly Oscar material. I like keeping up-to-date with the latest films and I love seeing trailers.

Ropes of Silicon is a most awesome website that has the latest film buzz, including trailers and movie stills. Thanks to them, I found out when my much anticipated "The Time Traveler's Wife" is coming out in theaters (August 14!!!) plus I saw the just-released trailer, poster, and a gallery of movie stills on their site last night. Read my article for Examiner to see the trailer and movie poster.

Check out Ropes of Silicon's website here, and if you're on twitter, you can follow them here.



What are some of your favorites this month? Share them in the comments! :-)


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5 comment(s):

Rose said...

Nice! I love that artist's style!! I found her thanks to you from a link you put on your twitter. I really enjoyed looking through her paintings (and doodles..which were heardly doodles if you ask me!) Some of it was a little werid..but what can I say; artists are like that. But I loved her shading and it's just so satisfying!! So thanks for that :)

Next...oh yes Neverwhere! That was the last book I just finished reading and I really enjoyed it. You were right about it covering all those different genres and it's so cleverly and excellently written. First class!

Oo, I will look up Ropes of Silicon some time. I do like my movie scoop :)

Thanks for the blog! Fun to read :D

Rose @>}-----

Hannahkin said...

wowza! Audrey is amazing. I love artists who break the mold of what is conventional... and i love her artwork. love it love it love it. "My Dishonest Heart" is beautiful. gosh, i think i'm going to keep gushing...!

i'm not a movie snob as such, but i consider myself to have good cinematic taste. *i just made up that word.. 10 pts!* as a side note: i just finished reading Q&A the other day, and can see what you mean about the book and Slumdog Millionaire being completely different. and yet the movie was still moving and one of my all-time favourites. hmmm.
funny true story! we were at the video rental store yesterday and got Quantum of Solace *which i fell asleep during* but while we were trying to choose what to rent, the lady working there said, "we have some new movies that aren't on the shelf yet. Slumming Millionaire?" i was laughing SO HARD behind my eyes! :)

kay, my bedtime now!

Kate said...

Yay! You are definitely helping me populate my summer reading wish list! I'm adding "Neverwhere" to my queue.

Let's see, favorites... Right now: The song "Dustland Fairytale" by The Killers; The show "How I Met Your Mother" (great surgery-recovery televeision!); The Movie "Up" is the most recent thing I've seen and it was cute and made me cry. I won't list the book I'm reading right now under favorites, because I'm not sure it will be.

I'm really captivated by Audrey's art. The description is right, by it's very intriguing. Thank you for pointing her out.

Happy Saturday!

Anonymous said...

Audrey Kawasaki! I love her work (thanks to your tweet =D)

That Neil Gaiman book sounds good; I need to stock up on my summer reading, hah.

Anyway, have a good weekend!

Cheers

nsiyer said...

I love her site.Thanks for the recommendations on the book and the blog.