June 2010
Tuesday Project Roundup: Even I Will Admit This Is Loud
I’m not afraid to wear a lot of color or to mix prints, so it’s strange that something that’s black and white makes me feel so conspicuous–while wearing green shoes, a turquoise cardigan, and a navy polka-dotted dress and carrying an orange purse doesn’t.
I think it’s the print:
The pattern is vintage; I’m guessing 1965 or 66 (check out the print they used on the left!). I left off the bow on the collar because there was already enough going on.
I’ve been trying to fancy up my finishes lately–I’ve lined all the skirts I’ve made–but I didn’t want to engineer a lining for this. So instead I finished the seam edges with bias tape. (That takes a long time, by the way.)
Now if I can get some pointy-toed kitten heels and a Moscow Mule, I’ll be set.
Happy Flag Day
Put out your flag today and be glad you don’t live in North Korea–the New York Times has an interview with eight North Koreans who have left the country in the last month. It seems that the recent currency devaluation there has made life nearly unlivable (and it wasn’t really that cushy before).
Just something to think about Monday as I go off to my fancy advertising job…
Friday Unrelated Information
1.Every time I watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s (or even the clip I posted yesterday), I have to remember that George Peppard went from playing the love interest in that film to playing the Colonel in The A-Team. Strange.
2. Speaking of movies, I watched The Hunt for Red October last night and was struck by all number of things–how young Alec Baldwin was in 1990, how 18-year-olds have no memory of the Cold War, and how I kind of want a big furry Russian hat.
"June drifter, off to see the world"
When Toby was having his adventures outside, I would thought of that line from “Moon River,” and today I woke up with it in my head. So here’s the version from the film–we all need something pretty to look at on a Thursday, right?
However, my absolute favorite version of this is on the LP “Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers.” Go check out the sample and you’ll probably agree with me.
How Did The Spending Freeze Go, You Ask?
My month of not buying non-essentials was pretty successful: I did buy a manicure last month but that was from my list so I’m not being too hard on myself for it. I also went to Starbucks a few times.
But overall, it wasn’t so bad to get back in the non-spending habit–much easier than when I first went on a budget four years ago and had to approach not spending the way an alcoholic approaches not drinking (one day at a time). I’m glad I proved to myself I can still do it, because once I get a house I think not spending is going to become the new normal (again).
Tuesday Project Roundup: A Little Aubergine
The controller/head of HR at work is expecting a little girl, and I thought, “Hey, I haven’t done any real knitting since March and I have some lovely leftover eggplant alpaca yarn, so why don’t I make a little baby hat?” So I did.
I tried to make it a little bigger than newborn size, since babies born in July probably don’t need a hat right away, but the only size gauge I had was Toby. (It’s too big for him.)
Also, I remembered that I really like knitting! Maybe I need to pull out the cabled sweater and work on the sleeves, so I’ll be ready to go when it’s fall again.
Can Adults Get Summer Vacation, Too?
This poem about summer vacation showed up on the Writer’s Almanac a couple of weeks ago. Nothing like warm weather to make you feel full of longing and think that anything is possible.
Can Adults Get Summer Vacation, Too?
This poem about summer vacation showed up on the Writer’s Almanac a couple of weeks ago. Nothing like warm weather to make you feel full of longing and think that anything is possible.
Go now into summer, into the backs of cars,
into the black maws of your own changing,
onto the boardwalks of a thousand splinters,
onto the beaches of a hundred fond memories
in wait, where the sea in all its indefatigability
stammers at the invitation. Go to your vacation,
to the late morning cool of your basement rooms,
the honeysuckle evening of the first kiss, the first
dip and pivot, swivel and twist. Go to where
the clipper ships sail far upriver, where the salmon
swim in the clean, cool pools just to spawn.
Wake to what the spider unspools into a silver
dawn dripping with light. Sleep in sleeping bags,
sleep in sand, sleep at someone else’s house
in a land you’ve never been, where the dreamers
dream in a language you only half understand.
Slip beneath the sheets, slide toward the plate,
swing beneath the bandstand where the secret
things await. Be glad, or be sad if you want,
but be, and be a part of all that marches past
like a parade, and wade through it or swim in it
or dive in it with your eyes open and your mind
open to wind, rain, long days of sun and longer
nights of city lights mixing on wet streets like paint.
Stay up so late that you forget day-of-the-week,
week-of-the-month, month-of-the-year of what
might be the best summer, the summer
best remembered by the scar, or by the taste
you’ll never now forget of someone’s lips,
and the trips you tookâthere, there, there,
where snow still slept atop some alpine peak,
or where the moon rose so low you could see
its tranquil seas…and all your life it’ll be like
some familiar body that stayed with you one night,
one summer, one year, when you were young,
and how everywhere you walked, it followed.
Friday Unrelated Information
1. Here’s a Flickr set of “animals at sea” from the National Maritime Museum–I love the mongoose, mascot of the HMS Emerald.
2. The Writer’s Almanac tells me that today in 1919, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, was passed by the United States Congress.
3. And, related to the above: