Short people

Short people: I am one of them. All my pants are too long. Emily Rose was taller than me by the time she was 11. I keep a step ladder in the kitchen to reach the items on the top shelves. On the rare occasion that I meet someone shorter than me, the whole world seems out of proportion and I feel like a giant. Still, that's no reason to sing a mean song about my people (I'm lookin' at you, Mr Randy Newman).

Street artist Slinkachu both loves and abandons short people. He remodels and paints little model train-set characters, then leaves them on the street all over the world (photographing them before he leaves). He uses the existing environment, and the rubbish and detritus found on the street, to create their tiny worlds. I think they are simply magical.

All images from Slinkachu's blog, used with his kind permission.

Everything is amazing and nobody's happy

This clip just gave me a big ole belly-laugh. It made my morning and I hope it makes yours, too.

"Everything is amazing and nobody is happy" by Meowbay

"Everybody on every plane should constantly be going 'Oh my god! Wow!'... You're sitting on a chair in the air."

ps. Simpler days. Photograph by Charles W. Chushman is of New York in 1942, looking up 4th Ave from Astor Place with Cooper Union at right, from here. More about this incredible collection here.

Looking for love again

I was living in New York when the global financial crisis hit in 2008. The impact was almost immediate, and very tangible. A couple of months into the crash I took a walk with the dog around my neighbourhood and took photos of the shops that had recently closed down. It was one of the saddest series I'd ever made. Some of these places were New York icons. I would think to myself, "Imagine what those walls have witnessed. The conversations, the secrets, the stories."

Then recently I came across artist Candy Chang's Looking for Love Again interactive art project, and it reminded me of that walk.

The project focused on a building in Fairbanks, Alaska, which had stood vacant and silent for more than a decade. But once upon a time, this building had pulsated with life. It had been both an apartment complex and a hotel, and it housed a lot of memories.

Chang wrapped the building in a giant plea, "Looking for Love Again," and invited the people of Fairbanks to share their memories of the building on two big blackboards that were nailed around its walls.

"A lot of family memories stayed here for 30 day! Waiting to have my son who will be 17 years," someone wrote.

And another: "In memory of my grandparents Rudy and Mary Hill Dad Jay Hill Uncle Jack Hill who built this building with lots of love and hard work."

And this one: "Remember when the Pipeline Club was on top & women could be 'guests' but not 'members'?"

And simply: "A place 4 ppl to live their dreams and be happy."

Buildings play such an integral part in our lives. There's a reason we have a saying in English, "if these walls could talk..." Just imagine, for a moment, if they could. Oh the stories they could tell!

All images from Candy Chang's project used with permission, from Civic Center.

Dumb ways to die

Melbourne's train network, Metro Trains, has produced this kinda cute and kinda disturbing song to discourage people from doing silly, dangerous things around trains (like jumping the tracks, standing near the edge of the platform, driving around barriers at level crossings: apparently people do all these things!). The song is called Dumb Ways to Die. There is also a website, here. And a bunch of gifs on Tumblr, here. What do you think? Will it work?

Favourite things - go green

Back after a six-month hiatus, I bring you: Favourite Things Friday, a themed collection of clever, inspiring and beautiful things seen around the Internet during the week. Ta da! Today's collection celebrates spring and all things green and growing. Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend. I'm off to pot some herbs.

1. Macramé memories

Everyone had macramé in their homes when I was growing up. Owls, plant-hangers and abstract patterns were all popular. We'd learn macramé for craft in school, carefully knotting the rope together and selecting wooden beads to decorate the tails that dangled down. I wonder how many mothers out there received macramé plant-hangers for Mothers Day. It must be millions.

Anyhoo, it's kind of nostalgic and nice to think they're coming back, don't you agree? I certainly wouldn't say no to any of these beautiful neon-hued hangers from Kitiya Palaskas in Sydney, first seen on the Etsy blog.

2. The greenhouse

I recently discovered the blog of fellow Melbourne mama Jody, Lemon Rhodes. Jody and I have seen one another around the traps, in blog forums on Facebook, on Instagram etc, and I met her briefly at a dinner the other night - just long enough to say "hello my name is" as I ran out the door to feed Madeleine - but didn't realise who she was until later. Her family and her blog are just beautiful. During the Melbourne Cup holiday, they all got planting in a greenhouse. This post made me wish all over again that I had more than a postage stamp's worth of space outside my house.

3. Colourful clay pots

I see DIY tutorials on the Internet all the time, and so often I think they look exactly right. Beautiful, nostalgic, handmade. Then I try them and they look like they were made by a three-year-old. Which would be really cute if they WERE made by a three-year-old, but not so cute from the hands of a grown-up. Still, I am rather tempted to try my hands at making these Polymer clay pot-holders. They are just so darned pretty and they would look so lovely hanging above the window in our bedroom. Alternatively, I could wait until Madeleine turns three...

4. Succulent shelves

Aren't these shelves beautiful? Given my general DIY-challenged state of being (see above), I'm not even going to consider making them. But I had to share them because they were so lovely. And maybe you have more crafty carpent-y skills than I do.

5. Botanical notebooks

I have a weakness for vintage botanical prints. There are vintage botanical prints in frames in our bedroom. More on cards and paper I have collected. I like to go to antique print stores and look through the original botanical prints (that I could never afford to buy). If I had botanical-printed notebooks like these, I would have to call them "field books" instead, and pretend I was an explorer. Jolly good, old chap.

ps. Go here for more favourite things collections

Dreams about flying

Aren't they the best? And isn't it a little bit heartbreaking when they end?

GRAVITY // UN RÊVE DE DEMAIN from Filip Piskorzynski on Vimeo.

Surround yourself with creative people

"Surround yourself with Creative People." That's good advice. It's also no.11 in this video, which you should definitely watch if you need encouragement or galvanising (or both) in the creativity department.

Sometimes, surrounding yourself with creative people is easier said than done. For example if you stay at home and look after a baby every day. I'm willing to admit it, I don't get out much, not socially anyway. Once a week I do head off to mothers' group and these ladies are very nice, but to be honest I don't know them well enough yet to find out if they are "Creative People" or not. We generally spend our time talking about the frequency of poo in nappies, and how fast our babies' fingernails grow (REALLY fast).

So, for the time being, I will surround myself with Creative People via the Internet. And hopefully via some old-fashioned mail. How will I do it?

1. Earlier this week I posted this inspiring video and it made me feel a little better about my own inability to express or create things the way I want to.

2. I joined in Pip Lincoln's (free) blog school to try and refresh myself and my ideas. There are some AMAZING bloggers in this group. Slowly, I'm feeling more lively. Let me know if you're part of this too.

3. And then I saw the My Creative Space project (also from Pip), and it just seemed to complete the trio. Using the list at the top of this page, I am going to take one photo a day on Instagram (I'm @naomibulger if you want to follow me). The photo on this post is my first, for "a creative space." It's the inspiration board I keep behind my desk. I'll use the hashtags #amonthof and #mycreativespace to be part of the project community.

Do you want to join in? You don't have to use Instagram. You can tweet your daily inspiration. Or blog about it. And there is a Facebook group too. Just use the hashtags so everyone can see what you're doing.

Everything seems to get tired towards the end of the year, don't you think? Well, not this year! May November be the month of NEW CREATIVE ENERGY. Hooray!

(ps. The beginning of that video. Does the music remind you of the movie Amelie? I really want to watch it now)

A word of advice for artists

Have you ever found yourself trying to create something beautiful, but your execution just doesn't match your vision? This happens to me all the time. I know what I want to do and I know it could be amazing... in someone else's hands. I just don't seem to have the skills to make it happen. I can't tell you how many half-written stories I have lying around. How many drawings that are scrunched up in the bin. And how many projects I have never finished. When I was a teenager I wanted to learn the violin, but I gave up after just one term because I couldn't stand the sound of myself practising.

Good news: it's ok! This process is NORMAL. And according to writer and producer Ira Glass, EVERYONE goes through it. Plus, he has a solution (but you'll have to work for it). Watch this little video if you ever feel like your creative output doesn't stand up to your taste.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Do you feel better now? Me too. Now back to work.

After the party

Happy Sunday night! This evening is brought to you by this intriguing little teaser video. It looks like the aftermath to quite the party, don't you think? We are recovering in the aftermath of a rather lovely party of our own chez Bulger today, and I'll tell you all about it shortly. Also, my parents have been visiting this week, which is why you haven't heard from me lately, and it was just wonderful. They left to head back home this afternoon and I feel rather bereft. I can't tell you how much I miss them, all the time, but especially now that I am a mum myself.

Meanwhile, I am still on a bit of a high from seeing two of my favourite bands, Mumford & Sons and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, in concert, on the one night. It was one of those "submerged in the music" evenings that make me just so grateful to live in this world. My joy was only slightly marred by the fact that both acts started late and I had to leave before they finished to get home in time to feed Madeleine. Ah, the rock 'n roll life of a new mother.

How was your weekend, friend?

(UPDATE: photos and details of the garden party are now available here)

The wild rumpus

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!" This was the Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire in August, "a celebration of the arts and outdoors in the wilds of England." Shall we all go together next year?

All photographs from here.