...of my grandparents. From their honeymoon!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
"The Hunting of the Snark"
No, that's really what it's called! This is an 1874 illustration of the Lewis Carroll poem by Henry Holiday, via the Steven Poke blog, which in turn was via the terrific "Turn of the Century" tumblr (and thanks to Jessica for the link!) Think Denby would get a kick out of it?
Out of the Blue
Isn't it funny: just last week I mentioned the young man who'd introduced me to 84 Charing Cross Road. Who, then, should find me on Facebook not three days later! He writes,
Well, that certainly strikes me as the sort of asinine thing I might have said at 21, so I'll take his word for it. In any case, I'll certainly go see him perform at a piano bar one day soon.
In sweeping statements: my mom has defiantly declared the divinity of Christ a diminution of his message. Meanwhile, two friends told me they're over Brooklyn (neither has plans to move.)
My parents, speaking of them and of moving, sold their house. To their favorite couple of all, who have an adorable, well-mannered and bespectacled three-year-old boy and an 8-month little girl.
My friend Ruby gave me a wonderful birthday gift: a Mets pin from the 1960s.
And in other news, finally found "Mambo Italiano" on a karaoke machine, at Montero's on Atlantic. I sang it largely for the benefit of an old man at the bar, who seemed unimpressed, yet riveted.
Dear, dear Sadie: It's been a year and a day (and even that's an understatement) since we drank gimlets on Kimbank Avenue and went to see Elaine Stritch. I still remember what you said after the performance, that it is essential to take a taxi home from the theater--in case the reality of the subway pulls your spirit down!
Well, that certainly strikes me as the sort of asinine thing I might have said at 21, so I'll take his word for it. In any case, I'll certainly go see him perform at a piano bar one day soon.
In sweeping statements: my mom has defiantly declared the divinity of Christ a diminution of his message. Meanwhile, two friends told me they're over Brooklyn (neither has plans to move.)
My parents, speaking of them and of moving, sold their house. To their favorite couple of all, who have an adorable, well-mannered and bespectacled three-year-old boy and an 8-month little girl.
My friend Ruby gave me a wonderful birthday gift: a Mets pin from the 1960s.
And in other news, finally found "Mambo Italiano" on a karaoke machine, at Montero's on Atlantic. I sang it largely for the benefit of an old man at the bar, who seemed unimpressed, yet riveted.
Various
People sometimes suggest to me that I know more than my share of characters, or else am exaggerating people's eccentricities. I swear, neither is true. But then other times I start to wonder.
The other night at an ironical prom, we met a young man, very dashing in regimentals, with whom we ended up going to a sinister and exclusive Weimar-esque club. We ended up having to leave without saying goodbye, and I wrote with my regrets, since he is now across the pond. Anyway, here's what I received:
The other night at an ironical prom, we met a young man, very dashing in regimentals, with whom we ended up going to a sinister and exclusive Weimar-esque club. We ended up having to leave without saying goodbye, and I wrote with my regrets, since he is now across the pond. Anyway, here's what I received:
Darling,
I'm the most dreadful cad for leaving you and your chap amidst the vespertine fray, but I'd managed to disgrace the queen's uniform by throwing up the best part of a sloppy joe in the stairwell, only to be asked back in by the manager and force fed tequila ad infinitum. Insensible with drinking on a now empty stomach I had to admit defeat without the good grace to say goodnight to the pair of you, or even locate my missing spur.
Monday, May 24, 2010
A Kitchen Essay
Agnes Jekyll (1860-1937) was the daughter of William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow and patron of the Pre-Raphaelites; she had a literary and artistic childhood. After her marriage to Herbert Jekyll (soldier, public servant and wood-carver) she lived at Munstead House in Surrey, with her sister-in-law Gertrude Jekyll nearby at Munstead Wood. Agnes's gift for friendship and organisational skills made her an excellent hostess: Mary Lutyens described her house as 'the apogee of opulent comfort and order without grandeur, smelling of pot-pouri, furniture polish and wood smoke'; while Gertrude Jekyll's biographer remarked that if she 'was an artist-gardener, then Agnes was an artist-housekeeper.' Created DBE for her involvement in numerous good causes, Lady Jekyll (as she had also become) first published Kitchen Essays (1922) in The Times 'in which she was persuaded to pass on some of the wit and wisdom of her rare gift for clever and imaginative housekeeping.'
[via the ever-glorious Persephone Press]
More Inspiration
Check out this Ziegfeld Follies performer, Ann Pennington, seen here in'18 with Will Rogers. I have been fiendishly scouring the net for fringed pants like this in order to make the scene, but can only find hideous 80s iterations that are not the same things AT ALL. If anyone has a source for vintage buckskins...?
Style Stuff
This isn't my fam, but rather from the Sartorialist's "vintage photos contest." I've been seeing it all over the 'sphere, and it's easy to see why fashionistas are sweating Grandma Lois pretty hard!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
