
If you can steal some moments away to read but have finished a book & are flipping through the same 3 magazines, or are at home & can't get out to the library or bookstore, I have a few links. I remember being on more than one trip & in the same situation & not even close to an inadequate newsstand.
Lori of automatism has a good label, magazines + newspapers (& she always has beautiful photographs to share). Poets & Writers magazine's annual Inspiration issue arrived yesterday. I've not had a moment to open it, but it usually lives up to its title. The New Yorker always has good features accessible to non-subscribers, though it's not the same if you don't subscribe. The Guardian has an excellent book site, including links for children & teens, suggestions for seasonal reading.
If you enjoy poetry, The Poetry Foundation's website is excellent with many searchable features. Here's The New York Review of Books (I am only 3 issues behind, ahem). To round off the New York pubs, here's New York magazine which is always amusing. And if you miss Frank Rich in the Times, remember, he moved to NY magazine. Here's his latest column: The Molotov Party. Even if you don't live in the States, you should read it. Make that, especially if you don't live here, you should read it.
I need to finish reading a manuscript but picking it up just before I go to sleep has not been a good idea (& it is a good story). So off to read today. If you've something to recommend, please do. I love having lists to take to the library, bookstore, & newsstand & not just the end-of-the year lists by The New York Times (though theirs is always good).I'll be back for New Year's Eve. Cheers everyone!
(Woman Reading by Gabriel Ferrier via Art Inconnu)
I'll be going to this exhibit at The Phillips Collection more than once, I know. I remember a reproduction of a Degas painting & some (repro) drawings at my maternal grandmother's house. I never had the reaction that others did of "oooh pretty." I liked them very much but I remember saying/thinking: They're working so hard that it might hurt. And also it might be boring sometimes. I learned not a few years later (through a sister & later on, friends) that this could often be the case. Not that they would trade their training for anything. So there you are.
There's also a Degas exhibit on in Boston (nudes) & one at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. There are some good articles in the New York Times & a good slideshow on The Guardian. Here's the Degas label on The Guardian, too, so you can see all the article titles at once.I hope to post more regularly as autumn marches on. But I've said that before. Part of the problem is deciding how to use the space. I've not been writing from prompts as much as I did at the beginning. Maybe I don't have to define what I'm doing but it feels like I should.
(Dancers at the Barre/Phillips Collection via Wikipedia)


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)