clare judith bowers

stella's got a brand new rack

i ordered a bike rack from CETMAracks a little while ago and it just arrived today.  it is amazing...sturdy, stylish and functional.  it's also foxy, which is good because my bicycle is somewhat superficial.  seriously, she refuses to wear fenders.  she says they make her look fat.  and lastly, it's badass. and i need as much badass support as i can get because, tragically, i suffer from badass deficit disorder.  without proper treatment, i can't even startle a chihuahua. 

anyway, this feels so so so much better than my last basket.  not only is it about a scrillion times stronger, it keeps the weight lower which makes for a smoother, safer ride.  trust me, it's scientific.

in closing, i strongly encourage every bicyclist to ditch his or her sexy, but ultimately orthopedic injury inducing messenger bag and invest in a CETMArack.  it's a scientifically proven fact that this rack will make your life more awesome.

OK, fine.  you can keep the bag.  just carry the heavy stuff up front.

rack obessed

i have this fricking Wald bike basket.  and it's a fine basket...like, for carrying a handbag or a chihuahua, but as it turns out, i need more than that. 

see, the basket is nine inches deep.  and the distance from my handlebars to my front wheel is only eight inches.  so the handlebar mounts need to stay angled up to keep the basket from dragging on the front wheel.  which should work in theory...but the dang thing is so flimsy that if i'm carrying a half bag of groceries the handlebar mounts buckle under the pressure.  and the basket drops down forcing me to pull over and tug it up off my front wheel every three minutes. 

i've tried tightening the screws on the handlebar mounts and the legs, but it just won't stay put no matter what i do. it's not very functional.  and sometimes it's downright scarifying.   just imagine riding on a busy city street with a heavy load on your handlebars...now throw in a random surprise attack front brake.  what i'm trying to say, in my long-winded way, is that i need to break up with this basket.    

so i've accepted the fact that i need to invest more than $20 in something bigger and badder than your average bike basket.  i don't drive (driving makes me dislike everyone, including myself) and my left shoulder has politely informed me that i am no longer allowed to carry a messenger bag.  so my bike needs to be equipped to carry up to two bags of groceries.  or a stack of 18"x24" wood panels.  or a case of, um...soda pop.

so for the past couple weeks, i've been dreaming of the half rack from Ahearne Cycles.  these racks are beautiful and they are custom built to fit your bike.  unfortunately, they have a long waiting list for custom rack orders because they are so busy with bike and rack combo orders.  apparently, people know a good product when they see one.  which is good for Ahearne, but not so great for me.   

but then i found CETMAracks...a little less fancy and a lot less expensive than Ahearne's custom racks, these racks are classy in their simplicity.  and according to their website, the 7 rail is big enough and sturdy enough to carry a sack of concrete.  for reals?  i'm in. 

i'm coveting the 7 rail with the removable fence.  and it's actually kind of a plus for me that the it's not quite as fancy as the half rack.  honestly, i'm intimidated by too much fancy.  i'm more into straightforward functionality.  plus, i don't want my bike to outshine me, you know?   

CETMAracks is a one man operation and his business has grown so much recently that he's been able to quit his day job and devote himself full-time to making bike racks.  so i'm thinking i better place my order before he announces he's got a waiting list...

(photos from www.ahearnecycles.com and www.cetmaracks.com) 

i won something. and it doesn't suck!

i never win anything.  ok, no that's not true.  one time when i was a kid there was this radio contest.  and i called in and i was the 30th (or 23rd or 15th or whatever) caller and i won a teddy bear.  i was so excited!  i had my mom drive me all the way to santa rosa to pick up this awesome teddy bear from the radio station.  and it turns out it was like three inches tall.  like a keychain without the usefulness.  like...a beanie baby.  it was kinda the lamest. 

and there was that time in fresno where i kept winning on every scratcher i bought.  but to say that that did not end well would be an extremely charitable understatement ...so that hardly counts. 

but recently i signed up for mixed plate's newsletter.  i don't think i even knew it at the time, but when you sign up for their newsletter, you're automatically entered to win a bunch of handmade goodness.  and shockingly, i won.  and when the package arrived, i was pleased to find that it was not full of lameness.  in fact, it was all pretty cool stuff.   

my favorite was this sterling silver necklace with kyanite beads from jennifer casady.  the picture above doesn't do it justice...so i swiped this picture from her online store...

it's so cool because this is not the kind of thing i'd buy for myself.  it's so delicate and subtle and i'm such a lumberjack...but i love it.  and plus, my friend who knows all about gemstone healing powers says that kyanite is good for anger and anxiety and stuff because it is purifying and it doesn't absorb negative energy.  or something.  for reals. 

in closing, i'd like to thank mixed plate and jennifer casady for purifying my negative energy and for restoring my faith in the awesomeness of winning stuff.

take the pledge!

i've officially committed to a handmade holiday.  full disclosure:  it's easy for me to commit because i barely do anything for the holidays.  seriously, i'm the grinchiest...you're lucky if you get a card.  i like giving gifts randomly...but when i'm supposed to give gifts, i go all deer in the headlights under the pressure.   

but even if i weren't a total holiday avoider, it would be easy to find handmade gifts for everyone on my hypothetical list using the ever-so-handy modish holiday gift guide.  Or I could just shop around etsy and revisit some of my favorite shops.

ok, but what if your nephew really, really, really wants that gameboxwii360cube thing...and this just won't cut it?  even if you can't make the pledge and go 100% handmade, you can still take care of a lot of your shopping with etsy or modishoppe or any other purveyor of fine handmade goods.  because, pledge or no pledge, handmade gifts rule.

p.s if anyone can tell me how to make my pledge/link button work, please let me know!  i have a real bad case of tech-related incompetence today. 

organic fashion, now available with actual fashion!

i'm all about organic food but i've never really thought much about organic clothes.  i'm not sure why...maybe because the only organic clothes i remember having seen in the past were on the backs of short, hairy guys with names like "gust of wind" and "sacred bliss" who would scold you for making swears because, "every word is a manifestation of the OM" (and i guess when you make a swear it's like you're twisting the OM into an bad, bad, pointy, bad shape?) and who (honest to god) would pack their own special dishes with them wherever they went so they wouldn't have to eat food from a dish that had ever held impure food (thereby rendering the dish forever unclean on an energetic, vibrational level).   

but no more!  now you can look awesome while being a peaceful steward of the earth.  check out anna cohen's sustainable, globally responsible and cutting edge designs (see the foxy pleated short and turtleneck combo above).

and del forte denim makes fashionable jeans while remaining dedicated to sutainability...made in the u.s.a. with 100% organic cotton.  del forte is also partnered with The Sustainable Cotton Project (dedicated to "making sustainable and organic cotton a viable agricultural and economic alternative").  Check out the high waisted, wide leg willow (pictured to the right) and the skinny, high-rise Ivy.  Yes, these jeans are a bit spendy, but look at it this way...you could buy three pairs of crummy, gonna kill the earth and then fall apart in two seconds jeans...or you could get these.

for more earth-friendly shopping resources and links, check out green with glamour and the green loop. 

look good, do good.

laurel wells creates elegant, comfortable, unique and ultra flattering blouses and dresses...and they're hella sturdy!  i am a clothes destroyer.  i snag, rip, spill and stain. and i can't follow washing instructions to save my life.  i try.  it's just like i go into some kind of laundry blackout or something.  but i've had my joanna blouse for over a year now and it looks and feels just as good as the day i bought it.  which is strange and awesome.   

and now laurel is donating 2% of ALL her sales to the Polaris Project, an international organization combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery. 

i love it when the ethical choice isn't all lumpy and dirt-flavored!

not so boring sidney

i had a very interesting sense of fashion as a child.  the bulk of my wardrobe consisted of things i found in the church attic and the clothes my sister left behind when she went away to boarding school. but my most prized possession was the collection of vintage hats given to me by my great grandmother: a purple velvet pillbox hat with a veil, a satin hat with fur trim, a brown wool cloche, assymetrical oddities that were nearly impossible to wear...but they were so gorgeous! 

i loved those hats.  i loved them so much that i would wear them to school (paired with a green batik wrap-around dress and a boxy black and white paisley blazer or something else equally awesome) which (along with my dubious relationship with the school janitor) quickly sealed my fate as a grade school outcast.   

so when i stumbled upon BoringSidney, i was immediately reminded of my great grandmother's hats.  i honestly don't know what happened to them.  sadly, i probably threw them out during one of my "episodes".  oh, that reminds me!  the other night, i got so frustrated i took off my shoes - my favorite shoes! and threw them as far as i could.  who does that?   if anyone has any insight into this compulsive throwing behaviour, lay it on me...please.

anyway, due to my mysterious throwing problem, i no longer have any awesome hats.  of course i haven't rocked a hat (or a boxy paisley blazer) in quite some time...i've become a lazy jeans and t-shirts gal.  but and i can't stop coveting the magical millinery of BoringSidney.  and i don't know how much longer i'll be able to resist this amazing grey cloche.  i'm pretty sure i could rock it...like with an pencil skirt and a tailored jacket?  all lady-like and stuff?  of course, i'll have to stop chucking shoes around if i really want to pull off the lady look.  but i say, accessories first, self improvement later.

today's wishlist

here, for no good reason and in no particular order, is a list of seven things i'd like to own right now:

1) Golden Apples of the Sun - twenty current underground folk songs compiled by Devendra Banhart...includes songs by Vetiver, Joanna Newsom, Six Organs of Admittance, Scout Niblett, CocoRosie and more.  listen to tracks here and buy it here. 

2) She-Bible's Classic Dress in cordon bleu.  OK.  this is just excessive...i mean, i already own this dress in black and green.  but it's the most comfortable, most flattering dress i've ever worn.  plus, She-Bible is a small, local, sweatshop-free business so their clothes aren't made out of the tears of orphans. 

3) Apollon Elephant wood panels.  just my favorite painting surface ever.

4) An iron.  any old iron.  turns out they are handy for sewing.  who knew?

5) The Dirt Devil KONE...i'm sure there is something evil about this thing.  it's probably made out of puppies and sadness.  but i live in a one room studio with no cupboards or closets so everything i own is on display.  and i need a vacuum cleaner to clean up the the bits of string, glitter, sawdust and resin dust liberally sprinkled on every surface in my home.  i'm sorry. 

6)  This Wool Felt Burst Necklace by Conn Brattain in pink and yellow.  Lovely.  And finally... 

7) Mod Cloth's Tassel Scarf.  Because, you know, Fall is coming.   Again.  With the crappy, crappy , freezy-cold wind. 

but, you know, gettin' stuff is just one little part of being alive.  i also like riding bikes, drinking tea and doing laundry.   

cool wallets & social awesomeness

tinymeat (henceforth referred to as t.m. on accounta i'm a little afraid of the words tiny and meat being so close together) makes clever, pretty, unique and durable passport cases, ipod cases and wallets.  i've been carrying mine for nearly a year and (even after a brutal chihuahua attack) it's still holding up nicely. 

and people are always all, "oh that wallet is so cool! where did you get that cool wallet!?!"  and i'm like, "um, from this place that i...(cough)...mumble, mumble and i'm thanks...(whistle)...(puff)... excuse me...i...thank you... " 

because i am socially awesome.   and sometimes words...don't come out easy...from the mouth...for me.  so this should make up for all my mumbles and helpless whistles and puffs...

hey, thanks for asking!  i got my cool wallet from t.m.! check out their etsy store...oh and, hey, interesting sidenote, they even have some wallets designed by me.  just, you know, by the way.  and stuff. 
 

oakland has issues

next time you are on piedmont ave. in oakland, be sure to stop by Issues and check out their awesomely diverse selection of magazines, everything from mainstream news and fashion to way cooler and more obscure than i can fully understand or explain... 

but don't be intimidated!  there isn't even half a whiff of cooler-than-thou snootiness about the place.  The folks who run Issues are super nice and welcoming.  i mean, i stop by at least three times a week and touch everything in the store and they don't seem to mind at all.  and they are just as friendly to me when i'm buying a Lucky magazine (the shame!) as they are when i'm picking up the latest issue of Swee(t)Art and a CD of the sound of icebergs (for reals...honest to god ice sounds, all crackledy and covered in penguins).   the point is,  i love me some issues.

in addition to magazines and CDs, they also carry new and used books, vinyl, t-shirts, buttons, newspapers, local zines and DVDs.  and magical good times.  you really should go there at once. 

Issues is located at 20 glen avenue (@ piedmont), oakland ca 94611
510-652-5700
open daily from 8 am to 8 pm

www.issuesshop.com

(photo credit to www.issuesshop.com)