The art of looking chic while taking to the streets has long been neglected.There's a march in Washington tomorrow (Saturday, 2 Oct.) I'm really not feeling up to it but it's one of those "Must Be Counted" times. Plus, I live here. Therefore, much playing of upbeat music & so on. (Sorry Smiths, you gotta cool it for tonight.) Already, one plan is blown & I must contact the person who said, oh they'll be open. How could Teaism by the WH be closed tomorrow? Well, they are. Have they no respect for capitalism? They sell tea. Oh I was going to enjoy sitting there before trudging off to the Lincoln Memorial. I am easily amused, yes. I have never denied it.
This is a scanned birthday card I received recently. Inside a friend wrote, 'svs circa 1967' Yep. I will be less flashy tomorrow (& yet somehow looking so very youthful). Here's an amusing column from The Guardian last November. (What should I wear to a protest march?) Cheers. It's nearly 6pm & there's a decent malbec nearby.
xoxo
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.
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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.
When I wrote don't-endanger-bloggers-in-Iran message to well-meaning FB/Twittering birdies, I did not mean/nor say 'cork it' when people have been arrested. I said 'be careful. It's so easy to feel brave & live vicariously from where most of us sit. You don't get medals of bravery for clicking 'pooh on [insert cause]' on FB, etc. Wow, nuance is a lost art. So in case any confusion...go to right sidebar, or to GG blog. Re: missing bloggers & assorted.
Like a bird on the wire,/
Like a drunk in a midnight choir/
I have tried in my way to be free.../-L. Cohen
Fume.[Nina Leen photographs from LIFE archives; undated]
Under the threat of high wind gusts & will post later, breaking my "one per day" rule. Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue/White/Red has been on my mind lately. Particularly Blue & always when marketing or performing other mundane tasks. I flash on Juliette Binoche's character's post-traumatic behavior. I recall that she had a rodent problem in her new apartment. Thankfully, I needn't concern myself with this odious matter as it is part of Julie the Cat's ministerial portfolio. (photograph, imagenet via Guardian's film blog) ciao, bisou
Update: Thrilled for Kate Winslet. Have seen every film she's ever been in, in the theatre (even the first one) & thought Hugh Jackman was wonderful. More later but Tina of The English Muse has the real deal, here!
The art of looking chic while taking to the streets has long been neglected.