Very cool print from Stern & Faye Letterpress.

"1. Object: Find the still center. 2. Key: Use those circumstances which cause unexpected gaps & pauses to occur, as guide posts & stepping stones. 3. Clue: Although things appear to be fixed & solid, are they? 4. To Win: Enter the still center point. Expand it. 5. Advanced Instructions: Begin now."

Great Ideas

Someone over at Penguin is a genius for making this happen.

I've been a fan of the Great Ideas series for a long time now, having read a few from Volume I, and 2008 brings us Volume III, courtesy of David Pearson Design.

I LOVE these. I love the concept and I love the execution. And, of course, I love the books. They are actually better in person, the embossed covers and the slim shape make them such easy companions.

Aside from Volumes I and II, I see that there's also Great Loves and Great Journeys.





Obviously there's a lot of reading still to be done. Splendid.

We'll get there next year.

Until then...

It's been a while now since my big scary highway accident, and I'm still car free.

Life has certainly changed a lot when you don't have a car. In Baltimore especially, your world gets smaller. Like, neighborhood-sized.

I am very, very fortunate that I live in a walkable neighborhood (thanks Noel) and there's plenty here to keep me occupied. For instance, along with a lot of bars, I can visit a few different coffeeshops, a yoga studio, my gym, a few cool stores (but not too many, perhaps thankfully), plenty of restaurants, a WF, and the nicest looking post office I've seen.

A Baltimore based, travel-loving blogger Prêt à Voyager posted recently on the same subject, and I really liked hearing her positive take on the situation. And knowing others are making do in this city sans car as well.

"It's like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story."

-Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Love these beautiful bird table number cards from Sesame Letterpress. Just gorgeous. I'd be tempted to be the cruelest guest and try to snatch them from all the tables at the end of the evening!

This perfect slice of happiness is courtesy of my friend Noel's friend BK.

I'd like to buy this man a drink, because in my humble opinion he is living the life. Vespas and photography exhibits. Doesn't get much better than that.

Finally - *finally* - have found a little side table for the guest room. This one was luckily on sale, right when we needed it.

It's the smaller version shown here:



I am already so fond of it. More fond than you'd think for a table (but then you haven't seen me with a DWR catalog...) The wood is reclaimed Douglas fir. It's handmade by a woman in Seattle.

Previous candidates included a glazed garden stool and a tiny table made completely of wire. These were vetoed, and now I'm glad they were.



Quite charming, no?

(edited Sunday to add): In fact, I loved it so much there was a return trip for its twin. Good thing that lovely big sale ran until today.

June 2008 - the books

*Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

*Re-Readings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love, Anne Fadiman, ed.

*Easter Island, Jennifer Vanderbees

*The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst

*The Elementary Particles, Michel Houellebecq

*Schopenhauer's Porcupines, Deborah Luepnitz

Everything was quite good. Cloud Atlas is a new favorite.