Wild Heart

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve?"

Bonjour.

I really want this shirt and I don't think I need to explain why.

Tie bar.

From GQ's daily style email, yesterday:

"...anyone can wear a tie bar. Yes, it's a nod to the suited American 1960s, but these days it's more bad man than adman. You know, an affordable way to make your knotted-up look twice as spirited as the next guy's."
  

I concur.

Paradise Lost

(Eve speaks to Adam)


With thee conversing I forget all time,
All seasons and their change, all please alike.
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild, then silent night
With this her solemn bird and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heav'n, her starry train:
But neither breath of morn when she ascends
With charm of earliest birds, nor rising sun
On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glistring with dew, nor fragrance after showers,
Nor grateful evening mild, nor silent night
With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,
Or glittering starlight without thee is sweet.

~John Milton, from Paradise Lost

There's something magical about finding a poetic love letter in your email inbox when you wake up. Thank you, Writer's Almanac, over and over again, for words upon words of perfection, every single day.

Proenza Schouler: Fall 2010

I'm so ready for autumn and everything that comes with it.

I have nothing else to express today, besides the desire to slow dance to this song in my kitchen with anyone other than my dog:

From a man in a cool fedora:

The Man's Guide To Love #39 from themansguidetolove on Vimeo.

1. Yes, to everything he said.
2. Everything sounds better in French.
3. Yes.

Marcel the Shell (with shoes on)

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Words: a video/visual collage

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

Billy Collins, Billy Collins

Sometimes I struggle with the fact that my favorite person isn't a human.

She makes this face a lot when I talk to her and it makes me feel like she really understands me, more than just the big money words like treat, walk, and outside, but that she really actually gets what I'm saying. My dear, my darling, my softly rumpled pup. Sometimes looking at her squeezes my heart so much that I can't stand it.

Leftovers.

I was going for a full sleeve, but I got distracted. Ah, the life of a sailor.

Ahoy.

More often than not, I feel like I was born in the wrong era. I mean, I get a huge kick out of technology, but I really, really love diving into the past whenever possible. When I got invited to an "I'm on a Boat" party, my first thought was to go as some sort of all-American 1940s pin-up girl. Then I decided that most people would be going the red, white, and blue route, so I decided to finger-wave my hair and go for some sort of 1920s Russian sailorette, complete with Clara Bow lips and blinged-out shoulders.

I love a good theme party.

Black Swan

This looks so good (and so eerie):



And the other "Black Swan":

(500) [More] Days of Summer

About a year ago, I went to see (500) Days of Summer. Like many other people who saw it, I was charmed by the story, the adorable characters, and the amazing soundtrack. Last August, when I watched that movie I was something of a heartbroken mess. I totally identified with Tom Hansen's despair and reminiscing, and whatnot (even though I put in about 2,000 more days than him).

Well, thanks to possibly the coolest Comcast customer service rep ever, I now have a bajillion (yes, I counted) channels of movies. Because of this, I got to see (500) Days of Summer again and gosh-darn if I didn't have all sorts of flashbacks to last summer.

What's miraculous about humanity is how capable we are of bouncing back from crazy, crazy shit. I wish I could go back in time to that mopey girl in the movie theatre and tell her, "Listen, when people tell you you're going to get over this, they aren't lying. P.S. In a few weeks you're totally going to make out with a Scottish dude."

This is going to sound terribly cheesy (what the heck is new?) but the movie was a tiny part of what snapped me back into myself. Weirdly enough, it was mostly because of this song, which I'd never heard before the film. Now it's on cell phone commercials, movie trailers, and just about everything else, but I still love it because it's one of those songs that makes me feel a sense of anticipation or possibility, or something. Tingles down my spine. That's what.



True fact: great friends, high heels and perfume, and "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap cure all manner of ills.

Edited to add:
If you haven't downloaded the amazing mash-up of Lil Wayne + (500) Days of Summer soundtrack, you need to. Immediately. Download (500) Days of Weezy here. Here's my favorite mash-up on the album:

The Great Escape

Feeling trippy from lack of sleep. Listening to Quebecois artists and wanting another autumn weekend in Montreal. Pink nose, booze in belly, heart a'flutter.

A North Carolina weekend.

Yesterday I returned from an eventful weekend in the Triangle. My darling, gorgeous, babette of a best friend moved back to the Thrill and I got to stay at her adorable house. I completely forgot to take pictures of the bedroom upstairs--the geeky 12-year-old in me flipped out when I saw it. It's basically the bedroom of Anne of Green Gables. Little does Amanda know that I'll be haunting that upstairs bedroom like a ghost.

One of the highlights of the weekend was lounging around for a little bit before running errands and shopping and our friend's bachelorette party madness. I'm so glad my gal's back in the South!

Maxin', relaxin'.

My namesake, Zelda P., joined in on the max/relax plan.

Tuna lounged too.

We went shopping later on, and I found these sweet Dolce Vita for Target studded oxfords in Durham. I think I'm going to return them, though, because....

...when I was in Wisconsin, I found these amazing oxfords at St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. ($2!) They make me feel like Kate Hepburn.

Anyhow, it's always fabulous going back to Chapel Hill. It always feels just the same, but different.

Tony Fitzpatrick, A Thousand Beautiful Things

That kiss. Steve McQueen + Faye Dunaway,  

LIFE magazine stills of The Thomas Crown Affair

Video | Janelle Monae, "Cold War"

Max, Margaux, & The Marvelows from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

How 'bout them apples?

Because my dad "accidentally" got us on the road at 4am rather than his planned 5am departure time, we made it back to our Berghaus a little earlier than expected. It gave my sister and me enough time to take a little walk down to the neighbor's field to pick apples. It was heavenly...the best way to stretch our legs after a cramped 12-13 hour drive.

Opa's legacy.

My grandfather passed away last Tuesday and I've spent the past six days traveling to, around, and from Wisconsin. It was a hectic time as family made last-minute plans to celebrate the life of a man who lived through all of the major events of the past century (he died just weeks short of his 100th birthday).

Years before I was born, my Opa gave up city life in Milwaukee for a quieter life in the country. So he moved my Oma and whichever of his ten kids was still living at home to a farm outside of Madison, Wisconsin. That farm became a gathering place for my mom, her siblings, and their families. I remember summers filled with bonfires and noisy picnics, and the "secret" clubhouse my older cousins created in one of the barns. I was too young to join in on their fun, but spied on them constantly, filled with envy and longing to be a teenager.

As the years passed and our family grew apart (time and distance are powerful adversaries), big family gatherings at the farm became a thing of the past. Several years ago, the farmhouse was destroyed by fire and all that remains of the house is the foundation and cellar.

I got the chance to prowl around the land and barns with my dad and Onkel Siegfried (the uncle who cared for my Opa even through his last moments) exploring the fields and buildings that hold so many of my childhood memories.

(It needs to be noted that my Onkel Sieg is an avid "collector" of cars and many of these "projects" of his have been a work-in-progress for most of my life...but really the cars add to the charm of both Onkel Sieg and the farm. Additionally, this collection is part of the legacy my Opa left. He loved collecting things: children (10), languages (German, Polish, Russian, English, a little French, etc.), instruments, (piano, trumpets, accordions, french horns, flutes, clarinets, violins), books, nick-nacks, and all sorts of other things. I inherited, like many of my relatives, his love of old things with a story. If you talk to anyone on my mom's side for longer than two minutes, you'll be able to figure out their specific passion/obsession/collection. It's all Opa's fault--it's hereditary.) 

 Greetings from a vintage Volvo. 

 How did it get from California to rural Wisconsin? Your guess is as good as mine.

 I love this old tractor.

 Part of Opa's extensive firewood collection, probably salvaged from an old barn.

 I was terrified of this well as a little girl.

 Old, red barns are scattered all over Wisconsin's landscape.

 This barn was where my older cousins had their "secret" clubhouse. I still covet a membership.

 Old barn and silo.

 Part of the long, winding driveway.

 First view of the farm from the street.

 Old Frigidaire salvaged from the fire.

 The remains of the farmhouse.

 Growing over.

 Cellar door.

 What's left of the old piano. My Opa loved music and collected all sorts of instruments.

 Barn #2.

 Now, on to Onkel Sieg's "collection."

 1950s Hudson Super Wasp.

 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, we love you.

 Bonnie + Clyde

My mom's old car--1970s Volkswagen Fastback. I've got dibs if Sieg ever gets around to fixing it up.

Just a drop in the bucket.

A row of Opel GTs.

The back forty.

 "All the trees were throwing fireworks

of blossom, the air was thick
with pollen and the brand-new smell of leaves.
We drove back roads in the watermelon dusk,
then tangled around each other, delirious
as honeybees working wisteria."

I just took a long sunset walk and it's made me all wistful for things I don't have, like long hair, laughter that rings like bells, and a hand to hold that doesn't want to let go. Best out of three isn't a bad thing to hope for.

Jot it down.

Image from Stockholm Street Style

I love the way words look written on forearms. I often write on my right forearm--mostly lyrics or quotes that are stuck in my head--because I love being able to look down and re-read them. Graceful script on skin. The only reason I wouldn't tattoo words there is because I'd never be able to decide on what one set to make permanent.

"Improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings..."
"Dreams are necessary to life."
"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe."

There are just too many beautiful phrases.