Saturday, October 25, 2008

palm springs

I'm in Palm Springs for the week, a place I don't know all that well. Reading Th1rteen R3asons Why, Story of A Girl, and Living Dead Girl (all YA). Lots of buzz about Living Dead Girl (especially among young adult librarians), most of it positive. Also reading the W with Angelina Jolie on the cover and an amazing spread by Roni Horn inside, Paul Pincus's blog, and the SFMOMA's Nov/Dec newsletter.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

a slug of good whiskey

Bloggers have recipes. My friend Jenny has a recipe she promises will make kale taste good. Maybe. I have a recipe too. I got it from a blog (Maud, of course). It's writer Kate Christensen's cure for the common cold. But I find that it'll cure almost anything. The following is excerpted from Maud:

Day two home from work with a killer cold, and my only consolation is novelist Kate Christensen’s hot toddy. Since she passed it along last fall, the drink has eclipsed spicy tomato soup as the Maud household’s preferred remedy. It proves — as we always knew deep in our hearts — that Bourbon cures everything.

Add boiling water to (in the biggest cup in the house; this is no time to fuck around with anything dainty) the juice of 1 lemon, a big wad of honey, a slug of good whiskey [Ed. Note: I’ve been using Maker’s Mark], and as much cayenne pepper as you can tolerate. If it’s morning, add a tea bag.

Photo Nigel Shafran via Horse Hunting

speaking of stella

This Stella McCartney bodysuit via the lovely loveology. My goddaughter has a whole wardrobe of bodysuits she layers under everything. So cool.

watching

Bishop Desmond Tutu and Richard Branson on Iconoclasts. Stella McCartney and Edward Ruscha up next. And this NOVA on Hugh Everett (thanks Kathleen).

Thursday, October 16, 2008

would it stand on the wall?

From Tokion, a fantastic interview with Sophie Calle by artist Jill Magid:

Most recently, she [Calle] was behind the most talked about exhibition at the 2007 Venice Biennale, Take care of yourself. Calle analyzed an ex-boyfriend’s break-up email by asking 107 women to interpret his words...

Jill Magid: You incorporate a few different methodologies in your work. One of them seems like this natural catalyst—something happens in your life, and then you set [up for] yourself what you call a ‘game.’ So, Take care of yourself was something that happened—a break-up—and then you set up a game—

Sophie Calle: And they have a therapeutic motor aspect, just as a start: ‘What can I do not to suffer?’

Jill Magid: You don’t think you start this process as a work?

Sophie Calle: No, there are different categories, as you say. The category in which it is my life, many times starts as a reaction to something. Like, I received that love letter, what can I do [to] counter it, not just to be a victim of it. Maybe the first step is therapeutic, but if it’s only therapeutic, I may as well go buy a dress at the corner of the street. So, immediately [I think], ‘Would [it] stand on the wall?’ If I think yes, I go on.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

the misfits

The photographers of Magnum Photos were given exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the filming of The Misfits. Led by Magnum co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson, the photographers arrived on the set in pairs and alternated every two weeks. Nearly 100 photos available on PBS.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

one bad sofa

"I always say - a prejudice on my part, I'm sure - you can tell a lot about a person's character from his choice of sofa. Sofas constitute a realm inviolate unto themselves. This, however, is something that only those who have grown up sitting on good sofas will appreciate. It's like growing up reading good books or listening to good music. One good sofa breeds another good sofa; one bad sofa breeds another bad sofa. That's how it goes." Haruki Murakami. Appearing at UC Berkely this week.
Manuscript page from The Paris Review

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

muxtape remembers

A Continuous Lean offers up a link for your almost forgotten playlists. My favorite for dancing around the house? This, from someone named Kalpana:
  1. The Virgins — Rich Girls
  2. Cat Power — New York
  3. Nellie McKay — Identity Theft
  4. Delta Spirit — Gimme Some Motivation
  5. Elizabeth & The Catapult — Waiting for the Kill
  6. Mechanical Bride — Umbrella
  7. Ray LaMontagne — Three More Days
  8. Joe Cocker — The Letter
  9. Mark Ronson Ft. Lily Allen — Oh My God
  10. Ixley — Luchini (Wounded Mix) - Camp Lo
  11. Hellogoodbye — Oh It Is Love
  12. Vampire Weekend — A-Punk

Saturday, October 4, 2008

the old typewriter

"I get up in the morning, that's one of the hard parts, drag myself over to the old typewriter and sit down—that ’s even harder— and then I tell the Lord, 'I ain't greedy, Lord, just give me the next 500 words.'" Harry Crews. (Car, 1st Edition)