Views from My Desk Chair

Wow, people. I am getting desperate (in the creative department). Here are two views from behind my desk & the chrysanthemums are on it. Julie is lounging nearby (as always). Since the snaps are so limited due to tech, I grunged'em up but good. I tweeted another shot yesterday a.m. & said that though in an urban area, this is indeed from my apt. I lucked out nearly 22 years ago. (I moved in Thanksgiving weekend, 1989.)

If you know Ruth Orkin's photos of an American girl in Italy, you might remember that she took pictures out her New York City apartment windows for 30 years. Another (mainly) from-where-I-live tumblr I enjoy is by Jennifer Ehle. Her photographs of the countryside in & around her home are lovely, some very painterly. She also has a wonderful, cheeky sense of humor. Do take a visit.

Now, I must get some errands done but I hope some of you excellent photographers will let me know if you have some shots from where you sit. And if so, might we see a few? Here's hoping.

PS: I put up the viral video of starlings on the GG blog in case you've not seen it yet.

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)

Good Grace

Please excuse the last few goofing-off posts; I really don't feel very well & am still debating Strasbourg & other journeys & revelations therein. A few people de-followed & I regret that you have been offended. (apparently). I know the layout of this blog is offending me at the moment, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it right now. Meanwhile, I hope to remain in the good graces of others who stop in to say hello. I do like hearing from you. -- Susan

I rented The September Issue to watch the deleted scenes, the extras, & it was worth it. Last month WWD reported that Grace (I cannot call her Ms. Coddington, unless she insists) is working on a memoir. Because she is gracious, it will not be all about her -- though that would be fascinating. Here's a link to a Times Online article last year. Her darling book The Catwalk Cats (with Dider Malige, her beau) was published in 2007. The short video clip is worth clicking to see GC's necklace--wow.

(British Vogue, August 1962 by Carapetian via stylite (dot) com; GC, The September Issue, via Sunday Times, still hunting for the still photographer credit. RJ Cutler directed.)

Bloomsday Wedding

In your pink wool knitted dress / Before anything had smudged anything / You stood at the altar. Bloomsday--Ted Hughes

I've been writing a remembrance of the only Molly Bloom (to me), Siobhán McKenna. Difficult to edit in time, though, & I want to post a photograph. So I thought, yes, well this will do nicely--a 54-year anniversary. I don't think of it as a failed marriage, actually. Wanted to link to the Hughes poem but it is not an easy task to find one without the requisite "He killed her" business. Then we get to the matter of photographs; same unsavory stuff. There is not a photograph--or if there is I don't remember & am too lazy to look through my bookshelves. The one that stands in on many websites is actually from a Paris honeymoon, before a Spanish summer (about which Plath wrote vividly in her notebooks, including good sketches/drawings.) This chandelier looks very celebratory out there in what I think of as a meadow, edged with darker woods.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out whether or not to take Julie to the beach overnight (soon). This is a sudden & welcome question & possibility.

[chandelier by Leigh Miller Photography via we heart it ]

Taking Off

A Great egret taking off. I'd like to grab hold & go with him. Alas, eh. I'm running late. I thought today was Thursday until late last night. If that makes any sense. Friend awaits, I'm wearing a new Liberty of London via Target top & worry that I look like an over-sized cupcake (or a chubby peacock). Here's Naomi Watts wearing it in Elle & here's the link to order if any are left. I await one more item; I ordered in early March but they've just restocked.

Update: GOAL! South Africa scored the first goal of the World Cup a few moments ago. I care, that's who. And Univision is coming in clearly, learning sports Spanish, excellent. (No cable.)
So, real stuff later. [image via Birds of Assateague.]

The Unruly America(i)ne

Lovely photographs from Sidi Bou Said, Hammamet, Nabeul, & other Tunisian towns. Birdcages & iron beds & neroli. That was the plan. But my blood pressure must be spiking because there's a new crack in the ceiling above my desk & I'm running late. For Mediterranean loveliness, visit calm Canadian Diane's Things We Love 2. Barcelona is the starter on the menu; sounds good to me, The Unruly America(i)ne. I feel like a Nervous Lemon. Ahem.

Two classic shots of Sidi Bou Said; the window, [looking for the wiki link]; the street, here. Off to Nabeul & Hammamet tomorrow, I guess.

The Museum Goer

Prepare to gag, personnes unfamiliar with Giulia Geranium. That's where I get my twee on. I keep hearing from others who are under-the-weather & beyond. this week. I share your pain; feel better, take good care. I like these photographs & there are some posts over at GG about Phillips Collection love. (For the uninitiated, it's a lovely little museum in DC; its influence is larger than its size. Sort of like The New Yorker's base subscription level. God, I'm a wonk. Shriek.) So the conceit is that I am GG's editor & complete servant. She wants to go to the Phillips & start a salon in the café. If I type more, I'll chicken out. So for those who were subjected to this yesterday, all apologies. (But really--what were you thinking falling for this nonsense, twice?)

************
Tuesday at the Phillips with GG

GG is having a righteous rumpus. Her feline heart is set on becoming a patroness of the arts, particularly at the Phillips Collection. The day may come when we'll have to rent the café & throw her a big party. The Phillips Collection was voted Washington's best museum AND art gallery by City Paper readers recently. Some young'uns--the hordes of mid-20s-30ish folks recently descended upon our city--think they discovered it. Au contraire, nos amis. (Though we're happy to have you on board.)

The Phillips was a hang-out for GG's editor when she was still an official teenager, recently returned from France. "Meet you under the Matisse" meant she could be found sitting on a lumpy bottle-green velvet sofa in the music room (under a Matisse). We'd love to see GG sleeping on that sofa; we miss it terribly--including the lumps. The jewel-box space has become too manicured for our taste; but like an old friend--you still love them, even with (too much) Botox.

Some favorite paintings at the Collection are by Bonnard. Above, The Palm & La Côte d'Azur, respectively. The museum goer (looking just like GG's editor) is by Nina Leen. She's trying to divine from an egg-shaped objet d'art, "What will the Easter Bunny bring GG?"

ciao-meow/GG's art curator & party planner

[Bonnard images via artchive.com & Nina Leen photograph via LIFE archives]

Snow Toes

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, forgetfulness, laughter, and excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the (less miserable) rain, snow or dark.--from,--I can't believe I'm using it-Wikipedia. (Yes, I'm a snob--you've not noticed?)

Laughter?

[Simpson's episode "Mountain of Madness" via wikimedia; cabin fever feet by D. Sharon Pruitt/Pink Sherbet Photography Free For All Creative Commons]

Christmas Pop Culture Quiz

I may have officially lost my mind. Serious business at hand & I post a cute deer picture on GG's site. Then I opened Martha Stewart e-mail -- yes I signed up. Then, I'm taking quizzes like "Test Your Christmas Pop Culture IQ." Snarl. I worried that I'd do too well, but I missed two questions, thank bleep. By the way, there's an ad-video that pops up & starts out, "Can a company really have a soul..." NO, I shriek & hit pause. Cat goes flying off the table. Ahem. You've been warned.

PS: OK, I don't feel so bad. Upon further review, I see that Wyclef Jean is cooking with Martha. Here's WJ's Yéle Haiti site.

Week's End - Slow Down & Look Around

People in town for the National Book Festival. People calling. People soliciting advice. People seeking the counsel of someone afraid of her new laptop? Think about it. Here's good advice for writers (& in general) at any level. The photograph synchronizes with Giulia Geranium today because, frankly, the bewildering assortment of photographs & images on hand is, well, a jumble. My tiny kingdom for a camera. Yesterday's foray to the new farmer's market near the White House (& assorted wanderings) called out for one. On the desk sit about-to-bloom pink lilies & stripey grasses from a cut-flower farm, Wollam Gardens, featured in yesterday's Washington Post.

And that's that. Happy weekend.

(Easy Day by gloeckchen via we heart it -via deviant art. The artist's gallery, here.)

Week's End - Tricolore Window

...a pull of the curtains* (for now). I'll be be offline for awhile; perhaps by a miracle, it will be less than three weeks. I saw this photograph in Robert of Toronto's Antibes flickr set & thought, there it is, a bricoleuse arranged that window. Please go here to see the full photograph because the detail in the Provençal fabric is marvellous.

I will leave all feeds on for everyone's blogs to come through while gone. That means, I cannot monitor whatever the Dept. of Worlds Collide & Troublemaking-in-Style [right sidebar] gets up to. I cannot bring myself to unlink. (But I will check in from elsewhere, when possible, to see what's going on, you devils). If I can come back & see comments & read your blogs tonight or tomorrow, I will surely do so. [Friday morning update: I'm taking off the feature that shows only 10 blogs...it might shock you how long since you've updated! (hint)]

More crazy thunderstorms announce their most-unwelcome-presence in Washington, DC...ciao-for-now, amici

*le drapeau tricolore: the French flag
[impromptu flag by Robert of Toronto/used by permission]

A Foggy View - Bay of Naples

Screech. How can it be nearly 1pm? I was expecting to fly through errands & laundry & &&...this photograph will not upload properly. I feel as grounded as I did that day in a (lovely) flat, not mine, with three gorgeous views...this one of the Bay of Naples. Which I love. Vesuvius looms over all, of course. Hmmm. OK. Well, that's that for now. Will post someone else's great photo & get ready for more thunderstorms, running through the rain. So the story about this place is on hold. Did I say bleep already? No, bleep. (Apologies for language.) [Update of three minutes later. No I'm not going to waste the permission to use someone else's gorgeous Polaroid so bricolage looks pretty-through-thumbnail. Ugliness-as-virtue? Hmmm.]

On the phone, wearing tulle

Hi Suzani. What? No, it's not that uncomfortable; it's quite breezy actually. Do I walk around DC like that photo of the Washington Ballet -- no, where did you see that? It's making the rounds? What a sec, let me bring it up (yes, I got a laptop, stop drooling). Oh, it's darling. Yes, I agree, Septime knows his PR. I think an international society of girls wearing tulle is a great idea.

Quit being so cranky, Susan. I know you've been ill for a while now but still...you were our Audrey. You don't want to be our AH anymore? OK, you don't have to shout. Are you sure it's not jealousy because of the computer, the no camera, rinsing out clothes in the tub? No? A little? It's been a long haul, I know.

Oh, you're upset because you tossed your tulle? You're going to 'toss your tulle'? Is this some sort of new phrase you've coined to drive people crazy? Ah. But you do have tulle. It's sewn into that French navy blue, dotted swiss poofy vintage dress you bought years ago at a marché aux puces...everyone who sees it wants to buy from you. Yes, there is. Go look at the underskirts. I'll wait......................aha, see? That counts.

This was inspired by Tina at the English Muse. I guess it is possible to wear tulle (in a non-ballerina way) & look /be comfortable, though that wasn't Tina's point. That French dress was comfortable--when it fit. Mimph. So want to return to Amalfi, the Tunisian desert, Roma, Strasbourg., even downtown DC. More photographer permissions coming in...[speaking of photograph via myvintagevogue/tumblr blog in sidebar]

What a wasted & crummy week. I'm sick of saying it. I feel like I'm grounded (as in a kid who did something wrong.) I'll post a nice week's end photograph by midnight. My way of forcing self to be positive. ciao, belle.

Overexposures

...literally.

By Gjon Mili from the LIFE archives. (Mili photos of Françoise Gilot & Henri Matisse are in earlier posts) & here is Picasso drawing a vase of flowers in 1949. The others are from the Stravinsky Festival in 1972. Oddly, they remind me of The English Patient's (film) "fresco scene in Arezzo" with Juliette Binoche & the cute Kip (I know he's on that Lost thing, Naveen Andrews? Not looking it up now.) Spending quite a bit of (unwelcome) downtime figuring out pieces of personal Italian-Tunisian-rest-of-MEastern puzzle. Also preoccupied drawing a version of Matisse's flower-petal letters. This is where fever-pain & lack of calories gets you. Not too far. (Here's a link to a quick Lightwriting from Picasso to Lichtfaktor article; it refers to Mili & Picasso.)

Re: The English Patient (see here for The Clever Pup's excellent post on Theme Thursday "Fire" -- it's what set this whole thing off, really). I noticed in a still shot of Hana's flowered dress...that it's the same (or so close there's barely a difference) pattern as the top I wear almost every day. A French friend gave it to me for what I shall refer to as my period of avoirdupois. It's the most inconsequential (but pretty) top & I am asked quite often "where did you get that? Is it European?!" So funny. Now I know I should say: it's a frumpy floral from the forties. But that would not be nice, so I won't. Honestly, I'm much more polite than I seem on this site.

I would post those TEP photos but I think it's too much for Picasa at moment....& since I'm down for the count, I ought to leave something, anything for tomorrow. Clever Pup is spouting excellent haiku to VVG. All the sites in the right side-bar are doing something interesting. I just can't get to all of them to comment or even download 'til later. [The fun Tina Tarnoff tag can't be done until/unless it receives a bit more thought than I can bring to it now. Fun is serious business!]

bacini

Week's End - Grace in Black & White

Just trying to get by, that's what. Doing the best I can. That's my response to the mean poet & financial success-through-you-don't-want-to-know-how writer about town. Yeah, I could've gone that route, too, & quite publicly did not. Posting in her blog & sending it to me (!) that this is pathetic, derivative, & so forth My posting images of "dumb stuff." Why is she looking in then? That's the first & last mention. What a way to end the week. (via scan from Hollywood Cats, see here for credits)

Françoise in Light & Dark

So many people send me that American Girl in Italy postcard by Ruth Orkin. Some people (still) use a song's lyrics, too, & think they're complimenting me. It is one of my favorite Dylan songs but please. I was thinking about it when I saw these pix. [She's got everything she needs/she's an artist, she don't look back/ (She Belongs to Me)]

Françoise Gilot, annoyingly referred to only as "Picasso's mistress," in a multi-exposure by Gjon Mili. In the second she is drawing with light. Also by Mili. This was during a 1949 visit to Picasso & Gilot in Vallauris, France. Every time I see similar dates in Europe or Asia on a letter or photograph, I think this is but [ _ ] years after the cataclysm we call WWII. Reading Gilot's books & many accounts of other artists, writers, poets, philosophers, & intellectuals (not to mention everyone--but most did not write memoirs) who stayed -- or were trapped -- in France during the war is harrowing, sobering, & inspiring.

We have Picasso to thank for saving so many of Matisse's works. Of course, there was no small amount hilarity in the old bull's machinations; finally, a worthy use for his extraordinary powers of manipulation: confusing the Gestapo officers on a Matisse canvas hunt. (Picasso hid them in a complicated story. Which is how he tricked the Gestapo.) A synopsis of that some day...unless, hey Pup, Pup? You want to do it? I'm tired. My toof hurts. Well, at least everyone interested in the intersection of art-artists-the-world-in-crisis should (I think) read Gilot's excellent Matisse & Picasso: A Friendship in Art.

Can't get to the TTT tag today but will tomorrow (or ?). It's rainy, drippy, & oof. A creative & peaceful evening to all.

ciao, buona notte

On the phone & flustered...

...with the IRS (on hold on cell phone plugged into nearby outlet--battery two years & counting), 3 friends on NPR programs (that one on Fresh Air at 3pm EDT better watch it...grrr), my toof, my toof, Talented Tina Tarnoff tagged me & that's great & it will be fun to do. But then, why is everyone (OK, only three people but still...) on the radio today? (Oh, I'll be quizzed, believe me. And to download a podcast on this machine? Surely you jest.)

Must finish making soup, rice pudding (cracked toof)...but no vanilla-wafer cooking, here: ingredients include ceci, rosewater, spices, herbs..not in both; call evil utility company; re-sign lease; call two friends with birthdays, and and and, etc. If I post something here, now, & get "Tuesday" on page...then all will be, if not well, then calmer. My reporter/deadline training kicking into overdrive (unnecessarily, I might add before you point it out). Deep breath. It's only Tuesday. Must pace self. Must be more like knowing woman on phone above (Vogue 1948 via Jessica at myvintagevogue).

Gotta go...thanks again to The Clever Pup for giulia's geranium! xo. Happy belated birthday to Corine, who's hidden in France. TOT (The other Tina) is zipping around LA in a cherry red Vespa....

On the phone with Audrey....

It's dripping rain & I must go out. I am careful, yes, yes. I'll call you back tonight.

What? Honestly? Well, I think, as the kids say, "She's just not that into you." She is married, after all. Good God! What? No, I have a cracked molar & it just went ZING. Yes, stress-induced. Tomorrow. I'm going to the specialist late afternoon.

What else? Oh well, what isn't. GG's first birthday is tomorrow but I need photographs. Well, I thought Hello Kitty as I started the blog that way. You know, my hilarious essay "In defense of...?" Ah, no of course you don't remember. Yes, I finished it but it's not on the blog. Yes, I agree, it's an unpleasant-sounding word, "blog,"

The problem? I've employed so much LIFE archival material of late that LBJ's birthday photos are next. What? No, the other blog. The one you don't look at even though we're long-time friends...yes, that one. Humanitarian concerns, lovely photos, silliness. Uh huh. Method to the madness, as Will said. The cat, that's right. The orange cat. No, not Cat. This is Charade...that was Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[Oh, I do give up. Isn't there anyone in DC who is remotely like Audrey-Cary-Gregory-in-movies? Just in manners? Anyone at all? President Obama? Yes, I do think that's true. Do you really think he's going to look for photographs or help with a job on his BlackBerry? No, I don't think so either.]

Yes. I'll call you back, of course, I will. I always do. You're the one who doesn't. Ciao, darling.

Sigh.

[Audrey on phone via myvintagevogue/website is excellent]

Week's End - The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

No time for other photos, perhaps I'll do that when I return from the outside world. [see 4 June update at bottom, if it really matters.]

This has been in mind all last night (& the past year). I posted about it twice in the Giulia Geranium blog. Once last June (in our random series, "Scots We Like...") & again at the beginning of this year.

Let's just say that if an interesting, attractive, single man approaches you while you are sitting at an Amnesty International table, engages animatedly with you for who-knows-how-long, & offers not once, but THREE times, to fetch his copy of an alumni magazine to give to you...take the offer. Because no matter how much information you've exchanged, if you don't know his name or where he works, duh, you'll never be able to contact him if you finally, finally get what he was trying to say (beyond the importance of hearing this speech).This was witnessed by a good friend who knows what she sees, she couldn't believe what she saw. I am, in fact, an idiot quite often.

Returning home that day, after my personal failure-in-hindsight, I read the speech online (dial-up doesn't do YouTube). I was a sobbing mess after reading about Rowling's early stint at Amnesty's London office. I knew exactly what she meant & have been in the same exact situation. I knew she'd spoken at Harvard; the press mentioned not one bloody thing about Amnesty. I (& enlisted others) badgered them to finally mention her shout-out on the mother-page website. I began to post regularly on GG (one-year anniversary is Monday, 4 May) because of this encounter. I just saw, when I went to get the link that it took me from 15 June to 21 June to post it. Hmmm.

Over the past year, I've received (& continue to receive) scores of email (I didn't take comments on GG until recently) from humanitarian field workers thanking me for posting it. This was the first they heard of the speech, too. So I'm rerunning the photo that I found back then, the link to Harvard Magazine, online.

A stubborn, peeved me wants to reprint the whole thing here & force the issue. But if people don't want to read it, what can I do? It's hugely important to me. And if anything comes out of my personal failure to act, then that will be something. Yes, he came back & left his contact information; the idiot at the table who relieved me of duty felt it was "inappropriate" & tossed it. I got that much out of my colleague. And no, the man does not know it. So, while I hear from people around the world, someone who lives but two miles (at most) is out of reach. Yes, I was a reporter & have excellent investigative skills & a bunch of information. Couldn't be done, gracefully.

I'll be back but I don't know when. Meanwhile, I see that The Clever Pup has a mouth-watering feast to attend ...I see it in my Google Reader...and very important: Tina's dad at The English Muse was rushed to hospital...please check in on her, those of you who are regulars. I can only see that he's OK but can't see the details. She must be slammed with exhaustion.
See you later. Happy May Day.

[4 June 2009 temporary update to photos: JK Rowling writing-in-full-view because I cannot stand to see the Harvard photo come up in LinkedWithin every single day so many times. Still looking for better pix. 4 June 2009]
[second photo/Harvard University Magazine/online]

Too Darn Hot

Oh. My. God. Turned on the a/c (guilt) last night when the apartment thermostat ventured past the 95F mark, into the unknown. As in 100F. Playing Ella singing Too Darn Hot. More of same today. Will post photos to publish but probably not much more. [photograph, Ella sings at Mr. Kelly's nightclub, Chicago, 1958, by Yale Joel/LIFE archives]