ashleybalding

i like these

2009-11-26T00:16:00.002-06:00

i love me some eco friendliness

2009-11-20T23:14:00.002-06:00

i'm always on the look out for really modern and cool interpretations of living eco friendly.

steampunk?

2009-10-30T23:14:00.002-05:00

so tonight a coworker said a word to me that i have never heard of in my life. steampunk. his explanation of it was so intriguing to me. so i looked it up on google, naturally. this is such a huge counter culture. i am shocked. and it is highly possible that i am one of few who have never heard of this. it makes a lot of sense to me. i have always loved the juxtaposition of nature and industrialism. so this mix of futuristic/ sci-fi and old world romanticism is wonderfully inspiring.

the vision

2009-10-26T22:43:00.002-05:00

ever since i realized that i wanted art to be a focal point in my life, i have been seeking out a vision for an art show. i've always known i wanted to have one, but i've never been able to solidify a concept or a total vision. i am finally starting to see that vision. and i'm excited. here is one thing that has inspired my vision..

now, this is fashion

2009-10-20T22:59:00.004-05:00

masch and monsters

2009-10-08T20:51:00.002-05:00

i love seeing my creations out in the world. here is a video of kevin masch singing an original song about monsters. note the monster on the left side of the screen!

a little uplift before bed

2009-09-23T00:00:00.003-05:00

i was looking at youtube tonight right before bed when i noticed this video on the home page. this is the ps22 chorus. besides the fact that this is a chorus of children singing modern songs, which is cool, i was struck by the intensity in each of their faces. i was moved by their expressions. forgive me for saying this if it's out of place, but it was as if they were worshipping. they were experiencing true joy and happiness through singing. no one was forcing them to sing with such passion, it was simply oozing out of every one of them. there is just something so amazing about kids doing what they love. it truly inspired me in a huge way tonight.

this is the blog, if you are interested.

www.ps22chorus.blogspot.com

corporate exhaustion

2009-09-14T23:26:00.002-05:00

so my intention has been to post a post-nyc blog with my findings and thoughts, but something else is on my mind tonight.

corporations.

never in my life have i felt so dumbfounded by an institution. starbucks, i'm talking about you. the son of a bitch that is the corporate coffee house.

i am currently in my fourth year of slavery with this major corporation. i never thought i would be there this long. but isn't that what everyone says? oh jeez, i am officially everybody else.

with that aside, the thing that bothers me the most is the monster that is corporate. why do they feel like they have to tyrannically run our lives? i was told today that my dress was a little too creative for starbucks. okay, i understand that i knowingly subject myself to the mindless, cog-in-machine type of employment, and thusly, rules for normal dress code apply. but seriously? i can't even express myself a little bit? what's so wrong about "bending" the rules a little? so instead of wearing the douchy black slacks with a tucked-in black button down shirt, i wear a conservative black skirt with a cute turtlneck? who REALLY cares? half the time customers don't even realize we have dress code. nobody even notices the collars and the slacks with belts that we are all forced to don day to day. and wasn't starbucks founded by a couple of hippies anyways? has anybody told them lately that they sold out to the Man? i'm not saying we should come in dressed like slobs or crazies, but a little creative freedom please?

also, why is it so hard for the managers to stand up for their employees? again, i understand we all knowingly work for corporate, but why has everyone become so spineless? when did we lose the desire to stand up for what we believe or to have a fellow employee's back when a customer attacks us with their death rays of bitchiness? yes, jobs are on the line. and nobody wants to be unemployed in this economy. but i am so tired of feeling like i work for people who don't have a heart. its like as soon as you get promoted in starbucks they suck out your brain and replace it with 100 percent fair trade arabica beans...

or shit. either one.

so without going on ranting and raving anymore, i guess i just wish there was a solution to all this. or at least an understanding. but i'm at a loss. and the longer i work at starbucks, the more clear it is to me how corrupt it all is. and as a young woman who would like to be a business owner one day, how do i avoid this fate? do people with the best intentions end up like this? like a spineless monster who only cares for profit, even when it claims otherwise?

i feel like starbucks has a severely detrimental fate ahead of itself. and rightly so. what once was a wonderful company has become a part of an increasingly disappointing world structure.

and seriously, instead of cutting the brewing of decaf and bold coffee to save money, maybe try cutting out the sale of useless merchandise like journals and half-ass books. just a thought.

NYC update

2009-08-20T22:41:00.003-05:00

it is the end of day 3 in new york for me. its been a good trip so far. it has been ridiculously hot the whole time.

this trip is different than my other trips to new york city. i definitely feel like less of a tourist this time. i have no desire to take pictures and i feel much more familiar with the people here, as well as the surroundings. i feel extremely comfortable. and i think it shows. i have had a couple of "locals" assume that i am a student here. this, to me, is a sign that i have graduated from that deer-in-the-headlights tourist to a knowing and confident traveler. this is a good thing.

i'm staying with my friend's sister and and brother in law on the upper west side in a very quaint spanish neighborhood. its a fairly painless ride into the meat of manhattan on the subway. i find it quite easy to get around. i love walking up the stairs at the end of each exhausting day and smelling the overwhelming scent of spanish food cooking in the homes of all the families in the complex. there's a spanish convenience store on the corner that makes me feel like i'm in a different country and a different time. the men hang in the back of the store next to the meats and happily chat about who knows what. and somehow the store still sells novelty food items that i haven't seen on the shelves of our own grocery stores in years.

i think one of the most overwhelming things i have noticed on this trip is the kindness that seeps out of the cracks of this hardened city with a bad rap for being dirty-mouthed and unforgiving. everyday that i am walking the streets of this city, riding the subways, riding the buses, i see people doing truly kind things for others. men are always offering their seats to women, children, and the elderly. and yesterday, a man slipped in the subway tunnel and three teenage boys, who easily could have been misconstrued as rough or dangerous, rushed to the man's side to help him off the ground. i found myself shocked at these random acts of kindness in the city. but why? why did i expect there to be no happiness, no kindness, no forgiveness?

i think sometimes i get caught up in a world that lives in skepticism. it's a bad habit to assume the worst, and never hope for the best in people. and i don't like this about myself. after all, if new yorkers can find it in themselves to be helpful, kind, and compassionate, then so shall i.

off to new york i go

2009-08-01T23:32:00.005-05:00

there is nothing i love more than a random trip to a big, wonderful city. i was invited yesterday to go on a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks. that's definitely a no-brainer. but, i was skeptical that my manager would let me off work for a week on such short notice. but, alas! he gave me the go-ahead. i booked a flight tonight and i couldn't be more excited!

i feel like things are finally starting to come together in my life after feeling very stagnant. i am hoping this trip to new york will be refreshing, rewarding, inspiring, and exciting!

maybe the interesting folk on the subway will give me inspiration for some monsters...

anybody have any suggestions on places to explore while i'm in the city? i want to spend some time wondering around brooklyn, for sure. and i would love to see coney island as it has been for all these years before they remodel it.

one of the things i'm looking forward to most is making my soundtrack for the trip. nothing enhances exploration like some great, inspiring music. i'll post my track list as soon as i get it compiled!

new york tales soon to come...

BQE

2009-07-30T11:58:00.004-05:00

i am a huge fan of sufjan stevens. when i heard that he was directing a movie, i got super excited. here is the preview for his movie, which is a tribute to the brooklyn queens expressway.

THE BQE- A Film By Sufjan Stevens from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

my latest muse

2009-07-26T22:58:00.006-05:00

this is harold.

this is charles.

this is clarence.

and these are my latest creations. i spend all my free moments working on these cuddly, handmade monsters! more to come...

what inspires you?

2009-07-26T22:56:00.003-05:00

i love to draw from a million and one different places when i'm creating something. music, movies, books, conversations, dreams, visions, emotions, words, websites, television, prayers. they all feed into what goes into my art.

i feel like, for myself, being able to draw from various strands of inspiration is something i had to learn to do. it used to baffle me how musicians, actors, artists, etc. were able to take a situation and produce art from it. slowly, but surely i am learning the art of inspiration. it becomes easier each time i sit down to create.

here are a few things that i have been fascinated with as of lately: sci fi, brooklyn, graffiti artists, Tchaikovsky, east l.a., storms, vintage electronics, robots of the future, space travel, whale wars, the UK, queen elizabeth's persona as used in pop culture, harry potter, industrialism.

so what inspires you?

my first post!

2009-07-23T23:45:00.002-05:00

so after hearing so much about blogspot, i decided to finally create one. i hope this will be a place that i can throw out my ideas, my thoughts, and my inspirations!