March 2010
“The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after...”
– nyt
Let’s go get away to Skylands this weekend.
let’s bring our friends and have a party there.
It’s great for parties
We won’t tell them about all the back entrances and how not to get lost there of course
We can make food in the kitchen
and swim in our underwear
and at night play that game where you sit in the hot tub and one person is it, and they close...
Betsys and Tacys
via JCB
(T. F. Simon, “Vilma Reading a Book”, 1912)
via a bloomsburylife
I had an intriguing day today. I went to the gym. I had a great time there. It is a great feeling to feel pushed and on the verge of collapse. I have always thought deep down a very fulfilling career for me would be training physically as an athlete, or a hero, the chosen one, to defeat some sort of enemy—such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Yoshimi from the song Yoshimi Battles the Pink...
Why is this night different from all other nights?
It’s Pesach.
Time for eating charoset and matzoh ball soup.
Also time for thinking about Liberation, like the jews who were freed from Egypt.
Also time for thinking about animal rights, since Pesach was probably named for the lamb which was traditionally sacrificed today.
Time for thinking about Jewish ex-boyfriends celebrating with their grandparents.
A time for feeling lonely....
Sometimes when you are feeling crazy and sad it is good to just leave. Get away to a place by the sea. Maybe with your family, who loves you, even though you feel alone.
It is good to go to sleep in a peaceful house with silence outside. And grass and a white shining moon.
It is good to wake up to breakfast there. Croissants and jam, even if it is too cold to go outside and enjoy the...
Taking a bath. Hot water. Steamy room. Fluffy towels. A robe. A towel warmer. A tray of toast—or is that pushing it? Someone to read to you—no one has ever done this for me but it is done in movies and Franny and Zooey. Best on a cold and rainy day. But it could be nice on a summer day too—like this one.
My Worst Habit by Rumi
My worst habit is I get so tired of winter I become a torture to those I’m with. If you’re not here, nothing grows. I lack clarity. My words tangle and knot up. How to cure bad water? Send it back to the river. How to cure bad habits? Send me back to you. When water gets caught in habitual whirlpools, dig a way out through the bottom to the ocean. There is a secret medicine given only...
Each Note by Rumi
translated by Coleman Barks
Advice doesn’t help lovers! They’re not the kind of mountain stream you can build a dam across.
An intellectual doesn’t know what the drunk is feeling!
Don’t try to figure what those lost inside love will do next!
Someone in charge would give up all his power, if he caught one whiff of the wine-musk from the room where lovers are doing...
Stuff I’ve Done:
Walked over the Brooklyn Bridge: First I had to read about a mill 5 star reviews of it on yelp before doing it. FML. Then finally I was just like—F it. So I took the train to high street (brooklyn side) and started walking. It was cool. It was like an art installation. Spindly wires and massive cathedral like stone arches. On a bridge in the air. I looked up and saw...
African Wild Dog
Interesting Facts about 3 Great Horses
Pegasus: his parents were Poseidon and Medusa. He had a twin brother named Chrysaor.
Bucephalus: When Alexander the Great was 13, “a horse dealer, offered the horse to King Philip II for the sum of thirteen talents, but, since no one could tame the animal, Philip was not interested. His son Alexander, however, was, and promised to pay for the horse himself should he fail to tame it. He...
If you want him, come and claim him
Dream Job:
Being Arwen in Lord of the Rings. Filming that movie seemed like the most amazing experience.
These could all be paintings in the house, but in fact they are from The Man From Snowy River. I did not like the movie, but these are pretty.
I once read this interview with Joseph Campbell about the whole Hero with a thousand faces thing where he was like “one of the girls I taught came up to me after class and said ‘I want to be the hero!’ and I was like, ‘you...
I'd like these dresses
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. -Burns
Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can’t accept your imperfections, that’s their fault. -Burns
from here
The other night I listened to Wolves howling on youtube. It wasn’t the noise I was expecting at all. I’d never heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon to be honest. But then again neither had I asked the grinning bobcat why it grins, if you didn’t catch the first reference. I wanted to hear if my eastern European heritage would give me a visceral response to that...
From Eyes For Lies, the most fascinating blogger
“Understanding human behavior is where my strongest talent is, even today. Deception detection is just a sub-skill of that. All my life, I loved to ask people “What are you thinking?”, “How are you feeling?”, “Why do you feel that way?” to the point I drove my friends when I was younger INSANE. I always wanted to know the who, what, why, where, and when...
“Shake hands, brother. You’re a rogue and I’m another.”
– Ulysses
Dogs are > than babies
marlo—the blogosphere’s celeb baby.
like the man said, “till death do you part.”
I have told y’all about my favorite blogger before (besides Thistle and Clover, Kahtrina and Reid and my mom’s and my dad’s that is)—Sparkles and Crumbs. I like that she is always very sentimental and heartfelt and posts tons of poetry that spouts from her memory and cool photos that describe the mood perfectly —no idea where she finds them all! I followed her blog...
More rain. This time in Venice. After hours…..
I went to Venice for Carnevale when I was 17. It rained the whole time, and the Italians are scared of rain, so the streets were empty and it was full of mist. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Very magical. I tried to find some similar pics on google images but this was the closest representation I could find.
rain noises. Bus splashing. bus ride home. Change for my date. Put on my suit. Wind howling through my windows as I dress. Get in my car. Drive to her house. The trees are thrashing in the wind. The road is really dark.
gravel driveway— shwrrring. Park and walk to the door. My clothes are soaked. I knock with the knocker. She looks beautiful in her dress. I catch a glimpse in the hall...
My life is suddenly much better. Moving into a place of my own made a big difference in my mental state. Also I’ve been doing more stuff. Which is huge. The downside is I liked being around my family—my mom, dad, and Aubs.
Stuff I have done:
Saw my oldest friend for brunch
Danced the monday night away in a ballroom
Went out to dinner and a weird art show with my sister and her...
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil.
Went to a party at the PIERRE. It was very this:
and
this
and
this
and ….?
I watched the movie The Ugly Truth. This got such horrible reviews that I didn’t watch it in the theaters, even though it is pretty much the story of my favorite book, Intimate Connections by Burns, and connected to my hobby of trying to discover the ugly truth.
Although the script was horrible, acting bad (except for Gerard Butler who oozed Raw Unbridled Masculinity ie RUM) and it was an...
Have you seen Telephone by Lady Gaga yet? It’s very cool.
ren faire/historical romance novel chic from dame
Artie and Charles
anyone?
I had a glimpse of why people consider new york the best city in the world. It was just a small feeling. That was carried in as if on a wind. Yes there was a wind in the mist. I don’t really remember the feeling that well. But it was after I was walking down some streets in New york with my sister. We were hungry so we went into this hummus place. There was a big pizza like oven, and they...
self portrait by marc chagall
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.
—T.S Eliot
I moved to Brookyln. I have a new life. I have a new friend. I lost two old friends (boys). I went on an adventure with my dad. We biked down the west side highway bike path to Chelsea Market, a collection of specialty food stores. My dad bought a selection of food from every store in the market. I had a birthday party at my sister Rand’s house which my family threw for me. I received many...
better murder an infant in its cradle than nurse...
The Princess of Cleves by Madame de Lafayette: A book that could have been written by Robert Greene so penetrating is its psychological insight.
This used to be my favorite book but do I remember much about it? Honestly no.
Things I do remember:
It made me cry, especially when Nemours begs the princess de cleves to marry him, and she refuses. It made me think about the problems of life....
Birthday
If you are looking for some beautiful poems go here, to view wondrous things, like this poem, describing the most beautiful feeling of all:
Great humility fills me, great purity fills me, I make love with my dear as if I made love dying as if I made love praying, tears pour over my arms and his arms. I don’t know whether this is joy or sadness, I don’t understand what I feel, I’m crying, I’m...
Insomnia
Insomnia. Homer. Taut Sails. I’ve read to the middle of the list of ships: the strung out flock, the stream of cranes that once rose above Hellas. Flight of cranes crossing strange Borders, leaders drenched with the foam of the gods, where are you sailing? What would Troy be to you, Men of Achaea, without Helen? The sea—Homer—it’s all moved by love. But to whom shall...
Lessons from Amazon's Success
From a cool article my dad sent me:
1. “Work from the customer backward.” Focus on value you want to deliver for the customer.
2. Have a design that is as minimal as possible.
3. Take it for granted stuff fails; that’s reality, embrace it. Go more with a fast reboot and fast recover approach.
4. Create a frugal culture. Amazon reportedly used doors for desks, in some cases.
5....
I Loved You
by Alexander Pushkin
I loved you; even now I may confess, Some embers of my love their fire retain; But do not let it cause you more distress, I do not want to sadden you again. Hopeless and tonguetied, yet I loved you dearly With pangs the jealous and the timid know; So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely, I pray God grant another love you so.
Stray Dogs using Russia's Subways →
This is a great article my dad sent to me about stray dogs in Russia. They have responded to evolutionary pressure of the city and have reverted back to a more natural state—they all look similar, are more intelligent and less affectionate. Some dogs use the subways to extend their territories and travel around the city, noticing by smell or the announcements or the time elapsed when they...
Yeats: gorgeous man. He looks so sad in this last pic. He proposed throughout his life over and over again to Maud Gonne, who married two other guys. Her excuse for not marrying him was she thought it would ruin his poetry and he wasn’t a catholic. He must have written the poem below for her. He was supposedly shy and she was a flamboyant revolutionary and actress so it makes sense...
HER TRIUMPH by Yeats
I did the dragon’s will until you came Because I had fancied love a casual Improvisation, or a settled game That followed if I let the kerchief fall: Those deeds were best that gave the minute wings And heavenly music if they gave it wit; And then you stood among the dragon rings. I mocked, being crazy, but you mastered it And broke the chain and set my ankles free,...
William Degouve de Nuncques
Nocturne in the Parc Royal, Brussels
Paolo and Francesca in “the kiss”.
the birth of venus by alexandre cabanel at the musee d’orsay and eternal spring by rodin in front of it. While looking at pictures of rodin on googleimages, i found this picture and saw it was from my old blog! Wow!!
by John Singer Sargent
Madame X
a scandal at the salon
by pierre bonnard
