Clair de Lune

There's a total eclipse of the solstice moon overnight. The last time this happened, it was 1638. Wow. I could make much of this but I'll spare one & all. This very pretty Isabel Marant boutique window in Paris by Fan & Gab. (To be fair, I saw it on this Dreaming in White Pinterest board. But just like FB, it is having some sort of mini-breakdown today.)

Sweetness & Light

Many new bloggers have asked where/how to collect images if they don't have huge piles of magazines & books, etc. If you look at the beginnings of both blogs, you will see that I didn't know much. (OK, anything. It still looks clueless but lacking tech funds does not help.) The following is in no way all-inclusive. So many people I link to here & on Giulia Geranium (& on the back of blogger profile) are excellent resources.

Canadian illustrator Lori Langille's automatism blog is an excellent place to be inspired but also to see attribution etiquette in best practice mode. I turned to Lori in December 2008, a few months into Giulia Geranium, for permission to use a personal vintage Marie Claire Maison scan. Lori is also the brains & talent behind the Benevolent Postcard Society, of which I am a proud if not very imaginative member.

Sweetness and Light is a relatively new label on automatism. Lori kindly linked to bricolage a few weeks back. She did so through Pinterest (via Facebook). Before the usual outpouring of Facebook-hate, listen up. I'm not that active on Facebook & you don't need to be. Remember that about any social network. No one said you have to update constantly. In fact, unless you are hilarious (& it's not just your mother who thinks so), I beg you not to. Still, it's your right to do as you wish & I'll adjust my settings accordingly. I'm sure the few who follow me on Twitter are dismayed by my bummer re-tweets. C'est la guerre.

Tina Tarnoff's Thought Patterns is wonderful, just as you'd imagine any artist of her talent would be. Visit often. You'll see such a variety of images & Tina's thoughts about them, where she found them, etc. She's always helpful & generous.

Sarai of Colette Patterns posted a very clear & helpful tools on the web for cataloging. It's now my go-to link to send to folks asking for advice.

I just realized as I was to hit 'publish' that there's an important category of photography/images that I use. That has to do with humanitarian, animal welfare, & other goody-two shoes stuff of which I am rightly accused. That will have to be another post because it's more complicated (of course it is, sigh, why wouldn't it be?) But if you need something right now go to IRIN (humanitarian news & analysis via UN) & register for fair-use photographs.

(Photograph is by windswept ribbons via audrey hepburn complex)

The Wind Blows

You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows...Subterranean Homesick Blues

It nearly blew me right off my feet. The wind is howling, though it could be the shrieks of villagers with pitchforks & torches.

Good night!

[Photograph via bohemea ]

The other side of the blue wall

So why can't she have the balloons? Pretty colors, though.(photo credit)

Multicolored balloons in a green sky

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I wish someone would leave a case of Harp & a bottle of Jameson on the front stairs. Seriously. Considering I was a founding member of the James Joyce Society in DC, one of three responsible for running the first Ulysses marathon reading in the U.S. at American University in 1984, & on & on...one would think I'd have more to say. Quote Yeats, at least, if not Joyce. Anecdotes about friends at the Abbey? My collection of Irish children's books (that are anything but sentimental, of course)? Nope. Not feeling it tonight (as this is 16 March). Perhaps later. xo. (photo credit)

Pieces of another puzzle

More pieces. Blue balloon (though not blue enough, it'll do for now), figs. Typewriters, done; Vespa, oranges, South of France, to come. (photo credits) Still having computer problems. Will set things to post through the weekend. Wish me luck. Ciao, S.

Don't get carried away!

Greetings & baci from Washington, DC, where I'm worried about my carefully-protected red balloon of cautious optimism. (Is that nuanced enough?) About everything. From Congo & Darfur to the newly-homeless on my block. (photographs from Pure Wonder series by Ellen von Unwerth, via scan of precious Vogue Italia, Giugno 2007) ciao, amici.

Week's End - The Weight of the World

Hope it's as light as a balloon for at least part of the weekend. (scan from Pure Wonder series, Ellen von Unwerth, Vogue Italia, Giugno 2007)

A café, a balloon, a celebration continues

...xoxo from Washington, DC
(scans from Vogue Italia, Giugno 2007, photographer Ellen von Unwerth, Pure Wonder)