Giochi per gatti di casa

Giochi per gatti di casa (Games for house cats) by Rita Persichini was a gift from our friend Maria Caterina di Perugia. These are some of the darling original illustrations by Lorena Dominici in a little Picasa collage. (The second collage is here.) I've tried & tried to track these folks down for permission. Zip (so far).

The book is propped up on a bookshelf..not that many people notice; there's quite a mash-up on those shelves. The bookcases themselves compete for wall space. Julie was showing off a while ago when there was a knock on the door; now she's sleeping off the effort. Today, I'm having a mash-up of zee brain--but I wanted to get March started already (on this blog). Plus, Keats loved cats, so...it's all related, right? (It is reported that Keats rarely got into physical fights; but he had quite the dust-up with a butcher's son who was bullying a kitten. Julie swooned when she heard this anecdote.)

ciao

Cat Naps

Even dogs catnap. A friend sent me an email today full of gratuitously cute animals (domestic & wild & two children) catnapping. (It was titled, "Have You Ever Been This Tired?") I don't usually do this (posting without permission or Creative Commons) but I don't know the sources of the photos. If you know, please let me know. I saw one (not posted here) that I used on Giulia Geranium for a St. Francis Blessing of the Animals day last year.

Anyway, Julie is getting a sense that she is not allowed to lie on the keyboard of the new laptop...probably from my semi-shriek when she gets near it.

I'm having a fairly miserable, tiring few weeks. So here are some of the cute pix to cheer myself up. Maybe you, too.

xo

Happy Vintage Fourth of July from DC

After so many years in DC, I've a cache of personal & professional-photographers-who-are/were-uh-friends Fourth of July fireworks pix. Where are they? I do not know. (I'm in the midst of tearing up the apartment, shredding, tossing, cleaning, etc.) I hereby vow to find photographs for Christmas in the next few weeks so I won't be caught up short then, too.

Fortunately, Jessica at myvintagevogue has two great vintage shots. The photograph above is by Robert Kahan , Glamour magazine, 1942. Jessica included, as will I, the Condé Nast Store website link.

(The other one, here...it's spectacularly Graeco-Roman-goddess-as-American symbol. My ancient history & architecture professor would be in heaven. Sadly, he is in heaven for real. And he would've enjoyed that cheeky comment, so no booing, please.)

The little red shot is a pathetic one of mine excavated from the desk drawer, undated. The collage & other shot are by ohad* on flickr commons (from 2006). Don't know where or if I'll see any fireworks tonight. All is in flux. I do wish friends who live at 13th & U with a rooftop were in town this year. A great place to have a drink, kibbitz, ooh & ahh, & then three floors down to the apartment. Just like that. Yesterday out & about on the Mall at the Smithsonian's annual Folk Life Festival, fabulous as usual. A friend & I had a lot of fun & catching up to do but ...just thinking about getting back on the Red Line to the Mall--which is not far--lacks appeal. For a fireworks fanatic (me), that's saying something.

Signing off with a cheery, Sparklers Forever!

Weekend sort-out

(for later)

Delphinium blue

For later. Still working on dual-purpose project. The computer is now distressed about its memory. I'd like to say "it's not my problem, you should see my memory, so just deal with it"...but it is my problem & the idea that I would enter into an existential conversation with a computer is troubling--in so many ways. Additionally, the GG blog still resists 'comment enable' function. Will post images to publish through week, just in case. So if I don't answer comments, that's what's up. I might be able to access email (&/or Facebook page) if all else goes wrong. Thanks to The Clever Pup for her tag & I hope to get to it by tomorrow. So nice of her, really. ciao belle.

(image credits: flowers from Gertrud K's flickr sets; J.Binoche)

L'heure bleue, 3

For later. (Paris)

Pieces of a Puzzle

This is a quick collage I made for a 7 random things about me when The English Muse tagged the other blog. I need to move it over to this blog & that's what bricolage (the word, not me necessarily) is about...among other things. Pieces. Of. Stuff.

To anyone who writes to me on AOL & sees this post: my account was hacked about two hours ago (Tuesday, 10 March 2009). It's never happened to me before (at home) & I'm freaked out & very upset & terribly sorry for the inconvenience. A friend is putting an announcement on my Facebook page.

Back on to post some photos to run for the next two days & I hope I'm back later. Good night.

Blue typewriter

I love this & can't do anything with it right now as a big bunch of snow & high wind are making their unwelcome way to the DC-area. (A big bunch of snow would've have been most welcome in February; as it is March, I see no reason to be chipper about it now.)

The blue mosaic was made by Yvonne Stehle who graciously gave me permission to use it. (Coincidentally, she has an etsy shop, moline.) A thing with portable typewriters (I wish I still had mine) & a few paragraphs from a poet's journal have me obsessing about: Olivetti portable typewriters (mainly red, though), delphinium, a blue balloon, figs, oranges, & the Matisse chapel in the south of France. A Vespa, too, I think. All will become clear eventually. For now, if posts keep coming at 7am & seem to have absolutely nothing to do with anything else (that is, more than usual), then I'm in the midst of a power outage. ciao!