4.29.2011

HERE'S TO LONGING - #3

[#3]

as always, on fridays, i'll be sharing a new creative initiative piece from my HERE'S TO LONGING project. you can read my personal manifesto here. pass along! share with buddies!

note: you can go to "labels" below & click on "here's to longing" tag to see the others from this creative initiative.

4.28.2011

happy birthday little brother.

it's my brother's birthday today and i am so thankful for all the light and love, generosity and kindness of spirit, radiance and bliss, laughter and genius this young one has brought in to me and my family's life. you were the best person to grow up with. we love you namo. you are my best friend.














whoop it up with d. sized portions of bonbons, rainbows & unicorns.
haps, bro, haps.

keep up!

see you tomorrow!!!

4.26.2011

fun finds!

been finding some amazing things online lately. i call this "fun finds" for all ya'll. i am sure you'll get a giggle out of one of them!
>>"lookatbook" is an amazing transcontinental artist collaborative that you must see!!!
my favorite page!! amazingg!!!!!!
>> ten photorealisitic painters that rule

see more here.

>> what THE hell is going on here???
HAHAHAHAHAHAH WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?!?!


>> an awesome way to find new music HERE.

>>where do you and/or your loved ones fall on the 'trustworthiness of beards' spectrum?? hmmm, peefy???

4.25.2011

dreams do come true and other annoying things.

this image has been floating around the interwebs and blogs i occasionally peek at. i saw "sophia coppola's essentials" [$5000 silk peejays; $1000 cashmere socks...etc, etc, blahbity blah blah for $4500...] and the first time i saw it, i thought hey, okay whatever. but now that i have seen it 5+ times on various sites, i'm like, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, let's get seryoos - can't we focus on other awesome things? it inspired me to this really awesome "art" piece, please, i am really vulnerable about your reactions to this piece cos i've spent 9+ hours on this huge project of mine. i took me one hour jus to pick the appropriate color in the paint application circa PC's 1990, don't judge my abilities, but i think this is sheer artistic genius:
how cool would it be if these "big" people talked about BIG things? like real essentials?? like something of depth. would that make a shift in consciousness?
don't get me wrong, i love fashion just like the other lady, but the fact that people are finding this "awesome" is just ludicrous.


IN OTHER MORE IMPORTANT NEWS-- A TEN YEAR DREAM OF MINE IS COMING TRUE ON JUNE 16, 2011. I AM FINALLY GOING TO SEE BILL CALLAHAN aka SMOG LIVE!! TEN YEARS, I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR LIVE SHOWS & OPPORTUNITIES TO SEE HIM!!! I SOOOOO PUMPED!!!
he has been one of my FAVORITE musicians and lyricists since my first year in college. since i was introduced to him more extensively by a dear handsome friend, jeremiah, i've listened to him every week since.

we got tickets for his LA show and we are tempted to follow him up the coast to big sur where he'll be playing here. [what?!?!?]

read a recent inspiring/fascinating [!!] article on him in the NYT here.
if you have a chance to catch him on this 2011 tour, you most definitely should, seeing as how never tours and may be won't again. look here for his tour dates. that is also where i purchased his album.

4.23.2011

fun sunshiney day with polaroids in el-eh!

the weather has been so wonderful, nice and warm in the day and cool in the eves. i wish it stayed like this all year. but i can't complain right? though this temperate rainforest girl is still adjusting to weather in southern cali. i had to finish a "roll" of my instax [polaroid] film and these are the beauts that came out:
horchata lattes with stumptown beans @ cafe de leche = yumzah.



one of our favorite chill spots in LA.
 
DAMNIT! you can't read the smaller text under KABOB WAY - but it says: no heartburn [that was the whole point in taking the picture in the first place] but my husband's pretty damn cute too.

FASTER donuts?? as opposed to a business called slow donuts? who owns FASTEST donuts?? they get the award for best name for donut shop. hahah
i hope you're all having a great weekend!

4.22.2011

dr. cornel west on the Baha'is of Iran

it always feels better and healing in some ways to hear leaders of our world, who are not Baha'is, speak out about the unjust treatment of the Baha'is in Iran.  We, as Baha'is, have been suffering from persecution & execution ever since the Faith's inception. as many of you already know, for me and my family - its also personal. For those of you that don't know - my grandfather Kamran Samimi was martyred in 1981. This needs to stop; its paining too many people, making their lives so difficult, so traumatizing. 
i applaud and commend dr. cornel west for speaking so candidly [and eloquently] about our plight. i thank any and all of you, who in your own communities are raising awareness of the situation of the Baha'is in Iran, and standing up in your own ways, to fight against this grave injustice. 
have a listen:
my favorite quote:
"...[be a] militant for tenderness; fanatic for fairness; extremist for love & a drum major for justice...and i see that at work...within the rich, prophetic traditions of the Baha'i Faith..."
wowwww. so touching!
quoted from my buddy, John Bathke:
"this is a good video, from brother cornel, denouncing the persecution of the Bahai's in Iran. additionally, there are two resolutions pending, in the house (H.Res. 134) and senate (S.Res. 80), condemning this persecution. feel free to contact your house rep. and senators to support these resolutions."
if you so wish to learn more, please click here.
big ups to cornel west.

HERE'S TO LONGING

like i mentioned before - every friday i'll be posting a new piece. make sure to keep checking back each week!

[#2]

have a delightful weekend!

note: you can go to "labels" below & click on "here's to longing" tag to see the others from this creative initiative.

4.20.2011

hip hop ain't no joke


[via my buddy ashkan]
watch the entire thing, seriously. you won't be dissapointed. funniest thing i've seen on the nets in a while!!

three tings

wow, i mean WOOOWWWW. SUCH a cool room. do you think this person needs stimulation much?? heh. BOOK WORM ON HIGH ALERT!!!
[via the selby]

delicious stones. don't bite too hard. reminds me of my dear sweet LISH:
[via jalan]

kinda funny, kinda dorky, totally hipster cliche - but i dig it - it makes me chuckle:

4.19.2011

without further ado - i present you with my new creative initiative: HERE'S TO LONGING [for patrick]

there is one thing you should know about me, if you don't already: the most important thing to me is DIALOGUE. engaging in it, assessing it, analyzing it, always trying to improve it, elevate it, engage it, dissect it, dive in to it. i got my Masters in Conflict Transformation, which for me, was just another way to get to know dialogue better- in all its forms. so dear ones, are you sensing a theme here: dialogue + conflict [transformation]. both of these two things i wouldn't have been able to get to know and fall in love with as deeply as i have without one man: patrick j. hill. he was my professor at evergreen. yeah, my professor. it felt like he was my only one. in four years. when i think of my entire educational and intellectual experience at Evergreen, the only teacher for me was patrick. he taught a course for an entire school year called 'the power and limitations of dialogue'; he was the one that encouraged me to continue working with conflict and facilitating and inviting those once marginalized to the table to help groups discover connectedness, meaning and depth, through light and love [and loads of small jokes]; he taught me how to be a strong leader, a strong woman. plain and simple, patrick is my hero. and has been ever since i met him. my hero and my best friend.

in 2006, patrick passed away, left this world of countless amazing people that loved and adored him. he left behind him people that he taught to never stop asking questions, stop searching for answers and that one must lead with their vulnerabilites if they are to really LIVE their lives. there isn't a day where i don't think of patrick and all the countless things he taught me about how to gracefully maneuver and radiantly dance in this life of mine. i miss him painfully, so i like that i can dedicate this to him.

this gets me to where i am today. at this very moment. sometimes i feel like a damn pressure cooker, just bursting at the seams [even though my sister told me to think of it as a reservoir, not a pressure cooker- good point, sis]. i get sooooo restless at times and if i am not releasing my creative energies in really good and positive ways, i literally, no seriously, LITERALLY drive my self crazy. [ask any of my closest friends/family...also herein lies the name "extremie" in samimi]...i couldn't take my craziness intensity the other day so i had to DO something.

so i started a new artistic process for myself wherein i express really important, key things that people have said to me in really crucial dialogues over my life- things that i've promised myself i'd never forget, or just simply have never forgotten. things that have been said to me or things i've said to myself that were really formative- really critical to my personal development and progress in life. things that make my heart FEEEEL, etc.

we all have these memories, right? i mean, remember -- OF COURSE YOU DO -- the time your lover at that time told you something super hurtful and shitty and even when you think about it today it is still fresh and new, wounding and/or funny? what about that thing your grandfather said to you, that may be didn't seem so poetic or mindblowing at the time, but now he's gone and you cant talk to him anymore and then you realize that what he had said to you that simple night on the porch in the summer in passing, was actually really beautiful and profound and you remember it in the most random times? yeah, those things. or that thing that your former best friend said to you about how she/he didn't want to be so close any more for xy and z reasons and your heart sank and you still carry that pain around with you. well, i've decided to take those things that have happened in my life - through my life's DIALOGUES + CONFLICTS and lead with my vulnerabilites.

an extremely gracious, wise woman told me recently that i long for things on a very deep level, really intensely. nd how important that is for me and my spirit to long and FEEL it. and to not see it as a bad thing but rather, a huge gift. i am trying my damndest to get to know thing Longing more, and see it as a thing of joy and radiance and anger and pain and release. mainly release. atleast in regards to this project, HERE'S TO LONGING. i had originally called it "explosions", cos that's exactly what was happening, i was exploding with emotion, like things that had been caged for so long being like, "cant i come out now???" hahahahahaa. i am always missing, always wishing, always aching. don't get me wrong, i'm not a depressed person, actually very contrary - i just love to LIVE my life to its fullest, with all its emotions and memories- its the only way to go down.

i have found this process to be extremely personal and therapeutic: to be able to share a very impactful statement or dialogue that i had in my life, and then find the photo that "matches" it, or that conjures up the same exact feeling/memory. like linking them together to tell a story about my life/life's journey, my struggles, heartache and successes. kinda like an autobiographical journal/journey through memories and places. it also invites more than one of your senses, includes the other senses. so you can read the text, feel it and feel it also in the photograph itself. it has been amazing - how when i am doing this work, i realize that a particular photo was MEANT for that thing that so and so told me that made me weightless, etc. its been so powerful.

many people have told me how powerful and emotional my photographs are. how they conjure a longing in themselves, or a movement of some sort. now i am able to take that to a new level!

again, for those of you that know me, i have always tried to operate my life and my expressive creations in a new, unique way.  i have seen a lot of really cool [and some really shitty] work of people placing text or quotes over images. usually the quotes aren't theirs, and the photos are or vice versa.

but my dear friends, this is different, at least for me. i want to always remember those things that people told me, out of love, out of listening and reflection, out of anger or jealousy, heartbreak or desperation.

the purpose is to also, lead with my vulnerabilities, and that through leading with my softer, more open parts, i will become stronger, more resilient and LIGHT.

ok. i think you get it. and if i have forgotten something, i'll share it with you later. cos i think this is enough of layli's crazy 4shotlattesafternoonsintheloudasscoffeeshopwhileiblastDMX for you expressions.

before i give you my first piece, i give you this really beautiful passage from alfred stieglitz, which i feel pertains perfectly to this post, my new project and my life right now. i see it as my personal manifesto currently:



[via the blue hour]

i strive in my work for it to feel spiritually alive, resonating with others, communicating with their own longing, despair, light & success.

i will be posting a new piece on mondays and fridays. well, ALWAYS on fridays and then since today isn't monday, rather tuesday, it'll be another fun day of the week. so you just have to keep checking back. but know on fridays you can always count on one dropping on this here bloggityblog o' mine. 
here is the first one, to get us all start off on my new exciting creative initiative, HERE'S TO LONGING [for patrick]:


please pass these on, as i want to touch as many as possible, just please credit the work appropriately.

phew that felt good!!
peacing out-
layzer extremie.

note: you can go to "labels" below & click on "here's to longing" tag to see the others from this creative initiative.

4.14.2011

alexander is the sickness. hands down. no one beats him right now.

holy geeeeeeeeeeeeeez . i won't be exaggerating when i say that alexander ebert is a lyrical/musical GENIUS. wowwwwwzaaaahhhhh. how come everything he does is amazing [IMA ROBOT/EDWARD SHARPE & MAGNETIC ZEROS, now this solo pro.]??

his new single, truth blows me mind. yeeeps!!! don't mind the dumb video; the official one is yet to drop, but dude, atleast you can listen to the song.

if you prefer to listen to it live, for your viewing pleasure - alexander a dude who looks like every fourth dude i went to evergreen college with: a hiphop hippie that'd be super handsome if he shaved his face.

talk about someone who is really tapped in to their creative Source and really just letting it flowwww. wowwwzieee. i kinda died its so good.

4.12.2011

what is your creative process?

there is almost nothing better than hearing about one's creative process, what their thoughts and reflections on their relationship with their creativity is and what they actually DO ABOUT IT. it is important for me to "study" how people define their creative process and what that looks & feels like. beyond being merely inspiring, it helps me refine what i must do for myself and my work. it helps me push myself to create something totally new & fresh for myself. i know i am on the right track if i am feeling high from the work i'm involved with and creating. that happened to me last night - as i was reading and browsing so many creative people's blog/sites/art, i felt like, "ok, layli, that's enough. now what are you going to do?" in my process i have to completely wipe my brain slate clean - like a blank open field, to figure out what i am going to mindfully & meticulously construct in that space. i build as i go, then i feel the release, the tension suspended, the breath soothed, the heart excited. i have to constantly remind myself to push myself further and deeper to find the beauties that lay hidden deep within.

i found this great short on the sartorialist by browsing said blogs/sites/art. just another person sharing their process with the world. i don't subscribe to the sartorialist, nor do i frequent the site often - but that's besides the point; the creating process is what really fascinates me.
i am so damn inspired i could spit. spit, i tell you. there, i just did it, all over my laptop screen.

it is so critical that we allow ourselves to be inspired by others - as long as you challenge yourself to create something that you feel is YOURS - from your heart, for your heart - that's the best shit right there.

i'm unplugging now, to go create.
here's me - peacein' out: