Street Shopping

I cannot take a man seriously if he does not own a real coat. This bothered me way before Mad Men was a twinkle in Matthew Weiner's eye. I'm tired of walking amongst 6' tall toddlers. If you are a Canadian lumberjack (I just looked at Googley-tube Analytics, eek), no offense. You shouldn't be reading this anyway. It's not (or shouldn't be) a class thing. My maternal grandfather was a steelworker & he always wore a coat & hat. If that makes me a cranky whining baby boomer, I do not care.

I've no idea if Paul Newman was left or right-handed but I notice that he's carrying a monogrammed leather portfolio (or notebook?). Here's an Etsy seller with excellent feedback who has a left-handed journal. I'm sure there are vegan alternatives but this isn't a shopping post. It's just a plea for some men (you know who you are) to smarten up. (I saw some wonderful coats at a secondhand thrift recently--no excuses.)

(Gordon Parks for LIFE)

Keep the Peace on Thanksgiving

...are you fighting yet? Wait a few hours...it's early. If someone is getting on your nerves, picking a fight, get outta there. I mean out of the house/apt. Even if it's your place. Take a walk & look for materials to make centerpieces, wreaths, swags, or little art installations. If you come up short on the flower-y/greenery/berry front head on to a market. Most of them have floral foam & wire if you want to make a more formal centerpiece arrangement. (Beg for a little bit of foam or wire, if that's what you really want. Of course, offer to pay.)

I saw some pretty Lady apples, Seckel pears, & teeny white pumpkins a few days ago for little money. Arrange on large platter or plate (runner/large placemat/tablecloth/pillowcase), tuck in sprigs of holly (or pine) the neighbor gave you, search your cupboards for a bag of whole nuts that are now, I assure you, stale. Arrange.

Personally, I like Emily Thompson's delicate wreaths & have made similar for years & endured teasing by unimaginative people with scads of cash. A dangerous combination. If all else fails, garland thyself. A crown implies power beyond words. Most people are not going to pick on someone wearing a crown (it would seem especially in America from all the breathless Royal Wedding Reports on the evening news). All of these ideas work for any holiday, in any country. But for fellow Americans & their guests, a special happy Thanksgiving from Julie the Cat & her obedient servant.

Here's the link to Design*Sponge labels Thanksgiving & flowers. (images via Design*Sponge)

Making an Exit

Every exit is an entrance somewhere else.--Tom Stoppard

Making an exit, planned or not, is almost always an option. Hold your head high while doing so. If you are pulled together with flattering lipstick & comfortable (but pretty!) shoes, it really helps. Armor thyself. Do not run away as if on fire. (Unless being chased by a lunatic. If you are on fire, believe me, you have other things to worry about. Remember: stop, drop, & roll.)

I've slunk through bookshop & library shelves, wound around corridors, exiting through a catering area more than once. Yes, I was on the ground. Once I crawled out of a club on my hands & knees through the kitchen. (I no longer do these things.) This is in response to a friend who told me that he cannot attend an event because of someone's possible appearance. But I've done the same, so I can't wag my finger at him. (I did not advise him to wear lipstick, no.)

(I'm turning off comments for this post only to relieve people from feeling imposed upon to make them.) OK, pressure's on. Just opened the comments.

(photograph via AMC of Joan/Christina Hendricks because she's putting on her armor here; plus, I can't see the finale of Mad Men until it downloads on iTunes tomorrow - mimph)

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)

A Dark & Stormy Night in Ferrara

and in Washington, DC. I'd hoped to have one of several posts ready with much more than this...but people have not answered their emails with permissions. Ferrara is a lovely Renaissance town though I don't profess much familiarity with it. I just read that it is a UNESCO heritage site. Very nice. With that, I better shut things down as the rain is now much, much more than background noise. Time to put the kettle on. Cheers. (Ferrara::1 by MisterKey via deviantArt)

Liberty London Girl

Update/Explanation: I drafted the post below on 1 November 2009. It's posting today with no editing (until a point in abstract future) for a few reasons. 1) Whatever happened on Mad Men last night has even non-Mad Men posters busy as bees. So I'd best download it from iTunes & watch. 2) I feel like hell. More about which later this week (because I'll know something then). 3) I arrived home from my lovely house/cat sitting gig on Saturday evening....to open windows & the a/c chugging away. By the date on the "we're finished rehabbing your bathroom"slip (no you are not & I've busted you to the property manager), this state of affairs went on for at least 4 days. No money coming in & everything going -- literally -- out the window is causing huge upset. 4) Sasha, author of Liberty London Girl, is in the midst of blog troll visitation & it pisses me off. (I should explain that LLG was anonymous at the time of this draft; she has since popped out of her shell & is doing very well indeed.)

The Laura Burlton photographs (via here) reminded me of a sister who was a ballerina-in-training. And the sorts of things we used to get up to in old tulle & netting, as thunderstorms approached from Canada, on Lake Erie. It felt so wild & free. Very unlike today.

27 August 2011 Update - Laura Burlton, excellent photographer, stopped by with her new website address.

*********************************

I enjoy this compilation of tidbits on fashion & life (not really in that order) by an English fashion editor living in America. I don't go looking for blogs often as so many of you have great links & recommendations; that's how I came upon this one--sorry but I don't remember where (perhaps, Wee Birdy). I instantly visited as Liberty of London patterns & fabric (& the main store in London) have been important touchstones to another era. One is wrapped around my neck quite often, my grandfather's WWII-era silk paisley scarf. More about which another time.

LLG's post Ex-pat Friends reeled me in again yesterday (Saturday). I can identify, though I'm not an ex-pat at the moment, I know what she means because I could easily be one of the Americans in her group. LLG's LinkedWithin widget popped up a post called Why I Never Lose Hope In America. I was intrigued & clicked on the video. Along with a strongly brewed coffee, it provided the oomph to get on with it another day.

As I watched the video, I thought of the young man who asked me to talk about the Human Rights Campaign & gay marriage last week. I was on my way to arrange my local Amnesty International group's gift-wrap-for-donation gigs at a local bookstore. I was feeling mighty crabby but I know what it's like to pitch one's cause (though I've not done so on a street corner in a zillion years*).

I thought about him, standing up there in the rain, when I watched this video. (And a younger cousin, who is gay & married--& I'm not putting that in quotation marks.)

Thanks, Liberty London Girl. (And for all your excellent tips, too.)

*At 15 (1/2) years-old, I was surrounded, swarmed really, by the meanest bunch of capitalist hyenas in Pittsburgh. They yelled & cursed as I handed out flyers for a Democratic candidate near the plaza of the then-U.S. Steel Building. Two of them were from my church & I thought they were rescuing me from the pitchfork-wielding villagers. Nope. They were incensed that a "nice girl " of their acquaintance was doing this (outrageous, um, Constitutionally-protected) deed. I busted them--to our seminarian, a friend. They were lectured by our minister & shamed into apologies. I think they only felt bad that they swore at a girl from their church. (This was also the minister's opinion & it upset him very much.) Though many steelworkers & other union guys came to my aid, it was a traumatic experience. It felt imminently violent. I can't claim it for sure, but my successful plans to escape to another country for an unspecified amount of time might have been sealed that day.

A Christmas Surprise

Sure hope my mother doesn't see this dreadful photo-from-slide (she didn't see it on GG's site last year). If ratted out by a sister or three, or many nieces, I promise that hideous Christmas-pix-of-past (of you) will appear soon. The uncharacteristically bizarre outfit & coiffure are what happens when moving house two or three days before Christmas (the tree is up, that's the important thing!). I never saw those plaid pants before or after. She was on the spot & is smiling like she's ready to go out for the evening. Dad looks goofy (he always looked goofy in photos; he was usually the photog). I've a fondness for the photo because the surprise was a new neighbor 's appearance as "Santa."

At the least, my mother made sure that her daughter's hair was quickly bow-tied. I think the lesson of the photo is being absolutely delighted when surprised by well-intentioned new neighbors when you have a little girl, one on the way, & have just moved hundreds of miles away from family two days before Christmas & are wearing the most dreadful plaid pants. Good manners.

Off to have my hair made fit (if not beribboned) for festivities.

The Diplomat

I've been in love with this cat, Alvar, for over a year. I've used several of animal rescue heroine Marianne Perdomo's photographs on Giulia Geranium & a few early this year on bricolage. Here, Alvar finds himself in a situation quite familiar-to-me. Oof. That's Humphrey on the left & Eli the dog on the right.

Sunday Snow

Some nice shots (like those mischievous eyes in the top shot) by Max Cook via DCist. Click here for more..& here for the continuing brouhaha about an edgy DC detective "brandishing" his gun during a highly-advertised "guerilla" snowball fight. Wow. Calm down. Everyone. Nearly went, to watch the hijinks. Glad I did not...I get nervous when people brandish their weapons (especially without stating why-the-heck..). Hey, but that's just me.

Have a good rest of the weekend (& Monday to the Aussies & Kiwis)...

Week's End - Presidential Peek-a-boo

"In 2008, half the people who watched the Fox News Channel were over sixty-three...oldest demographic in the cable-news business...the majority...who watched the most strident programs, such as Sean Hannity’s and Bill O’Reilly’s shows...were men. All that chesty fulminating apparently functions as political Cialis. Fox News shows should probably carry a warning: Contact your doctor if you have rage lasting more than four hours."

Louis Menand's New Yorker [November 2, 2009 issue] Comment made me laugh out loud on the Metro recently. I thought, "I know someone like that..."

More cuteness from the White House flickrstream. It serves two purposes: a quick week's end because I'm sick (the thermometer says so anyway) & it'll clear the bile in my system at a family member who ranted at/about me (on my dime!) about things political. So it's official: I am a communist-fascist-America-hating...something or other. Oh, & I'm an Obamaton, or some weird thing like that. This person was in the throes of post-Glenn-Beck-or-similar hysteria. Someone needs an etiquette lesson.

[President Barack Obama plays peek-a-boo with Maeve Beliveau, the daughter of Director of Advance Emmett Beliveau, in the Outer Oval Office, Oct. 30, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)]

Patterns in the Carpet

I don't know what mine are, much less yours, but I am interested. I am not referring to a new book by Margaret Drabble. But of course, a new book playing on a Henry James short story title is out & about. Ah well. It's up for grabs, that phrase/literary preoccupation/allusion/what-have-you. One could look at labels & conclude any number of things. I just did it myself...not really helpful. So here's a Lillian Bassman photo of Evelyn Tripp in the November 1948 Harper's Bazaar via myvintagevogue while I think about it some more. And write out a check to Made4Aid because apparently no one even bothered to go visit their site after my entreaties on both blogs. Wow. I'm pretty annoyed (& really disheartened).

Hair in the Air

Carol's Paris Hair post made me think of all the haircuts I've had. I usually don't go on about what I look like, my clothes, my apartment, etc. (really, who cares?) But I felt compelled to construct & send this quickie collage to Carol in reply to an email from her, in a reply to a comment. (Got that?) Carol cut her hair before she left for Paris; now she's espying long hair everywhere. *

Tina Tarnoff Thought Patterns post Hair, Wonderful Hair is fun. She's researching the subject for her husband's latest book. Fabulous vintage images of decidedly non-short hair. Go visit Carol & Tina & their respective etsy shops (connected to their blogs). They're both so very talented.

*This happened to me in London once. I had an unusual-for-me 'oh no what have I done to my hair? moment--but just a moment.. A very dashing man walking by, stopped, looked me in the eyes & said: "How marvellously Jean Seberg of you, darling." I treasure this, as it will never happen again. Sniff.

[Photograph credits forthcoming very soon. I didn't think that I'd post this but as it might seem, I'm running late & thought the haircuts might inspire someone on the fence to go for it. It does grow back, you know. Just don't get one of those helmet hair deals. Please.]

Week's End - Nobel Peace Prize 2009

The Nobel Peace Prize 2009. Oh my. Random cuteness photograph of Uncle Barack with darling niece Sarita who is making her wiggly-waggly way over to Reggie Love. (She knows who's the keeper of the candy!)

SUNDAY UPDATE: Distress at the incivility towards President Obama. If you disapprove of the Nobel Peace Prize award why not show how classy you are--or aspire to be--by offering a general courteous "Congratulations, Mr. President."? If you feel you must express yourself (especially in vulgar terms), pester those in your immediate circle--but not on the bus, the Metro, the nail salon (!), the market, the newsstand. Please. Stop. It.

[photograph via White House flickr set/Pete Souza]

Week's End - The Trouble with the Truth

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you. --
Oscar Wilde

Well, then. This weekend, I'll be keeping my mouth shut in public (mostly). Having to self-censor--more than usual.

Yesterday, I enjoyed the new film, Paris. Very good cast, very French, & non-clichéd. It's not for people who will be upset that the Eiffel Tower is seen but briefly. But it is much, much more the 'truth.'

ciao/xo/more & better posts soon/maybe

[photograph by Peter Stackpole for LIFE]

La Rentrée

Returning is decidedly difficult. Too many to-do lists. So off to make phone calls to remedy the situation, to swim, to ease la rentrée. It's usually one of my favorite times of year. (Except for natal day dread; more about which, perhaps, later.) Jumping into the autumn city swirl would be more graceful, I'm sure, if wearing a blue coat like this 1962 Yves Saint Laurent. One could glide in anywhere & no one would dare yell "You lie!" Yes, I'm still annoyed about the incivility towards our President. I keep referring to Professor Forni's Choosing Civility to keep myself under control. Yesterday I had it with me at a table wherein I had to hear all about why we [the organization] were wrong, misinformed, the usual. I kept glancing at my open tote, the book's title visible. It helped.

So that I don't just list complaints...I can report that I have been able to purchase some new clothes, books (a pile!), renew subscriptions, memberships, & so on. I am grateful.

bisous

PS: I first saw this Paul Schutzer photograph in myvintagevogue's flickr stream. Jessica has several terrific archival blogs. Her lovely official website, here.

On the way home, 16th Street Line

Just another day with-guns-on-display & play in Washington, DC. I love the 16th Street line. You see a lot--sometimes too much. I worry about all those children, elderly folks, pregnant ladies, I worry about everything. I see an email has just arrived from the White House email blast re: the H1N1.

E-mail late Wednesday evening to [most-excellent friend]. Just so Metro does not sue me, this has nothing to do with buses, the Red Line accident, etc. Sigh. Gina L. here has been locked out of her house by the cat-who-hid-the-keys. Even though she looks great in her bathing suit, come on gatto, knock it off & point-a-paw. [it's a scan from Hollywood Cats, link here to previous post until I can get independent bookstore link.] The shot is by genius Philippe Halsman. I still have the pamphlet from the Portrait Gallery's 1998 Philippe Galsman Retrospective exhibit. Here's a Magnum link to him. But he's so cool. He's the one who asked people to Jump! & they did.

Note: No, I haven't gone nuts. This long numbered thingy will only be up for a day or so & then pared down.:)

UPDATE: Sunday, 12 July 2009: I assure everyone that I am fine. But so busy (in a good way), that I cannot edit/rewrite below in a way that satisfies (even low standards) until late in the upcoming week. So I leave my mess out in the open. It's nothing I wouldn't say again. It really is an email I sent to a friend. I'll continue with pix-I-like & limit my sarcastic remarks to a few lines or so. I promise.

UPDATE: Wednesday, 21 July 2009. Took out tons & rewriting. Another day.

***********************

1. Julie hid my keys today & I couldn't find for hour. Late getting down to [deleted].

2. Great time talking to [deleted]. I am happy....Security has been massively upgraded from already-very-good. Relieved after HM shooting. Hang out with [deleted] about an hour & then head home for many errands.

3. Bus out front arrives in 5 minutes!

7. Someone insults someone (outside of bus) & manhood is apparently in question. Cellphones pulled out, backup dudes arrive quickly.

8. To prove that he is a wuss, guy pulls gun & starts to shoot. I think, here we go...*

9. Tell about-to-panic people, 'don't panic, scoot down, & don't worry because..."It's low-caliber. Not much of a shot unless it's direct..."

10. Strangely, it calms people. Disturbed at my coldness & choice of words.

14. ...Life is never dull as a full-time pedestrian.

17. Walking home, so tired.....there's a man in wheelchair in the road. People walking by, driving by. In the ROAD.

18. ...Doesn't want help. Too bad. He's trying to get hit. Perfectly obvious. Passerby who is preggers helps push him onto sidewalk. Neither concerned woman or self is surprised that people pass by. I recognize one as newish neighbor who has a 'we love everyone' welcome mat. He avoided my eyes. I'll think of that every morning when I dash down for the newspapers. Past his cute little mat. I'll spare you rest.

23. I thought of your maybe-wedding dress at Nordstrom. And the invitations. What did the printer say? Is the dress as great as it looks?

I shall gain wisdom from chocolate & DVD. And I'm back on the 16th Street line every day...to swim & save my life. Ha.

ciao bella!

*just realized I have (succinct) poem about being on bus in Jerusalem & something similar. Will find...published somewhere. I really don't remember.Forgot all about it.

Week's End - Crème de Menthe Trifle Gown

See what you might do about that, would you?*

*This directive was first issued to or near my person (it was that weird) one horridly hot, humid, no A/C in the house morning... from an excessively-self-regarding summer-sublet. (The other resident friend-housemates shot out the door for their offices/classes with a vigor intense even for DC. Cowards.) She actually did the little QEII wave of the hand (without irony--I would've given style points for that). She'd blown the fuses just one too many times (I kept a paper bag of them by the fusebox--that's how often).

There's a very funny story here (at my own expense, yes, of course, the funniest kind). It's way over 500-word limit & a messy tangle at that. I'll rework it off-line. The things a photograph will do. So see? It's working, sort of.

I love this photograph (& two uncropped versions) by Nick Bartoletti in Seattle. [Update: here's the direct link to his Clise Manion shoot set.] His photograph in the Jump! post (1 June 2009) is a new addition to the wall at my right. At the moment, I can't even manage a bunny hop; that's not his fault, though. This dress reminded me of The Clever Pup's Crème de Menthe Trifle recipe (her post here) that I'd planned to make for a party last night. Best laid plans...

The dress also reminds me of the gorgeous costumes in Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette & that little wave of the hand by The Fuse-Blower.

I have two major commitments this weekend--one quite demanding, the other outside. For hours. Taking people's guff (& niceness, too, to be fair) behind a table. And if it would just stop, please someone, stop the thunderstorms it would be most helpful. It's been a bad week for a lot of people here in DC. Yes, the museum shooting.

I'll try to be back for something worth reporting over the weekend. Perhaps over the phone...ciao

[Nick Bartoletti photograph used by permission/all rights reserved]

Shelter in Black & White

I'd feel better with this armor (& matching hat!). Adore umbrellas & usually in colors. Making do with a tatty, battered one, the color of dried blood, gag, that someone gave me as I left a meeting....six years ago. A twit (I'm being nicer than you can possibly imagine) borrowed a glorious Pucci-esque umbrella that I uncharacteristically purchased (full price). She promptly lost it. Never occurred to her to replace it--even when I screwed up my courage & asked. That's how it can be when other people have money & you don't. It just means "an umbrella" to them. To you? A major splurge. But now I'm fixated on this huge b&w brolly.

It's raining, it's pouring & we're to expect lots more. [by Nina Leen for LIFE, 1958 via myvintagevogue]

On the phone with Paulette...

Actually, this was going to be on the phone with...myself. But I can't find the compilation of pix of 'me on the phone' taken over decades, by family & friends to say (apparently): "See? Susan never shuts up." (Very funny, family & friends. Where are you now with soup, & tea, & all things lovely that I saw in the LIFE archives under 'in bed + sick' ? Huh?) [Paulette Goddard via myvintagevogue/see sidebar for blog link]

Listening to voice mail messages; people not calling the cell phone (as I have only asked five thousand times, this week alone). Grr. Sick, really feel terrible.. In bed (or will be again in a moment) & that's a lot for me. I never do that, no matter what--I lie on the ol' IKEA sofa or something. But pj's, braids, & glasses? Ugh.

For the first time in so long, I actually had something fun to attend on a Monday. At the Center for American Progress. Mark Bittman & José Andrés (yes, the food guys, José lives in DC)...on Food Matters. (Live-streaming video of event.) I love those guys.

I answered the invite in time (for once). Now I vacillate between calling a human & cancelling so someone can take my place (huge crush of people want to be there) or waiting until last minute tomorrow a.m. I think: everyone else waits or they don't even bloody call or email & I'm worrying? About what? That I'll be thought rude, impolite. Oof.

ciao, bambini
buona notte