Simplicity

I seriously want every single thing from the etsy shop Elephantine. It's all so simple and pretty and perfect.

Sisters

Treeless Mountain is about two little girls in South Korea. Their mother leaves them with an aunt but promises that she'll ba back by the time they fill their piggy bank up with coins for being good. It's a simplely made movie but the interaction between the two girls is so natural and perfect. And the filming is very well done. And, as per usual, it's a bit of a heart breaker - as seem to be all the foreign films I watch anymore.

Glowing

Love this print. It's mesmerizing.

Shakespeare wrote for money

Best nonfiction title ever! I have sadly read the last of Nick Hornby's book review collections. I can hope that one day he does another - faint hope, but hope nonetheless. Shakespeare Wrote for Money added a handful of books to my to-read list. What has hooked me on these collections is his honesty. He writes about months when he doesn't read a single book because the play-offs are on television. He shares a list of the purchased books along side his read books - and like many of us the purchased books are plentiful and sometimes unrealistic (Hello Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee that's been on my shelf forever!) Anyway, this is my 2nd fave of his collections (Housekeeping vs. The Dirt being my favorite). I give it a 7.

Sun-drenched

From the description and the cover art, I thought that Malena would be a light hearted movie about a young boy's crush. While it is about that, it also is about the xenophobia of small towns. It's beautifully shot - sun-drenched pictures of Italy in the 40's. But it also takes in the war. I liked it a lot even though it was not at all what I expected. I give it a 7.

Chair

I made this at a ladies' club gathering a month ago. Still pretty tickled with it.

Summer

I'm a serious Katharine Hepburn fan. That woman could act circles around just about everyone. The movie Summertime shows her at her best. She does a beautiful job as the tourist looking for romance. I give it a 6.

Dr. Horrible

I am such a late-comer to Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. I remember everyone blogging about it forever ago, and filing it away in my head as something to check out. I finally did while the boy was wrapped up in a hockey game. And it was a fun way to spend a little bit of time. I loved the monologues to his blog. Giving this one a 6.

Sunny

This is adorable.

There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

One of my 101 list items is to read 20 books of poetry because I tend to fall out of the habit. I decided to jump back in by listening to poetry read by the author. Billy Collins Live had me smiling throughout. The man has a wonderful wit about him and listening to him read the words made it even funnier. Bill Murray's introduction was not so shabby either. I give this a 7.5.


One of the poems I loved best from this collection is "Litany".

Exreme silliness

Sometimes absolute silliness is good for the soul. Hot Tub Time Machine is so silly-looking that I was scared to shell out the money for it. However, I laughed out loud several times and it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. I think the lead guys had a good chemistry. My only complaint is that it seems like all the boy-buddy films are getting made and there are no fantastic girl-buddy films happening lately. Where's the love, Hollywood?

I give it a 6.

Quick trip to Pittsburgh

Saw Chris Pureka playing at Club Cafe. Such a good show!

Also grabbed dinner at Yo Rita and a breakfast cupcake at Dozen. Seriously impressed with Southside Pittsburgh's offerings.

Mmmmmm

FYI - McVitie's Hob Nobs just might be the perfect store-bought cookie. That's your public service announcement for the day.

Same ol' story

Paper Towns in only my second John Green book but it bears an insane resemblance to the first book I read of his - Looking for Alaska. His go-to plot appears to be high-school-boy-who-is-not-so-cool falls madly in love with unattainable-bad-girl. Seriously, its the same sort of story all around with a few plot differences. I think maybe Mr. Green has some unfinished business in his past. I doubt I'll be picking up more of his books until he comes up with a new story.

Honestly the writing is not bad although the dialogue is a bit to snappy and quippy for your average high school student but I can overlook that. I agreed with how it ended but it did come across as rather anti-climatic. My biggest complaint is the non-originality. For that, it gets a 3. (Had I read this one first, I would have liked it batter and disliked Looking for Alska more. I guess that's the way it goes).

Rings

These are pretty cool. I think they'd look nice hung all in a row.

Teenage adventures

I listened to Our Hearts Were Young and Gay as an audiobook and it was a fun experience. It's a nonfiction account of two teenage girls on their first holiday abroad in the 1920s. The writer conveys a wonderful self-deprecating wit about their adventures. Every now and then the writing will whip your head around when she makes a few unexpected comments about race (I had to keep reminding myself that it was published in the forties). Still once you get past that, there's a timelessness about being naive and silly and full of adventure as a teen. I give it a 5.

Boom!

Shona clued me into this. Very excited!

Springtime

Every now and then I manage to update my flickr page. I'm particularly pleased with these two recent shots.

Rain barrel

Crossed an item off my 101 listy already. Finally installed my rain barrel. Now all I need is a short hose....and some rain!

Frosty

The September Issue follows Ann Wintour about as they try to produce the biggest issue of Vogue ever. It's a riveting documentary in that it shows the inside workings of a fashion magazine even if understanding the prima donna of fashion is pretty impossible. I came away loving Grace, her contemporary at the magazine and wishing someone would give Anna a hug and a big sandwich. I think both things might help her general outlook and demeanor. I give it a 7.

April flowers

Made progress on a 101 listy item - 77. Have fresh flowers in the house at least once a month. Here's April's flowers for you, picked from my front yard.

You never know

Definitely fantastic

I don't care if it means I have hipster tendencies, I adore The Fantastic Mr. Fox just as I adore pretty much anything Wes Anderson comes up with. Wes Anderson, George Clooney. Roald Dahl, and a great soundtrack - who can resist? I think its an 8.

Slog

I love Sarah Waters' novels - I swear I do, but I just couldn't get through The Little Stranger. I think I have an aversion to slowly paced gothic horrors. That's the excuse I'm sticking to anyways.

Heist

None of Your Business was suggested to me by Kristen who knows her mysteries. It's a funny read full of oddball characters with great backstories. I really enjoyed breezing through this book. My one complaint - what the heck does the cover have to do with the book? I give it a 6.

Love this!

Strong

I find this very very appealing.

Bibliophiles

I breezed through The Polysyllabic Spree in a day. It's another collection of Nick Hornby's book reviews from The Believer magazine. I love how honest his reviews are - talking about books he began and didn't finish, explaining how the number of books he reads diminishes during football season, and so on.

I really loved Housekeeping vs. The Dirt which is the same sort of book but written later than this one. That one had me adding an insane number of books to my to-read list. This one only gave me one addition, but I still enjoyed it. This book gets a 5 of 10.

Intense

I saw several of Marie Scott's botanical paintings while in South Caroline. I love how intense her colors are. They are hard to look away from.

And now that I've seen her landscapes on her website, I can say that I think they are pretty fantastic too.

Carefree ghosts

Watched an oldy the other day - Topper. While its hard to complain about a Cary Grant film, this one was a bit of a snooze. Topper is a stuffy banker haunted by two carefree ghosts. Constance Bennett is a darling in the film, but its just so dull. Only 4 stars from me.

Not fast enough for us

Walking was not fast enough, so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on the long metal tracks. Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove. Driving was not fast enough, so we flew.


Flying isn't fast enough, not fast enough for us. We want to get there faster. Get where? Wherever we are not. But a human soul can only go as fast as a man can walk, they used to say. In that case, where are all the souls? Left behind. They wander here and there, slowly, dim lights flickering in the marshes at night, looking for us. But they're not nearly fast enough, not for us, we're way ahead of them, they'll never catch up. That's why we can go so fast: our souls don't weigh us down.


The Tent is full of flotsom and jetsom from the mind of Atwood. In it there are precious gems like the above. Other pieces don't glitter as madly but they do deserve a close look. I give this one a 6.

Time for a New Listy

Over to the right there, you'll see a link to my now defunct 101 listy. My 1,001 days have past. I completed 63 items, made progress on many many other things I wanted to do, and am now ready to start fresh. I always leave myself the freedom to change my mind about items or add more to the bottom. (Want to make your own list? Its lotsa fun and there's more info here.)


I Like Making Stuff1. Sew a top for myself
2. Paint 20 paintings (1/20)
3. Take a photo every day for a month
4. Make 5 softies
5. Make 5 wreaths (3/5)
6. Make 5 hair accessories
7. Make 5 pieces of jewelry
8. Make 5 garlands
9. Do 5 embroidery pieces (1/5)
10. Sew a dress
11. Stop using store-bought wrapping paper. Make my own from now on.
12. Print 10 clothing and/or houseware items (1/10)
13. Make my own undies
14. Start a new etsy shop
16. Learn photoshop
17. Do an inspiration board in craft room
18. Make my own grocery tote bags
19. Make an art card every day for a month
20. Do a street art project
21. Take 2 art classes / workshops

My Idea of Grown-Up Stuff22. Buy a suit
23. Get a passport already
24. Replace and upgrade makeup
25. Find a new signature perfume
26. Host 5 dinner parties (5/5)
27. Drop 1 dress size
28. Drop 2 dress sizes
29. Pay off credit card debt
30. Do 101 sit-ups every day for a month
31. Get a computer that doesn’t crash when running photoshop
32. Stop wincing when people take my photo
33. Upgrade my winter coat
34. Teach my dogs some good manners
35. Consolidate the amount of bags I take to work every morning

Foodishness
36. Make butter
37. Make macarons
38. Make homemade tortillas
39. Do a whole lot more preserving from my garden
40. Make salsa with garden bounty
41. Attend 5 wine tastings
42. Have a recipe & picture posted on tastespotting
43. Go to local farmer’s market at least 5 times a year (5/5)
44. Get a small chest freezer

Culture
45. Watch 50 foreign films(21/50)
46. Read Lord of the Rings
47. Watch 50 documentaries (30/50)
48. Watch 20 Oscar-nominated movies (14/20)
49. Read a novel by a Russian author
50. Read 5 Booker prize nominated books(2/5)
51. See 5 plays (3/5)
52. Learn to read music
53. Make Kristen teach me to play a song
54. Read The Scarlet Pimpernel
55. Read 20 books of poetry (2/20)
56. Visit 20 art shows (5/20)
57. Attend 10 concerts (4/10)
58. Read 10 biographies / autobiographies (10/10)

Home Projects
59. Get new hot pads for kitchen
60. New porch chairs
61. New patio furniture
62. Install new back fence
63. Plant decorative garden in back
64. Expand front garden
65. Replace ugly plastic planters with lovely cement or terra cotta or other pottery versions
66. Repaint hoosier cabinet
67. Get floors redone
68. Get new chair for craft space
69. Paint basement floor
70.
71. Invest in some pretty bed linens
72. Get a smaller bed frame
73. New kitchen cabinets & floor
74. Fix lighting issues in kitchen
75. Fix lighting issues in living room
76. Start a display of photos of all the people I adore
77. Have fresh flowers in the house at least once a month (24/32)
78. Have a light installed in bedroom closet
79. Put in backyard patio

Good Deeds80. Volunteer for an environmental group
81. Volunteer for a pro-choice group
82. Volunteer for an arts event
83. Do a good deed for the library
84. Volunteer for an animal rescue
85. Do a random act of kindness every day for a month
86. Post animal rescue poster about town 5 times

Frivolity
87. Send 101 pieces of mail (70/101)
88. Buy 5 things off etsy for myself
89. Take another dance class
90. Participate in wardrobe remix
91. Visit Toronto
92. Visit Boston
93. Send flowers to 5 people (5/5)
94. Learn a new card game
95. Go on 10 metro park hikes
96. Accessorize every day for a month
97. Plant “surprise” spring bulbs 3 different places that do not belong to me
98. Stay at a resort
99. Make my own cleaning products
100. Bike one of my library trips
101. Ride a motorcycle


My dear friend Kristen is doing this project with me. We start today - April 1st! Check out her blog for more listy fun.
Install rain barrel