Brutus Casa

This is kind of a part II about the package I recently got from my friend Fumio. Here's the first thing I saw when I opened it: an issue of Brutus Magazine.


I first heard about Brutus when they profiled Naked a little while ago. This issue seems to be a special one, centering around interior design. Maybe it's the Hiragana, but Japanese magazines seem to be laid out so much nicer than ours. This is one of my favorite pages:


Don't you just want to live there? I think it's a bakery. It reminds me of the bookstore in... I think it's Norwegian Wood... that the girl inherits from her family. The one where she cooks a big feast for the main character in the kitchen upstairs, and there is a fire somewhere in the distance. This page made me daydream for several minutes.

Speaking of Murakami (but a different one), here is the most endearing picture of Takashi Murakami I've ever seen, wearing a big ball of his own work, and a flower crown hat:


(are you in a good mood yet?)

This is the best part. The cover of this magazine was very big. It wasn't a page at all, actually: it was a page-sized, flat box attached to the front and serving as the cover. There was a little window cut out of the inside, revealing...



Sometimes the most delightful things come out of putting two completely different ideas together. In this case, a plate and a magazine. Would you ever have dreamed of opening a strangely-big magazine cover and having a little dish slide out?

Origami bookmarks

Back when I asked everyone what they used as a bookmark, my friend Shanna mentioned origami bookmarks that her husband knew how to make. Recently, she learned how to make them herself and sent me an envelope full of them!


I really admire Japanese craftsmanship and the incredibly varied patterns of paper that are used for origami. Aren't they beautiful?


Shanna was also generous enough to include some vintage photographs that she knew I had an interest for; including a tintype (which I had never heard of or seen prior to this – they have the coolest feel and sound when you clink them down onto a table)!


A million thanks go out to Shanna for these treasures. I would never have guessed that you had just learned how to make the bookmarks – they're perfect.

Thank you, Alex!

The beautiful Alex came back this week from a month-long sabbatical in France; she was working on her thesis at our Paris office. This is one of the things she brought back with her:


It says a bunch of things about the origin of my name, what my lucky number, day and perhaps flower are, etc. She said it's a ruler, but I think I'll use it as a book mark. I love this, because I have never been able to pick up any souvenirs with my name on them in places when all my friends did on class trips and things. Thank you, mon ami :)

Stay tuned, I found one of my old journals last night and there are a bunch of neat things in there from a couple years ago.

generosity.

A strange package arrived for me at Naked today. I wasn't expecting anything.



I inspected the label, and it seemed to be from Thailand. This was inside:



Beautiful, a hand-made candle! I opened the enclosed note:

Dear : Johanna
I hope you will like it, a hand-made candle.
On 13 Apr, It's Thai New Year.
Take it as a New Year gift from me.
Best wishes,
Oakie :)

GAH! I am floored and truly touched. I have been blogfriends with Oakie for quite a while now. He is applying to the Adcenter, and frankly I think they would be nuts if they didn't take him. I don't think I've ever met such an enthusiastic and friendly guy. He's like a sponge too - eager to learn about everything. A very thoughtful friend, as well. Thank you, Thanit :)