Ice Cream

I'm having such an urge for ice cream (the good stuff) but I'm in a Starbucks & not giving up my side table away from the riff-raff. I ran this yesterday on Giulia Geranium; David Lebovitz makes such gorgeous ice cream & he does it here without a machine. I'm so going to do this when I house/cat sit next month. Although I think they do have a machine. Well, I'll set up a little comparison then. I've not made ice cream in donkeys years.

And now I really should go back to writing. Mimph.

(Françoise Hardy & Sylvie Vartan are the ice cream girls)

Russian Fairy Tales

Russian artist and photographer Irina Istratova is having a lot of fun with her camera & Photoshop. Via My Modern Met post.

The Bay of Noon

While I'm overwhelmed by...a lot..I'm mooning over photographs taken this year by a flickr contact, Liivia. Rome to Naples (& more but I'm focused on those presently). The top two are from Napoli, the third from Procida (an island in the Bay of Naples). If you have a love-hate relationship with Naples, welcome fellow maniac.

The Bay of Noon, by Shirley Hazzard is a wonderful book set in Naples. I urge everyone to read her, if they've not. Or to re-read her if it's been ages. I am indebted to a friend's mother who set me to reading Hazzard's books when I was a freshman in high school. Here's an interview with Hazzard in The Paris Review

(For the rest of the Italia 2011 set, see here.)

Saturday by the Sea

In my head, that is. I'm leaving the coffee shop at 3pm but putting up a calm, beautiful photograph by Daniel Farmer via automatism. Of some help today: headphones + Ultimate Ocean Waves via iTunes playlist. I said "some" help. Have a great rest of the weekend. xo

Monday update - thanks everyone. I'll be back tomorrow (Tuesday) with comments & another picture. While I try to get my life straightened out (a little). Oof.

Can I Get A Witness?

Before I leave for the day. Here's an encouraging article about writing in coffee shops. I'll have to take his word for it. I am not having a good feeling about this. A guy just walked in with a talking bird. I tweeted, "Dude, this is not L.A." Also, mean email from friend. Also, my laptop is now infected with viruses/spyware. Sitting here letting the scan run before I pack up & go home, defeated. At least for today.

Update - and a Saturday defeat. I am just leaving the coffee shop now at 3pm. As the kids say, OMG. I brought headphones today & that helped. But mainly this is a nightmare. Will try Panera tomorrow or Monday It seemed quieter & parrot-less yesterday when I stopped in. Meanwhile, cherish your internet-at-home, peeps.

(photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson)

Happy Bastille Day!

...to my French friends & my Francophile friends. Sitting in a café is driving me mad. (Very loud. I need earphones.) I have to keep moving & that means posting no-matter-what. I was out & about yesterday at appts. & could not bear to drag the laptop with me in 100 degree heat (though there was free wifi). Back in my neighborhood (& cooler for the next two days), I am resisting a strong urge to see Midnight in Paris (money, you know). But I can see the theatre from the café's front door. Hmmm.

If you've been thinking about Twitter, please give it a try. If nothing else, it is one more skill/tool to learn. I really love seeing updates in real time around the world. I know it seems nuts if you've not tried it, but I find it comforting to be connected around the world & in my back yard. It can bring you material goods, as well. I recently won the whole line of L'Occitane's wonderful new angelica facial products. More on that (& Twitter) at a later date.

I hate not being able to log on the last three nights & ask "Did anyone hear jets scrambling? and sirens? Was that on the news, in the paper? If so, I didn't see it. Anyone?"

Anyone gets back to you in less than 30 seconds. I like it.

à demain...(ooh..there's an almost-handsome man having a video chat in French not 6 feet from me...hmmm again...*fluffs hair*)

PS: The Eiffel Tower site is really fun & in many languages. There are great ideas for children, games, etc. That third photograph is from an interactive design on the site. I made it for Julie the Cat on a GG post. Pass it on.

(photographs via Eiffel Tower & Martin Soler)

Angy's Tea Room

No, I'm not in a tea room but that would be dandy. Instead, I'm in a coffee shop trying to catch up with email & all manner of things. There's a heat emergency in most of the States, including here in DC. And. For the first time since I've had a computer, the internet is down for a considerable time. And no, that is not a good thing. I will not read more books or anything. It is a tremendous inconvenience & I have to make what living I can with the internet.

I was going to urge everyone to visit Angy's Tea Room ages ago & life intervened. I just noticed that the Angy of the Tea Room is on The Sartorialist today. She's just darling. Also, though I follow the blog, I did not know it was a Blog of Note until two minutes ago. Sorry Angy.

Back as soon as I can.

xoxo/Susan

(photograph of Angelica Ardasheva by Scott Schuman)

Brando's Beat

Brando is even cooler than I thought - if that's possible. Thanks to Lori for highlighting a recent NPR piece on Brando's conga drumming. I knew that he loved drums but I did not know he was an inventor. There's a terrific video clip of an interview he did with Edward R. Murrow. Brando plays congas with Jack Costanzo. (The photograph the article uses is wonderful, too.)

(photograph of Brando with his grandma's dachshund by Edward Clark for TIME/LIFE)

Simple Pleasures

Certain labels draw me back over & again. Lori's label simple pleasures is a favorite. I'm not alone, judging by the comments. There is nothing simple about the rest of life. But boy are there plenty o' simpletons around. *Clears throat*

PS: If you're on Twitter, remember President Obama's first tweet-up at 2pm EDT. Hashtag #AskObama

(photograph by Susannah Conway)

Happy Fourth of July

Have a happy & safe holiday if you celebrate it. If not have a great beginning to the week.

A few things:

I love these photographs from the White House last year. I only saw them today. The first is so sweet!

I want to make this Swedish cream cake. Add a few blueberries & it can be Fourth of July cake or a Bastille Day cake.

Speaking of Bastille Day..thanks to a French friend who has made it her mission that fireworks are on my dance card tomorrow. Many bisous to her (& her family). It will be fun to be with these leetle kids...there's even a 7 month old. Squeal! (That's me squealing, not the baby:)

I'm trying to post again regularly but things are muddled. I do post regularly on Giulia Geranium & if people think they'll comment now & again, I'll enable comments after 2 years. Please let me know what you think; I've had a "considering it" note over there for a few months. Thanks so much! xoxo

(photograph by Benoit Paillé)

Light Painting

A technique by Man Ray & utilized by many, light painting has been realized in the most beautiful (& therapeutic) manner by Denis Smith. See the article & links at Illusion. I can't do a better job than they do.

Have a great start to the new week!

(via Illusion)

Tonight

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

As I said over on the GG blog, I'm officially obsessed with the night sky this summer. Where one reports this, I do not know. I guess that's why people have blogs, Facebook pages, & Twitter accounts. You know, just so I can obsess publicly.

Earthsky has a "Tonight" section for all your night-sky needs. The solstice is tomorrow so get ready. Also, check out Cig Harvey's exhibit news - I won't be in Maine to see it but here's the gallery link. (That's her lovely Devin & the Fireflies above the video.)

To The Mountain. It's just stunning, so please watch it. I saw it on Marvelous Kiddo (thanks!) in a stuck in my head post. Exactly. Now it's stuck in mine but I'm happy for it to hang out in my head. It's a gorgeous photography project & it's described beautifully by, who else, the photographer. So go go go... Rushing, rushing...out into the humid air.

Farewell, Clarence

It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7:00 tonight, Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away. The cause was complications from his stroke of last Sunday, June 12th. The rest of the statement is on the Springsteen website

(Photograph of Clarence by Danny Clinch)

This is not the way I wanted to begin re-posting but I can't let this pass by. Like so many of you, I saw Clarence play with the E Street Band countless times...from Pittsburgh to the Jersey shore, from Washington to Rome to Israel. I'm writing remembrances of friends who have died these last months. I promise this will not be one RIP after another. So be prepared for frivolous posts about...stuff n' nonsense. Meanwhile, I'd love to be with other fans tonight, somewhere in a bar in south Jersey.

Update - Here is David Remnick on Clarence. The post includes wonderful old video of Bruce & E Street Band.

Lying in Wait for Happiness

I'm behind in plans to post regularly. I've turned off comments to avoid appearance of blog-begging, similar to Twitter-begging - which I loathe. (That's shilling for sympathy, comments, followers, etc.) Yehuda Amichai is the author of the title & poem. I finally found it online, here. (It's in the volume Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems) Lovely photograph is by Virginia Gálvez. Back soon...

Update, 8 June - I'm working on some essays & posts for later this month. In the interim, pls follow me over to Twitter @juliethecat. I could use the company. I can't promise you a great time but there will be silliness. xo

Spring Things

Hello on this last day of April. I'm planning on regular posts beginning (update - the end of 2nd week) week of May. The idea of no April in the 2011 archives is against my compulsive nature. So a few photographs & links that I thought might entertain. I'm easily entertained lately.

1. The Vermont Country Store. I requested a catalogue last month & enjoy a flip-through now & again. As I told a friend: some things you wish hadn't gone away, some that should, some that should but who wants to see the end of Turkish Taffy or 1950s-style chenille bedspreads? Just on general principle.

2. David Austin Roses Handbook of Roses. That's a fancy way of saying 'catalogue'. Three online requests did not succeed, so so I emailed the office. A nice person there tossed one into the post. It arrived yesterday & I fell asleep slobbering over the Queen of Sweden. I was exhausted as I had finally, almost resentfully, arisen at 2.45am & watched The Wedding. Very grateful for PBS/BBC feed. I know people have yawned about their coverage but no commercials + fewer ignoramuses than other channels = fine with me. Definitely order the rose catalogue. The website has links to many countries.

3. Persephone Books Biannually. As I walked out yesterday, ta da. The oh-so-pretty & always interesting Persephone Biannually & a lovely bookmark had arrived via the Royal Mail. Made me wish I'd be in London for a few of the events. The Persephone Post blog is quite pretty, too.

4. The Guardian has a Camera Club - which I cannot be a part of as the teensy camera was a welcome gift but does not exactly make the proper photo for more than snaps. Anyway. The last Friday of each month there is a video of the next assignment (& a few tips). They have a flickr group & they also give out prizes. Woohoo. I looked for the May assignment but didn't see it. My understanding was that April was the spring month. Maybe I'm not reading it properly. Anyway, hop on over & watch lambs gamboling near the end of the video.

A head's up for those in the Washington, DC-area. The National Cathedral Flower Mart is next Friday & Saturday. I've a small spring tradition of buying a few coral geraniums there. It's always a pleasure to see the antique merry-go-round unwrapped & working those two days. I love carousels. Here's a little Easter Monday carousel post from Julie's blog - which I have been able to keep up-to-date lately. I've been quite silly, even more than usual, with videos. Sing along to Dean Martin (whom my maternal great-grandmother baby-sat. Yes, really. The stories!)

If you're on Twitter or are thinking of doing so, I'm at @juliethecat. Cheers! Little update: the best person blogging (that I know of) about the Royal Wedding, esp. the dress & detail is Liberty London Girl. Her tweets are informative & witty as well.

(French carousel by karmenrose; darling lamb by penwren; flowering quince at Brookside Gardens, moi w/teensy camera, do forgive)

Faute de Mieux

Travel, trouble, music, art,

A kiss, a frock, a rhyme-
I never said they feed my heart,
But still they pass my time.--Faute de Mieux by Dorothy Parker

Sigh.

Lots of people who stop by here take terrific photographs. There's a contest held by J Peterman, here. Upload the ones you like the best by 15 April in the 3rd annual travel photo contest. Nothing to lose but a few minutes & you might win some cash or a gift card.

I'm trying to return & write something worth reading. Meanwhile...there's a person tweeting as the Bronx Zoo's missing cobra & it's more entertaining than I ought to admit. Sigh. Again.

Update - Beginning of May or bust. I'll be baaaack.

(photograph by Cristin Moritz, first seen on Cup of Jo)

Elizabeth

Arguably, she was the last of the great Hollywood stars.

Even I have an Elizabeth Taylor story. (She lived in Washington for awhile in that ill-advised marriage to a senator.) If you have Netflix Instant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is available, as is Giant. There will be a ton of great pictures of Elizabeth (please, not "Liz"!) in her va-voom mode all over the internets today & in future. So herewith one as a child, for she was a child star first. Here's a link to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. (via imdb)

Cherry Blossom Walk

I try to resist getting a two-fer with the Julie blog but peeps, I am under pressure. Most of which I cannot talk about at moment. Anyway, here's the vintage photograph I found for today's Giulia Geranium. Anyone who is in the area, there's a Stand with Japan walk on Saturday, the opening day of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin (where this photo was taken but no date). Oof.

And because some have asked via email. Yes, I support the intervention in Libya. I'm getting so much grief from fellow liberals that my hair might spontaneously catch fire. My blood pressure is rising & I have a literal pain in my neck (as well as everywhere else). Here's the deal: I worked a long time on the passage of Responsibility to Protect. This mess fits the criteria. Therefore, I support it. It would be supremely idiotic to support the notion & then say I don't support action. That's the short version. Oof. Again. Back as soon as I can.

Update - BTW. It's absolutely fine if people don't agree w/me. It's the ad hominem nature of comments that offends.

Japan

As I was saying...um. What a way to come back & I don't know if I am back. But. Coming out of the mouths of creeps are loathsome remarks about why people should not contribute to help the Japanese recover. No, I am not kidding. I'd say go look it up but it will make ya sick.

Choose your organization wisely & if you can only manage $5.00 like me, it's something. The International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is one good place. I received an email this morning from the World Food Programme asking for help from their blogger pals to spread the word. (You can help on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, too.) It's a shock to see Japan on their list.

Julie the Cat's blog is back. I've enabled internetty-google-tubey share buttons at the bottom of each post on both blogs. I continue to try & improve them with free help & but half a brain. I'll post links to cool people who help bloggers for free (I know!) soon. To get you started: The Blog Guidebook.

Back to Al Jazeera - which has excellent coverage of Japan news. I'm fortunate to have it on the teevee machine here in the DC-area. I think it's only here, Vermont, & Ohio. Something like that. Very weird. You can demand it in your area (those in the States). Meanwhile, you can watch live online, here. Cheers!

Update Thursday, 17 March: I forgot to put in a link to a 20x200 print that will raise funds for the Japan Society. I'd recommend 20x200 for affordable art in any event, but especially now. People are buying things for their homes & for gifts anyway, so check it out. They just added another print & will probably keep it going.

(woodblock prints by the great Utagawa Hiroshige)

Vacances d'hiver

Well, that's what I've decided to call it. Winter vacation sounds better than "I'm still way under-the-weather & trying to solve the riddle(s) underlying that annoying state of affairs."

A big ciao-meow from Julie the Cat. She's feeling better. To prove it, she bounced, leaped, pirouetted, & twirled around the market delivery person this morning. So I gave him a larger tip than planned. After I stopped laughing & coughing.

I plan to post about St. David's Day (1 March) & Carnevale (Tuesday, 8 March). I hope to be back sooner.

Update/1 March. Oof. Well, nothing is going to happen today. If you're on Twitter, feel free to join me in re-tweeting Libya news/Wisconsin news. And more. If nothing else, following Charlie Sheen (he just joined Twitter, uh oh) should be, uh, weird.

Another update - Friday, 4 March - yes, I should just post, I know I know. Um, here's an article I put on my FB page last night: The Argument You're Having With Yourself About Charlie Sheen. I feel guilty & I "unfollowed" him on Twitter after a day.

xoxo/Susan

PS: Mabrouk (congratulations) to Tunisians & Egyptians!

(photograph by Heather Pauline)