THOUGHT PATTERNS

A pair of tights and a twitchy mustache are always a good start to Christmas.

I'm not much of a sports person. I can occasionally watch some basketball and some tennis, and.... hm, I think that's about it. I don't understand sports, I don't understand them sports rules, and you will forgive me for saying that I particularly don't understand football. Occasionally, for the sake of my marriage, I will pretend to watch even some baseball (yaaaawn). But football, firm no, not even if you beg me. One of the things I most dislike about the game are the outfits, or is it uniforms that one calls it? The helmets, the shoulder pads, the tights, often golden tights. No, not for me. Fans, I'm truly sorry. I tried and I failed.

So even though I have no interest in sports I somehow managed to stumble upon some vintage sports photos, from sometime in the 1890s. I think these guys were playing soccer (we call it football in Europe), but who could tell.

What I can tell is if these guys were playing today, I would be glued onto my TV screen. They are HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!

The famous footballers...

 

(I dedicate this post to my husband, btw}

 

Hm, I guess you could call this guy handsome.

 

What is with the mustache?! To soften the blow if they fall flat on their face? Or, was that a prerequisite for admission on the team?

 

Aahahaha, sorry guys, you are hilarious.

 

 Is he sitting on some fur? Alright, that's it. I simply can't take it anymore.

 

And these...

I guess these are the instructions :)

 

Check out the one in the top right corner, I'm shocked how sleek and agile he is.

 

I'm not sure what this is supposed to represent (the stadium?), but I like the little people running from the rain.

Alright, I've had enough sports now to last me a lifetime.

xoxoxo

{phptps from life archives, quote in the title by will kemp}

Hello on Monday

It's going to be a busy one for me. Hopefully without stress, with a pinch of adventure, a spoonful of fun and cupfulls of laughter.

I wish you all have a lovely Monday.

I'll be back later!

xoxoxo

{photo via gatekeeper}

Scenes from the Past

I came upon this great collection of vintage photos on the flickr page of State Library of New South Wales. 

"The State Library is home to one of Australia’s most significant historical and heritage collections. As well as nearly 11 kilometres of manuscripts – from nine 1788 First Fleet journals through to the archives of contemporary organisations and writers – the Library holds more than one million photographs. From the earliest surviving photograph taken in Australia – in January 1845 – through to digital photographs taken last month, the Library’s unrivalled photographic collections document with powerful clarity the way Australians have lived their lives over two centuries."

That's quite fascinating, don't you think?

Here some from everyday life that particularly caught my eye...

 

It's obvious why, no? The kid is adorable but the dog is both hysterical and adorable. What coiffure!

 

  
Angora rabbit, having a little trim. He's huge! And the ears, he could easily propel away with those ears.

 

Miaow, now that's what I call lunch!

 

It feels like I keep seeing a version of this photo. Dogs riding in carts. It seems to me that dogs have a fondness for riding in carts pulled by sheep (check out his huge grin).

 

Whatever the decade, cats act the same. Today they sleep on your laptops, yesterday they were sitting on your wireless.

 

I love this photo.

 

And last but absolutely not the least...

 

Sheep! How cute is this photo? They look like a couple of vaudeville guys wearing sheep costumes.

xoxox

Can trash be appealing?

 

Absolutely, even pretty, if you use some pink polka dot bags...

 

 

On the streets of New York - the work of Adrian Kondratowicz, called Project TRASH: Any Color You Like "is a vivid art intervention for urban beautification and environmental awareness."

 

 

 

"The project consists of select city blocks in which new artist-created biodegradable bags transform standard piles of trash into vivid sculptures of color through the participation of local business owners and residents. The project was developed by artist Adrian Kondratowicz."

 

 

I love the idea behind it. Make it beautiful, make it fun, raise awareness.

I wish we could all have polka dot trash bags. It would take taking-out-the-trash-every-evening to another level. Actually, these bags are so appealling, hopefully they won't lead to people creating more trash just to fill them! :D

xoxoxo

{photos Adrian K // TRASH}
 

Killer Cats

I must admit I always had my suspicions...

(click to enlarge)

xoxoxo

{via http://www.purrsandhisses.com}
  

A Bookworm's Paradise

I used to work in a smallish independent bookstore and it was truly one of the best jobs I ever had. To be surrounded by endless glorious volumes, to enter every morning into this multicolored world of words and pictures was truly a pleasure.

 

I loved rearranging shelves (endlessly), lining up the books this way and that. One of my favorite things, though, was ordering books for the store (it almost completely fulfilled my shopping urges, mind you, I would always overdo it with the order :), and then anticipating eagerly their arrival. Books on photography, design, fashion, art... it would take me hours and hours to find their right spot in the bookstore, to display them properly, to sneak careful peeks through the pages. It was one of life's great pleasures.

 

There are plenty of bookstore gems in the world and I do hope they will persevere (one of them is City Lights, which I am happy to be able to call my neighborhood bookstore), but the most charming one is Shakespeare & Co. Antiquarian bookstore in Paris.

 

 

Located in the heart of Paris on the Left Bank opposite Notre-Dame, the bookstore was founded by George Whitman, a contemporary of such Beat poets as Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsberg. He sometimes poses as a grandson or grand-nephew of American poet Walt Whitman.

 

 

It must be one of the most photographed bookstores in the world, sneaking its way into movies and litterature. The inside of the store is where the reuniting scene between Julie Delpy’s and Ethan Hawke’s characters happens in the movie Before Sunset. The bookstore was also written about in a memoir of a homeless man who was allowed to sleep overnight in Shakespeare & Co by the store’s communist-leaning owner and then refused to vacate when times turned more capitalist. His bed is still there.

 

 

The book is called Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co.

 

  

 

But, I've also heard that if you go backpacking to Paris to seek a little adventure, and you happen to be an aspiring writer, you could even sleep in the store for free. The bed is located between the books on the 2nd floor. All you have to do is help around the store a little bit and read a book a day.

 

 

The place is completely quirky and charming, packed from floor to ceiling with books. There is also the writer’s room, which has a working piano for patrons to play. Poets regularly read their works in one of the back rooms.

 

 

How absolutely thrilling. Hopefully, next time when in Paris. (Can we go tomorrow?)

 

xoxoxo 

 

{via miragebookmark, isak, thegreatgeekmanual, spotcoolstuff}

Double

Don't you think that Tilda Swinton looks an awful lot like David Bowie?

Or is it the other way arround?

Or, am I completely nuts?

Tilda, as the Thin White Duke.

Admit it. You don't know who's who either.

(Btw, that bracelet is simply gorgeous.) 

 Maybe Tilda is Bowie. Wouldn't that be the coolest thing ever?

Tilda, you rock.

xoxoxo

{photos of Tilda by Craig McDean for L'Uomo Vogue via dorothy surrenders, afi; bowie via ibabuzz, weblo, three imaginary girls}

Hello on Monday

I made another version of my Words of Wisdom papercut... with a cut-out quote...

 

Words of Wisdom, Original Papercut Art, 11"x14" (available in my shop)

The first one I did had a typed quote (see here). I couldn't decide which version I liked better so I did both (the typed one works well for loooooooong quotes!)

Both of them can be personalized, with a special note for your loved one, a particular quote you like, etc...

Hope your day is going well. I shall return later...

xoxoxo

In Need of Color Therapy

I'm feeling a little bit colorless and sad today. Setting the time back this morning, the darkness falling on us early, the slight chill in the air... Crunchy leaves on the pavement. It all helped the melancholy mood.

"There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass" (Charles Kuralt) - this describes me today perfectly :).

I'm naturally prone to melancholy, but I'm going to try hard not to dwell on it and write odes to it, rather, I'll try infusing this moment with a bit of color and some musings on color... Color therapy... so, shall we?

A wonderful combination of colors... wouldn't you love to live in one of these apartments? Maybe the top left one with the balcony? I'm sure I would love my purple neighbors.

My bent old wire hangers vs. these? These make me smile. How little things make all the difference.

"The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color." ~Hans Hofman~

Never mind the sign:). Of course we're gonna play with the guitars!

"Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it. I know that it has hold of me forever... Color and I are one. I am a painter." ~ Paul Klee ~ 

This makes my heart jump with joy.

How rich is this color! It completely cleared up my mind.

"Seek the strongest color effect possible... the content is of no importance." ~Henri Matisse~

To see but also to touch and feel.

"Why do two colors, put one next to other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint." ~Pablo Picasso~

Paint brushes extraordinaire, the only thing in the world more beautiful when dirty.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for." ~Georgia O'Keeffe~

I feel better. Hope you all have a good night.

 

xoxoxo

 

{photos via here, here & here}

When witches go riding, and black cats are seen/the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween...

I don't think we'll be dressing up tonight. Or, will we? Well, maybe not this year...

But if we were it would either have to be as Edward Gorey charactrers...

  ... or as Black Eyed Suzie dolls...

 

~ Kelly ~

~ Oscar Wilde ~

~ Edgar Allan Poe ~

~ Very Sad Beth ~

Very Victorian, very goth... our souls endlessly tortured, our lives haunted by ghosts.

"One need not be a chamber to be haunted;

One need not be a house;

The brain has corridors surpassing

Material place."

~ Emily Dickinson ~

Happy Halloween!

xoxoxo

{title from a 19th century Halloween postcard, edward gorey photos via a rational animal, more cool pictures, black eyed suzie dolls from black eyed suzie}