The Littlest Stenographer

Belated Blog Swap: Structured Chaos

2009-12-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago I participated in a blog swap with Ladi Pattie of My Structured Chaos. She is the sweetest person and sent me a wonderful handmade bag and a handmade book! The color combinations and many fabrics of the bag are really stunning, and I hope the photos I took give at least a glimmer of that. Here's a little bit about her and her shop:

Online Shop Address

www.structuredchaos.net

Blog Address

www.mystructuredchaos.blogspot.com

Facebook Fan page url

www.facebook.com/StructuredChaos

A bit about yourself

My name is Ladipo, I am 20. I am the youngest of seven, and was raised with a love for all things handmade.
I currently am a freshmen in college, but I have been here for 2 years now.

What made you start your business

It was a combination of things, but mainly it was when I came to college and I told myself that I was no longer going to hide behind my fear of failure, and I was going to open me a shop!
I'm really happy that I did :) I learned so much and met many wonderful people.

What you plan to accomplish with your business

I really don't know actually. I just want to have fun, and make people happy.

What you get most out of having your own business

When I complete a project I get this feeling of self accomplishment. I guess it is kind of selfish, but I don't mind it that much :)

Your favorite independently owned online shop

Currently I am loving...
http://www.etsy.com/shop/fibrevolution (fiber -> evolution)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/chelsea3349 (lovely little shop)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/OhSmile (Oh Smile)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Makool (Makool Loves You)

We Need A Little Christmas

2009-12-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

Its one of those years around our house, when, though not in the doldrums, Christmas things just don't seen to be happening yet. I have every intention of making sugar cookies, and soon...but things are taking awhile to get done :) The tree is a great example. My dad and brother picked it up on Sunday, yesterday the lights got put on, but the ornaments still haven't quite made it out of the boxes. That could partially be the fault of the T-Pain auto tune app on our friends iphone...maybe. But really, who can resist recording "I will Survive" or freestyling about the various objects in the room, I ask you? Freestyling is apparently not a word according my spellchecker, but neither is iphone, so that just shows you how old this computer is. Spellchecker is a word, which seems a bit biased. Oh well, best of luck with your merry making, and remember to spike the eggnog!

Saturday Inspiration: Eva Cassidy

2009-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Past is Past

2009-12-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

Still going through old photos on my computer. Christi, my college roommate, and I played Lydia and Kitty, respectively, in a stage version of Pride and Prejudice. It was an interesting experience and we were much stupider when all was said and done :)

I know its not a great picture, but the blurriness speaks to our collective state of mind.

Some Old Photos

2009-12-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

At the Huntington Library and Gardens

Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Table

Assos, Greece

Kitchen Table

I found these going through photos saved to my computer over the last few years, some I took traveling, others in the places I lived. I kinda like 'em, so I thought I'd share :)

Oh, Bing, You Lady Killer

2009-12-01T09:33:00.001-08:00

Happy December 1st!

Les Miserables

2009-11-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

Probably the best musical for shower singing. Really, there's no contest.

New Vintage!

2009-11-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Vintage Red Pleated Skirt.

Vintage Teal Blouse.

Vintage Earthtoned Pleated Skirt.

Well, they'll be new for you when you buy them from my shop :)

Say Good Night, Turkey.

2009-11-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

Get Busy Living, Or

2009-11-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

The other day a made Something.

The green pouch, made from a (clean, unused) microfiber cleaning bag, goes inside the blue pouch made from an old quilted table runner (which I thought was headed to the donation bin, but my mother informed me otherwise after the damage was done...oops!), and the Amazing New Camera (!!!) goes into both!

On that note, and since Thanksgiving is just a day away, I'm thankful for that moment when cool technology and handmade can come together, and play nicely. It's easy to prize one over the other, but its better when they can be reconciled peacefully in our everyday lives.

I live life in spits and spurts and and lately its been more of a spurt than the spitting image of private industry, but I'm hoping this holiday week and coming season will carry inspiration and refreshment for the soul. What are you thankful for? And what are you hoping for?

Well Bred

2009-11-24T13:30:00.001-08:00

I'm not entirely sure where it comes from, but lately I've been rather obsessed with deportment, pearls, and rose-scented soap. Perhaps it comes from imbibing in too much etiquette literature, but who can resist the charm of Miss Manners or Miss Post?

An Open Letter to My Father

2009-11-22T10:43:00.001-08:00

My dear Progenitor,

Although I am aware that our lovely house is situated favorably in the Southern lands of California, I am writing to argue in favor of heating our humble yet spacious abode as the nights grow progressively less temperate. Indeed, only last night, that I might not freeze to death in my tenuous sleep, I added an extra blanket and wore a goose down ski jacket. I do not mean to complain, but please bear in mind that I am small and possessed of poor circulation.

Your humble yet loquacious,
Paige

this is how i feel right now

2009-11-17T13:55:00.001-08:00

but i should be working :)

Film Love: The Brothers Bloom

2009-11-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

Photos found here,

and here,

and also here.

Oh, how I love this movie. I watched it twice over the weekend, and am strongly inclined to watch it again before sending it back to Netflix. I resonate strongly with Rachel Weisz's quirky character Penelope, and I'm a sucker an adorable con man with a heart of gold (aka Adrien Brody, but he's held a special place in my heart since The Darjeeling Limited)... :) And Bang Bang reminds me of my youngest sister. I know it got a lot of flack for being too stylized when it came out last spring, but I thought the style worked arm in arm with the fantastical story it told, and I loved the idea of a story as "a lie that tells the truth" and a photograph as a "secret about a secret." I want a leopard coat and a floppy hat, like now.

Sigh.

2009-11-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

Apart from a dentist visit this morning and a lovely mid morning walk back from said visit (I saw a snake! A little snake, but a snake nonetheless), I took an impromptu day off from life. It was not my fault! It's this Georgette Heyer minx keeping me up til all hours with her tales of saucy young ladies and wicked Dukes, Marquis, Lords who not the less lovable for all their bad behavior and perhaps more so. In the last week I've read These Old Shades (finished Sunday morning, 3:02 am), The Devil's Cub (Monday morning, 2:47 am), and Regency Buck today. I'm in love. Anyone have a time machine they're willing to loan for a one way trip?

Dedication

2009-11-11T11:20:00.001-08:00

Lion's Mane.

Wanderlust

2009-11-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

I think about being a vagabond a lot. There is something particularly wonderful about traveling light. When my mom took me to Italy after graduating high school we only took carry on luggage, which made making our way through the cities and on and off of trains a breeze (unless we got on the wrong train...). That way of traveling had quite an impact on me, and still has great appeal. I constantly wonder if life could be lived that lightly. So lightly you good virtually pick up and go at any time to any where imaginable. But then I start to make lists of what I would really need/want, and it gets longer and longer. I'm moving across the country soon so this has some urgency as I decide what to take, get rid of, or store in my parents house. There's a lot I can shed like a snake skin, but also a lot I'm attached to.

Some things I can't live without:
My Sewing Machine
My Easel

What I'd like to not live without:
My typewriter

All three of those make plane travel cumbersome, but I'm also very determined when I make up my mind.

Something else: books--what to do about them? I could ship them, but it could get expensive (I have a lot). Or I can rely on the public library and my friends' collections...but what about the really sentimental ones? Oh, decisions, decisions!

some things you may not know about me

2009-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

I get really sad and worked up over things like this. And upset about things like this. But I get really, really happy about things like this! So maybe people are mostly okay after all, but we can be even better, guys!

Look what I made!

2009-11-05T16:44:00.001-08:00

...Thinking about it...

...Yeah, I'm gonna do it...!

I made these culottes from a pair of old man's pants (my dad being that old man). They've been in the costume box for ages, making appearances in many home films (our version of Phantom of the Opera--I was a dashing Phantom--and our silent black and white crime drama "Rear End"). I just figured out how to get old video onto the computer, so maybe I can give you a glimpse soon :)

p.s. more views of the culottes here.

Just Listed!

2009-11-04T23:18:00.001-08:00

Here...

and here.

In the Store

2009-11-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

Find the Book Worm Skirt here!

New Favorite

2009-11-04T10:07:00.001-08:00

I'm definitely becoming a fan of softspoken on Etsy, after she said this in her featured seller interview:

"What first made you want to become an artist?

disdain for authority, the 9 to 5, fluorescent
lighting, cubicles, useless college degrees"

A girl after my own heart if there ever was one. Especially the part about flourescent lighting (though I rather enjoyed getting my degree, mostly for the wonderful people I now know).

"The time has come..."

2009-11-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

...The walrus said,
"To talk of many things.
Of shoes of ships of sealing wax,
Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings."

~Lewis Carroll

in order of appearance:

1. One of the headdresses I'm making for The Magician's Nephew. Eventually it will be gold or something of that nature.

2. A little something I painted on a skirt I thrifted.

3. A little taste of my workspace.

So, I Finally

2009-11-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Got a Flickr account! Find me here. So far, you've probably seen the pictures, but I'm going to keep adding new ones. Have a great day!

Costuming

2009-11-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I've mentioned it on the blog, but I love costuming for theater. This photo is of some sticks I bound together and painted to be a headdress for the evil queen (played by my lovely sister) in a play version The Magician's Nephew. She's going to be so creepy.

I'm excited to show more pictures as things fall into to place.

What's your favorite book in the Chronicles of Narnia? Mine is The Horse and Boy...and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader...and...okay I'll stop.

The History of Rock n Roll*

2009-11-01T23:04:00.001-08:00

*Loosely interpreted.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm excited for tonight, I hope I get some good pictures. I'm going with my sisters and some friends to an awesome British pub, all dressed as the History of Rock'n'Roll. It should be pretty cool.

Hope everyone has a blast!

Blog Swap

2009-10-29T09:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I sent off the package I put together for a blog swap over at My Structured Chaos. I can't wait to see what I get--it's like Christmas is early, or something! I had a lot of fun putting the package together (what's inside? what a mysterious picture!) and biking over to the post office. Apparently my town is anti-cyclist. There are no bike racks anywhere! I locked mine to a tree :)

Finally!

2009-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

After many hot days, it finally felt like Fall when I got up this morning.

Soup days, here we come!

New Photos

2009-10-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

Two new items coming to the shop this week. The cowboy skirt can be found here. Thanks for looking :)

Our Town

2009-10-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

I know lots of people had to read Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" in high school and found it boring, but I didn't encounter the play til college. I fell in love with the storytelling, the simplicity, and the characters. And I got to play Rebecca, so that was just plain fun.

Rebecca climbs up the ladder beside George.

George: Get out, Rebecca. There's only room for one at this window. You're always spoiling everything.

Rebecca: Well, let me look just a minute.

George: Use your own window.

Rebecca: I did, but there's no moon there...George, do you know what I think, do you? I think maybe the moon's getting nearer and nearer and there'll be a big 'splosion.

George: Rebecca, you don't know anything. If the moon were getting nearer. the guys who sit up all night with telescopes would see it first and they'd tell about it, and it'd be in the newspapers.

Rebecca: George, is the moon shining on South America, Canada, and half the whole world?

George: Well, prob'ly is.

Lee Pace

2009-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

I first encountered Lee Pace in "Pushing Daisies" and fell in love with every aspect of the show. The quirky, the absurd, the absolutely fantastic in the truest sense of the word...and yet, the ability to hit on true emotions without lapsing into the saccharine. Not an easy balance to strike.

Recently at our house we've been watching "Wonderfalls", another fantastic Bryan Fuller show. He makes every aspect of his shows so interesting. For Fuller, the fantastic facilitates the true to life emotions, even when the problems the characters face may be outside our realm of experience (the English major in me is showing). I can dig it.

This last photo is from a great film, "The Fall". Set in 1920's Los Angeles, the filmmaker uses the idea of silent film and storytelling as the back drop for a heart-wrenching, yet life affirming story. Pace plays an injured stunt man. I always think about the Josh Ritter song from "The Animal Years" album when I think of silent film stuntman...and "Singing in the Rain"....but I digress.

Not all actors make consistently interesting choices in the films and shows they make. I think its part brain and part luck, but I still admire actors who can and do.

Just as a side note, I'm thinking of reorganizing my blog...I'm kind of an all over the place person, but I want to put myself on a daily schedule with a different topic everyday. For example, I'll always write about film on Fridays, or something. I'm not completely sure, though, if that's what my blog should be about. maybe the randomness is good...what do you think?

*photos found here, here, here, and oh! here, too.

Day in LA

2009-10-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

I was only along for the ride. My mom and her friend are taking a gallery design class and needed to critique an exhibit. We started at the amazing Freehand Gallery, run by the woman who created "Craft in America", which I have been obsessing over lately. Glass blowing, anyone? Bueller...Bueller?

I hardly ever get to wander around a museum alone. I always seem to end up in large-ish groups of people, which I love for different reasons. I wandered first through the modern art collection, then Asian and Middle Eastern (an interesting exhibit on Indian gods as portrayed in comic books and a very cool guard who made sure I didn't miss a thing), Middle Ages and Renaissance European art (the depictions of the crucifixion always make me want to cry), and many more...sadly, the costume and textile collection was closed for renovation. I might have sworn a little when I saw that sign.

This is the longest, tallest escalator I've ever been on, leading up to the top floor of the contemporary building. Great view of the Hollywood hills, though, once you reach the top. Unfortunately, when I got past the surly guards to see the Andy Warhol/Jeff Koons exhibit, I was accosted by loud undergraduates and the poor set up of the exhibit itself. Why are people loud in Museums? Aren't the hallowed halls akin to that of a library? (Come to think of it, people are really loud at my local library sometimes...what is the world coming to? I feel old.)

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the best part! We had the most amazing lunch at Jack 'n' Jill's too...who would have thought to be crepes (and whole wheat ones at that!) and ribs on the same menu? And when you order coffee, they bring you a cute little cup and a full size French press...all to yourself. It's heavenly.

Capital T that rhymes with....

2009-10-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have trouble concentrating on projects? I think I have Artistic Attention Deficit Disorder. I find my self starting new projects before the old ones are complete because I just get soooo excited about the new idea. And I tell myself I'll come back to the old but I never do, as the state of my room can attest to. I'm torn, though, because I feel like the roller-coaster that is my consciousness shouldn't be reigned in; if I discipline it I'll lose everything. Anybody else have similar troubles? Perhaps I'm looking at the problem all wrong.

I'm trying to specify what I want to do. It turns out wanting "do everything" does not actually get you very far. I like to try everything that comes my way at least once (sorry sushi, never again), But if I don't have a specific idea of what I want to try, or gain expertise in, I sit around doing next to nothing. One of my acting teachers first approached me with this idea over the summer, and I've been ruminating on it since. I want to specify, but I hate feeling like I'm cutting myself off from other outlets.

I've also been watching "Craft in America" which makes me want to learn even more things! Oh earth, you are too wonderful!

Ode to Cheese (i.e. Joy)

2009-10-16T10:38:00.001-07:00

Cheese on the brain...as per usual.

This is unequivocally true. You really never know when you will be thrust among a horde of half-crazed Visigoths and forced to slice into a wedge of Gouda with lord-knows-what-or-where-that's-been. Society shall be saved by a cheese knife, of this I am certain.

"The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."

~G.K. Chesterton

Singing in the Rain

2009-10-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

I belong to a book group that's really a musical watching group. It's fantastic. Last night we watched "Singing in the Rain", on a wonderfully cloudy, rainy day (though it's clear and sunny already the next day...oh, California!), and I was in charge of desert. The cupcake craze seems to be going around, as has been for quite some time. I am not immune.

2009-10-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a little something I made for my dear friend Christi, who is studying in Scotland. I made a the pendent out of sculpey clay, and painted with acrylic after it was baked and cooled. Thistles are particularly appropriate for Scotland (Braveheart anyone?), but even more so for Christi. We first really became friends at a summer "abroad" program in California's bay area. As we hiked the hills surrounding San Francisco, Christi would find thistles and get really excited (I'm still not sure why, but her excitement was contagious somehow) and take a myriad of pictures. I painted the pendent bright green because we both like green and I knew her wardrobe options were limited by the cold, rainy weather and the amount of space in her suitcase, so I though bright and cheery was the way to go. Oh, and I sprayed both sides with an acrylic sealant, just to be safe!

101 Posts

2009-10-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Posts are not quite as cute as the little animated dalmation puppies ("my nose is cold...") but twil serve. Here's what I'm working on these days:

Improving Myself. I always get the urge to whenever I read early twentieth century girl's lit, like Betsy~Tacy, or the Anne books. It just happens, I can't really control it. (I also get an uncontrollable desire to write lists and essays.)
Shop Update: I'm a little behind because I got called in for an audition rather last minute this week (good, clean fun, but no dice), but I hope to add a few things soon!
Sewing!
I want to get back to painting. I got some new oil paints a few weeks ago, but I haven't touched 'em yet. I have a really strong urge to do a self-portrait, I put it down to too much Van Gogh as a child. But don't worry, I like my ears too much, and I can't say I've ever liked a boy quite enough to chop 'em off and stick 'em in the mail. I don't think the good people of the USPS would appreciate it too much, anyhow.
Making plans for a change of scenery. It is time for this California girl to see the world (okay, I've seen a good deal thanks to my generous and wonderful parents, but traveling is different from settling for bit). I'd like some greener, wetter space for a spell.

Don't be a stranger!

I Dig Scars

2009-10-07T12:44:00.001-07:00

I love my scars. And I have many...I was an active if uncoordinated kid, falling in trenches and down half built chimneys. I have a faded scar on my knee from camping in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite with our church when I was three. My mom wasn't around, and I still remember sweet Luanne who got me cleaned up. But I also remember being indignant that she used peroxide; it was my first encounter with the stuff, my mom being a strictly soap and water gal. On my other knee I have a huge scar from an awesomely bad wipe out on a razor scooter while camping in King's Canyon when I was fourteen. And just last year I scraped my leg on my bicycle peddle, the result of which is still very visible on my ankle. My current favorite, though, was attained not through an undainty sport, but through sewing. While fitting a skirt I was making I managed to leave a nice scratch up my calf with a straight pin. So much for that; I can't seem to be lady-like, no matter what I do. C'est la vie! Do you have any favorite scars? I love the stories that come along with them.

Betsy-Tacy

2009-10-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

found here,

here,

and here.

I picked up Betsy, Tacy, and Tib again recently--the Betsy-Tacy books have been dear to me for long time. When I was nine they were literally the only books my mom could get me to read. She convinced my fourth grade teacher to let me read them for credit instead of the assigned books for that year, which I had tried and found boring. Sorry Misty of Chintoteague, I was never into horse books. I've read the series more times than I can count, and that's not hyperbole. The covers I have for the high school books are sadly abysmal, and I'm really wanting the new editions that came out recently, with the lovely old illustrations.

Weekend at the Beach

2009-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

So lovely, I hardly took any pictures I was so busy lounging around the condo or the beach doing and doing nothing in turn. My favorites parts were:

walking along the beach at night, playing chicken with the waves

having ridiculous amounts of good food and wine...we had a ridiculous amount of cheese

Trader Joe's Apricot Stilton

playing in the waves, crystal clear and green, in the deserted cove

clambering over jagged rocks, a great achievement, bloody knee to prove it

finally watching "Out of Africa"

dolphin spotting, and a whale (we could see the spume from far off)

waking up really slowly with lots of coffee and my sketchpad

doing lots of silly illustrations involving cheese

many walks through many coves

Saturday morning thrift stores

"Do any human beings realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"
Emily in Thornton's Wilder's Our Town

Bright Star

2009-10-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

found here.

here.

and here.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

John Keats, from "Endymion Part I"

Photos from Jane Campion's incomparable film "Bright Star"
with Ben Wishaw and Abbie Cornish,
about the love story of John Keats and Fanny Brawn.

I Must Go Down to the Sea

2009-10-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- John Masefield

I love this poem dearly and I plan to live it fully all weekend long at the seashore. Unfortunately I don't have a tall ship at the ready, but with luck I'll meet a laughing fellow-rover who can help me out. I've been watching Ken Burns National Parks documentary on PBS all week and yearning for wildness, what more wild than unfathomably large and tempestuous body of water?

The Blue Danube Waltz

2009-09-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Vote for me!

2009-09-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

I promise to put soda machines in the cafeteria! Just kidding, I'm not running for elementary school president. I'm still trying to go to Antarctica. The voting closes soon on the blogging contest I entered:

http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/472

So please vote! It's quite a long shot, but at least you can bolster my self esteem by adding to my meager votes :)

Dream Home

2009-09-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

As many of my friends and family can attest, I'm a little obsessed with the idea of communal living. When I'm old and more settled I want to live on a farm co-op with my nearest and dearest, and raise chickens and maybe a cow or two (someone else would have to be responsible for the goat since I have deep-seeded belief that they are Evil due to a Traumatic Childhood Experience). So I was delighted when I perused the Storque, Etsy's blog, and came across the latest installation of "There's No Place Like Here". I want to go to there. Beautiful idea, beautifully done.

Sold!!!

2009-09-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Forgive me if its seems like gloating, but I just made my first Etsy sale, and I'm super excited! I originally bought the dress in Ashland, Oregon, a couple years ago (it was much longer then), while I was there for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (the light of my life, and the hope of my future career). The dress holds a special p[lace in my heart, and I hope it will be enjoyed for years to come.

Brideshead Revisited

2009-09-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

I recently watched this film for the first time since I saw it in the theater last summer. I forgot how utterly perfect it is. So beautiful to look at and tenderly acted. Perhaps one of my favorite adaptations of one of my favorite books--A Room with a View being a close second. This is a very different film, though, from the closely adapted Room with a View. Brideshead has a distinct structure from that of Evelyn Waugh's novel, but it translates the story and the characters into a new medium so well.

Photos found here, here, and here.

A Room with a View

2009-09-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

I just re-watched one of my favorite movies (oh the joys of unemployment), A Room with a View. I love everything about this movie, I wish I could live in it--or at least have a few of Helena Bonham Carter's dresses. The part where George says his creed might be my favorite, though the interaction of Maggie Smith and Judi Dench is always fantastic. And Daniel Day Lewis as Cecil...oh, and yes, the kissing.

I found the black and white photo here, and the first one here.

Cookies and How They Crumble

2009-09-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

One of my bestest pals from the time we were eight years old came over last week for an evening of cookie making. Classic chocolate chip, yes please. It had been a particularly bad day, and there's nothing quite as solace-making as engaging in a familiar ritual. And ritualistic our cookie making process most certainly is. We've been making these cookies the exact same way for many many years, and have foisted our process on many unsuspecting friends and acquaintances on various occasions. First, you have to begin with the Mountain of Softened Margarine, followed by the Brown Sugar Castle. Then the real magic happens: it snows...and there is much rejoicing. It must happen this way or the cookies are compromised. We are adamant about this. There are other steps, but the beginning is the most important part.

The Littlest Stenographer on Etsy!

2009-09-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've reopened my store and I'm so excited. I took some time off to refocus in the last year, and I'm very happy with the result. I love re-imagining and playing around with fabric. See what I mean here! And if you are visiting my blog for the first time through Etsy, welcome! Come soon and often :)

What's the Soup du Jour?

2009-09-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, that sounds good. I'll have that.

Soon...

2009-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Red October Dress

The Campy Camp Shirt

The Whale of a Tale Shirt

Cheese, Grommit!

2009-09-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of my many idiosyncrasies is that I love arranging my food and taking pictures of it before I eat it with great relish (not always the pickle kind...in fact, very rarely the pickle kind). I'm not just talking about big deal meals, I'm talking about every meal. Especially the seemingly insignificant ones like a casual mid afternoon snack. I love to imbue the little things in life with meaning. It makes the big things seem less stressful and overpowering. The breakfast above is probably the best combination in my opinion, though it wouldn't suffer from the addition of a soft boiled egg in a lovely egg cup. Sadaf Special Blend with Cardamon tea--a little milk--fuji apple slices, a lovely pumpkin-cranberry-walnut muffin my sister made, and slices of Jarlsberg. Mix in a cloudy morning and blend well.

Key Lime Pie drizzled with 70% dark chocolate. Oh my goodness, its phantasmagorical. This was a joint effort with my sister, Blair. We got the idea from this lovely blog post.

A snack: Stone-Ground Wheat Crackers from Trader Joes, slice of turkey, mini bell peppers, sharp cheddar.

Breakfast to go: Byblos plain yogurt (I buy it in the big four gallon container. I am obsessed), white peach, raw oats, dash of cinnamon.

This sauce was dreamy. One can diced tomatoes plus a bunch straight from the garden, onions and garlic, lots of fresh basil from the garden, a dash or five of a nice Chianti my sister brought back from Italy...three hours in the kitchen well worth it.

Oh, the colors!

Coming Soon!!!

2009-09-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

Elbow Patches!

Here's Something

2009-09-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Since I can't post anything of my own right now (without my own computer to upload photos onto) I decided to go the inspiration route. I went through my favorite sellers on Etsy and thought I might post links to a few.

Belle & Boo. I find this shop enchanting. I love images of childhood, probably because I have a major Peter Pan complex and haven't quite grown up (and probably never will).

Anachronistic Apparel. Maybe I have an unhealthy obsession with the word "anachronistic", but I think this shop is sweet. I ordered the most adorable floral sailor dress that I love (I will post a picture eventually...).

littlebighead. I always love meandering through this shop, the images are unique and inspiring, and the shopkeeper so thoroughly nice.

If you haven't yet, peruse these shops. Enjoy and be inspired.

Woe of the Technical Sort

2009-09-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

We're suffering from multiple troubles on multiple computers right now at our house, but rest assured I have a string of unrelated photos anxiously awaiting upload on my camera...they may be food related, or perhaps clothes related, or something completely different. In all honesty I don't remember right now, so we'll all surprised! It's like it's everybody's birthday. Hm...now I want to have a very merry unbirthday party with cupcakes and crazy hats. Maybe I will.

DIY: How to make Friends

2009-08-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Daddio!

2009-08-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

I made the most awesomest (what? it's a word in my vocabulary) card for his birthday today. Ssh! He hasn't seen it yet.

Dirt.

2009-08-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

I was reminded this morning by this lovely blogger of smells that since childhood have always evoked the loveliest memories. Dirt reminds me of when our a large portion of our backyard was a vast empty (non-landscaped) space, which I must say is pretty ideal for a tomboy like myself. We had a Giant Dirt Hill, a remnant of the construction that resulted in our house, that was perfect for off-rode biking extravaganzas and Civil War reenactments. I was also quite fond of the Revolutionary War, which resulted in me riding our hairless, earless stuffed horse around the house warning all the inhabitants that the British would arrive momentarily. That is another topic, I'm sure. The dirt space also allowed us lovely large garden with rows and rows of sunflowers and corn and pole beans. I believe it was at this point in my life I was going to be a pig farmer when I grew up. I thought that just meant keeping pigs and maybe giving them buttermilk baths every once in awhile. Then I learned the word slaughter...Anyway, in a rather tangential way, this was all to say that I like dirt. I like it on my hands and under my nails, provided I can get all clean before its time to eat, because I like food, too.

Stars in their multitude...

2009-08-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

I finished reading Kon-Tiki yesterday. It was wonderful and I can't recommend it highly enough. I found this film taken from the journey with some narration from Heyerdahl's book. Here is one of my favorite passages:

"The world was simple--stars in the darkness. Whether it was 1947 B.C. or A.D. suddenly became of no significance. We lived, and that we felt with alert intensity. We realized that life had been full for men before the technical age also--in fact, fuller and richer in many ways than the life of modern man. Time and evolution ceased to exist; all that was real and that mattered were the same today as they had always been and would always be. We were swallowed up in the absolute common measure of history--endless unbroken darkness under a swarm of stars."

And yes, I am aware of the irony in blogging about this passage.

More Antarctica

2009-08-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

My theme song :)

Antarctica or Bust!

2009-08-08T16:13:00.001-07:00

In keeping with the explorer theme of the previous post, I have entered a contest to win a trip to Antarctica. Yes, you read correctly. I can't tell you how long I've wanted to go to there. I want to go to there very, very badly. You can vote for me to go here:

http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/472

And I will love you forever!!!

Did you know Antarctica contains 90% of the world's fresh water. And it has birds in tuxedos--what's not love?!?

I'm determined to get there. Please help me...vote and tell your friends!

The Real Life Steve Zissou

2009-08-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was curious this morning about him--Jacques-Yves Cousteau--and came across this video of a dive he took. I found it charming. In the way Wes Anderson's films are charming, which makes sense. This is one of my favorite things about "The Life Aquatic." Enjoy.

I've been a little starved for adventure, lately. I guess it started when I picked up Kon-Tiki from the library a few weeks ago...I should check the due date so as not to add to my already exorbitant fine...Anyway, I kind of want to do something crazy like that but I'm not as confident in my raft building skills. Maybe I'll apply to work on an Antarctic cruise line...

Chickens!

2009-07-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

I'm getting some :) I'm designing the coop right now, and next week I'll be dumpster diving in earnest for scraps, odds and ends out of which to construct it. I'm already considering names like Hester and Cymbeline and Agnes, but of course I can't name them until I see them. I'm also trying to decide on a name for the whole establishment. Naming just seems so important (thank you T.S. Eliot).

Woohooooo!!!

2009-05-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day at a job I dislike (a lot), and Monday promises to open up a whole new world of things I like (a lot a lot). Paige is a happy camper.

Welcome to Nerd Central

2009-05-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

You'll be happy here.

Well, I never

2009-05-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

What if you were a narcoleptic with restless leg syndrome? You would fall asleep all the time and wake up shaking a leg.

I did some sewing today

2009-05-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

And it got me thinking back to the things I used to sew in my younger days. My best friend and I were very inventive with doll/stuffed animal apparel. But there's always that one item, the first item, that will always hold that very special place in your heart. For me, it was a pair of elastic waist shorts and matching draw string bag made from a fabric that looked not unlike this and this. Fortunately it looked nothing like this. I wore those shorts til I outgrew them and loved every bit of them. I was a strange kid. I kept the bag even longer, sadly to the point where I began to be embarrassed by it. Part of me wishes I still had it, just to carry around sometimes and show all the nay-sayers that I've still got it. What it is, I'm not entirely sure. This might be it, but I hope not :) Say good night, Gracie.

Yay!

2009-04-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

I found a new blog I like to read! My mom emailed me the link this morning. How can I not adore a blog that has an adorable baby and cupcakes and cute skirts pasted all over it? Thanks Mom! It makes me want to throw a party.

Let Yourself Go

2009-04-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

I seem to have suddenly found myself in the middle of a quest to watch every Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film ever. I'd seen many of them in my growing up years, but I somehow missed some incredibly fun ones like "Follow the Fleet" and "The Gay Divorcee." Tragic, I know. I'm also on a quest to learn to tap dance, and fortunately my dancer sister is willing to teach me when she gets home from saving the world in Washington, D.C. I have high hopes. High in the sky apple pie hopes, in fact (but that's a whole other movie with a whole other star). I generally like lots of things, and lots of different eras of films, but I find myself without fail going back to the 30's and early 40's for the cleverest entertainment sans malice that you watch over and over again. Let's bring it back shall we?

Oh, and those clothes! If only more eligible young men were as dapper as Fred Astaire. Wouldn't the world be a better place if they all wore spats? Maybe not everyday, just Tuesdays and Saturdays. And where can I find a dress like Ms. Rogers' in the topmost photo? With those adorable buttons and ridiculous sleeves? Tell me, oh tell me.

Fortunately

2009-04-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Dumpster diving on a Saturday night in our town turns out to be a total bust, and given the absence of decent coffee shops open to decent weekend hours, our boredom had to be remedied in a creative manner. So we created our own bohemian (as in the country, not the overly trendy tiered skirt wearing set) cafe in a fort in the living room. Naturally. While listening to Gogol Bordello. Again, naturally. In our cafe we drank coffee and played Scrabble, because our checkers board is apparently missing in action. I managed to get 7 out 9 "I"s. Needless to say the game did not go well for me. So Nadya and I invented a wonderful version where you could use any word under the sun (completely made up) as long as you were able to attach a compelling definition. This led to soaring scores (in the thousands) and much hilarity. Our definitions were very scholastically stated and convincing (we kill at Balderdash); so much so that I nearly wound up believing that a Nautydet truly is a naval detective behaving badly.

Age Four

2009-04-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

Me: Are you a jellyfish?

Maddie: Some days.

April is the Cruelest Month

2009-04-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

At least according to Eliot, who is always right. I have a theory that by reading Eliot we could know everything if we could only understand Eliot. That theory only came to me a moment ago and I can't decide if I should file it under snarky or superstitious, or perhaps I shall just stow it away in the ballerina box marked "mayonnaise". I have a lot theories and if I don't alphabetize the mind gets rather jumbled. It already resembles an a dank dark curiosity shop run by a bony old man in a brown sweater (cardigan), so the card catalogue in the hippocampus must work rather hard. I also have a theory regarding the oxen on the Oregon Trail game that I file under antidisestablishmentarianism.

P is for...

2009-04-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Posting Lists by me,

Paige, a girl much

prone to

perspicuity under the

proper circumstances.

That's enough alliteration for now (can you ever have enough alliteration? Science doesn't know...Is there alliteration on Mars? Rovers may have found trace evidence in certain subterranean sediments as well as superfluous sulfates.) Who has been watching too many science shows on the public broadcasting system while under the influence of serious sinus medication? Yes, that would be me.

Back to the subject of lists. This doesn't often happen (maybe it's the antibiotics typing) but I've had lists running through my head lately and I thought I'd post some. However, because I'd hate to be too negative, I must counteract my list of things I don't like with things I like, to leave you with a good taste in your mouth, which is more than I can hope for given that one side effect of the medication is "a bad taste in your mouth." I kid you not.

Things I don't like:
1) Acute Sinusitis
2) Medicines that leave a bad taste in your mouth and hurt your tummy in the process. Just plain rude.
3) Foam crafts implements. Do I need to say more? They're ugly and bad for the environment and did I mention ugly?
4) Doing things the wrong way when the right way is more productive
5) When my plants die because I forget to water them, the nerve of some plants...

Things I really do like:
1) Nerdy science programs on PBS
2) Telling people all about my nasty symptoms, such as...well, maybe not online :)
3) When my plants live because I remember to water them
4) Men's v-neck undershirts, in white
5) Whole wheat pita bread and hummus and carrots and okay, the bell pepper can come, too.

Anne with an E

2009-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've gone back to reading L.M. Montgomery's Anne books this week, since watching the miniseries in two days (which is nothing to the time Nadya and I watched all eight hours straight through, subsisting only on cookies and macaroni and cheese). I can't decide if I'm more sentimental than I thought I was, or the books are less. Maybe a little of both. I always wonder if I'm actually wiser as I age, or sillier. Anyway, the books are great fun. One of my favorite parts from Anne of the Island is after Davy has ditched Sunday school to go fishing and is feeling the brunt of his conscience.

"I wish I didn't have it. I'd have lots more fun. Where is my conscience, Anne? I want to know. Is it in my stomach?"

I think there's a great deal to say for the joy these books take in life. And though it may be in language a little out-moded, it has moments I find profound.

"'I hope no great sorrow ever will come to you, Anne,' said Gilbert, who could not connect the idea of sorrow with the vivid, joyous creature beside him, unwitting that those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the deepest depths, and that the natures which enjoy most keenly are those which also suffer most sharply."

A Nice Weekend...

2009-03-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

Theoretically could consist in making fish tacos for the house on Friday evening and having unexpected guests and plenty of food to go around. It could even include stopping by to impose on the house of some other lovely friends, yawning all the way yet unable to turn homeward til we said hello and talked of nothing for at least a half hour. Then one might wake up and make coffee, subsequently pancakes (blueberry, incidentally), and then trot off to a rummage sale at the church of Religious Science in downtown Fullerton. There one may happen upon a nice little set of tea knives and Loretta Lynn on vinyl, all for seventy-five cents. This event may be followed by a visit to an over-crowded Stray Cat Vintage in which a Hannah might find a nice plaid cape, which in turn could be followed by a nice long walk through nearly deserted back streets, a foray in the library to buy frightfully bad novel off the bargain shelf, and then a walk down a long street straight to my favorite hippie hangout, Rutabagorz, for coffee. I forgot to mention the cloudy sky. Then there's always the playground upon which must be played. Once home, one might find oneself leaving immediately for an afternoon meal called duncheon at aforementioned lovely friends' house. Curry may or may not be eaten. As one walks home with Marlene in the early evening, the sun may come out. Dancing may be had in the evening. After Mass and lunch the next day, Anne of Green Gables may be watched in its entirety (the first two tapes, at least), and one might find oneself happily remininiscing the following Monday morning.

Babushka

2009-03-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Christmas Party, circa 2008.

Saucy

2009-03-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

I've been discovering how much I love cooking ( and feeding people) in last two years since regular house meals have been established among my housemates. I especially love having hours available to prepare things like pasta sauce, which is what these pictures commemorate. A nearly perfect meal with pasta and tomato basil tarragon sauce, lemon tarragon salmon, and a lovely salad, perfectly pared with an '06 Lord Botetourt Red (with a name like that, how can you go wrong? You can't.), which I picked up at the Williamsburg Winery while in Virginia with my mom. I wonder if I could eat like that every night, or if you get tired of it and long for fish sticks? Sometimes I have random fish stick cravings anyhow; I shudder to think what might happen if I suddenly found myself in the lap of luxury.

The Play, Part 4

2009-03-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Though Regina did spend one more day in bed, she had recovered from the worst by Friday. As the sun had also come out, she considered herself twice blessed as she chewed her tuna sandwich contemplatively. Her best friend Abby Persus was relating at breakneck speed all the things she had missed in the last two days--which, in light of the evening's anticipated event, did not hold a vice-like grip on her attention.

They went to the play, and apart from the fairies being men in mesh stockings--which the girls didn't really understand, though Irene pretended to--it went well.

The end.

The Play, Part 3

2009-03-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

By dinner, the three had managed to get excited at the prospect of seeing a play. Their father, a journalist, blogger, and general writer of all things interesting, came in from his detached home office. They called it the Shed, but it was nicer than it sounded, with heat, electricity, and a hot pot for tea. Teresa and the twins made it home from their after school pursuits just in time; ballet and basketball, respectively.

Regina's legs were swinging under the table as they prayed. As they ate, Catherine was so distracted she accidentally left her least favorite part of the meal for last, instead of getting it out of the way. Irene had spent the afternoon stretched out on the living room floor by the fire, pouring over the family's cumbersome copy of the complete works of Shakespeare. As soon as the last person finished crossing himself, she launched into an exposition.

"So, they're all crazy," she began categorically.

---

The next day Regina spent in bed with a fever and a nose that ran without ceasing. In the early morning, as she lay with the traditional thermometer under her tongue, hoping to stay home from school, she heard Teresa say to her father,

"I just hope she's better by Friday--she was looking forward to that play."

Regina urgently rescinded her wish--she had never been to a play--but as her father read the thermometer, she knew it was too late.

But I've never been to a play! she prayed, shaking a metaphysical fist at the still rainy sky.

"At least you don't have to go out in this weather," her father said, by way of comfort.

There were still some things for which to be thankful. She detested wet school clothes above most things, excepting always Satan and meatloaf Monday.

---

Regina was on the couch when her sisters came home with George. They were once again wet, and Catherine was still disgruntled from an incident during lunch.

"He pulled my hair again! And when I kicked him in the shins, he told and me and I wasn't allowed to play heads up, seven up!"

"Next time, tell your teacher you were protecting yourself from a sexual predator," said George.

"That's gross," said Irene, who knew more about such things than Catherine, who was nonplussed.

My Stimulating Economics

2009-03-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

After thinking long and hard, as well as consulting Bjork, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to battle the current recession is by, through, and with: cuteness. I cannot overstress the prepositions in our ponderous predicament. When I'm feeling low, be it rainy day or Monday, dressing in something I love lifts the spirits. Well, it looks like I won't be buying much spirit lifting apparel any time soon, so I'm beginning to get even more creative with what I have. Everyone's already talking about all the creative money saving ideas people are coming up with, and I tend to think that's probably better for people to learn to live more simply, productively, and most of all creatively. Why? Because that way life's more interesting!

The Play, Part 2

2009-02-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

They lived in a brick house. George was the eldest--a junior at Catholic U studying English Literature--and Regina was the current youngest at six. The new youngest was due in about a month and popular opinion felt they were ready for another boy, though their parents had declined to know for certain. In between George and Irene, who was eleven, were three boys and a girl. Peter and Andrew were fourteen, Teresa was sixteen, and Paul was nearly eighteen.

The girls hung up their coats and hurried up the stairs to change out of their wet school clothes, passing their mother at the bottom of the stairs, shouting quick "hellos" as they ran. She was not the kind of mother who always saying "slow down" or "be careful," especially at eight months pregnant. But she was particularly adept at comforting the child wounded by their own fault or carelessness.

Two flights up, the three shared the large attic room with Teresa, who had a screened off portion of the room where she could keep her lamp on late into the night, ostensibly for homework purposes. The three were strictly forbidden general or particular violations of privacy.

They hung their uniforms on a line that stretched wall to wall, quickly threw on a melange of jeans, sweatpants, their older brothers' old shirts, and ran back downstairs.

In the kitchen, at the large oak table, George was eating a large sandwich. When they entered, he pulled a crumpled envelope out of his pocket and slid it across the table toward them.

"Here," he said with his mouth full.

Catherine reached it first in a mild scuffle and pulled out four tickets to:

"A Midsummer Night's Dream," she read.

"What is it?" asked Regina.

"A play, dummie," said Irene.

"Hey, now!" said their mother, coming into the kitchen, "Don't risk the wrath of the pregnant woman."

"Sorry," said Irene.

"I'm taking you three on Friday. They're putting in on at school," said George, having barely swallowed, "Happy Birthday."

"It's not any of our birthdays," said Catherine skeptically, "It's--"

"My birthday," said Paul, coming in from the front hallway, still wet from walking from the bus stop. He kissed his mother on the cheek and set about making a sandwich.

"You're soaked," his mother said.

"I'm starving."

"Paul's having a birthday party--"

"It's more of a get together."

"And we thought you girl's might have more fun going on a special outing."

"You're getting rid of us," Irene said, feeling it acutely.

"They're getting rid of me," said George.

"And his atrocious manners," said his mother, "Catherine there's some cookies in the pantry, and Irene why don't you make some honest to goodness hot chocolate on the stove, just be careful not to burn the chocolate--"

"What can I do?" asked Regina, feeling left out

"You can come sit next to me and tell me everything that happened today," she said, putting her arm around her current youngest, "Only tell it to me slowly and quietly, like a secret."

The Play, Part 1

2009-02-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

The three sat on the metro, staring blankly as one ought, backpacks on their plaid skirted knees. They would meet their oldest brother at the end of the line, and then drive home to Alexandria. It was raining when they emerged from the station. Irene, the eldest of the three, walked out without attempting to keep herself dry. Her long, dark braids were presently soaked and the rain began to drip past her collar down her back. Catherine, two years her junior, was more sensible and desired to protect both her hair and her books. She took off her double breasted pea coat, shouldered her backpack, then donned her coat so that it covered both head and back before braving the steady downpour. Regina, the youngest, hated the feeling of wet clothes and wanted to cry, but knew she would never hear the end of it. She swallowed three times and waited til the other two had reached George's waiting brown sedan before running out from the overhang.

"Come on, Reggie!" Irene yelled in her most tolerant elder sibling voice.

Still more wet than she would have liked, Reggie slid onto the maroon upholstery. The car had a slight apoplectic fit as George accelerated, but they were soon home.

Excuses, Excuses

2009-02-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Do not be dismayed, dear Reader, you are not altogether abandoned--nor is this blog--by your humble author. I have a few tricks up my sleeve and a few irons in the fire, but I also have a dead computer, a missing camera charger, and some sort of flu virus ravaging my wanton flesh. As always, stay tuned, shop local, recycle, and say hi to your mother for me.

Martin Luther King Jr.

2009-01-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. Your poet Thoreau used to talk about "improved means to an unimproved end." How often this is true. You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances.

From "Paul's Letter to American Christians", November, 4, 1956, by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, writing in the voice of St. Paul.

Theotokos

2009-01-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

She looked as if she'd seen a ghost,
or an angel or a demon.

Still, an angel it must have been--
she shone

Like Moses, descending Sinai,
the Law on stone in hand.

Her hands rested on the place
wherein, within

Was the Whom on which rest
all the Law and the Prophets--

The Love that took on
Mary's flesh.

Pied Beauty

2008-11-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

Glory be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

--Gerard Manley Hopkins

Recent Drawings

2008-11-22T11:50:00.001-08:00

All I want for Christmas...

2008-11-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's not even Thanksgiving, but yes, I went there. So here's a list, Mom :)

Somebody and the Three Blairs, by Marilyn Tolhurst, illustrated by Simon Abel

Books by Sandra Boynton! (Yes, I am five years old, thanks for asking)

This.

Converse Chuck Taylors. I had the same pair from seventh grade til sophmore year of college, and when I was finally bereft of those I had not the heart for another pair. I think I am ready.

Pliers
Wire Cutters
Glue Gun

Oh, and let's never forget this.

Oh, and did I mention the fires?

2008-11-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

My hometown, Yorba Linda, California, nearly burnt down last weekend, becaue of what started as a brush fire and was exacerbated by strong, dry winds. I read in the news that 113 homes burned down in Yorba Linda alone, not to mention the devastation in Montecito (our family friend lost everything in the fire when it hit her college), in LA, and other parts of Orange County. My heart truly goes out to those who lost their homes in the fires.

By strange coincidence I was visiting my parents for something completely different. The air was smoky, we all had headaches all weekend. We were fortunate enough not to be evacuated, though many of our friends were, some to our house. A water purification plant burned down so we had to drink bottled water or boil it (which my mom managed to tell me after I drank two glasses of tap water, but I was okay, just a bit queasy). My brother, his girlfriend, Lauren, Blair, and I climbed onto the roof and we could see the flames in the hills very nearby. I've never experienced anything quite like it, and I've never felt so immediately that it actually is possible to lose everything you've loved, and how strange that is, and how uncontrollable circumstances are.

I took some pictures from right outside my front door. They are very blurry, and the sky looks dusky, but they were taken many hours after sunset.

The few possessions I had with me. However, I still have a closet full of art supplies, books, clothes, and mementos at my parents house.

And, to end on a lighter note, my sister's cat, Lord Peter, refused to leave my makeshift bed. He protested with very loud growls and grumbles, though aren't that menacing because his voice is very high pitched. He's a Castrati.

Going Green--Who Isn't?

2008-11-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

My work asked for ideas on decreasing costs and increasing revenue. So, my idea (which probably won't go anywhere, but I was still way over excited about it) is to hold a contest for employees to our material waste and recyclables into useful things like furniture or whatever, and sell the items on ebay or etsy with the business getting a percentage of the profit as a sort of commission and the creator of the item getting the rest. Honestly, I get a little ill at how much we end up wasting at work, and it would make me really happy. As I said, I doubt anything will come of it, but they asked for my opinion, so I might as well be honest, right? And I thinks its a good idea anyway.

I've kinda been on a construction kick this week, which probably sprung the idea into my head in the first place. My old theatre club from my alma mater is putting on a fantastic production of Peter Pan this weekend, and I sort of got called in last minute to pick up a few pieces that weren't falling in the right places. I ended up constructing, I guess you could call it a wig, for Tinkerbell. I had a really hard time getting started, but I when I finally got the basic structure soaked into my head, I had an amazingly fun time going to town on it.

In the early stages

My bowling pin (found while dumpster diving behind the hardware store) made a lovely stand and model.

But, of course, I had to try it on myself :)

Experimentation

2008-11-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

I suddenly got very curious. What will happen, I wondered, if Wordsworth wandered adverb as a noun? So I demanded the missing words from a friend (who has an inordinate love of language anyway) and was strangely surprised by a surplus of alliteration. Here's the result:

I slithered slinkily as a sloth
That slurped on high o'er slime and sludge,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of slippery slots;
Beside the slips, under the slats,
Slapping and slamming in the slander.

Rather Lewis Carroll, I think, but I found it delightful :)

Hay Fever!

2008-11-08T10:21:00.001-08:00

Last night, after ten hours of work, my sisters came over to read--very dramatically--Noel Cowards Hay Fever, a play about a dysfunctional bohemian family (rather appropriate), while wearing fantastic costumes. It was a fabulous evening.

Refreshment: always a necessity in my humble opinion.

Blair, who played Sorel Bliss, among other characters.

I played Judith, an aging actress and matriarch to the Bliss family.

Lauren played the Vamp (that minx), Myra Arundel, and unfortunate weekend guest at the Bliss House

My fantastic feather, borrowed from a fantastic housemate

My breakfast this morning was so lovely I took its picture. I'm obsessed, not only with coffee, but with my coffee habit. I make it every morning in my Italian percolator (you'll notice the first picture featured my roommate Meg's lovely ceramic french press, so at least I'm not alone). And yes, the cow creamers (please go read The Code of the Woosters) in the first and last photos of this post are not the same. I have several, and would welcome others (hint hint to any looking to buy me a Christmas present).

"I feel most colossally temperamental--I should like to kiss you and kiss you and kiss you and break everything in the house and then jump into the river."

-Simon Bliss

In the Dark Time, Hallow's Eve

2008-11-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

-Weird Sisters, Macbeth

We decided to pretend we were in Prague, absolutely dissipated.

Little Red Riding Hood, and Wolf.

A Czech child street performer, and monkey.

Francois, existentialist poet.

A less blurry Andy Wharhol.

Stress Relief

2008-10-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Apart from the Magnesium my mother gave me (a natural muscle relaxant I'm told), I've been watching some of my favorite old screwball comedies, which has done no end of good for that anoying pinch in the middle of my back. Cary Grant has been a constant companion.

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer

Bringing Up Baby

This blog may be devoted in the near future to hair brained schemes concocted under the influence of feminine insanity, but all for a good cause. Meanwhile I think I'll have a cup of tea, and perhaps some toast as well.

The Land of Faraway

2008-10-27T18:49:00.001-07:00

I miss it.

Today at Snack Time

2008-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

During a conversation on bees and bee stings:

First Kid: Teacher, bees like water.

Second Kid: And cows like milk.

Watch me!

2008-10-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Watch this Laura Marling Video on youtube. My sister showed it to me and its Fantastic.

2008-10-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Found at The Curious Musings of an Ordinary Life:

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open it to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next few sentences.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

From Alice's Adventure in Wonderland

Alice turned and came back again.

"Keep your temper," said the Caterpillar.

"Is that all?" said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.

"No," said the Caterpillar.

*I literally grabbed the book out of the hands of my sister who was reading it right next to me...then I made her dictate while I typed...she is watching me type this very sentence right now, secretly indignant.