The Snow Queen

Snow Queen, BBC, 2006

HRH and I watched the 2006 BBC version of The Snow Queen this evening. I've never seen an entire film like it. It was like watching a memory. It had a very strong fairy tale feeling. As you would expect, they toned down a few parts and yet there were still pieces that were deemed "Scary". And the music matched the mood.

When I was a child, I lived in fairy tales. I read every one I could get my hands on. But this child of mine... less so. She lives in the real world. She has never read The Snow Queen. When I bring out my treasured volumes of Grimms or Hans Christian Anderson, or even all the lovely Fairy Books of many colors edited by Andrew Lang, they are considered either too scary, or too boring, and sometimes (as in the case of the Snow Queen), both.

But she liked this movie. And I liked it too.

The George Eastman House photostream

I stumbled upon the George Eastman House Photostream today, while looking for something else entirely. So many beautiful images. The woman in this first image had such beautiful Pre-Raphaelite eyes...

Woman's Face, photgraphed by Dr. Ludwik Silberstein, 1915,
via the George Eastman House: Autochromes

And this second one just looked like something I would wear. It's not that I wish we all dressed like this again, because despite the beauty, clothes were uncomfortable then. But I do love it when I see details and detailing with whispers of this era, come back around again.

Woman Wearing Red Dress..., photographer unknown, 1915,
via the George Eastman House: Autochromes

The Beauty and Tragedy of Madelaine

Tragic, by Madelaine

I love reading Design*Sponge. It's just wonderful in every way. I find so many charming people and ideas there, all the time.

Anyway, this week, Design*Sponge takes a look at the beautiful home of Rebekah of Sigfrids Design. Among Rebekah's images shared from her home, was this enchanting photograph by Madelaine.

For me, that photo made the whole room.

I started searching for more images from this photographer... and found them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Madelaine's Favorite, by Madelaine



The Fall, by Madelaine



The Ghost's Letter, by Madelaine

Varmints

image via Cartoon Brew

This movie looks so beautiful!

Here is a link to the preview (also posted on Cartoon Brew) from the Studioaka website:
"(Varmint) tells the story of one small creature’s struggle to preserve a world in danger of being lost forever through recklessness and indifference... Adapted and directed by Marc Craste, Varmints is a 24-minute film based on the award-winning book of the same name by Helen Ward and illustrated by Craste "

Image of book cover, via Amazon UK

Through Emilie's Poloroid eyes

Chelsea at Frolic posted the most ethereal mysterious set of poloroids, by emilie 79*.
I couldn't help but wander over to look at the rest of her beautiful images.
Each one makes me think of a story I could get lost in.
Here are a few of the ones I like most.

ombre et lumière, originally uploaded by emilie79*.

La banquise à Paris, originally uploaded by emilie79*.

This is how our story ends., originally uploaded by emilie79*.

Entrenched

Image via Ronda Carmen's blog, All the Best, via this fantastic book, Trench by Nick Foulkes

I love the images that All the Best has grabbed from this little book. I think I might get myself a copy. Although, then again I might not because I spent all my book points this week on this incredible book (Hiroshige's Edo: 100 Famous Views of Edo) from Tashen. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Tachen?

*sigh*

image from book, via Danielle de Lange's The Style Files

I love reading The Style Files, and when Danielle blogged about this book, I couldn't resist.

I thought it might be a fun project to repaint the walls in my bathroom. I figured it would be a three day job. I was so wrong. I am ALWAYS so wrong when it comes to projects like this. Why, oh why do I never learn?! The paint that was already there, was peeling, which meant that I needed to remove it all.... and here, we are, a mere 2 months later, and I am ALMOST ready to start priming.

BUT, the good news is that I had plenty of time to think about what kind of paint I wanted to repaint with. And there is one perfect perfect wall with room for a painting, poster, or image of some kind.

I never know what to do with walls, which is silly. I have PILES AND PILES of old art of mine but I don't usually like to hang my own art on the walls. Silly, know, but there you are. And yet, I feel silly putting someone else's art on the wall because putting something of mine would be so much more reflective of the lives of a Single Mom and her Royal Highness.

But maybe I will sink into this new and wonderful book, and then take some long walks along the ocean near our apartment, and see if I can put something together.... at the very least, I can maybe put the bathroom back together again, and that'll be something worth donning go go boots and trench coats for.

Put a paint roller in that woman's hand, and she is me.

Booyah.

I might be friends with Superman now

I will occasionally get someone on Facebook or Myspace or etc, that wants me to add them to my list of friends, even though we have never met or even exchanged words. To which I usually reply, "why?"

I mean, if we have never even exchanged hellos, why should I add you to my list of friends? How will my new and burgeoning friendship with you improve my life? What amazing features ABOUT you, can I pull out to impress my already existing friends?

Today, I got this reply:

1. I'm smart
2. I'm tall
3. I'm awesome
4. I'm unstoppable
5. I own 5 ties

Which is, admit it, a pretty awesome reply. Change the tense and I would want it for an epitaph. I may steal it for my epitaph anyway. After all, can they REALLY nail you for plagiarism, if you're dead?

Where the Hell is Matt?

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
also, in case, like me, you were curious, here's a link to who the hell is Matt?

Thank you to Rebby from Rebecca's blog, for posting this. It's silly but it makes me happy.

Also, when I grow up, I want to marry someone like Matt.

A Thousand Days in Tuscany

Image via Patricia Gray's blog

I have spent the summer, soaking in the words of Marlena de Blasi. Her three books, A Thousand Days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, and The Lady in the Palazzo, have been almost like taking a vacation to Italy, just by reading them. She writes in such a way that you feel almost as if you lived her moments with her. You feel her loves, whether it is for her romantic husband, or for delicate fresh squash blossoms lightly fried and served with rich red wine while watching the sun set.

I was thrilled when I discovered these photos from interior designer Patricia Gray's trip to Italy. Gray's professional work is clean, elegant, modern with a touch of sophisticated glamor.
But in her photos, she has captured the age and gently declining beauty of the world around her. Rich vibrant colors emerge in the play of light along the edges of ancient looking buildings and alleys and walkways.Her images make me feel like I am there with her, seeing what she sees. Like when reading de Blasi, I am instantly transported.

They lend color to my dreams.

Image via Patricia Gray's blog

"and the walls became the world all around."

image (and bed itself, which is lovely) via Shawn Lovell Metalworks,
via Charles & Marie's Navigator blog

I love this bed. It reminds me of something out of Where the Wild Things Are. I loved that book so much when I was little, I had it memorized. To this day, I could probably recite it for you if we were ever trapped in an elevator together (give or take a word here or there).

If I could only pick 10 books to take with me into isolation for a year, this would be one of the 10. Although, having said that, if I was in a situation where I had to (A) live a year of my live with only 10 books, and (B) walk away from the thousands of books I have collected over my lifetime and piled into corners like some madman's house of cards, except of course with books... I would be having bigger issues that trying to pick 10 books.

... I quite possibly DO have bigger issues than trying to pick out 10 books....

In any case, it would be more like 1 down, 9 more to go. Interestingly, I saw on IMDB that Spike Lee is making a movie of Where the Wild Things Are, due out next year.

Hmmmm...

It almost makes me want to get myself a monster suit.

There are moments where I wish I was Karl Lagerfeld

Image of Karl Lagerfeld's library, via Studio Annetta, from Elle Decor (UK, but I can't find a link to that particular edition, alas)

"Books are a hardbound drug with no danger of overdose. I am the happy victim of books."- Karl Lagerfeld

It's interesting, trying to imagine what kinds of books would find themselves in Karl Lagerfeld's library. Even if I couldn't be Karl Lagerfeld (which is just a little bit like someone trying to be Liberace... there can be only one), I love the romance of his Fall/Winter collection, mixed with this image of this library.

Beautiful.

image from KL's 2008/2009 Winter/Fall collection, via Karen Kooper

With love for the red jacket

I love this jacket, by Tulle Clothing, for Plasticland.

... except that wouldn't it be even cooler if the buttons in the front were a little closer together, almost slightly more military. And smaller and traveled all along the front. And if there was a row of about 6-12 of more of the same, smaller buttons along each sleeve. Cloth covered or possibly metallic. And if it had a nice neru jacket type mandarin collar.

I think that might be just about perfect.

Beer Bra

So, the BaconSalt got me thinking… don’t get me wrong, I bet it’s great, I’m just saying that the kind of guys that invented BaconSalt, are probably kind of like the guys that came up with the Beer Bra. Oh wait, I’m sorry, that sounds so tacky. It’s the Wine Rack.

image via beerbelly.com

" The Winerack every girls best friend!
Turn an A cup in to double Ds AND sport your favorite beverage for yourself and your friends!
Better than a Boob Job and Cheaper Too! Not to mention the savings on over priced drinks."

The Wine Rack is an inflatable bra you can fill with booze. Not ONLY does it increase your bra size (oh yeay) but you can give your man a much needed stealth beverage at, let’s say, sporting events. Your man, I should mention, who probably bought you your beer bra in the first place, because it matched his Beerbelly.

And when you met, it went something kinda like this:

“wow, that’s quite a gut you got there.”

(pats gut proudly) “yesserie, that’s not just any beer gut little lady. This bladder is loaded with BONA-FIDE vino. That’s Italian.”

“You don’t say.”

“yes Mam.” (squints), “… you want some BaconSalt?”

I'm probably just mocking because I’m jealous. But, you know, if you are the kind of guy that has a Beerbelly and a case of BaconSalt, and no Honey with a WineRack of her own, you might want to consider getting yourself one of these:

"The Buddy Blanket", via Charles and Marie

"Because Everything Should Taste Like Bacon"

Follow Justin and Dave on their quest
to make everything taste like... well, you get the picture...

OK, you know those little ad links that appear at the top of gmail? Mostly I don't even see them, but every once in awhile, they stand out. They are sometimes vaguely tied in to words that were exchanged IN my emails.... sometimes in the most inappropriate ways. In any case, this one made me click the link. Maybe it's just me, but I think BaconSalt sounds hilarious. And somehow inevitable.

Pascal Blanchet

image via the website of Pascal Blanchet.

First of all, I seem to be a sucker for anything on a craft paper or plain cardboard background. I love the simplicity of Blanchet's style. How clean and whimsical everything is. How such bare bones lines and shape tell so much story. Genius.

"I'm first of all an illustrator. To me it's more than a day job, it's something I really love to do"
-Pascal Blanchet

Bright Lights, Big Lamps

A friend invited her Royal Highness and myself to the Marin County fair to watch the Fireworks. We spent a lazy morning at home, and then a wonderful afternoon with good people and good food, and then wandered over to the fair about an hour before the sun began to set. It was fun.

It's funny, trying to look back on where I've been for the fourth for the last few years. Last year, I thought it would be a really great idea to climb up on the roof of my building. From the roof, I have a perfect view of Golden Gate Bridge. We could see fireworks displays from three different directions. It should have been fantastic, but what I didn't take into consideration was the completely unreasonable fear of heights I suddenly developed. Silly me



I tried taking pictures of the fire flowers in the sky, but I didn't have my tripod, so these are the best I could do. It was funny, the way the Fair reminded me of The moon Festival I went to in Kyoto, last year

I took this shot of one of the rides from the Marin County Fair, July 2008

This is a picture I took at the Moon Festival at Daikaku-Ji temple in Kyoto, September 2007.

Maybe it says something kind of wonderful about the ability of people to come together and celebrate, wherever we are, and with whatever we have.


On Sunday, I went back to the Alameda Antiques Fair. I think I might be addicted. I looked in vain for the strange Harlequin lamp I didn't buy last time, but he was gone.

Alas.

Instead, I found this:
I don't know why, but that made me smile. It's so much fun, to watch the people that come to the Antiques Fair. Almost as much fun as watching the things that are there.

"You know why women come together..." I hear two women talking as they pass me, "it's because women get it... that this is part of the adventure. We enjoy the process of looking through and finding treasures..."

And it's true, that there are a lot of women who come here with their friends. But there are people of every age and type here. Women and men, alone or in groups, Hippies and Goths, snobs and students, young and old, couples and friends, people that are just as happy to BE there as I am, and people that are quietly but constantly bickering with each other.

Although I never find my Harlequin, my eyes are caught by this silver bamboo style floor lamp. I go over to ask the woman at the booth if she can tell me any more about the lamp. And what she tells me is that is was acquired at an Estate sale, and that the woman that owned it before, collected Asian antiques, and that there is a second lamp, and because I am standing there looking undecided, she makes me an offer. Both lamps for $40. And so home with me they come.

This is not an impressive picture, I admit, but they will look wonderful when they finally find their place in my living room. And they remind me of these lamps by William Sonoma, that are also kind of nice:

Image via Williams-Sonoma.

The moment I pick the lamps up and begin to walk away with them, people watch them go. It's another part of the fun of going to the Antiques fair... Looking for bargains, and looking to see what other people get for bargains. As I am walking towards the front gate, I hear a man point me out to his wife and nod his head. "There go your lamps," he tells her. I smile, but walk a little faster. I have three different groups of people shout out to me, on my way to the parking lot. What great lamps! those are beautiful! And I nod, because they are.

Cherry Blossom Lights

I saw these lights in a store window on Valencia, a few months ago. I was enchanted. The only place I've been able to track them down is from an english site, Graham & Green.

Graham & Green have several other lit flower concepts, and they all look beautiful. I wish they had a store here in the Bay Area.