by the way

My very favorite thing about this SNL commerical parody is the primal scream at the end.

"Taco Town!"

conversational snippet

"You need to quit [doing that] asap."

"Yes, asap- At Some Arbitrary Point."

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

-Pablo Neruda

do you remember what the music meant?

One of my very favorite bands is Pretty Girls Make Graves.

And.... they're breaking up. Le sigh.

Good thing there's one more tour. Here's hoping El Jefe commemorates the occasion one last time.

Resolute.

I've been meaning to do this for years. 2007 is the year I'm actually keeping track of how much I read.

January 2007:

Endless Forms Most Beautiful, S. Carroll*
Bird by Bird, A. Lamott*
The Life and Loves of a She Devil, F. Weldon
The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, M. Bank
A Year in Provence, P. Mayle
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, M. Kundera
Love's Executioner, I. Yalom
Lives of a Biologist, J. T. Bonner
The Shipping News, E. A. Proulx

I spy with my little eye....

some very chic champagne flutes, no?

I love this video. It never gets old.

Time to put some stamps on the new passport.

florida.

Beach sand. The number one enemy of pedicures.

So, I've discovered the world of the beauty blog.

As a former (recovering?) product junkie, this is like manna from heaven for me. The news and product reviews are fun (and okay, a little useful - now that I live in Baltimore, I'm no longer a stone's throw from great shopping.)

Many of them have done a nice little 'Best of 2006' roundup. In the spirit of the inspiring blogettes, I'm posting my year's greatest hits.

Without further ado --

OPI nailpolish, Black Tie Optional - worked perfectly in keeping on the black(ish) nail polish trend (ahem). I actually like this better than Chanel's Black Satin. Deepest purple that looks jewel-like in the sun. Discontinued; found it on Ebay.

Urban Decay Primer Potion- critical for keeping your eye makeup from migrating. Now an absolute essential.

Lorac eyeshadow in Jade - Latest acquisition. Love this shadow - blackened olive green. A new favorite.

Nars eyeshadow in Kiki - a great basic for smoky eyes - simple, matte dark grey.

Aveda Rosemary Mint hand/body wash - most likely, the highlight of the bridesmaid gift bags I put together back in June. So well suited for the occasion of an outdoorsy summer wedding.

Z. Bigatti Restoration Delicate face cream - yeah, so I'll never buy this again, way too pricey. But very nice while it lasts.

Lothantique shea butter soap in Vanilla Sugar - I love this little soap so much. Subtle, rich scent that is never cloying.

Phyto 7 - back in the highlighting days, I went for Phyto 9. But my hair's current incarnation is longer, more natural, and overall more well-behaved, so Phyto 7 is the perfect light conditioning leave in.

conversational snippet

"I'm pretty much my own art house at this point."

Simply delicious.





On both counts.

I am so very lucky to have a friend like you.

House

Today marks two years in this house.

Two years, and so much history.

I'd write more, but I have to finish cleaning.

The realtor is taking pictures tomorrow.

fells point

lost and gone forever:

matisse painted door
toys! sign on the side of a rowhouse
dangerously delicous pies storefront (ok, that was in canton. but close.)
st stans
fleet street cycles
reptilian records
9th life (another life in hampden)

still here:

green cobblestones
brunch at Blue Moon
eastern ave house
peacock mania at eclectic elements
exhibitionist house
A-1 taxedermy
mermaid house
pretzel dogs
13 Broadway

the poet with his face in his hands

You want to cry aloud for your
mistakes. But to tell the truth the world
doesn't need any more of that sound.

So if you're going to do it and can't
stop yourself, if your pretty mouth can't
hold it in, at least go by yourself across

the forty fields and the forty dark inclines
of rocks and water to the place where
the falls are flinging out their white sheets

like crazy, and there is a cave behind all that
jubilation and water fun and you can
stand there, under it, and roar all you

want and nothing will be disturbed; you can
drip with despair all afternoon and still,
on a green branch, its wings just lightly touched

by the passing foil of the water, the thrush,
puffing out its spotted breast, will sing
of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything.

-Mary Oliver

Look what we have here...

even Pitchfork shares my soft spot. Even the snobbiest of snobs are not immune to the charms of Charlie Brown.

cyclical + subliminal

Over the past few days:

It's gotten colder. Makes a girl much more into the idea of staying in, cozying up, developing some recipes, dipping into a well-stocked pantry.

(Enjoying some tea - my box of Pixie Mate is almost cashed!)

Commence the Trader Joe's run.

As per usual, pick up several TJ's items that have not been tried, including one Black Raspberry lemonade.

Get home, try out said lemonade, get blasted to past by distinct memories of your Snoopy Sno Cone Maker and your favorite cherry ice flavoring.



Enjoy nostalgia.

That makes holiday events attended this week better than tolerable. Continue usual tradition of aimless 'holiday shopping'.

Find new remastered copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas at Sound Garden.



Immediately buy and take home. Fall in love (again) with jazz of your childhood. Maybe the childhood I wish I had, but none the less.

Staying in + nostalgia....perfect.

You really just need a guy you can dance with.

Disco pimp styling optional.

An old favorite that deserves another viewing: http://headrush.typepad.com/

conversation snippet

"He's a good looking guy."

"Yeah, but he'd be a lot better looking with a ball gag in his mouth."

You may notice that I've updated the section over to the right.

No, nevermind the wishlists - take a look at Lifehacker, my favorite new website. It's just so.....useful. I'm not quite sure whether it's a testiment to efficiency or procrastination (perhaps overlapping circles in the Venn diagram), but I adore it.