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)

Revolution of Snow

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,

its white flag waving over everything,

the landscape vanished,

not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,

and beyond these windows...Snow Day, Billy Collins

Update - Saturday, 5 Feb 2011. Twitter re: Egypt. Feeling way under-the-weather. Even quite ill. Oof.

If you don't have access to Al Jazeera English (very rare in the States - though I can access it just fine), watch here.

Get Off of My Cloud

Thursday, 27 Jan 2011 Update - Due to massive snowstorm, Julie & I decamped to an undisclosed location. Will post winter break news after we dig out. xo/S.

Tuesday, 1 Feb 2011 Update - We're still not home. More ice on the way. Go watch Egypt (& Tunisia) news...more important than us:)

What to do about: spammers, hacking attempts, people in the followers list who are suspicious, maybe enable the follower gadget, it's just a mess. So creeps, in my best Mick Jagger sneer - Hey you, get off of my cloud.

On a more pleasant note...for sheer delight, check out Jeff Bridges's great website. Any admirer knows that he draws, loves his Widelux camera, & plays music. He's much more than that, though. He's a spokesperson (& co-founder in 1983) of the End Hunger Network. Read all the way down that link about his thoughts on how charities alone cannot end hunger. The series American Masters recently broadcast The Dude Abides about guess who & it was super.

I'm new to Indecision Forever, a site run by the entertaining wackos at The Daily Show. If you will be watching the State of the Union Speech tonight (SOTU to us wonks), you might want to check in over there. I'm weary of the post-mortems. Wait, you say. It hasn't been delivered yet! I know, dear. You must not know that speeches are dissected before they're given nowadays.

Out I creep into the freezing apt. to heat up some soup & run back into the bedroom. Julie is asleep after playing with my braid & taking off my sleep mask about 5,000 times last night. OK, about 100 times. I'll be back to post a suitable photograph (s) for the break.

Tulip Mood

In a tulip mood & this photograph via Tokketok Letterpress blog appealed to me ages ago. It just didn't go with the bright pink & white on today's Giulia Geranium post. BTW, Tokketok has some nice card sets. Icy cold rain here. Trying to get a photograph of Julie doing something other than sleeping--she is a lively girl. But as I said, "icy rain." Still in robe & worrying that I will turn into a female Dude. (See design*sponge's Living In today.)

Update - Sunday evening, 23 Jan. I'll be back shortly. Freezing cold, crazy spammers, etc. On positive note, my Pittsburgh Steelers just won a big game. I know, I wouldn't think me a football person either. My grandfather's team will always be my team. xo. Susan

Calling All Designers

You do not have to be a traditional design professional (that's the point). It's Garmz.com.

One of the advantages to feeling unwell is a stack of unread magazines. (Although--if W doesn't get better & this new editor doesn't stop putting naked Kardashians in an "art" issue, euwww, it is so over. God, what dreck.)

Vote on designs uploaded by others & winners see their garment manufactured & for sale online. I do not know how well they are constructed, etc. The site is in beta. There are some good-to-excellent illustrations. There are also some that look like I dipped into my Crayola box. If you were fairly early to Etsy, you know there was (is) some "real junk on there." (That was a friend before I gave her some things from Etsy a couple of years ago. In other words, sift sift sift.) It's the same with Garmz. There are some Etsy folk on there, too. Here's an interview with one winner, Lauren Reeser aka American Duchess. Here's Lauren's pretty Etsy shop, & wonderful historical costuming blog.

Go forth & improve Garmz. (designs/illustrations by Scarlet Movement & Anika)

Beauty Secrets

I laughed when I saw this amusing Nickolas Muray photograph from the George Eastman House collection. My newly-in-touch friends from Strasbourg asked several things the past two months but often the first (& most asked): do you still roll your hair in socks? Answer: sometimes. So I guess it wasn't so secret...apparently I paraded around with argyles & stripy socks in my ridiculously long hair. (It really works.)

I'll be back sometime this week. Feeling not-so-well. I received some wonderful toys (video-cam, digital binoculars-wow) yesterday; but right now I'm going to draw a full bath & dip into a L'Occitane goody box--almond oil. Yum.

Happy New Year

I'm over-thinking this one. Meaning: no need to go searching for just the right photo, just the right quote, etc. Criminy, it's Saturday. Herewith Sharon Montrose's cute baby bunny on Giulia's site. (It is the Year of the Rabbit.)

I'm (sort of) making up resolutions on my baby deer pad from Sharon Montrose's Etsy shop. And cooking/talking on the phone/looking at blogs of eye-popping insincerity (no one you know). Waiting for the delayed Winter Classic hockey game in which my Pittsburgh Penguins will whoop the Washington Caps. Update - grrrr. (I'm lying low--I live in enemy territory.) Cheers, happy new year. And may I remind everyone that Christmas (traditionally) is not over until 6 Jan. I like it...I hate the idea that people run around like maniacs to "get it over with." Relax. (Baby Bunny No. 1 by Sharon Montrose, The Animal Print Shop)

Year's End

Happy new year. (photograph by Martina Karlsson)

New Year's Eve Day

The "don't rush me" edition. Ciao & back here later tonight (EST).

Merry Christmas

Have a happy holiday. Wish I looked as calm & collected as this Viennese lady by Mela Koehler (Austrian, 1885–1960). She was part of the Wiener Werkstätte artists’ collective founded in Vienna at the turn of the century. This card was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's catalogue this year (it's on sale now). If you are or will be in NYC before 17 January, you can stop in to the Neue Galerie & see an exhibit of postcards from the collective. The online site is very pretty (as is the gorgeous catalogue). Cheers!

Christmas Eve Day

...and I'm running in place. So off to do so for real. Herewith a few not-so-great photographs but we do what we can. Are you sure you want a cat? It does give one the opportunity to practice patience, I suppose. Cheers to pals in Australia where it is past midnight & therefore Christmas Day. I maintain the Twelve Days of Christmas policy--it really does take the pressure off, as I see it. Back later. Cheers. PS: There's still time to donate to Toys for Tots, if you're going to be at IKEA, the Soft Toy campaign goes until they close today.

Dior-chid

"Poetic Illusions" Illustrations by Mats Gustafson. I saw an orchid at my neighborhood market that looked like this (if you squint). Yes, I'm goofing off more than usual. (Vogue China, December 2010) Via the Fashion Spot, on Vintage Rose Garden)

Byrne on Burton

I cannot explain how I ended up on the Irish Times website reading Gabriel Byrne's remembrance of Richard Burton/review of Furious Love. A visit to a few Irish newspaper sites & there is Byrne at every turn; he was appointed Ireland's cultural ambassador (to the States) earlier this year.

Studiously ignoring the baking of cookies, the cleaning of the apt. More fun to read things like "a flame of love never quenched...". I'm just teasing...it's a quick & interesting read--especially the anecdote about a dinner in Vienna with Olivier, Burton, Gielgud, & Richardson.

(The photograph is from The Burtons tumblr. I saw it earlier this year but it seemed more of a winter thing. There's an amusing entry about the meeting of a bellhop & Burton, here.)

Shoot Your Sandwich

From the Saveur website: Everyone has a favorite sandwich, whether it’s a homemade Dagwood pulled together from leftovers, or a cult hoagie that waits at the end of an hour-long line. SAVEUR wants to know what you think is the best thing in sliced bread — find your best photo of your favorite sandwich, and upload it to our photo contest. One winner and six runners-up will be picked by the SAVEUR editors to be featured in the pages of our all-sandwiches April issue. (photographs from the contest. I kind of overdid it, but I'm hungry.)

The rules.

The prize - glory, bragging rights, & your sandwich.

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.)