wanderlust

One too many gray days can leave you highly susceptible to a severe case of wanderlust... so looking at old travel photos is sort of like taking your vitamins

from top: Santorini, Greece
Granada, Spain
The Negev, Israel


photos from the archives

The problem with looking for the perfect winter coat is that you're likely to find perfect boots and plaid shirts along the way...

coat and boots - anthropologie

plaid shirt - Hixept

chagall's roosters

Sometime in the Fifties, Picasso remarked that "When Matisse dies, "Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is"

Chagall's entire world of flying lovers and musical goats is enchanting,but I am especially partial to his roosters.

I am fascinated by this woman's project, and also green with envy. Nina Sankovitch decided to read one book a day for a year. Each day she finished a book, and wrote about it the following morning.
Perhaps best explained in her own words:

"I also seek knowledge through my 365 project: I've learned so much from all the books I've read and I need more. ... the themes of identity and responsibility and culpability and accountability have been debated and explored and examined in the great novels. Really. I've learned great lessons and been inspired by great writers. This year, reading one book a day, should be both intense and wonderful."

"Seeing things in a new way changes you; there is rewiring of the brain. There is a deepening and broadening of thinking about everything, from even subtle changes in thinking about anything. So far in my year of reading, I believe my brain has become more robust and energized, and life all around me is better."

you can read more about her in the new york times,
or at have a look at her reviews at read all day

Unfortunately, I am required to take piano lessons. I'm not sure who is less fortunate, me or poor Ms. Taubert- but regardless, its quite clear that piano playing is most definitely not my forte. It might help if I practiced every so often but it just seems like such a futile way to spend my time. When I practice the piano, I think about those Tibetan Buddhist monks who spend hours and hours making sculptures of butter and then take them out into the sun to melt. Only this doesn't make me feel calm and zen-like ,Quite the contrary actually. I wish I had had this gem of a quote with me at my lesson the other day

"I don't play accurately , anyone can play accurately But I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for life "

-Oscar Wilde from The Importance of being Earnest , because there is no one like Oscar for quotes

I would like to know if the couch comes with the dog, because I think I might need them both, please


*via design sponge

place : Wuhan,China

In Wuhan, running around in between sound checks and the shows, the best pictures were the ones I didn't take. A beauty contest on the street ( the judges were amazed I wasn't Chinese and waved for me to join) , the looks on the faces of everyone when we walked into a tiny restaurant , Two young policemen in front of the stage goofing off and dancing to Sinatra tunes

On the second night it was windy and raining, We huddled in the only dry corner of the stage, and tried to keep our notes from blowing away. I even ended up up playing in my raincoat, but we were having so much fun we hardly noticed how frozen our fingers were...

Fall crispness.

bottom two images : the sartorialist

top left : the selby

place : Beijing

Actually, I almost didn't make it to China. About an hour into the flight a stewardess walked through with a laser gun, shooting a red beam at each passengers forehead. She sweetly let us know she was taking our temperature, and looking for potential swine flu carriers. I lost my sense of humor when she told my mine was a bit high, and she'd be back in a moment to check me again. The second time I passed with flying colors, relieved that I didn't have to spend the whole tour in quarantine. Yes, truth is stranger than fiction. Every time

With so little time, I got in a photo-taking frenzy. We actually had only 3 hours in Beijing, before catching a flight to Wuhan the next morning... we walked along the river in and older part of the city, had some interesting snacks (we cowardly opted out of the cockroach and skorpion skewers but still had some pretty un-western dishes) took a ride across town in a taxi with a death wish, and and ate a fabulous peking duck.

next up : Wuhan

thing : new old camera

Took this out for a little walk in the park today, crunching through leaves and mumbling to myself about f stops and shutter speeds. It was one of those golden, crispy fall weekends and if I'm lucky and the aperture and speed all lined up for me, I caught some of it on film

I'm back from China with lots of photos and a few funny stories, but around here it's been rather like a ghost town, and there's nothing sadder than an empty neglected little blog... so I leave you with this lovely vintage image of jellyfish,

untill I gather my thoughts