a few good flea market moments

Mauer Park is one of my favorite Berlin flea markets. you can buy anything from old GDR paraphernalia to half chewed gum. and the people watching is sublime.
Don't let the sunny images fool you though - that's long gone. now the days are over before they begin and the only consolation is Glühwein (mulled wine) at the christmas markets across town

3 tours

a parisian home on design sponge



a rustic modern loft on A.T




and a great studio tour of "SchubLaden" , Berlin



house tours are one of my weaknesses- here are a few good ones from across the web. click on through the links to have a look

graphic design

great graphic design from the mid-60's ,Israel

shoot

Mad Men is fabulous for lots of obvious reasons but it just got that much better as I watched Betty Draper shoot her neighbor's birds with a BB gun

{from "shoot" - season 1,episode 9}

thoughts for the weekend

because everybody should have Rorschach art in there home

and because bird houses as bedside tables make so much sense

and the Togo. because in a perfect world it would already me mine,and spending rent money on designer sofas would not be ethically questionable

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