Muses & Amusements

Restaurant reportage... A lowbrow twist on Italian interiors (with great meatball subs).

Afternoon light in my home sliced with shadows of vertical and horizontal blinds.

Gorgeous and youthful Rock Hudson, Paula Prentiss and Maria Perschy.  

This week I had my first viewing of "Man's Favorite Sport" from 1964, which had all the campy charm, madcap mayhem and colorful coquettishness of his troika of films with Doris Day.  I couldn't help but wonder how heroic, dashing, vibrant and completely desirable he must have seemed to movie-going women (and men) of this time period.

A Christmas gift from the 1950s (by way of my pal Steve) installed in my bathroom. 

Madonna dodges catty bitchness from Elton John (and wins a Golden Globe).

A treasure chest of vintage toys... Thoroughly explored and photographed.

Colorful moments and enjoyable conversation over dinner with Scott.

Moments where warm sunlight fills windows and pierces the deep January cold.

Re-filtered and re-imagined Instagram shots from a 2010 Goldfrapp show.

Lady Gaga claims her throne in the kingdom of Pop Royalty (and enthralls me) with The Monster Ball DVD.

Triptych: Violet Blue Violet

Sunday Afternoon:  At work on a few creative items.  Reflecting upon the last few weeks. 

Walking outside, I looked to a tree near my home that I've been watching for years.  

Though the tree's lifespan for leaves is long gone, the thick, florid ivy always finds its way up its trunk.  Almost never without leafy protection and never fully unfrocked, year after year the ivy that coils its way up the tall, sculptural form is among the last of the greenery to fall away.  

Even when mostly bare, this tree is never spooky, foreboding or any kind of threat.  It merely gestures upward and outward in all directions.  Thin, spiral tendrils for next year's intrusive ivy crawl are its costume all winter long.  The tree, with attendant finery, performs dances in the wind and proudly peacocks its skeletal being against the backdrop of any sky it finds itself in front of.  Whatever life the tree itself could no longer generate, nature found a way to supply from another source.  

What strikes me here is the knowledge that sometimes a thing that was once natural, functioning and beautiful in and of itself must know when to let its own leaves fall away.  In this, an opening is made for an even more perfect and authentic beauty to take shape.  It's a very comforting thought to send me into the future with clarity, trust in my own feelings and with much less fear.  Though difficult at times and frightening at others, I feel rewarded by even the toughest decisions and biggest upheavals when I know I have my own truth, the support of close loved ones and the counsel of those with my best interests behind me.  If the best possible outcome is in my heart and the deepest truth is the way to reach it, I'm learning that I need not fear, but only act with care and integrity.  Thanks to all of you who've continually reminded me of this... then, now and always.  Off we go, friends.  Off we go.  ONWARD!

Divine Guidance At My Back Door

PROTECTED:

My grandfather's rosary beads, which have guarded my home for years.

Thanks, Pop.  You are missed but ever present.

@Home: Diagonal Light

Late afternoon iPhone photo: Small section of a wall of shelves.

Shadows On The Star

Afternoon @ home... A 1940s ottoman, a plastic star, a couch, a carpet, blinds and some sunlight.

Instagram: Tabletop

At home, minutes ago... Instagram > Coffee Table.

Friday Morning DX

Two quick shots from an early Friday morning: One at work (above) and one at home (below) using a combination of the DX double exposure iPhone app and Instagram filters.

And Afternoon Said...

Notes from a Friday afternoon at home, working steadily on some new art pieces and basking in the warm, golden afternoon glow.  Sometimes it falls upon you.  Other times it breathes through you.