victoria thorne

18.6.10

trippen

found their shoes in ulm a few summers ago;

they are sort of beyond what mere mortals

might employ. (or at least this mere mortal;

i'd be happy to employ a few pairs, even so.)

here's their link.

17.6.10

looking at this, i think that
an entire generation (more
than one, actually) has been
influenced by this set. it's
still superb; just as magic as
it was then. perhaps more
so now? how many of us
just wanted to live there?

yet more wonders from l'écaille de la sirène

(including Marie Antoinette's corset)

L'écaille de la sirène

1967

after i stopped thinking about tumbleweeds, i

started trying to figure out how i could pull off

dressing in a way that pretty much looked last

century. at seven, i became certain that the road to

happiness would be growing up and being able to

look like someone who'd just stepped out of an

edwardian carriage (on an edwardian street in,

of course, an edwardian outfit). there's no doubt

it was not quite the usual. what little girl obsesses

about these things? (two years later, we moved

to kansas and it was all about poke bonnets and

pioneer dress.) 'tho i did get a pair of coveted go-go

boots. adored them. they were white. and shiny.

it was, after all, the sixties.

looking back, i'm sure i'd fallen in love with

constitution island and the warner's rooms

full of marvelous dusty and exceedingly tidy

books; and, of course, we were surrounded by

boys -- charming boys -- in uniforms that hadn't

much changed since those warner sister days.

(why shouldn't i have dressed to match?) at

west point, the air felt magic. being there, on

that sweet hudson river, seemed good fortune.

charming underpinnings, photo:

L'écaille de la sirène

a story, a story

again: l'écaille de la sirène

l'écaille de la sirène

here: very lovely work

16.6.10

1964

when we lived in oklahoma

(fort sill) we used to make

tumbleweed snowmen. or

was it in southern california?

i think it was oklahoma, and

that in so. cal. -- when i was

older and wiser, in kindergarten

now and not just in preschool! --

i simply could not understand why

there weren't enough tumbleweeds

to put together a proper snowman.

the next year we up &

moved to new york, and snowmen

became an entirely different species.

photo: yamamoto masao

at tomorrow started

balance

is a fine thing

ivan terestchenko

photography

tomorrow

started

located canoe

camp kehonka

looks like it was

a pretty swell place

15.6.10

needs only canoe

camp inch 2

it's just one of those things, isn't it?

camp inch

hayley hayley

14.6.10

Mary Webb

This post from the ever-excellent

Booktryst sent me in search of

Mary Webb, and I am finding it

difficult to put Precious Bane

down. More on this later, probably.

Please note that there is currently

an exhibit at Stanford. (Hope to go.)

12.6.10

unpublished

avedon at booktryst

My sister and I have amazing parents.

Our dad sent this to us several days ago:

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what

you have not; but remember that what you

now have was once among the things only

hoped for." Epicurus

that said: joy

Although I don't spend too much time talking about this online, anyone who knows me knows that my family is my life. When I saw that Emily Dickinson had written "Home -- is the definition of God" it resonated beyond any explanation I could supply here.

That said (and it says it all for me), home is of utmost importance. As much joy as it brings to find things -- a chair, a house, a painting, a photograph, the work of an artist who sees things in such a way that it brings immeasurable happiness and beauty into other's lives -- the greatest joy I find is always, ever, looking into the faces (or just being near) those I love. Second to that is the joy of being near things (or finding things) that remind me of treasured times. And all of the (treasured times) things are humble. And will remain humble. In the long haul, that's what matters. I find that looking into those faces, reading the best words, spending time with those we love, being surrounded by humble things that bring joy, and perhaps -- if I am lucky -- being able to create some of that joy for someone else: that is the measure of life, it is home. And home, as Emily noted, is where we really need to be.

(This blog was started, as mentioned before, as a lark; an exercise in learning how to work blogger so that i could post about children's books. It took on a little life of it's own, and somehow changed mine. Only now mentioning all this because I suppose I will try to include more family...if they don't mind. For me, they are true home. And that definition.)

Here's hoping you have a magnificent weekend.