Cat Crisis

My giant kitty Shoes Lebowski -- you guys helped name him after I rescued him over the summer -- has been hospitalized with a complete urinary block, a condition that's deadly if not treated within 24 hours. We caught it in time, but he's not out of the woods...I'm so worried about him.

If you have a male cat, be sure to get educated about this horrible disease. Feed them moist food only (Science Diet is best) and filtered water!!

A Red Typewriter & A Lonely Girl

I have a thing for old typewriters -- usually pink, but red is fantastic too. I LOVE the Breakfast at Tiffany's GIF, by Arlei, and the top photo by Andreia Lopes.

Thank you for all your comments regarding my previous post on boring books. I can never stick with a book if it's dull. And I hate to say this, but the latest Michael Cunningham effort is about to go on the shelf next to the Richard Ford rejects. Oh well...

The Best Boring Books

Guardian books columnist Robert McCrum believes "there are times when dullness is exactly what you want from a book."

Here are his favorites:

1. Robert Burton: The Anatomy of Melancholy
2. Robert Musil: The Man Without Qualities
3. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled
4. Malcolm Lowry: Under the Volcano
5. Virginia Woolf: The Waves
6. James Joyce: Finnegans Wake
7. Thomas Wolfe: Look Homeward, Angel
8. William Thackeray: Pendennis
9. Karl Marx: Capital
10. James Woodforde: The Diary of A Country Parson

Do you stick with boring books or give up mid-way through?

(Photo by Uncommon Destinations.)

Saturday Tumblr: Red

(more here)

Have a Happy Weekend!

My to-do list:
Sleep in
Go to farmers market
Plant bare-root roses (Eden!)
Trim pomegranate tree bonsai
Finish "By Nightfall"
Walk around the Rose Bowl
Find vintage papers for collage project
Search for medals and filigree at the flea market
Go to see "The King's Speech"

What are you doing this weekend?


(Photo from here.)

What are you reading?

I found a copy of Michael Cunningham's "By Nightfall" at my favorite secondhand bookstore the other day. I loved The Hours, so I'm looking forward to starting Cunningham's new book tonight!

What are you reading?


(Very clever photo, above, from here.)

The Hollywood Beauty Bar's Silhouettes

I was in Hollywood today and couldn't resist taking a picture of the silhouettes on the doors of the Beauty Bar, a lounge where you can get a manicure along with your cocktail.

I love the lights with the hairdryer shades!

Hope you have a lovely weekend! What do you have planned?
I want to finally go see Black Swan this weekend!

Things inside purses...

Anthropologie is out this month with a catalogue featuring pictures of stuff inside purses. Why am I so fascinated by this? I love blog posts, photos, stories, etc. about the things people keep in their bags. (Is there a flickr group on this?) Anyway, here are a few shots from the Anthro campaign:

Sorry I haven't been posting much...I've been busy working, and -- alas -- I'm not going to Paris. Maybe next year...

UPDATE: I just discovered there is a flickr group called "What's In Your Bag." It has more than 20,000 members. I'm not alone!

Christopher Hitchens on how to make a decent cup of tea

Christopher Hitchens over the weekend wrote a story for Slate on the proper way to make tea.

"It is already virtually impossible in the United States, unless you undertake the job yourself, to get a cup or pot of tea that tastes remotely as it ought to," he complains. "It's quite common to be served a cup or a pot of water, well off the boil, with the tea bags lying on an adjacent cold plate... The drink itself is then best thrown away, though if swallowed, it will have about the same effect on morale as a reading of the memoirs of President James Earl Carter."

Hitchens relies (mostly) on George Orwell's tips for tea making.

They include:

*Always use Indian or Ceylonese—i.e., Sri Lankan—tea.
*Make tea only in small quantities.
*Avoid silverware pots.
*If you use a pot at all, make sure it is pre-warmed. (Hitchens adds: do the same thing even if you are only using a cup or a mug.)
*Stir the tea before letting it steep.
*MOST IMPORTANT: "Take the teapot to the kettle, and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact."
*If you use milk, make sure it's the least creamy type. ("And do not put the milk in the cup first—family feuds have lasted generations over this—because you will almost certainly put in too much," Hitchens says.)
*A "decent cylindrical mug" is best.

Finally, Hitchens believes brown sugar or honey are "permissible and sometimes necessary," even though Orwell would probably disagree.


And there you have it.

(Photo by Le Portillon.)

Inspiration Journals

I love these simply fashioned inspiration journals by Victoria at the blog Inmost Light.








The paper and clippings are held together with two simple silver rings.

Lovely.

Out with the old...

Happy New Year, friends...Here's to a better year!

(Illustration by the fantastic Kelly Reemtsen.)

Kodachrome rolls into history...

Maybe a new project for Impossible?

Snowflakes, stardust, dreams...

...New images on my Tumblr page...


(Photo, called "One Mississippi," by Anastasia Volkova.)

So, what books did you get?

I didn't get any books for Xmas. None!  My husband said he thought about getting me a Kindle but then opted for a GPS device for my car. Sigh.


What about you? Did you get any books (and which ones!?)


Btw, at the moment I'm reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes. It's marvelous.



(illustration by Jason Cover.)

She started writing notes...

I love this little work of art -- on a pink pillowcase -- by Michaela Lynch.

A charm for happy dreams.