romparoo

The Capital Romper
Anthro

two paws down

It was impossible for me to like this movie once Wendy "lost" Lucy. Irresponsible Wendy left cute Lucy tied up outside of a grocery store (which is awful in itself) while she shoplifted inside, got caught, and was then taken away by the police, leaving Lucy behind. When she finally returns to the store 5 hours later, surprise, Lucy is gone! The rest of the film is dedicated to Wendy's half-ass attempts to find Lucy again.
Not worth the agony!

surprise!

Thanks to my thoughtful SIL, this adorable R. Nichols tote arrived on my doorstep today!
And it isn't even my birthday or Christmas!
The best gifts are sometimes the unexpected ones.
Merci, Ang!

more agnes

The Sundance Channel was showing "Agnes Martin: With my Back to the World" by filmmaker Mary Lance last night, which I eagerly watched with great interest. The documentary gives insight into Agnes' life of solitude, her paintings, and her thoughts on the world with interviews given over the course of four years during the final decade of her life. It also features photos and archival footage along with readings of her poetry and lectures.

A poem from her book, Writings, & recited in the film...

I can see humility
Delicate and white
It is satisfying
Just by itself

And Trust
Absolute trust
a gift
a precious gift

I would rather think of humility than
anything else.

Humility, the beautiful daughter
She cannot do either right or wrong
She does not do anything
All of her ways are empty
Infinitely light and delicate
She treads an even path
Sweet, smiling, uninterrupted, free

"My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind." - Agnes Martin

Oh, how I do heart Agnes!

sunday

Betty's favorite afternoon spot.

fantastical

True Romance (1993)

Alabama: I had to come all the way from the highway and byways of Tallahassee, Florida to MotorCity, Detroit to find my true love. If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would never have guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together. And til this day, the events that followed all still seems like a distant dream. But the dream was real and was to change our lives forever. I kept asking Clarence why our world seemed to be collapsing and things seemed to be getting so shitty. And he'd say, "that's the way it goes, but don't forget, it goes the other way too." That's the way romance is...Usually, that's the way it goes, but every once in a while, it goes the other way too.

three cheers for three junes

Three Junes by Julia Glass

From chapter six...
"This is Felicity", he said. "Felicity, this is Fenno. I think you'll like him. He's very classy."
The bird regarded me intently. She tilted her head in that quizzically avian way, and I heard a faint clicking in her throat, a cantankerous tut-tut-tutting. She was, on closer inspection, not entirely red but had a deep blue-violet belly and gray feet that looked as if they were covered with crocodile skin. Her beak and eyes were the soft black of stones pummeled smooth by the sea.
I will admit that I was half-besotted, there and then. I had never owned a bird, although I admired the beauty of birds in the wild, and I had never laid eyes on a creature like this one.

From chapter seventeen...
Like her, he is an agonizer. Like her, he feels the atmosphere about him too acutely: the stealthiest shifts in wind direction, ozone level, barometric pressure. Sometimes it's almost too much to bear.

restless

via psychonautfromatlantis

country dreams

From the fabulous & inspiring blog This Young House....

A young couple's fantastic transformation of their 1950's Richmond, Virginia home.

I am green with envy, to say the least!
Thanks for the intro, AR!

new addition

via darren segal

Rice
by Mary Oliver

It grew in the black mud.
It grew under the tiger's orange paws.
Its stems thinner than candles, and as straight.
Its leaves like the feathers of egrets, but green.
The grains cresting, wanting to burst.
Oh, blood of the tiger.

I don't want you to sit down at the table.
I don't want you just to eat, and be content.
I want you to walk out into the fields
where the water is shining, and the rice has risen.
I want you to stand there, far from the white tablecloth.
I want you to fill your hands with the mud, like a blessing.

house of organic

House of Organic
Added to my list of shopping musts while in Paris.

Found via Cafe Mode, along with this adorable fashionista who I hope to find at the shop.

spring thunderstorms

Raindance by deepintheforestcat

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm. - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Tempest by deepintheforestcat

frock love

Loving these summer frocks from two of my faves...

Kate Towers
Sauvie Island Collection

Kate Towers
Golden Hour Collection

Heidi Merrick
Chantilly, Summer '09

i heart agnes

My step mum and I went to the Illumination exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art this weekend & it was wonderful. The collection brought together the works of four important American women modernists; Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce.
Of these four, I was only familiar with O'Keeffe's work going into it, but left with a greater appreciation of O'Keeffe and an introduction to three other extraordinary artists who led extraordinary lives.
My favorite (and new love) being Agnes Martin...

"I would like my work to be recognized as being in the classical tradition (Coptic, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese), as representing the Ideal in the mind. Classical art cannot possibly be eclectic. One must see the ideal in one's own mind. It is like a memory, an awareness, of perfection." - Agnes Martin

Untitled, 1967

Untitled, 1997

chambray lust

Rag & Bone Western Shirtdress

Current/Elliott The Painter's Smock Denim Minidress

from the tape deck

Belly - New Music - More Music Videos

impatience

Coco avant Chanel

Is it September 18th yet?

2 days in the desert

I took a commuter flight to Phoenix for work today and spent the afternoon in the burning sun. Good god was it hot. Besides the 100 degree plus temperatures (in May, really?) there was also something special there in the desert, a beautiful rawness of sorts. I'm going back tomorrow to soak up more of the desert sun, I only regret not having enough time to visit with my dear friend, Somlynn of The UE while I'm there.

In honor of the sun and my most unusual work week, some desert inspiration....

Arizona Desert by Aj+

In the Desert
by Stephen Crane

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter - bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

La faute à Fidel!

This shot alone was enough to make me have to see this film.
La Faute a Fidel! (Blame it on Fidel) is a story about 9-year-old Anna and the changes she tries to understand as her parents go from living a bourgeois life in 1970s Paris to the life of radical political activists.
Brilliant!

the last emperor

I loved this film!
Valentino: The Last Emperor gives a fascinating look into the life and career of Valentino Garavani and the conflict between fashion as an art form and as a business.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film was the insight into the 45 year relationship of Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti. A true partnership, in every sense of the word.

Comedic relief was supplied throughout by Valentino's uncensored outbursts and the glamorous lives of his five adorable pugs.

The movie ends on a sad note with the retirement of Valentino from his haute couture fashion house after 45 years of making history.

A must see!
Merci Jeannie!