stories from icemerica

I'm sorry

2009-11-04T13:05:00.001-05:00

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I'll be back.

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(p.s. my twitter account is sucking up all my internet energies; http://twitter.com/juliaher )

achey

2009-06-21T21:49:00.006-04:00

I've had a headache for 3 days.

Maybe it's because I look at the computer too much.

Maybe it's because I look at the computer too much without ever "getting things done on the internet".

Last night Holly and I sat down and updated our band's Myspace page together for a while. That was fun. Surfing the internet as a partner activity.

Put up this "controversial" photo:

and some more photos. and a new song. and a flier for our next show.

And a link to a video of us performing part of the first and only song I ever wrote all by my lonesome, Batman. Recorded by the lovely Valeria Picerno.

I think today is supposed to be the official american first day of summer. A lot of people have been blogging their summer goals so I think I am going to copy them and do that;

This summer I would like to:
-chill out
-figure out dishes to cook with all the odd ingredients that have accumulated in my cupboards
-organize my belongings
-figure out how to enjoy drawing again
-think of some ideas for a senior thesis
-write more
-take more pictures
-get my keyboard fixed and organize the files on my hard drives.

good luck me.

ÖPPDEIT

2009-05-06T13:15:00.005-04:00

I sat in the school computer lab from around 11 PM to 4.30 AM going through my semi-disorganized archive of film photographs that survived my hard-drive crash and picking out pretty much every picture I ever liked to put up in the "work" section on my website. I grouped them in a way that I thought semi-fit.

This one didn't make the cut:

because there is no group for pictures that are trying to be postcards.

There is a group of nice things, things that make me feel uneasy, nature things, city things, vertical portraits, pictures which strongly remind me of feeling certain feelings and pictures that make me think of the colors white, green and pink.

I don't know.

I did this because I thought I was supposed to have a proper looking, functioning website for my web-design class today. Now I am in class and think I might have been mistaken, as in I am not being asked to be ready for anything right now.

Oh well.

Oh! My work got chosen for the Tribute part of the American Illustration Annual. I am still not sure exactly what this means but it sounds somewhat fancy. This is what got me "fame", it's the first spread of my mini-comic Bearkiller and also words from a dream I had:

I am just writing some words. I feel boring. I guess I'll show you more pictures. Holly and I had a fancy photo shoot for Feather & Folly. I think it was because an Australian woman is writing an article about Brooklyn girl-bands. I never lived in Brooklyn but I've played there a lot so I guess that counts. Here's one picture:

There are more on our myspace page.

Have a nice day and night.

FROM THE ABYSS

2009-04-22T14:25:00.007-04:00

I'm not sure which abyss I'm talking about but I just like to make things sound dramatic. The abyss of neglect maybe.

So I have been doing a lot of things that mostly don't include the computer; I still have an empty hard drive.

I took Alex Fitzgerald to Iceland for 10 days over spring break, this picture pretty much sums up the trip:

I´ve been playing with Feather & Folly a lot and we have a considerable amount of upcoming shows. The amount became more considerable when Holly almost cut off her left thumb on Monday, so expect more singing and less guitar playing for the first couple of dates. A list of dates and locations can be seen here.

My big sis was visiting for a week which was nice and lovely. When I haven't been paying visits or receiving visits or playing music I've just been doing my schoolwork like a responsible person, getting drunk like an irresponsible person (only after I've done my schoolwork so not too irresponsible), making friends and trying to be good and happy.

And saying "you know I really should update my blog more frequently" frequently.

Reading books. Watching movies. I've been halfassedly using twitter as a place to write down the movies I watch and some other words that would be inappropriate elsewhere. I'm still not sure what I think about twitter. I think: blah.

Okay. What prompted me to write this post: I'm slowly but surely putting my homepage together. I now have an "about me" section (with an F.A.Q!) and a "links" section (and a blog, obvs.)

I wanted to ask you: Do you have a homepage that I am forgetting / you think I should link to? Or a blog that's missing from my blog-friend-links.

Also: If you have a link to me on your homepage/blog feel free to update it to go to http://juliahermanns.com/ rather than straight to this blog. Just a suggestion.

Alright! funner post next time. thanks bye.

UNDR CNSTRCTN

2009-03-11T15:13:00.001-04:00

I'm in the process of editing the template of this blog to fit it into my website that I'm in the process of creating (don't worry, it will have to be done before spring since it's a class requirement).

stay tuned.

MUMMIES

2009-03-10T22:44:00.003-04:00

Baby demon mummy at Rakanji Temple

Shinnyokai-Shonin “living mummy” at Dainichibo Temple

Monster Mummies of Japan via Pink Tentacle

Speaking of mummies; my hard drive crashed recently -> I lost all of my music (there was quite a lot of it). I felt it was logical to look around for files in my Gmail account, since various people have sent me various songs that way over the years.

The disadvantage is: this made me re-read old e-mails which would've been better kept forgotten... in the context of what happened since such messages mostly make me think thoughts like "aww, fuck." or "fuck you you misleading coward" or "I should have gotten back to this person 3 years ago I suck."

speaking of music: there is a new song up on the Feather and Folly Myspace page. It is called Holiday and we recorded it last Sunday in a public ladies' bathroom at school in the dark. Some of the lyrics are by Richard Brautigan, I think they are my favorite lyrics.

We recorded music all day. Good people recorded it for us. I am excited to hear it when it is ready. I hope you are too.

this blog's keyword analysis says more about me than this blog does

2009-03-09T01:25:00.005-04:00

-winter makes me feel like shit
-i don't know what to say anymore
-black metal
-obama singing whatever you like
-why is there nothing interesting happening in my life?
-why did fred sandback's work make me cry
-poem "lonely pilot"

Loved by the unhappy.

Feather & Folly have been doing some recording. I just pimped our myspace with some Dolomite mountains. There there are now 2 songs the myspace playlist featuring me: Cold Spring & Crazy Baby. Every time I communicate the latter name I find myself thinking about Britney Spears (a blessing and a curse), however the song is actually about On the Road by Kerouac (Holly wrote it). It is only one out of a selection we have about Kerouac. The improved myspace also includes a video recording of us performing "I got over Kerouac" (a Jonathan Byerley cover). Anyway. I'm the one with the messed up voice (Holly is the one with the pretty, angelic nice voice) and the tambourine / snare drum / whatever they allow me to beat on.

Here´s a couple of pictures from practice:

...and here is one from a practice with my other band, severed goat head of death in the skull river of frozen morbid doom blood

Ptarmigan / Grouse

2009-02-27T17:48:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I didn't post this earlier. I completely forgot. But I forget many interesting things.

Here's a video I shot of my mother while she was preparing the birds for our Christmas dinner. I find it quite fascinating. My mother is a real game-skinning, bone-breaking woman.

My cat is also in the video. She is a real cat.

For those of you who don't speak Icelandic: mama and I are just sort of chit-chatting, although she does say how her mother taught her to skin the birds via telephone.

Walter Potter, Taxidermist

2009-02-22T12:36:00.004-05:00

Freak kittens:

Rats:

Rabbit school:

Potter's Wikipedia page

cushion

2009-02-20T13:05:00.004-05:00

My mama embroidered me this cushion and gave me it for christmas. It's 9 squares by 9 squares and she made it up as she went rather than using a pattern.

It's a prized possession.

Maybe my mother and Ellsworth Kelly are related in another dimension. She wasn't consciously aware of his existence when I asked.

how I roll

2009-02-19T13:51:00.005-05:00

Here's a tribal shaman magic swimming pool dance that you should probably look at.

It inspired me to write "a poem".

When I Grow Up

When I grow up
I want to be a maniac
a maniac
on the dance floor.

---

I was walking on 6th avenue the other day when I saw this magazine cover in a window:

I know the words are a little hard to make out, but I'll transcribe for you:

"ZOMG ICELAND YOU CAN DO IT!"

"preserve your genes! you guys are all, like, so hot! zomg!"

"use your hotness to make people like you!"

"make music! you guys are like totally good at that! making music is so cute! people like music! people like cuteness!"

"there's nothing wrong with just fishing and knitting you guys! that is like so totally cute also!"

I wasn't sure whether to be offended or entertained. But what can I say. I'm pretty cute, I have two of those sweaters and I make music.

speaking of. feather and folly are playing a show tonight.

I am trying to not fail at life. I mostly want to go home. And look at the wall. And look at the television. And eat food all the time. And not communicate. And be completely useless.

But I don't know what will happen.

I want to write about things on this blog all the time, fun things maybe, but then I think "no you are failing at life you don't have time to blog".

That's how I roll.

THIS JUST IN

2009-02-07T22:11:00.003-05:00

My American flag outfit in action [CLICK TO ENLARGE]:

(Photo by Yelena Avanesova)

My life is just one big celebration of the inauguration of Barack Obama.

That flag behind us is made out of real snakeskin by the way.

A sophisticated conversation about Fred Sandback (edited for readability)

2009-02-07T19:25:00.004-05:00

alxfitzgerald
did they say how they do it?
that is the mySterI
although it'd probably be really easy to figure out how to do it

Júlía
mysterl?
oh
mysteri
haha

alxfitzgerald
hahahah

Júlía
I was like "is that some special kind of string"

alxfitzgerald
it's just acrylic yarn

Júlía
no I'm referring to mySterl

alxfitzgerald
oh hahahaha
YES
like Yves Klein had his own blue
Fred Sandback had mySterI

Júlía
yes
did you send me this? "why does Fred Sandback's work make me cry"

alxfitzgerald
I think I did a few months ago
he made me feel really satisfied

Júlía
sexually

alxfitzgerald
he was actually kind of sexy

Júlía
haha
no I really liked it a lot
there is definitely a kind of feeling it evoked
like "yes."
I am really mature in my emotions and vocabulary, I know.

glory.

2009-01-28T23:20:00.001-05:00

Here's a great image made by digitally assembling 220 different images from the inauguration. You can use the buttons in the top left corner to zoom in and see every little detail.

In case you hate links/ are too lazy to zoom/ want to see where I sat, I'll break it down for you:

Here's the big picture of everything except for those other 74586 miles of people in a crowd:

Here you can see where we sat in relation to The Man (click to enlarge):

Here you can see where we sat in relation to the doorway where all the fancy people entered (click to enlarge):

And here you can see us (Charlie's sisters, Charlie, Me (I was not sleeping, merely reflecting on the moment)):

Impressed? I know.

p.s.

2009-01-25T22:29:00.003-05:00

alxfitzgerald:
I need to stop listening to Taylor Swift

Júlía:
I need to stop listening to TI

alxfitzgerald:
no
no you don't

Júlía:
I LOVE TI

alxfitzgerald:
I LOVE TS

Júlía:
WE LOVE TITS

OBAMA DOES WHATEVER HE LIKES

2009-01-25T18:25:00.006-05:00

So Obama heard about how diligently I've been promoting him on this blog despite not being an American citizen and gave me a platinum ticket to the inauguration.

joke.

My good friend Charlie (who did actual legit work for the Obama campaign) knows a good man who is on the JCCIC and this good man gave Charlie and I platinum platform tickets to the inauguration.

I am trying so hard to begin to describe what this meant and what went on but I need a little more time to think. I am still processing this. Charlie took pictures. I have yet to see them. I will show and tell when I do, I promise.

If you click on Charlie's name above you can see a picture on his blog that gives an idea of where we were sitting. Charlie can be seen in the picture but not me, despite the fact that I was next to him. Clearly the photographer is not comfortable with having Icelandic people in his inauguration shots and cropped accordingly.

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What I can tell you right now is that last night Holly and I played at a inauguration celebration slash fundraiser show for the underground runway (= a group of people from Parsons and Lang who have good parties and shows at their large apartment in Brooklyn).

I dressed up like an American flag.

(note the stars on the necklace)

Nobody else was dressed up. It was minimally embarrassing. I learned the American national anthem, 4 days too late. I tried so hard to look like I was singing it at the inauguration because I had been told that I was occasionally visible on television during the event and was extremely nervous that I would be on camera only for the public to see that I was the only person not singing the anthem.

Anyway. Nice girl Kaela Noel recorded some of mine and Holly's live singing and posted on her blog. Mine is the voice that goes higher in the harmonies in the first video and in the second I only sing "OBAMAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA OBAMAAAAAA..." etc. Note that the Obama song was a spur of the moment, partially improvised version of our song "Oh Mama". It was the last song of the evening and my voice was shot. But it was a very good time. Note that I really like it when Cuddles Kovinsky cover T.I.'s you can do whatever you like and everyone dances, as can be (barely) seen in Kaela's 3rd video.

the blogger

2009-01-14T19:41:00.005-05:00

It's only a matter of time until someone makes a serial-killer film where the killer leaves his or her clues in the form of blog posts. They can title it simply The Blogger.

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I just watched this short documentary on Daniel Clowes. He is perhaps my all time favorite picture-story-maker. The short is by artist Dick Tuinder. He's a little heavy on the slow-mo page flipping, but overall I enjoyed this.

GUESS WHAT

2009-01-14T00:35:00.001-05:00

feelbad video of the day

2009-01-09T09:27:00.005-05:00

There is a considerable amount of people in this world who say things like "I don't want to watch a depressing movie right now. I'm kind of down so lets watch something that will cheer me up, a "feelgood" movie."

I am not one of these people. Quite the opposite actually. If I'm feeling depressed the only thing that will make me feel slightly better is if I can assure myself that everyone else in the world is equally, if not more depressed than I am. Films, books, music; I love sad people.

Now I am not a big time quoter of other blogs, but I saw this Sophia Coppola for Dior commercial pretty frequently on TV before I came to Iceland for winter break and every time I just wanted to punch blonde candyfloss girl:

And here's what Britt at fashionista.com had to say about this:

If you’re having a good day and there’s a trip to Paris with bicycles and macaroons in your near future, Sofia Coppola’s commercial will make you want to skip down the sidewalk.

But, if you’re having a bad day and the only thing you have to look forward to is next week’s Gossip Girl, this girl’s ridiculously perfect, ridiculously gorgeous life might put you over the edge.

Exactly. What's something I do excessively? Watch Gossip Girl. That's because there are never any macaroon filled romantic trips to Paris in my near future.

sequel

2009-01-08T12:41:00.003-05:00

(bunny = me / alex = alex)

this theory has never been put to the test, but if a certain president-elect getting inaugurated in 12 days is interested in making a comparison I don't mind.

joke.

yes all I ever do while in Iceland is talk about nothing with alex fitzgerald over the internet. In case you found yourself wondering. mutual beer time will enter our lives in approx. 10 days.

In other news: I just added a link to Saga Sig. on the sidebar on your right. She is a pretty Icelandic girl who shoots pretty photos. Take a look.

learn why a granola bar commercial made me cry once

2009-01-06T13:36:00.003-05:00

by reading this interview.

George W. Bush

2009-01-05T00:21:00.002-05:00

(from a current internet conversation between me and Alex Fitzgerald)

cyberhorserules: "Bush Was President Instead of You, Even When You Were Doing Your Girlfriend"
cyberhorserules: ...is the title of my upcoming book about the Bush presidency.

alxfitzgerald: hahaha
alxfitzgerald: YES

cyberhorserules: he will like it very much
cyberhorserules: the soon to be former president
cyberhorserules: he'll be like "that's right."

IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES

2009-01-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

think about them.

hairy priest in exile

2009-01-02T21:08:00.003-05:00

hi.

it's 2009. have you noticed also?

I did a pretty good job of finishing up my semester and getting good grades, all things considered. I also managed to play 2 shows with feather and folly and drink a lot of fancy beer.

here's a picture from the underwater-birthdayparty-midfinals-featherandfolly show:

it was a happy place. people lost their minds and danced and asked for an encore. not quietly.

I made a picture story book that I like. It's called bearkiller. It's sort of about the film grizzly man by Werner Herzog (a favorite), but not really. It's mostly just me being a jerk.

here's the cover and the last 2 spreads (out of 5)

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I'm pretty sure I didn't name him hairy priest. I swear. brother hairy priest. magnificent.

So now I've done Jólin (holiday of lights, heathens, etc.) and new years eve (holiday of blowing shit up and me always getting drunker than I intended to). My family is nice, my down-slippers are warm.

I look forward to coming back to new york and seeing friendly faces and walking around every day and drinking fancy beer in front of a bartender dressed as a monk sometimes. Maybe I can go to DC and visit charlie. maybe I can be a normal person. 2008 was a fucked up year. 2009 needs to not be. maybe i can have a job.

anyway, I'm also content here. I am content, listless, unsure and fine.

I don't know

I think we could all learn a thing or two from Amadeus the traveling dog.

When I was a little kid I was pretty damn sure that I would spend my life with three (brother) huskies. I was gonna name one Wolfgang, one Amadeus and one Mozart.

i want you.

a poem

2009-01-01T23:20:00.003-05:00

the name of this poem is:

"almost all the capitalized words of the 1600 word e-mail I just wrote for a million hours"

dedicated to t. hagström.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HEY I'M ICELANDIC WE DON'T EVEN HAVE AN ARMY WTF!
"I PROMISE I PROMISE"
SMALL.
GUESS WHAT:
NO THIS TASTES LIKE PLAGUE.
AND THIS FROM THE PERSON WHO KEPT TELLING ME TO NOT GET DRUNK.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE?
GERMAN.

AND BURP CASTLE.
REALLY GOOD.