Getup and Go: Comic Book Costume Look

Rita Rainbow Necklace

Tee: JCPenney

Skirt: Ellen Tracy, JCPenney

Shoes: Payless

Bag: Nordstrom

Jacket: Gap outlet

Sunglasses: Brigantine beach shop

 Ribbon Rose Rainbow Necklace

Tunic: Bongo, Sears

Tee: Merona, Target

Skirt: Bongo, Sears

Shoes: a.n.a., JCPenney

Bag: Nahui Ollin

Sunglasses: Relic, Kohl's

Wonder Bread Woman Bow Barrette

Tee: JCPenney

Skirt: Decree, JCPenney

Shoes: Not Rated, Journeys

Bag: Nine West, Marshalls

Sunglasses: So, Kohl's

Marvel looks marvy for fifty.  Yep, that's half a century, or, time being money, one Ulysses S. Grant.  For, it was back in 1966 that the comic book giant launched "The Marvel Super Heroes" cartoon, a fun fact that I learned while checking out Kohl's limited edition line of Captain America-themed  clothing, even if I wasn't intrigued enough to take anything home.  No, no demure shield prints, sedate insignia, or Peter Pan collars for me, such style (under)statements being better left to the likes of DC's much-martyred Aquaman.  It was good old graphic novel-ty tees from J. C. Penney's or nothing.  Well, those and the banana-print tunic in outfit number two.  Because even superheroes need their potassium.  

Now, I'm no comic book queen.  But I've always been drawn to Marvel movies because they're about characters facing, not only external antagonists, but the challenge of their own inner demons, making them vulnerable and universally human.  I guess it's this appeal that keeps the remakes coming . . . and the Avengers avenging.  Since 2003, there have been three Bruce Banners: Eric Bana, Ed Norton, Mark Ruffalo . . . and, just because it's so dang funny, Lou Ferrigno as his un-Hulk (but equally angry) self in I Love You, Man.  That said, my Spidey senses suggested that Spider-Man was not an Avenger  -- misinformation exposed by a Google search confirming that he became one in May's Captain America: Civil War.  So much for depending on the intuitive powers of an arachnid.  His spirit animal's shortcomings aside, Spider-Man remains my favorite (un)caped crusader -- something that Debbie (Leslie Mann) of Knocked Up and I have in common.  (Sort of.)  Remember when she picks a fight with Pete (Paul Rudd) about spending too much time away from home, and he says that he went to the movies to see Spider-Man and that she wouldn't have liked it, and she wails, "I like Spider-Man!"?  In that vein, Rudd, in addition to being in I Love You, Man, is also -- oh, the connections -- the title character in Marvel's Ant-Man.  Although not exactly tee shirt-worthy, his Scott Lang is, as an ice cream scooping-work-release-program-minimum-wager, on the receiving end of one of comic book films' funniest one liners, namely: "Baskin Robbins always finds out."

So, it was with a hulkin' dose of Norse force that I set out, in my small way, to pay tribute, fighting my own design demons (and not a few rolls of wire gone wild) to make some stuff worthy of the superhuman (i.e. forever young) aesthetic.  Which is to say as bright and plastic and timeless as a mint-in-box action figure.  The Marvel look is striking yet simple, with its crayon box colors and clean cartoon graphics and flair for making everything from denim to dresses seem modern.  No tee (or DVD) collection is complete without it.      

On an unrelated note, I finally finished wearing all of my spring and summer clothes.  It took me six months, but I wore that wardrobe like never before in a Lollapalooza of layers and pattern-mixing abandon.  Which means that I'm now down to the tedious business of washing it all and somehow stuffing it, clown-car-style, back into my closet.

I guess that's my super power.

Movie Moment: This is 40

This isn't forty, but a random Brigantine sunset that I've decided to use in lieu of a movie poster because, as a reformed blogger, I no longer post purloined pictures.  (That having been said, I'm still not a reformed moviegoer, having smuggled Christmas-gifted chocolate-covered potato chips into the theater last night.)  Besides being beautiful, this sunset has that contemplative aura that accompanies all such photographs of natural phenomena.  Which makes it the perfect entree to a post about movie musing.

Judd Apatow's self-proclaimed "sort of sequel" to Knocked Up, This is 40 is the story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), the always-caustic but once upwardly mobile couple with whom we first became acquainted in the background of Ben and Alison's baby drama.  A far cry from the affluent family that once sheltered Alison in its guest house, the troubled twosome and their two daughters weather financial problems complicated by relationship problems complicated by parent problems complicated by parenting problems complicated by the problems that come with the big 40.  The results are often more cutting than comic, straddling the murky middle ground between Apatow's raucous Knocked Up and his bleak Funny People. Even so, This is 40 emerges as the more satisfying and multi-faceted movie.

Debbie runs a clothing boutique from which she suspects her employees are stealing, and Pete has left the safe world of Sony to start his own (struggling) retro rock label.  But unlike the authors of idealistic destinies that run rampant in other kinds of movies, Pete and Debbie pay the price for their entrepreneurial existence and are so maxed out that they're in danger of losing their house.  It is this conflict, as well as finding time to be a couple in addition to parents, that is at the heart of this dark comedy, not the lure of infidelity, as in similarly genred but far less trenchant flicks such as The Change-Up and Hall Pass.          

As a thirty-year-old, not-quite-yet-married woman without kids, I won't pretend to be on intimate terms with Debbie's issues.  But I can say that they seemed real and disturbing and that despite my discomfort in witnessing them, I appreciated being exposed to a love story that was not sugar-coated.  Unlike your garden variety romantic comedy, This is 40 is about all the stuff that happens - and keeps happening - after the dust clears from the fairy tale wedding.  

Now that I've gotten all the serious stuff out of the way, I'd like to give a shout-out to Paul Rudd's hair.  It looks better than ever, even if his dad (a reprehensible mooch played by Albert Brooks) tells him to cut it.      

Make and Tell Challenge: Day 42

I spent the first half of my day off sleeping and working on the computer. Then I got down to business and painted the first coat on my next large summer-themed tote, Cool Treats. I really enjoyed painting this. Although I have fun making jewelry and working on other projects, I'm the most at home when painting. In this tote, I love the fun, graphic feel of the oversized twin pop, lollipop, and ice cream cone against the hot pink background. It makes me think of the boardwalk and birthday parties and summer camp (although the only good thing about that last one was the twin pops themselves, which were distributed at the end of each day while we kids waited for our parents.) Once finished, I made and ate dinner and re-watched bits and pieces of Knocked Up before embarking upon two necklaces. The Music Magic Necklace features instrument charms intended to be used as dollhouse miniatures. The double-stranded style adds chunk while the black and colored plastic beads provide a nice contrast for the gold-tone instruments. The Purple Princess necklace is another story. I don't know what got into me with this one. I started ripping apart old store-bought necklaces, which yielded the gold plastic beads, gold nugget beads, and two crocheted charms, and attaching pieces (namely the plastic purple ovals and paua shell pendant) with wire. I actually looped the wire making up the necklace around the insides of the ovals, then continued stringing the other beads. It's a little crazy, but I figured I'd just let the process unravel. The result is eclectic and arty, a weird mix of old and modern pieces. But it has a certain appeal. I may buy some ultra thin plum-colored ribbon to more soundly secure the ovals and add decorative interest. After that, I think I'll list it and see what happens.