caring is cool.

ourafrica:

We are pleased to feature the talented work of illustrator, designer and painter Loyiso Mzike. Loyiso’s portfolio includes dynamic portraits of people throughout Africa.

“creating visual art is a talent and gift i have enjoyed all my life. it has evolved into a tool that i use to express my views and ideas. I paint people and paint about people. our complex nature fascinates me and therefore compels me to expressively tell our story. My work is African and celebrates the beauty and wealth running in the veins of her people. its in the subjects eyes, lips, skin tone/texture, dress, hair, that i draw inspiration from. the experience and stories we carry with us are the corner stones from which we mold a new identity. it is the human spirit that i aim to share in my art. ”

This is Africa, our Africa

(via ourafrica)

(i’m going to be posting about this so much this week. i’m both sorry for possibly over-promoting and also not sorry because i’m really excited!!!)

some of you are obviously already familiar with videogum and gabe delahaye. you guys can skip this if you want. this is mostly for people who aren’t familiar with either. bye! see you guys soon!

for those of you NOT familiar with videogum and gabe, it’s a syper funny pop culture blog, written by gabe. videogum is one of the most consistently funny things on the internet and that’s entirely because of gabe. i know it’s not very cool to be a huge fan, but i’m just a huge, unrepentant fan of gabe’s writing. he’s just really, really great at what he does. one of the most remarkable things about him, and about videogum, is the insanely tight-knit community that has formed around them. again, i attribute that to gabe and his ability to create a sense of exclusive inclusivity, where everyone is welcome to join this smart, funny community of inside-jokers. everyone wants to be part of the group, and everyone can, because the commenters are also, almost without exception, really, really nice. it’s pretty special.

so, perhaps you can imagine my surprise and fangirl barfy-excitement when gabe emailed me and asked ME, of all people, to be the guest blogger for a whole day, while he’s out of town. A WHOLE DAY. ME. what? why? how? who? me? why?

this might not be the biggest deal to some people but it kind of is to me, and i am probably OVERLY concerned about doing a great job and not being a disappointment. partly because i want to impress the other monsters, and partly because i don’t want to make gabe regret asking me, i’m spazzing out a teensy weensy little bit. i’m sure some laid-back dudebros were chosen and were like, “sure. whatever.” i am not that dudebro. i’m super excited to have been asked and taking my responsibilities VERY seriously. i don’t write until friday but i’m already getting started, drafting and practicing and stuff!

so, please come read the site on my day. you don’t have to comment if you don’t want to, but you totally can. it would just mean a lot to me if my non-videogum friends and family were sharing this success with me.

also, definitely check in during the week and read the other bloggers, too, because they’re all VERY funny. and read lots of the stuff that gabe wrote, too, because he is like a giant laughter tree and we are little joke mushrooms, growing happily in his shadow. (what? i don’t know. i’ll get better by friday, promise.)

artpixie:

Under the ground (in Istanbul) (by MagdaBis)

(via lyras)

“niagra” is amazing, but all of them are just as good. brooding, creepy, shocking, gorgeous. i have been looking at this off and on everyday this week. 

amazing.

goldenfiddle:

NYT: At Home with Patrick Dougherty

usually i post silly/cute/funny things here, but i’m gonna take a little break from the 24 hour hilarity i usually provide to get serious for a second.

so, i’m doing this thing.

i hesitate to call it a diet, because it’s sort of a whole lifestyle thingie. but, because there is a diet component, we could call it a diet, i guess.

it’s based on a book, called ‘the primal blueprint’, written by a motherfucking p.i.m.p. named mark sission. here’s his website, where you can buy the book and get more info about it, if you’re so inclined: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

the reason i bring it up is because i am VERY enthusiastic about it. it’s almost the only thing i want to talk about. i assume this is what it’s like being a born-again christian, because i am finding it very challenging not to proselytize all the time.

HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD WORD ABOUT THIS AMAZING THING THAT IS AMAZING? CAN I TELL YOU ABOUT IT? BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING. - what my brain says all day long

i’m not going to get into explaining it, because the website and book do that much better than i ever could, but i will say that i feel freaking amazing. seriously, i can’t remember a time when i’ve ever felt so good.

because of the diet component, i am eating totally different than i ever have, and having no trouble at all managing it, despite living in a hotel and having no access to a kitchen to make my own food. also, because of the fitness component, i’ve been going on epic dog walks, and did some strength training yesterday for the first time in forevs. nothing super fancy, just using my own bodyweight. i’m trying out a system called simplefit. here’s the url to that, if you’re interested: http://www.simplefit.org/

again, i don’t want to preach about it excessively, because i know that people aren’t as interested in this stuff and one always feels they should be, but i just wanted to say it’s fucking amazing, i’m feeling awesome, i’m losing weight in an easy, low stress way, and i highly recommend it to anyone who is interested.

i’m MORE than happy to answer any questions you have about my own experience, but again, the website and the book are really the best source for science and facts about it.

i will probably be posting stuff about it here, so i thought it’s give you guys a little heads up.

also, i started a fitness journal in the forum on the site, to help me keep track of my food and diet stuff. i would write it all down here, but i feel a little weird obsessing about my body image crap on here, and at least there, everyone is SUPER enthusiastic about the lifestyle and me talking at length about my diet and workout stuff won’t bore the pants off of them. if you’re interested in following along, you’re welcome to.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/showthread.php?9701-In-Which-our-Heroine-Kira-Becomes-a-Superhero…&p=134778

i’m not super familiar with the way their forum functions, but i think that will get you there.

okay, back to pictures of fennec foxes and stuff.

holy crap. KILLED. IT. this little dude is freaking amazing. the faces of the girls in the bleachers are not appropriately gobsmacked, i feel like. i would’ve been in love with this kid until he came out of closet after high school. just kidding. that wouldn’t have stopped me from being in love with him! (i know. 99% of the world’s population has already seen this. i am a late adopter.)

lindsayrobertson:

I had to see this on approximately 98 blogs before finally giving in and clicking. And now I’m as obsessed with it as everyone else. So if you’re like me, holding out as a symptom of “I don’t like seeing the same thing 98 times” generalized internet boredom I urge you to make an exception for this one viral video. It’s that amazing.

TESTIFY, helen keller. testify. there is totally suffering, but there is also not suffering.

Helen Keller  (via kari-shma) (via quote-book)

Charles Bukowski (via andimustscream) (via quote-book)

ouch. some tough words from mr. chinaski. but really, are you spending your time on the right things? i know i’m not. it’s hard to remember with all the cotton in there, but i hope to spend more and more time paying attention to that question.