Blue Moon

Have a wonderful long weekend if you're in the States and Canada. Wherever you are, enjoy the Blue Moon this evening. See this site for beautiful photographs, illustrations, & the best writing for astronomy lovers (who may not know all that much - I don't.) Here are more night sky posts on Giulia Geranium.

I'll be back soon. Somehow. Comments still turned off but feel free to pop in to Twitter (join!) or Pinterest.

Susan/xo

(photograph by Beata Rydén)

Summer Ballet

Hello all. A reminder that the summer Ballet in Cinema series has three ballets left: The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, & La Source. I think this is only in North America. So many of you are elsewhere so please let me know if you have anything comparable. I'll keep looking.

Also in ballet-land: I've recommended Ballet Beautiful streaming videos before & here's an enticement: 15% off for July. Enter BBJULY in the code box as you check out. I recommend Swan Arms to begin. (Also the, um, butt series:)

Hope you're neither too hot nor too cold (nor too wet). This is a summer of extremes around the world. Climate change much? (Fie upon the deniers.)

xo/Susan

(photograph/crop detail by Prabuddha Dasgupta; tulle underskirt by Vivienne Westwood. How I wish I were standing on a boulder at the crashing sea.)

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)

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)

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.

Fireflies

Being a self-respecting fashion photography obsessive, I love Tim Walker. Click here for a short Vogue Italia film. What self-restraint--only one photograph. It's like being on a diet. Just playing around, I can't do much at moment. Julie the Cat & I have been moon watching. In other night light news, I am happy to report that the annual festival of fireflies is lighting up a pagoda-shaped pine out back. I wait for it every year. Julie is still on a chair looking out, but her mewing-reportage has subsided so I think the show is over.

Ghost of Electricity

That's all that remains in this apartment, as I walked in arms full of flowers & perishables from the farmer's market. Storms you ask? Why, no, that would be understandable. One outlet & I'm supposed to be happy for it? I actually know how this stuff works (or doesn't). Yeah, that stuns me too.

I'm deducting the cost of all perishables from the damn PEPCO bill. Apologies to nice people who arrive here for the first time. I am rather excitable, yes, but this is the limit. I have lived/travelled in places where this is to be expected. Archaeological digs, countries at war, etc. But. The whole country (& connected Canada) will go this way if people continue to snooze at the mention of the power grid. Really. I've jokingly told friends I will in the future consider only dating men who have generators (or the ability to rig something up that won't kill me). Not survivalist types. Egad. We'd fight to the death in 10 minutes, politically speaking. I'd win, too.

I'm now looking at typewriters online. I suppose the old pedal sewing machine is next.There goes the rest of the power. Fume.

Friday update, 1.15pm: off again; on a bit; bound to go off again completely soon (the electricity)

[second photograph by Eugenio Recuenco]

Summer Afternoon, Summer Afternoon

"In 1897, Henry James leased Lamb House, a villa in Sussex. He bought it a few years later and lived there until his death in 1916. One of his frequent visitors was his close friend the novelist Edith Wharton. In A Backward Glance(1934), Edith Wharton wrote about a day trip with Henry James to Bodiam Castle, near Lamb House: "Tranquil white clouds hung above it in a windless sky, and the silence and solitude were complete as we sat looking across at the crumbling towers, and at their reflection in a moat starred with water-lilies, and danced over by great blue dragonflies. For a long time no one spoke; then James turned to me and said solemnly: 'Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.'"' The Writer's Almanac, June 24, 2010

The 100+ (F) heat & sudden downpours (& power outages) continue, but the weather is to take a turn towards the fair & unusually clear the next few days here in DC (& beaches). So it may well be that the inn where I'm headed, ruled over by a benevolent Englishwoman, will indeed be rather England-in-the best-of-weather. And I didn't even have to buy a plane ticket.

This is an excuse to post a Walter Crane illustration - I use many on Julie's blog. It's titled Spring, but I think it's summery. Since when do marguerites bloom in the spring in England (or here)? Poor confused man. [second illustration is via here & is not Crane but it suits my whim.]

Moreau Making Waves

The Ocean On Bicycles from runrobot on Vimeo.

As long as you don't make waves, ripples, life seems easy. But that's condemning yourself to impotence and death before you are dead. Jeanne Moreau

Lovely little film, The Ocean on Bicycles: A Gray Afternoon in June via Cycle Chic - The Original from Copenhagen. Here is Roger Ebert review of Jules et Jim ( 1962), many years later (in 2004). I may burst before I get to the sea (soon). I hope to have the energy to cycle at least one loop around a wildlife refuge. I'll try. In my Breton stripes, of course. Update - click through to the vimeo site above to see a larger version of the video.

[photographs by Raymond Cauchetier, uncredited still photographer; also Douglas Kirkland]

Breathe

I just like it, that's all. And it's an unusually cool night & I took down the curtains except for the ones like these. (Sleep mask, that's how. Or drugs. Legal! If only the ocean were this close.)

[photograph by jane flanagan, via we heart it]

Week's End - Day at the Beach

This was going to be 'no day at the beach' but these are too cute, though that older one seems a bit bossy. These are not necessarily two sisters as I have older cousins & felt like a little sister quite often. However, the three younger sibsters will fill your ear about my alleged bossiness. Propriety - & a lack of time to write a clever riposte (for now) - prevents me from making my case. (I said, for now, B, E, J....mwahahaha). If they're not good, I'll scan photos on a new-to-me printer/scanner & post them. Let me think on what I shall take in return for not doing so...hmmm.... Nope, can't be bought. Ciao!

[photographs by Nina Leen, LIFE Archives]

On the Horizon

On the way here (huge storm)...but click here if you want to see a funny photograph of a friend's nephew; Ian is in the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Hilarious. That's what we've all been doing (watching on-line or at the downtown DC Hyatt). I spoke with Ian & his auntie Maria Caterina di Perugia on speakerphone just a bit ago--live from the hive (sorry, I can't help myself; it's a sickness). So far, so good. (He reminds me of Calvin - of Calvin & Hobbes!) Buona fortuna, Ian!

{Update: Ian is the third photo--the exact link did not "take."}

[Gorgeous photograph by Giampaolo Macorig who does storms better than anyone. Look at it up close. I want to live right there. Now.]

Dancing in France

A well-known photograph by photojournalist Paul Almásy (1906-2003), Rock 'n' Roll sur les Quais de Paris but I want to get June on the road here. The last thing I feel like is dancing but I could be persuaded by just the right (or wrong) sort. I love the second photograph, too, so I'm including it though they're not dancing; maybe just a little break. It's about 1948 in Paris. Everyone can make up their own story.

I just noticed the third image in my folder--an atmospheric (short-hand for 'messed up':) shot of Audrey Hepburn & Fred Astaire rehearsing a dance in France. Can't resist putting it in--yes, Funny Face by Avedon via Audrey1.org.

[Here is the Almásy archive, owned by akg-images. If you just have to have a copy of Rock 'n' Roll, there are some on sale at allposters (dot) com.]

Tempest

A great storm is on the way. Exciting if, big IF, we don't lose power for a week+. Julie is causing/having a mini-tempest; off to see to HRH's latest complaint about the service. Go to the link to see the original size of this very cool photograph by Giampaolo. All those punctuation marks are birds... ciao

Here's Your Hat...

Though it sounds very Blondie (the comic strip, not Deborah Harry), I need one more (hat). It's so hot outside that I'm delaying errands until early evening (when the hail & thunder will no doubt arrive...timing is not my forté), hence the hat hunting. The b&w Nina Leen photographs were shot for fun. Perhaps that's why Suzy Parker popped the goofy number on her head. It's definitely a case of "one of these things is not like the others." (I love the blue dress.) And that's why I need one more hat; I miss my beloved messed-up (real) Panama. It's less girly when that is necessary & it has a coolness factor that I need.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, I left the hat in my mother's car. It was a somewhat contentious weekend & very hot, as well. I painted a lot of trellises, pruned a lot of roses, & whatever else was on her list. She popped out to do some errands & a pint of Ben & Jerry's was placed in the upended hat. Panama hats can withstand a lot of abuse, but a desert-battered chapeau will go to hat heaven when it becomes a Chunky Monkey Lake. I don't even like that flavor!

[I can't remember where I got the color Suzy pix but myvintagevogue has a very nice selection, so here's that link. The Panama is via Village Hat Shop (dot) com]

Sunday Summer Soup, Menton

A quick & wonderful soup that I make a lot. This is a tweaked post from last August (2008) on Giulia Geranium. While I have since acquired a new blender, I remain camera-less (save a disposable), & so yes, this is a scan of a basil sprig. What can I say? Last summer I was a bit stir-crazy. Enjoy & think of Julia Child as her birthday was yesterday (August 15). Ciao!

Soup Menton

This is an excellent summer soup that allows you to take full advantage of your garden (or the farmer’s market). A few shelled peas or several tiny cauliflower flowerettes may be added to it.

8 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely minced
1-pound fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded
2 cups new potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 cups young green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 small zucchini, cut into cubes
½ cup broken-up spaghetti*
1-cup fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmeggiano cheese (if you don’t have fresh, leave it out, you’ll live)
3 egg yolks (optional, but see note below)


1. In a large casserole heat 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions and cook without browning for 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, & beans. Season with salt & pepper & cover with 6 to 8 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil & reduce the heat. Simmer the soup partially covered for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost tender.

3. Add the zucchini & spaghetti and continue simmering the soup for 12 to 15 minutes more or until all the vegetables are tender. Do not overcook. The soup must retain its freshness.

4. While the soup is simmering, combine the basil, garlic, & parmeggiano in a blender. Add enough of the remaining olive oil to make a smooth paste. You will need about 5 tablespoons.

5. Just before serving (off the heat), whisk the basil paste into the soup. Correct the seasoning & serve.

For a more refined soup, mix the egg yolks with a little more of the broth, & whisk the egg-yolk mixture into the soup. In this case, the soup must not come to a boil again or the yolks will curdle.

A firm tomato, peeled, seeded & cut into tiny cubes, is a lovely addition to the soup just before serving. When including peas in the soup, they should be added no more than 5 to 8 minutes before the soup is done. Cauliflower flowerettes can be added together with the zucchini.

©Recipe from Perla Meyers, The Seasonal Kitchen, A Return to Fresh Foods, Vintage Books edition, 1975.

*Remarks. Ahem. This is an old (early 1970s) cookbook & some things might drive the au courant version of a food snob mad, such as breaking up spaghetti & tossing it into a soup. Stop the hissy fits, it’s so unbecoming. Intentional pasta breakage occurs in Italian & French kitchens every day of the week. It is a good way to use those odd bits at the bottom of boxes & such. Just don’t do it when you’re serving pasta as the star.

About the eggs: it makes a divine difference & highly recommended to non-vegans & French-fancy-averse cooks who are chicken (ha!) about it. Still, don’t do it if you aren’t going to use the egg whites for omelettes or soufflés or meringues (freeze them). Egg whites make a fabulous facial masque, by the by. Haven’t done it in years, but I'm fairly sure egg whites haven’t changed. Anyway, the yolks aren’t necessary but do try it at least once to show how open-minded, sophisticated, & non-alarmist you are about eggs-as-lethal weapons.

NOTE: In the sidebar, under Dept. of Travel, Jilly Bennett has two wonderful photo blogs from the South of France. She lives in Menton & the soup post led me to her photography, blogs, & her animal rescue work in France. She's been so very generous in allowing me to use a few photographs on Giulia G's blog. She's featuring a lavender festival in Sainte-Agnès currently--it's a gorgeous series.

Pool Party

My vintage postcard collection contains several Mainzer cat cards. Here's the website...when I bought them about 20 years ago, I had no idea what they were except that they were hilarious. I laughed out loud when I saw this in My Pictures just now; before I delete it, I'll post it. (These have scalloped edges that don't come out very well in the scans.)

Tennis, anyone?

I love it. I grew up with it. I collected Bjorn Borg covers & clippings. Went to every exhibition match possible; it must have been amusing to adults. My mother was a brilliant amateur player. Very upset & downhearted that I missed Federer's magnificent win. Watched the Guardian online tweet-updates, for hours, sitting at my desk--that's how much I love it & RF (no disrespect to Andy).

Also, reading about the Woman Who Cracked My Tooth. I'd love to say good riddance but I fear that she's merely regrouping. (I certainly hope nothing is wrong with anyone's health, etc. Just to be clear. I'm not a mean person. Just stay in Alaska & drive them nuts, will ya?) Hazel at The Clever Pup has a funny Whazzup Sarah! post & many people were commenting on it today, here.

[ LIFE archives/Wimbledon file/lady in pink is by Albert Lynch in 1893/second is at Wimbledon itself/not attributed]

Happy Vintage Fourth of July from DC

After so many years in DC, I've a cache of personal & professional-photographers-who-are/were-uh-friends Fourth of July fireworks pix. Where are they? I do not know. (I'm in the midst of tearing up the apartment, shredding, tossing, cleaning, etc.) I hereby vow to find photographs for Christmas in the next few weeks so I won't be caught up short then, too.

Fortunately, Jessica at myvintagevogue has two great vintage shots. The photograph above is by Robert Kahan , Glamour magazine, 1942. Jessica included, as will I, the Condé Nast Store website link.

(The other one, here...it's spectacularly Graeco-Roman-goddess-as-American symbol. My ancient history & architecture professor would be in heaven. Sadly, he is in heaven for real. And he would've enjoyed that cheeky comment, so no booing, please.)

The little red shot is a pathetic one of mine excavated from the desk drawer, undated. The collage & other shot are by ohad* on flickr commons (from 2006). Don't know where or if I'll see any fireworks tonight. All is in flux. I do wish friends who live at 13th & U with a rooftop were in town this year. A great place to have a drink, kibbitz, ooh & ahh, & then three floors down to the apartment. Just like that. Yesterday out & about on the Mall at the Smithsonian's annual Folk Life Festival, fabulous as usual. A friend & I had a lot of fun & catching up to do but ...just thinking about getting back on the Red Line to the Mall--which is not far--lacks appeal. For a fireworks fanatic (me), that's saying something.

Signing off with a cheery, Sparklers Forever!

Week's End - Summer Sparklers

Fourth of July Eve pix-into-collage. Though I have approximately 1 million (I counted) photos of various Fourths (including in France & Italy, explanation forthcoming), no time to organize them & scan. I dearly wish I could be a girl on the beach with sparklers this year.

More tonight or tomorrow. Perhaps with a bit of coherence, even? Maybe.

[Girl on the beach by Peter Stackpole, LIFE Archives; remaining by John Dominis for LIFE' girl in converse sneaks by D Sharon Pruitt/Creative Commons flickr set ]