July 2008 - the books.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise - Ruth Reichl

Tales from the Art Crypt: The painters, the museums, the curators, the collectors, the auctions, the art - Richard Feigen

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes - Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories - Tobias Wolff


Too stressed out for much reading this month. Hopefully I'll have better luck in August.

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.

grey room

Although you sit in a room that is gray,
Except for the silver
Of the straw-paper,
And pick
At your pale white gown;
Or lift one of the green beads
Of your necklace,
To let it fall;
Or gaze at your green fan
Printed with the red branches of a red willow;
Or, with one finger,
Move the leaf in the bowl--
The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythia
Beside you...
What is all this?
I know how furiously your heart is beating.

-Wallace Stevens

science tatoos

linky

I won't be getting one, but I'm impressed by the devotion to the cause(s).

nota bene: set design by George Nelson.

May 2008 - the books.

*Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson

*Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote

*The Raw Shark Texts, Steven Hall

*Runaway, Alice Munro

*The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd

*Days Between Stations, Steve Erickson

*On the Shortness of Life, Seneca

one way widow

So many eager sinners, only 7 deadly sins; Hell's so God damn crowded that there's no one getting in.

The line goes to the river Styx, but she can get you in.







The end result is still the same -

- you can't go back the way you came.

PDX

Let's just move on now and address near steps off the mortal coil at another time.

For...there's pictures to look at, which is more pleasant for all, I'd think.

I fell in love - with a city (and with some good design). A wish came true for a special treat - I stayed at the Ace Hotel in Portland.


Fantastic location. The city matched the fog I was in, but I felt strangely comfortable there.


The lobby was excellent to hang out in.


The Stumptown coffee was some of the best I've had.


My room was very cool, and I wanted so badly to bring home a wool blanket for a practical souvenir.


The Eames shell chair came with the room, the Pumas and flipflops came with the traveler.

post-paradigm shift

April 2008 - the books

A little belated, and for some pretty conspicuous reasons.

*Sideways, Rex Pickett
*Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
*Comfort Me with Apples, Ruth Reichl
*Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl
*Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami
*The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith

Unsurprisingly at this point, the Murakami was my favorite.

Why I was dancing in the gym last night....

I am seriously considering switching to a tumblr.

The format is a lot more appropriate for the types of information I'd be wanting to share.

Which could lead to me posting more.