the language of objects

... a few favorites from my out-of-control vessel collection – hmm, maybe I was a prop stylist in a former life.

I'm a little tormented by all of the objects I own; I swear to you that I don't own a ton but the things I do own can sometimes feel like a burden. The thought of ever having to pack it all up and move makes me quite nauseous.

white diamond-pattern cups: alder & co
white and blue porcelain cups: new moon studio
pale, pale blue ceramic cup: phillip ahnen

something inevitable

"It's like a bear stumbling into a beehive or a honey cache: I'm stumbling right into it and getting stuck, and it's delicious and it's horrible and I'm in it and it's not very graceful and it's very awkward and it's very painful and yet there's something inevitable about it."
- Leonard Cohen

wish list { current crush }

1. Jaime Hayon crystal pieces for Baccarat (never in a million years could I afford one! - $16,000)
2. Filamentous Cardigan from Anthropologie (no longer available)
3. Wood and acrylic ring from The Carrot Box

color

sehnsucht

"Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year after year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it—tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest—if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself—you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say "Here at last is the thing I was made for." We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all." - C.S. LEWIS

kind of amazing

Things continue to be challenging around here. It hasn't been fun dealing with my recent health problem but I remind myself (often) to be grateful that I'm not getting worse. And I have my distractions. It's good to keep one's mind off the yucky stuff. So, I think about food. And take photos of food. It's pretty much all about food.

Once upon a time I worked at an ad agency in the Pearl District (it was the best of times, it was the worst of times) and just a few blocks from that agency is heaven within four walls: Pearl Bakery. At the end of one lovely summer, the Pearl Bakery made an almond plum cake and it remains, to this day, one of the best food memories of my life. Fast forward to this summer and our tiny little satsuma plum tree produced fifty plums (only had five last year!) and I became determined to use our plums to recreate that cake. I'm not particularly adept at baking but I have to be honest – it turned out pretty amazing. :)

work

"The best cure for melancholy is industry - and though the winds blew for days, never ending, and the gulls never ceased their cries, we drew strength from the rhythm of our labors." - The Weight of Water

caroline hwang

Very intrigued by illustrations by Caroline Hwang. These two images of Caroline's perfectly illustrate how my summer is going so far. Let's just say, it's been rough.

caroline-hwang.blogspot.com
carolinehwangillustration.com

a bit obsessed

This might end up being a long post without a clear point but I know it will have something to do with obsession and longing and the need to constantly seek out beautiful ideas, music, lyrics and images. Whew. Alright...

The obsession part: I've recently become consumed by everything relating to the band EELS. I'm reading and am almost finished with the book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett (E, the EELS frontman). I don't pretend to know a lot about E but I think I might love him. There's just something about a man with a guitar who tells it straight and writes perfect lyrics: "I just can't take how very much, god damn, I miss that girl." The new EELS album, Tomorrow Morning, comes out this August!!!

The longing part: I would love to shoot amazing photo portraits someday. First, I'll need a much nicer camera. Then I'll need to get off my lazy butt and do something about it. Which brings me to the image above of E, one of many portraits by the talented Autumn de Wilde. Lucky girl. She just happens to have photographed a few of my favorite artists: EELS, Built to Spill, Elliot Smith (if she would just add Modest Mouse, then the universe would be perfect).

( image: www.autumndewilde.com )

louise bourgeois, 1911 - 2010

"Art is a guarantee of sanity. That is the most important thing I have said." ~ Louise Bourgeois

someday...

someday, this sofa from PINCH will be mine (but I think it's going to be a long, long time before that happens).

fitz and dizzyspells

How appropriate that this song has been stuck in my head for weeks and weeks. There have been many fits and dizzy spells going on in my world. I wouldn't wish inner ear issues on anyone. Going to try acupuncture next (!?). I'll let you know how it goes.

for ma

From this little part of Oregon, to you on the other side of the world: Happy Ma's day, Mom! Wish I was drifting through Europe with you.

want but don't need

materialistic? maybe. but I'd like to own all of these things:
1. white sapphire rings from silverwoods
2. bag from vogel10
3. lorelei dresses from j. crew
4. white tumblers from williams-sonoma
5. helvetica shirt from wire & twine

around the house: clutter

If it were up to J, there would be nothing posted on our fridge (or stored on top of the fridge). I'm the source of all the clutter in this house.

think: summer

can't stop thinking about: broken bells

I have a bit of a thing for James Mercer's voice. From what I understand, quite a few other people feel the same way. I guess that makes me part of the mainstream – is that so bad?

I've been obsessing over three songs on the Broken Bells album – I've been playing them over and over in my car. Over and over and over. My obsession might also have to do with the lyrics that I can't get out of my head:

It's too late to change your mind, you let loss be your guide – High Road

Common fears start to multiply, we realize we're paralyzed. Where did it go, all that precious time, did we even try to stem the tide? Why should we waste it on buying into the same old lies? The longer we wait around the faster the years go by – Vaporize

I was lost then and I'm lost now and I doubt I'll ever know which way to go – Vaporize

Remember what they say, there's no shortcut to a dream, it's all blood and sweat and life is what you manage in between – October

(image: brokenbells.com)

first day of spring

first day of Spring, first day of getting my life back, first day of stepping back from the ledge. thank god winter is over.

saturdays save me

current crush

Love it... Thread by Thread pendant designed by Allison Berger

so, maybe I'm a bit critical

Things I had such high hopes for which fell flat:

The film Bright Star – I need films that make me feel like my heart is being ripped out. This was not one of those films. Okay, yes, many of the scenes were pretty to look at but the intensity I craved just wasn't there. In my humble opinion it was a problem of casting for the male lead.

The Doug Fir Lounge in Portland – I held the Doug Fir up on a pedestal in my mind but in the bright light of day (on a Sunday morning) the place looks pretty old and tired. I'm going to give it a second chance some night in the future when I can pretend it's a sleek and swanky place. Dim lights and an amazing music show will, I'm sure, change my mind.

{ images: from the film Bright Star }

so in love...

with this website: Unhappy Hipsters

simplicity is best

early spring

I'm forcing Spring to happen inside our house. The trees outside are doing just fine on their own, no forcing required.

The book I'm reading states it nicely: "Trees are sucking winter up through their roots, exploding luscious and green." – Happy: A Memoir by Alex Lemon

current crush

I never get tired of simple forms.
(image: west elm)

can't stop thinking about...

...things of simple beauty:

the opening sequence to The Assassination of Jesse James (oh, and the entire film)

the new EELS album, End Times

summer nights in the back yard (summer had better arrive quickly or I might go off the deep end)

(image: from The Assassination of Jesse James)