tune in tokyo - a spring musik miks by yers truly.

have a great and wonderful listen - i know i am.

i have heaps of faves, though i really dig this DEAD MAN'S BONES & SHE AND HIM tracks.

| i made this deadly mix on 8tracks.com |

which is your fave??

my never-ending to do list

| spotted on the house of milk |

my family is the best ever.

i was just in the twin cities visiting my folks and family for a week. i just had to share with you these cute photos of my time there. my faves are the ones of my niece, elsa (of course). i have now dubbed her my "queen" and she will call herself queen, pronounced, "keeen" all the time. she made me kiss her hand over and over, all the while asking me to call her my queen. she is amazing!! here she is in her "queeny" little body with her golden crown that i got her - i just DIE @ the cuteness, its really too much:

me & the great Mississippi:

my parents are the hottest late 50 year olds i know. and i am not biased.

me and my buddy, poppa dougie fresh:

j-j-j-j-j-juxxxxtaposition!!

two rare and beautiful gems.

just in case you wanted to know, i have some pretty hilarious and ridiculously awesome friends. they always make me laugh and keep me up.

thanks to my homies rolise for this AMAZING clip. watch it and watch it gooood. also, take note of min 4:03. AMAZING.



and this jewel is from my dear friend in belgium, peefy. he has this serious talent of finding THE most phenomenal gems on youtube. i don't know how he does it with two little tots running around and a full time job. he must be a genius. yep. he is.

hey mike! did AWOL lose weight and convert to hard core, lime green christianity??

did you laugh your buns off? geesh, i know i did.

* i know its super lame to have part of the video clips cut off on the right, i'll be working on that. in like three months.

life doesn't need to evolve past sesame street.

i don't know about you guys, but i sometimes grapple with just allowing myself to be happy and joyful just for the sake of being happy and joyful. for some reason, i have it in my head that i have to WORK to DESERVE to be happy and that it comes after we have really pushed ourselves and worked really hard on improving one's character. i am REALLY working on changing this M.O. into merely letting go and thinking happy, positive thoughts.

my dear friend towfigh and i have all sorts of talks about all sorts of wonderful things. usually our conversations end in one of us laughing hysterically @ the other one who might be expressing a concern or personal struggle they are going through, which then in turn allows the other to take it easy on themselves or on life. and it was especially funny that she sent me this tonight as this is exactly what i've been grappling with:

this is my response to her sending this to me:

the most hilarious part of this is that i JUST had a talk with my yoga teacher that was super deep and intellectual and intuitive and it ALL boiled down to EXACTLY this. funny how the world works and how really, all we need is sesame street and friends to make funny faces with.

we all have SOOOO much to be grateful for and i for one, need to focus more on THOSE INSANELY WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL things as opposed to other garbage just that just make me worried and uneasy and restless.

and holy man is it true...right??

who's with me??

here is another amazing excerpt on happiness that my mother sent me. it really spun my mind for about a week. i LOVE IT. here is the "grown up" version of the very wonderful 'happy thoughts' song by elmo:

isn't this talk AMAZING??? right??

who's with me??

--thank you, towfigh, for making me laugh at myself, as i am sure you are laughing with me. always.

if you two dear readers feel so inclined, post a comment sharing with us something that makes you happy!!

my father is addicted to walking.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” - john muir

same trail, different season. this is what it looks like now:

this is what i want it to look like NOW:

(my dad had such a great and cute idea of taking a second photo of him in the winter, walking down the same trail, and of course, i loved the idea. isn't he just so lovable???)

"nobody at the wheel": thanks for making me laugh tonight.

i came across this pretty damn funny blog. and i like the aesthetic too. here are some of my top fave picks.

and for elise:

which one do you like best?

see more here: www.nobodyatthewheel.tumblr.com

Monster Truck Rally equals TOTALLY RADD.

we went to our first Monster Truck Rally last night and LOVED every stinkin' minute of it. we will definitely be repeat offenders.

are you kidding me with this tee shirt?

i just love this photo for many reasons. reason one is very obvious: the mullet man (if you pay close attn. he is in almost every photo) and reason two: the tattooed dude wearing an iron maiden tee shirt:

where do old early '90's prom dresses go to die?

2010 persian weddings (ew).

i would insert a photo but then i'd be a jerk. so use your imagination folks.

home to alaska soon.

To lovers of the wild, these mountains are not a hundred miles away. Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends. ... You cannot feel yourself out of doors; plain, sky, and mountains ray beauty which you feel. You bathe in these spirit-beams, turning round and round, as if warming at a camp-fire. Presently you lose consciousness of your own separate existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature.

John Muir (1838 - 1914)

for chris

happy birthday to a dear old friend.

hmmm:

here are a couple of my recent fuji mini instax shots. i seriously was sad all day with a sinking feeling because it hasn't replaced my polaroid. i mean, in some ways its better than nothing, but it some ways it just makes me more pissed off. i'll shoot some more, dear readers and see what happens, maybe it'll start taking better photos. meaning, they wont be so white washed. though i can see that effect being fun for some people. heh, yeah, like people who appreciate an extremely large painting in a modern art museum that is JUST A SOLID BLACK PANEL framed into a SOLID BLACK FRAME. okay, i am being more whiny than i should be. i mean, its allright. but not my old pola cam. (sniff sniff). i'll just have to splurge and purchase the new polaroid film by the IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT!! (SWOON!)

what do YOU think of the fuji shots?

today i had a very enlightening inner dialogue:

self to layli: you have a blog, right?

layli to self: yeah.

self to layli: well why the hell have you not thought of anything cool to blog about lately?

layli to self: blleeeeccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

-->this drawing was the coolest thing i could think to make for you, my two dear readers: