Sundays

It used to be that Saturday was my favourite day of the week but I think I've changed my mind. It must have something to do with the omniscient thought that all this glory is going to end in just a matter of time. Tomorrow I will have to work. Its sort of like a great love story that comes once a week. You know how when a love is over, you always wish that you'd cherished it just a little bit more, argued less, treasured the stupid and seemingly insignificant but beautiful moments because in the end, those are the things you remember? Three weeks from now I won't remember that I cleaned the guest bedroom today or that I watched 3:10 to Yuma at 1:00 am this morning. No, I will remember the feta-infused pasta salad I made today, the hazelnut coffee that I consumed too much of, the angrily hungover texts I'm getting from Kristina in Chicago (for that matter, I'll remember that I thankfully do not have a hangover), the music I download today will become permanent memories, the books; oh the books I read will stick with me like all these other little things. I like catching myself in moments when I realize I am truly happy.

image: James Merrell
The Books: this morning, post brushing of teeth and washing of face, I made coffee and then hurled the massive array of books I'm currently devouring onto my unmade and disheveled bed. The erroneous pile looked like this: I say erroneous because this pile can only be (at least in part) described as mistaken. Let's begin with the 100 Best Poems of All Time. When I found this in the library I turned to one page and since that page was in the middle of the book and not at the front where the contents are, I truly thought because I did not recognize that poem or that writer that this book was gonna be different. Sadly, it was the same old thing. You know what I mean: Ode to a Grecian Urn, The Raven, and some mildly depressing thing by Sylvia Plath. Its redeeming qualities were Harlem by Langston Hughes, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, and To Jeoffry His Cat by Christopher Smart. However, sadly I have previously read and dissected all of these before. Then, I came across this:

About Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An angel writing in a book of gold:-

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" - The vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"

Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,

Write me as one that loves his fellow men."

The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

Isn't that lovely? Leigh Hunt gets created for that one.

Anyway, on to my other stories. So that whole Mystical Life of Jesus thing was crap. You see it was written by that psychic that used to be on Montel Williams show. I know I know, I should have known better. I didn't think she was going to give me some divine word from God or anything, I just thought her outlook would be a little interesting. But I tell you this now, the woman may be sweet, she may be clairvoyant (whatever that actually is), she might even really love God with all her heart (I'm not judging that) however, her "spirit guide" Francine really freaks me out. I got about 1/2 way through this one and literally thought that if I read one more line I was going to have to change my name to Delilah, rap my head in a silk scarf turban, buy a caravan and a crystal ball and start charging my friends for the advice that I give even when they don't ask for it. So I put it down. I immediately felt less crazy than I had only moments before.

But then I picked up Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. Guys, I have to tell you: I have the biggest crush ever on this man:

image: found here

Seriously, his wit is contagious. I feel myself writing better than I have for ages just because I have his sarcastic jolts in my head as I type (feel free to burst my bubble though). No, really, I love him so very much. Who else could crack me up with a line like this: "With all the rock and roll, good stuff to eat and high-explosives at hand, I was reasonably happy". I'm on page 41 and I had to force it out of the explosive grip of my own hands so that I could actually get something done today.

But then I picked this up:

image: amazon

The sad part about this is that I've already finished it. Listen, I DIDN'T REMEMBER FINISHING IT! Once I started trying to find the doggy-eared page that I'd last read and got really confused, I went to the very last page and it dawned on me that not only had I completed this novel, but I'd even blogged about it! This is not a good sign guys. Not a good sign for this book at all. I do not recommend.

However, I finished it. Which is more than what I can say for that Soul Mates thing that you saw in the first picture.

Next comes this delightful book:

This one you just must must must picked up. I actually sneaked a peak at my friend Kate's house a few months ago and it really is simply lovely. I feel like such less of a dope reading this than I would had I actually purchased The Idiot's Guide to Sewing. Plus, in this book they teach you how to make sassy aprons like this:

In addition, they also teach you how to torture your children by making the headdresses that look like this:

You think I could make one for a dog too? Buster would look hilariously stupid in this cap, don't you think?

Ok, now that I've contained my laughter I must urge you to read Becoming Jane Austen. It is a lovely autobiography that the movie Becoming Jane was based on. Also, if you haven't seen the movie you must watch it TODAY! I'm not kidding. Perfection it was - James McAvoy perfection.

images: wikipedia and people

No need to assert to you people that I'm in love with this man as well. I actually don't think he could be more perfect if he tried. I take that back, he could have convinced the director of Atonement to make that library scene last a little longer, but I'll forgive him for that just now. Mostly, he deserves my forgiveness because I think he looks like a young version of this man:

image: Cindy Pearlman

I should note here that 3:10 to Yuma was FABULOUS!

Ok, so I'm off now to clean more of the disastrous apartment. I might even make some more pistachio pudding today, resulting in heavenly photographs like this:

I leave you with wisdom from Maya:

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Have a glorious Sunday!

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO???

I know I know, its not like me to write about fashion. Generally speaking I leave that to these girls. But today it just couldn't be helped.

What's that they say? "to each his own" I think that's a good mantra for today.

So earlier this morning, there I was taking horrible but hilariously humorous "bumper stickers" off of my facebook account because I don't think my friends realize that there are people on there that don't need to know I often have a potty mouth (you know like co-workers MEGAN!!!) anyway, all of a sudden this advertisement pops up on the side of the page for American Apparel.

Now don't get me wrong, I love that there is an American owned company out there actually making clothes in America and I love that they support rights for legal immigrants and fair treatment for employees and all, but what I have serious issues with is much less trivial: their fashions!

I mean, dear God, what has the world come to?

There are people that can pull off skinny jeans, and yes, as a matter of fact I am quite jealous that I am not one of those people.

I even agree that there are actually little punk rock boys that can pull off skinny jeans. HOWEVER, skinny coloured jeans? People, this is just wrong I tell you WRONG!

Now for the classic fashion dilemma: to spandex or not to spandex:

My vote is for no, unless you're a professional dancer of course (and yes, strippers, that includes you).

I can also make an exception for my dear Scarlett Jo:

The sad thing is that there are actually parts of 1980's fashion that I love (you know, bangle bracelets, big hair, men with mullets, that kind of thing) but iridescent is never ok. I repeat NEVER OK! Especially when combined with the whole spandex ordeal:

To be fair, high-waisted anything gives me the heebie-geebies.

But never mind that, back to the iridescence of it all:

OH WOW!

The worst part about this glittery trend is that it has apparently already caught on. Be afraid be very very afraid. Terrified in fact.

And what's with the one piece?

I mean even Scarlett Jo makes this particular mistake?

Why Scarlett why?

Next thing you know the whole one-piece bodysuit will be coming back. Oh wait wait what was that you said? Did you say bodysuit? Because I believe American Apparel has some of those.

Geez, they were so cute back in the day - maybe I might be ok with that trend coming back. Oh no wait, I've just spent to much time reminiscing on this post is all.

Once again, another fashion that should not be worn unless you are a dancer of some sort:

Moreover, what is the deal with this company's models??? Oh wait and their photographers too??? I mean really - they look scared.


And then it gets worse. I'm not even kidding guys.

That is indeed a fanny pack you see.

But I must assert here that you should indeed check out this website. Especially if you're one of those fabulously funky people that could "own" (and by own I mean "rock") any of the above outfits and prove me completely and totally wrong because I'm always open to that.

Here are some things that I actually really like from American Apparel:

These glasses=fabulous!, but no, I cannot pull them off and will not try.

I really like these models too, although the second one is questionable for the obvious reasons:

Such cute dresses and a super fun scarf that comes in like 20 colours: YAY!

I must say, all of the fashions you've seen here today kids did in fact come from American Apparel except of course for the ones that were seen on celebs and they came from the girls at Go Fug Yourself.

Have an amazingly creative Saturday peeps!

"How much piecin' a quilt's like livin a life...the Lord sends us pieces, but we can cut 'em out and put 'em together pretty much to suit ourselves"

(I like this quote but it reminds me of a line that Maya Angelou has in How to Make an American Quilt - "what I'm sayin is I don't want no damn ugly quilt" - I'm pretty sure that if I piece the quilt of my life without any guidance from above, I'll make a damn ugly quilt. . .which is why I rest in serendipity)

frustration in blogland

today my mind is scattered. i actually wrote and then discarded 3 posts before this (so sorry you don't get to hear my thoughts on Manolos, Laura Ashley, or Hilary Clinton's decoration of the white house-maybe later). i think its because i went to the library today. i always have issues with libraries - i get overwhelmed, you know, the way some people feel in fabric stores. in libraries i just continually wish i was a speed reader. actually, i take that back. why would you want to speed through all the things you can find in a library? i, rather, want to physically immerse myself in AT LEAST one book on virtually every subject of interest: cooking, painting, quilting, el salvador, modern art, antiques, decorating, italy, love poetry, shakespeare, england, peonies, an idiots guide to sewing, how to be a better friend, women in business, goya, entertaining. . . the list goes on and that's what scares me i believe.

so i got a few things:

Motifs for Crazy Quilting

Nigella Express

Soul Mates

100 Greatest Poems of All Time

Becoming Jane Austen

The Mystical Life of Jesus

Kitchen Confidential

i know i know i'm out of my mind, completely scattered. but i'm going to read all of these things - starting with a little bit of each every evening. no doubt this will only further my indecisivness and urge me even more swiftly into the lunatic asylum, but to hell with it, i'm just gonna give in and accept it.

i'm not going to lie to you a single bit - i have issues: my job drives me crazy but i kinda love that about it too, my house is such a disaster area i won't even let people in, its been 5 weeks since i've died my hair and i just know my stylist guy (mark anthony, no lie) would kill me if he say it, i'm having coffee for dinner, i talked to my ex-boyfriend and current tennant in the old house for almost an hour this afternoon (kate, feel free to scold away), i think i have a friend who just came out of the closet last night to his girlfriend (who knew? not i!), i need to brush my teeth, i actually have enough underwear to prevent me from washing clothes for a full 6 weeks, i think vladimir putin (scary though he is) is really hot, i can't stop buying winged pigs, i think lily allen is a genius, this week i feel like a bad friend and a bad sister for not responding to emails and myspace messages, i've been on a dating sabatical for 3 months which ends in 2 days, i miss england so much i would even take a one-way trip to peterborough-of-hell if someone gave it to me, my last boyfriend may or may not have been a rapper, i haven't washed my hair in at least 2 days (its curly people, don't judge!), my black thumb even manages to kill cacti, i have all sorts of coniption fits on the cheese aisle at whole foods (feta or goat?), somehow i can't even manage to capitalize my "i" or anything else for that matter, and the list goes on but

in short, i am a mess!

i think the crazy quilt ideal pretty much symbolizes my fried brain at the moment-which is why i've included the pictures here. (comments not needed, but totally accepted on this one.)

as my pal stewart says "you're much stronger than you act", which, annoyingly is totally and completely true. so i'm going to spend the night in my bed, reading and creating things that make me feel better. i'll have more inspiration for you tomorrow, i promise.

heart me!

note: the first picture i found today on etsy while looking for crazy quilts was entitled "serendipity". Indeed, this alone, makes my day (simple pleasures and all) thanks sassalynne!

ya'll must check out her page because her yarns are to die for!

image2&3 makingitsell on etsy - thanks so much Kristen, you're a genius for sure!

image4: 2purejoy on etsy - Darlene, your work is so innovative and different that it truly is inspiring

image5: magicaldreams on etsy - I haven't chatted with you yet, but hope I get to because I adore your point of view: very serene, very exciting, and indeed magically dreamy!

"when life gives you scraps, make quilts"

rEPRO-dEPOT

for those of you that haven't heard, this place is FABULOUS!!!

Alas, I have way too much to do today and not enough time to do it in so forgive me if this is a very simple post.

Here's more of what I like: