Shoes Lebowski

Our rescue kitty, fattened up!!


Isn't he cute!!?

My new banner and blog layout...

Hello my dears, I'm very happy to announce several key changes to my blog! In keeping with my new focus here at the English Muse (writing mostly about books), I asked illustrator Lori Langille to create a new banner. Take a look and let me know what you think!

I love Lori's work -- sort of Victorian eclectic. Her day job includes producing illustrations for a variety of newspapers and magazines in Canada and the US. In the evenings, she updates her fantastic design blog, Automatism.

Here are a few more of her works. (Check out her website for more!)





Have a lovely Monday!

Is Jonathan Franzen all that?

The Franzen frenzy started a month ago when TIME magazine put the author on its cover and labeled him the "Great American Novelist." I finally have a copy of his new book, Freedom. (My reading this weekend). I'm anxious to see if he's really all that.

Any thoughts?

(Illustration above by Joe Ciardiello for Barnes and Noble Review.)

Prada 2010 Fall/Winter Look Book

Hello darlings. Is there anything that gets the mind and imagination working quite like the printed page? The other day I wandered into Prada in Beverly Hills. And while I couldn't quite afford anything on the racks, they were happy to let me leave with
one of their lovely new (and free!) lookbooks.

Take a look at some of the images:









The hefty-sized lookbook features styling and artwork by OMA (Alexander Reichert & Fausto Fantinuoli) as well as photography from Phil Meech. It has that cool Internet, on-the-street fashion blog vibe, but printed on craft paper. I wish I had all the back issues!

What's your favorite lookbook?