La Reine Margaux

Things that make me happy

2011-11-29T12:49:00.001-08:00

The space heater my mother got me.

A tv with a vcr and dvd player in my bedroom (that's right I still own videos....Muppet Christmas Carol, here I come).

Xtabay Vintage (I finally went inside and nearly fainted, it is SO amazing).

Tea on a tea tray with milk and honey, tea cup and saucer.

Having problems like: "Where do I want to sew on this fringe?" and "Do I need more sequins?"

Living in a place where I can walk outside and see lots of people milling about, but not TOO many. Not New York amounts of people.

Christmas....I must start writing those cards!

Carly Simon (EVEN though I've had Nobody Does it Better stuck in my head for three days)

My pale pink walls

There's nothing wrong with being a single young woman, but I'm thinking maybe I shall adopt an imaginary pet so that I can sign the Christmas cards this way. I imagine that said pet would also make me very happy. My roommate's cat and I are getting to be friends, but you know, this imaginary dog thing has been on my mind for a While.

Vera Ellen EXPLOSION

2011-11-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

So it's been one of those days where I planned to be good and get a lot of practical things done and somehow all I've done is swallow lots of tea and play on the computer and listen to an amazing Liza Minnelli record. OH WELL. Anyway the internet led me to some Vera Ellen stalking and she really is Amazing. Clearly from my blog, you can see I like her, but I feel I need to see more of her movies. She was just such a killer dancer, and so adorable, and she had some Fantastic costumes. Let's gush over her amazingness now, shall we? Oh yes, let's.

Mini-ramble on the internet, the Modern Age, Nostalgia and Woody Allen

2011-11-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Would the world be better or worse without the internet? I think the answer is yes. All of these modern changes seem to both help and hinder our growth and well-being. Facebook is a very easy way for me to share funny things or information or dates of events with friends, but it is also a strange universe unto itself. For example, the whole "relationship status" thing...or even simply the beginning and ending of relationships, regardless of a "status" can be an awkward thing to view publicly. I don't always feel comfortable being able to view personal details about people's lives when we aren't extremely close friends. There isn't really a way to get around this though. Yes, I'm sure I could jump through thirty or forty customizable hoops in order to not see so much...or I could "hide" people or delete more friends or just go ahead and delete my whole facebook. But all of these options seem so exhausting. Also, I do enjoy having my own little online scrapbook of pictures and notes between friends. It's silly but it's sort of nice.

The days when we didn't know the exact moment when people broke up or got together seem so distant and foggy now. And that breaks my heart. I don't want to stalk, and pool clues together to know private things about friends and acquaintances, but I am human and therefore creepily curious. And I don't want that as a right. I don't want that to be an option at all. Sometimes I imagine my ten year high school reunion and it gets under my skin that by that time, I may still be facebook friends with people I haven't seen since high school. I may know they have children, may know where they work, even though we don't speak. And isn't that weird? Isn't that....creepy? Maybe I need to leave the site. Shrug.

Or maybe I just need to not use my computer so much when I'm alone and bored....... Who knows. I'm just nostalgic. The past always seems better to me. Which reminds me of Midnight in Paris, which you should see sometime, if you haven't. I think a huge reason I relate to and love Woody Allen is because he and I share nostalgia for similar periods in time, similar music, and he's fascinated by death and darkness and the unfathomable amount of things we can't understand in life, so he just clings to what's funny and beautiful. That's just my view of his work, perhaps I'm simply projecting.

Discovery from the past.

2011-10-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a cheesy 50s cha-cha song that I love that comes on at work, "It's so Nice to Have a Man Around the House". It's really catchy and cute, with strong lady vocals (Della Reese) and makes me want to dance around in vintage clothing. Also, it's one of those rare songs that makes me so happy I forget I don't actually have a man around the house (boo). So I searched on youtube and found all these amazing songs by Della Reese, including an old country western favorite of mine from 1949, "Someday you'll want me to want you." Her version is bluesy and jazzy, but then there were all these other videos of different singers covering this song and I discovered someone I'd never even heard of: Kitty Kallen. Cute name, cute voice, cute style! I think her big hit was "Little things mean a lot". I recognize it from movies.

A so-so poem

2011-10-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Love Song for an Imaginary Pet

I don’t have a dog.

the rain falls and I wish a tail would beat near a fireplace.

he would set his chin on my knee while I knit (I should take up knitting with this fine beast at my side)

his name, Horatio, Ralph, Douglas Fairbanks, scrawled mechanically, tightly on his collar, he jingles when I call and I love the sound of his little paws, dirtying up the rug.

he smells but he is my friend and he thinks me odd when I cry.

he loves the fire, the food that I carry out of the stove, he barks when I come home

only to say he missed me.

he never likes me to leave.

he loves me.

he is devoted.

he may chew and tear and shred and hurt, but only out of adventurous spirit, never malice or contempt.

he knows I love him when I set him down the little bit of steak I can not eat.

he knows I would never harm him.

he rests his chin on my lap while I knit (now that I knit, with my Spike, my Ralph, my Douglas Fairbanks).

I don’t have a dog.

Ramble on Womanhood and Beauty, whatever that is.

2011-10-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here looking over some photos I took recently and considering the angles on one (somewhat unflattering in my opinion) and my face in another (black and white, my hair and make up done..I think I look a bit lovely, honestly). I start thinking about beauty (that huge monster of a word) and the way women think of themselves in regard to it. It makes me so sad to think how some women constantly belittle themselves over this ridiculous idea that to be pretty or beautiful they must look like someone else, that being themselves, that the faces and bodies they were given are second-rate, are wrong. Maybe I was raised with insanely supportive parents (very likely). From an early age I was constantly complimented by my parents as well as strangers. I wasn't the Smartest or a baby pageant queen (thank goodness) but I was sharp and was a pretty good kid, and despite the angsty middle school years when I lost weight and the awkward high school years when I desperately craved a love life, I never felt ugly. Yes, I have days where I'm blue and I cry and look in the mirror and despise myself, but those days pass and for the most part, I like the way I look, and I like to dress myself in a way that makes my individuality even more pronounced.

I've always felt that in order to survive in this world, I need to feel that I am the absolute best at being myself. That no one can be Margaux as well as I can (granted I'm aware there are others with my name, even my spelling...you know what I'm saying). I may be goofy or awkward or shy sometimes. I may get runs in my stockings, my make-up may run, my nails may be short, I may be a lowly restaurant girl, saving my pennies, but at the end of the day I have to believe that there's something perfect about all my imperfections, even when my nose looks like a 747 from certain angles, and even when I notice the size of my thighs.

After all, Audrey Hepburn and loads of other women became famous because why? Because they were a little bit Different. If you embrace what makes you unusual or out of style, you become a trendsetter. This is why I wish more women could just love what makes them weird, think of it as a gift, not a curse! We think of beauty as something universal and unchanging, but it is just another form of fashion, and I don't care who you are, you're beautiful BECAUSE you're different, not despite that.

PS Sorry I got all Oprah.

Hallowe'en Approaches!

2011-09-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

I know I've got over a month, but I'm in a very autumnal mood and am especially excited for Halloween this year as well. The Bride of Frankenstein came on tv and I decided to watch it for the first time (I was on a role since I also watched Citizen Kane for the first time, today). I really love the way Elsa Lanchester is made up in the film. The 1930s make up, the crazy fingerwave-fro with the white streaks. I'm strongly considering being her for Halloween as the costume would be easy and the look is mainly about strong make up and hair which would be super fun to experiment with (mwa ha ha ha).

See for yourself:

If you're feeling generous....

2011-08-16T14:16:00.001-07:00

Vote for my photo on the Mad Men walk-on role contest! It's not the prettiest picture of me, but I thought it was funny and Mad Men era-appropriate.

my first cheesecake

2011-08-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

I think coffee, beer and cheesecake are just things you like more and more as you get older. Okay, maybe I'm the only one who looks at cheesecake this way. It just seems like a grownup dessert to me...and over the past year or two, all of the above have begun to appeal to me much more. I watch a lot of The Golden Girls and I adore how they always have late night talks over cheesecake. So I popped on an episode and made my first cheesecake from scratch. It wasn't difficult but it took a lot of time-mainly because of the graham cracker crust which was challenging to keep stuck to the sides of the springform pan. And yes, it was also my first attempt at a recipe from this gem of a cookbook from 1995, Cooking with Friends. I'm such a nostalgia nerd.

I finally did it.

2011-08-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Still waiting to hear on a job, but in other news...I finally opened up a wee etsy shop! There are only five items including a very small (32" bust, 25" waist) but very cute yellow 1950s dress. I hope to expand on this a lot eventally!

Party like it's 1939

2011-08-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

My mother's non-profit had an event at a vintage car show, so I dressed up as 1937 (not 1939 as this post title might hint) as possible, to match this 1937 Alpenrose milk truck and even did my hair in finger waves. To my shock, the wave setting worked wonders this time (I now see the light-the hair MUST be soaking, not just damp, etc). I had a lovely time taking pictures with folks and just looking at all the pretty. On a side note, I realize that the next time I have money that isn't needed for Responsible things, I'm going to invest in some vintage-y shape wear as this garter-belt-showing-through-my-dress look isn't Quite as sophisticated as I would like.

A couple owners let me sit in their cars too!

I met this adorable lady named Dijon (just like the mustard) whilst looking at this big gorgeous, silly-fantastic car. She was dressed completely 1920s style along with her beau who wore a boater and suspenders.

Reasons you want to go see Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Stanley Tucci, making movies better since 1985

If you're like me, you love movies and you REALLY love movies with a big budget that are set in an attractive period of the past. If you're a lot a LOT like me, you love the 1940s, and your boyfriend loves Marvel. This movie has pretty much everything. It's not the Best movie I've ever seen, but it's a great movie to go see in the theatre. Action, adventure, a little romance, girls dancing in a can-can line in WWII patriotic costumes, and beautiful, inspiring vintage hairstyles worn by Hayley Atwell. Oh, also STANLEY TUCCI. Oh yes, Chris Evans is also a rather lovely specimen. He is no RDJ but, you know, he's cute and all.

Pretty hair!

Cuteness.

WWII Era Girl Power.

Mad Men Hair

2011-07-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

I finally put up this video I made a few months ago. It's nothing SPECTACULAR and the angle isn't great, but ya know....it kind of works for Joan hair.

Fishtail braids "tutorial"

2011-07-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Because I talked about fishtail braids, I made a video for them. Hope it's helpful to anyone interested! :)

Sigh.

2011-07-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

I miss you, Amy Winehouse.

You can drink like Dita...

2011-07-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.ditasdomain.com/cointreau/

But can you look as fabulous? Every single time I go Dita-stalking around the internet, I fall in love with her all over again and am newly inspired to look as ridiculously decadent as I can every day, the way she does.

"As I said, Betty Grable was a big influence because she had this way about her both onscreen and off that made her sexy AND likeable. … She was a real “girls’ girl” and therefore she had a lot of female fans but was still a sex symbol. A lot of sex symbols become someone women are afraid of … the “man-eater” quality makes us afraid of them! There’s nothing better than a beautiful, talented woman who respects other women."-Dita Von Teese Read the full article here.

I have to say I completely agree with her.

This picture marks the first time I've not been 300% in LOVE with her ensemble. That being said, I adore that she's wearing something a little kooky for a change-it reminds me a little of myself. I guess feel a little more legitimate about the silly things I wear when I see her wearing fun silly clothes, too.

1960s LADY EXPLOSION

2011-07-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

So I'm a part of Trek in the Park again this year, and since this is a show which recreates episodes of the original Star Trek, I love trying to do my hair and make up somewhat 60s-inspired. My hair is not very thick and I still haven't succumbed to buying a hair piece so I end up doing a lot of teasing, which I know is bad...but...oh well! I've been grazing the internet in search of good ideas and then I thought it would be fun to organize these and share them!

Firstly, I've been looking at youtube make-up tutorials from my favorite, Pixiwoo. Namely, the Edie Sedgewick and the Raquel Welch. I don't have good make up brushes so I feel pretty ridiculous-looking while trying the Edie. I think tomorrow, I shall go Raquel instead.

And now lots of pictures with hair/make up ideas.

Ms. Fonda.

Katharine Ross.

Twiggy.

Sophia Loren.

Anna Karina.

Barbra.

And because a style list is not a style list without Audrey...

Ahem...

2011-07-15T00:53:00.000-07:00

I can't say I've been up to much. Though I have been reading. Observe my recent achievements:

I haven't been writing...or posting....about anything. Whoops. I think I've been feeling a little introspective and uninspired lately. Just today I decided to leap around and peruse some of my favorite vintage blogs and it reminded me how much fun I have being a classsy pin up girl. I confess I've gotten lazy due to summer. I seem to wear a lot of stretchy cotton and t-shirt dresses, and while I play with hair and make up sometimes, my vintage wardrobe has been hanging around, bored. I tried to start reading Middlemarch by George Eliot but sometimes I have to confess to myself: I may be patient for a girl of the 21st century, but I may not be patient enough for seven hundred pages of George Eliot. I KNOW I'll like the Masterpiece Theatre miniseries, though. You understand my dilemma.

Oh yes: I learned to do a fishtail braid (exhibit E):

Oh Diane Kruger is so cute.

Also, tomorrow I plan to bake not one, not two, but THREE gorgeous-delicious-yum pies for the cast and crew of Trek in the Park....including a new recipe for me. So you see? It's not like I haven't been DOING things....I just haven't been doing as many things as normal people do.....but that'll change. La la la....the end of the random post about random things.

Sometimes when a lady is unemployed.....

2011-06-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

She comes up with raps about characters in tv shows....in this case, Game of Thrones.

Viserys Targaryen RAP

My name's Viserys Targaryen-Stop STOP your stare-y-in'

The ladies come before me-it's my children they'll be carryin'

I do what I want and I do what I please, I'll be the king of seven kingdoms, you'll be on your knees!

I came to party, didn't come to shed blood, but if you mess with my ego, b^&%, I'll f&*( you up!

Gave my sis to a homie likes horses and braids, I don't call her my queen, I just call it a trade.

Gonna raise an army, gonna run this town, I got the goldilocks that go great with that crown!

Jump up if you hear me, jump up if you're down, otherwise start runnin', I'll put you in the ground!

Viserys Targaryen, the tales they tell are harrowin'

Sculls I'll be pummelin', ladies fall a stumblin'

Viseys! Targaryen! This sh&* ain't vegetarian! You wanna see a monster? I ain't no shrimp, I'm a lobster! -----A LOBSTER!

Sidenote: this rap is sort of stereotypically misogynistic but it works because this character is a total bad guy/creepy women-hater. So it fits. Get it?

Hair Tutorial Thing

2011-04-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

I did another vintage hair video. I feel a little silly sometimes because there are SO many good hair videos on youtube already, but oh well. I regret talking in it... I hope people like it anyway.

Here it is, if you're interested!

Oh Dear.

2011-04-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

The phone rings not! I have no job!*

I know I trained to be an actress, and I think I could give a pretty jazzy performance as a nightclub singer in the 1950s, but I have reached a frightful realization: The Year is 2011.

I'm screwed, as they say.

I have skills but nobody wants the skills I have. I can't do stand-up as far as I'm aware...maybe if I practiced, but who wants to practice? I haven't taken a dance class in a couple years. I've never worked in a clothing store or a vintage shop or lingerie shop, though Lord knows I adore them. I don't know how to make a fancy coffee. I've never waited on people, unless you count Cold Stone and Jamba Juice, but no one seems to count those. I've worked answering phones and keeping stock and mailing things, but I was fired from that job so I can't put that on a resume.

I give up. Not totally of course. I'll keep applying and praying. But I feel I look rather PATHETIC on paper. A degree. In theatre. Even I don't think it's very impressive (no offense to those lovely professors). Perhaps if I'd gone to cooking school and cosmetology school and taken dance classes and art classes, I'd be wishing I'd gone to a university. Perhaps the grass is always always greener. Sigh.

To Do

1) GET HEADSHOTS

2) Start Writing That Novel/Play/Screenplay/How do I write a screenplay?

3) Print out a bunch of resumes.

4) Go vintage window-shopping with resumes in hand (wink).

5) Put together an acting resume.

6) Take up Sewing Again. And stick to it.

7) Sell things online!!!!!

*Picture borrowed from this lovely blog I just fell upon.

Diorgasm!

2011-04-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

I know John Galliano is probably a scary-crazy racist, but man, can he design clothes I would salivate over. I snatched these photos from this marvelous blog, The Swelle Life. You should check it out if you haven't and you like dresses and tea cups and cup cakes and pretty things like I do.

STOP! Are you a lady??!!

2011-04-06T22:33:00.001-07:00

I think I need to start putting pictures of Dita around my room for health/make-up/overall awesomeness inspiration

If you are a lady, or you enjoy wearing ladies' garments, I have brilliant news! The rumors you've been hearing around town...you know, the talk that goes something like this:

A: Gloria, I heard high cut underwear is making a comeback!

B: Doris, that just can't be. All my friends wear those g-strings and those tiny handkerchiefs they call "booty shorts"! Things that cinch at the waist are O-U-T!

A: That simply isn't so! Why just yesterday I read in a magazine that they're all the rage and I swung through town and got myself two pair! And I actually like them!

ALL OF IT IS TRUE.

I always looked at those high cut underwear and thought....."old lady." The cotton ones look so big on the hanger. Part of the reason I buy bikini underwear and other hip-hugging styles is that they look so small and sweet, and I can pretend that my derriere is merely so big. The waist cinching satin panties, though of a nice material and a vintage look, still seemed huge on the hanger, awkward, old. And THEN, ladies, THEN I tried them on and my life (my silly little life) was CHANGED.

I now have something that looks perfect with my bustier, that looks perfectly vintage, that will look good under dresses (esp. the vintage and vintage inspired), that creates the hourglass shape I always aspire to have. How could I have doubted the age-old style? The Bettie Page-approved undergarment? Where have I been keeping my brain for twenty-three years???

Songs that Remind me of my Childhood

2011-03-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

I love thinking about the nerdy pop culture things that affected me as a child and also maybe impacted who I grew up to be. Here are some key examples:

CARLY SIMON was big in our house. As was the Working Girl soundtrack.

THE POINTER SISTERS. This song was also on the Working Girl soundtrack. I remember being eight or nine years old, having saved my money from allowances and selling baked goods, looking at the American Girl doll catalog, getting so excited about my doll coming in the mail....while listening to this song.

TINA TURNER was also big in our house. We spent many road trips singing along to her greatest hits album. I've always had a soft spot for this song...but also...kind of all her songs.

WHITNEY HOUSTON. We didn't listen to a ton of Whitney but we had this black cassette tape full of pop music that came with one of our family's cars in the early days and this song was on it and I've heard it SO MANY times in the car, looking out the window, blasting the diva power.

ET THEME....by John Williams. This was on the same tape and I would put my ear right next to the speaker and rock out. Funny but true.

BACK TO THE FUTURE THEME by Alan Silvestri. This was also on the tape and I also put my ear to the speaker for this one.

THEN HE KISSED ME by The Crystals. I loved this movie when I was little and I loved the dancing around-getting ready scene. Very Margaux.

ACE OF BASE One of my first cassette tapes was Ace of Base. This song especially reminds me of being five. My best friend was always onto pop culture before me (I mean we were five so that's saying something...I think maybe she had cable tv and I didn't). She introduced me to the song and I always thought it was "I saw the sun" which when you think about it..would be a very different song.

I can't embed this song by BRYAN ADAMS but let me just say this: I loved Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as a kid...it's so beautifully awful, kind of like this song. This was one of my early favorites. I remember singing it in the tub.

And one more Carly Simon to cap us off. This song might take me back the farthest. It was also on the black cassette tape but it was one of my favorite songs when I was tiny.

My least favorite word in any language: math.

2011-03-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

If I fail math, and don't get a degree, so what, right? It'll be this humorous anecdote on my resume. I'm sure if I wasn't afraid of math, or was really super good at it, and had been told I could do it in the seventh grade as opposed to being called "slow", I'd be a very boring person. It's the trials that make us fun and interesting, right? It's the math teachers who make us hate ourselves that make us creative and damaged and funny and useful to the world, right???? RIGHT?

Everyone says "you'll pass" but I've failed half the tests. I've failed three math classes in my life. One in high school and two in college. I may pass....I may fail. I've never cried so much over school in my entire life (and we're counting the times as a kid that I panicked every year before school started, afraid of the change:often a new school, afraid that I wouldn't make friends). Experiences like this honestly make me wish I could be a teacher because I promise myself that I would be understanding. Teachers want and try to help. My teachers even now, want and try to help. However, if I were a teacher I would see my students as individuals and understand that some of them probably shouldn't have even signed up for my class.

I'm just so terrified. If I graduate with the stupid cap and gown and then find out I failed-ONE class. ONE math class....I cannot begin to express how utterly devastated and heart-rippingly agonized I will be.

Pray for me, if you care even a tiny bit, or even if you don't care at all. Pray to whatever God or Oprah you believe in, I don't care who you are or what you believe.

Wishing you well and wishing I could share someone else's superior mind,

Crazy-Hysterical Margaux

Le printemps et le nouveau vague!

2011-02-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

Soon...soon...soon.....the snow will be gone. I will put away my giant faux fur and no longer appear to strangers like a burglar in a bear suit. The coming on of spring means many things....one of which: time to return to my private study of the French New Wave. Today I woke up early (before 9 on a Saturday!) and did dishes and drank a pot of tea while watching the Godard film, Pierrot Le Fou (1965) starring my favorite, Anna Karina. I want to have a pet and call her Anna Karina but you see I would want to pronounce the name with a French accent and would then feel excessively pretentious....it's a fine line I walk in my silly little life, reader(s).

Man meets girl he's met before, leaves his wife for her...

She's involved in some sort of crime ring through her brother (maybe? it feels irrelevant....the movie is like Bonnie and Clyde....if Bonnie and Clyde was a Godard....so......an escape movie...without any chase scenes that didn't also involve skipping along the sea and reciting love poems to the camera and some singing at odd moments).

Ferdinand and Marianne run away to the seashore where he becomes obsessed with reading and writing and she...gets bored and sings. Parrot?

This is what I LOVE:

-They erupt out of the sand and kiss.

-Her brother's (?) crime ring also goes around incognito as a dance troupe?!

-Everything she wears is PERFECT. I want to get bangs again and wear blue eyeshadow. She convinces me every time.

-Really Non-intimidating Bad Guy with ENORMOUS portable phone.

This was....dissatisfying.

They act out the Vietnam War for tourists because they have no money...and Anna covers her gorgeous Dutch face in yellow make up and makes Vietnamese-ish(?) noises like an idiot. And the American tourists (played very badly, but not as badly as Jean Paul Belmondo butchers English) clap and say "That's very good." It was weird in a really unamusing way.... Perhaps I was missing a point....

The Blue Man Group probably loves Godard.

Anyway, I liked the movie but it wasn't my favorite. The style, the colors, the French-mod-strange-funny-pretty of everything on the screen met with the random half-musical numbers and Anna Karina just being pretty and cute and entrancing the entire time. I think I have more crushes on women than I ever ever do on men...and I say this as a (full disclosure) pretty Definite heterosexual being. This post is more of a picture-spasm/Anna Karina explosion than anything.... Just look how fabulous she is, don't you just wanna be her a little?

May or may not have sort of done my hair like this today...the messy undone beehive.

Dream Day

2011-02-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

Sleep in, get an amazing breakfast at a cafe, then get a manicure and a pedicure and a facial. Go home, take a long hot bath in a clean tub in a nice house that doesn't smell weird because of the dirty, post-flooding carpet. Do make up, hair, put on comfy, adorable outfit. Lingerie and shoe shopping with friends (we suddenly all have money to do so). Get a ton of cheap candles at Ikea, have a kids meal there. Go antiquing. Finally go see The King's Speech. Go out for drinks with friends. Have fun. Relax. Go home to a clean house and kitchen. Go to bed, wake up and make a cheesecake for the first time and start planning a dinner party.

My happy place involves spending way too much money, doesn't it? Damn.

A babble on loving luxury...with photos

2011-01-31T00:50:00.000-08:00

Is it so bad that some of us are naturally inclined to love the silly frivolities of life? I'm very frivolous. It's not just because I was Raised that way...I'm sure that has something to do with it, but I also feel that the second I existed I was destined to love dressing up and playing with hair and being a GIRL and a WOMAN in the old-fashioned sense of those words. This doesn't mean I hate sports or the outdoors or not wearing make up occasionally. I am a human being with many inconsistencies just like everybody. But I love glamour and frills and lace and satin and underthings and tea sandwiches and beautiful old architecture and beautiful old everything. I buy chocolate regularly and think nothing of it.

I know that material things can not buy happiness, of course they can't. However, I swear that there is joy in the littlest things....like food and drink and a hot bubble bath and wearing something that makes you feel like a Royal in the 1950s....or even a prom date in the 1950s. A part of me feels silly for enjoying material things, and I do sincerely want to learn to DIY more. But another part of me feels stubbornly righted in liking the subtleties and intricacies of a "fine" life.

People sometimes say they don't have the patience to do pin curls, for example, and that's fine by me, of course, but I think that as a whole, we've lost the ability to understand that fast doesn't mean better in any way, necessarily. When I think about old novels...like Jane Austen, and the film adaptations, I think about these people, men and women alike, who put so much time into the subtleties of their appearance, detail by detail. Dressing for dinner. Stitching bonnets, learning haberdashery (I think I really want to get into millinery...this fabulous seller on etsy makes the most AMAZING vintage inspired hats but they are far beyond my budget at around $300 a pop). And then they gather together and go to Bath, and walk around the beach, and sit at candlelit dinners, and everything feels very slow, beautiful, languid, and they talk about poetry and travel and it's idyllic and lovely. Of course these people are wealthy and probably bored half the time, but I can't help but fall in love with the picture. I'm not fancy all the time, but I love being fancy, I feel more alive when I feel fancy, I feel like I can create some little fantasy to move around in. I think slow is fun. Guess I'm just crazy....but I don't think it's about materialism so much as a love of detail and effort and STYLE. A love of glamour. Is that so bad? I hope not.

Sometimes I see people like scientists in pictures on the NPR website, for example, and they're doing amazing work and wearing drab garments. And I just think....does this mean I'm a frivolous person who won't do any good in the world? Scientists and doctors and savers of the world probably don't go around in party dresses....not that I'm going to be a scientist or a doctor (giggle....yeah right) but I would really like to think I can be useful to the world one way or another.

And now...a lot of fantasy luxury shopping. See, I know it's maybe wrong to even imagine spending so much money on just...THINGS. But when those things are so beautiful???? I don't know.... Once I become a successful career gal, maybe I'll be less confused because I'll be able to occasionally indulge.

Extravagance. Agent Provacateur

Vintage-inspired. Kiss Me Deadly

Sturdy and beautifully retro.

Remix Vintage.

math love poetry

2011-01-28T02:41:00.000-08:00

I've been studying MATH for over three hours. If I don't pass the TWO math tests I have tomorrow, I will sue Mathematics. Don't ask how but I will do it. I'm a little cuckoo because I only got five-ish hours of sleep the previous night. I'm strangely awake. I finally stopped nervously watching The Golden Girls and eating romaine lettuce and started studying. Starting is the hardest part.

But I've been studying so long now that my head is all full of numbers and formulas and all that mumbo jumbo and then I get dazed and start singing songs to myself...involving horrible math poetry that I am going to submit you to (forgive me, please....).

walking down this number line, positives and negatives, sometimes undefined!

trying to get back to you, if two minuses make a positive then why are you still blue?

I thought we added up to two.

ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa.....somebody slap me. haha...oh man.

This should probably be deleted. I feel bad for whoever's stopping by. Oh well....I'm crazy/cheesy/a dork. And now you know.

Here's a ridiculous video for your trouble:

In which we try to inspire ourselves via Audrey Hepburn

2011-01-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of this lately...

I feel a little bad for not writing in this at ALL. I suppose few people read it and my silly little thoughts aren't that important to the internet at large, but I like keeping this blog kind of the way I like to keep diaries. The last year has seen me really move away from both of those hobbies and I'm not exactly sure why. I've been busy? Yes but usually I always found time in the past to come back and write or post ideas, etc. Maybe plays and school have sucked all my inspirational energy? Shrug. Anyway, on the note of school (graduation ceremony is in EXACTLY two months!!!!!!!!!!!^$^#%($#&@) I think I shall post some self-indulgent goals in order to pass all my classes, keep calm, cool, collected, and send good vibes out and all that jazz.

RULE 1

I will abstain from marathoning television series when I should be doing homework, etc.

-------I recently finished the second season of Doctor Who and I could start season three but the fear is that instead of letting it just be background, I'll end up watching it, and then suddenly days have passed and I keep clicking "play next episode."

RULE 2

I will do my math homework on campus after classes EVERY DAY.

RULE 3

I will NEVER skip class.....unless I am maybe out of town (whoops).

RULE 4

I will study for any and ALL tests beginning at MINIMUM two days in advance.

RULE 5

I will keep my room tidy so I may feel at one with the universe.

RULE 6

Yoga at least twice a week.

RULE 7

Imagine the best possible future...ie. great affordable apartment, job and maybe even a cat and a chaise longue-why not? It's my imagination. You never know what'll happen.

So I've got a lot of this to do...

Funny....I was just imagining my dream apartment and (I'm such a nostalgia-nerd) I was thinking about vintage refrigerators and how cute they are, and ice boxes, and then about how nowadays most people have huge fridges and it's normal. You really don't NEED that huge of a fridge unless you hunt game or buy everything at Costco.... la la la I'll shut up now.

But maybe after I graduate and become a real-life grown up,

I'll get myself a bathtub sofa!!!

Dream apartment idea...lifted from here

Happy New Year!

2011-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

I've got lots to do and this blog has fallen by the wayside, I'm afraid. If anyone out there is in the mood for another vintage hair tutorial, however, look no further!

Let's talk about Bangs, Baby.

2010-12-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

Yeah, that's right. A month has passed and I'm still talking about hair. I could write a blog post about misogyny and sexism and female stereotypes in film....but I don't feel like it...and sometimes I think to myself, "people are smart enough to figure these things out themselves, and why should I rant about it online and potentially come off as preachy?" SO. Let's talk about something we can ALL agree on. And that is.....the immortal perfection that is the style, icon and being of Audrey Hepburn. Ok. She was human. So SHE wasn't perfect no matter how much we adore her. BUT her STYLE? Goes without saying. Goes without whispering.

So now...let us observe the many hair styles (bangs/fringe in Particular) of Audrey... You see I am thinking about getting bangs and Hepburn had such a lovely, wide array of hairstyles...I feel like no one else would be quite as splendid an inspiration.

God, she does amazing things for the side-fringe phenomenon, doesn't she?? All of the sudden I want to chop all my hair off and pretend to date Peter O'Toole in the sixties.... But I let my hair grow finally, and I do enjoy styling it....and up-dos. Sigh. The grass is always greener on the other hair length.

Do I have enough forehead? Hmmmmmmmm.... The philosophical queries of a young and fertile mind...

In Which We Think About Getting a New Hairstyle

2010-11-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't had my hair cut since July of 2009 and I haven't had it professionally dyed since the spring of 2008 (I went blonde-ish with the intention of going peroxide blonde but that never happened). Sure, I tampered with store-bought red/auburn dyes on my own because I was so sick of everyone calling me a blonde....not that I have anything against blondes, of Course, I just...I haven't been a natural blonde since I was 2. You may call me a strawberry blonde or a redhead. I am not a blonde.....I know....I'm being ridiculous. I apologize. MOVING ON.

Anyway, silly, superficial babble over: I am going to get new hair!!! My thought is that I won't get one solid color, but maybe get highlights of pink and red.... I've been looking online at hairstyles and colors and now, so I can self-indulgently look over them as a whole, I am posting them here.

I'm a Geek.

2010-10-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

I get really excited when this happens.
Pam from True Blood is wearing the same dress I have! ha ha....oh the internet.

Playing Dress Up

2010-10-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been to the Advanced Style blog in a long time and forgot how much I love it. I love the videos of older women discussing what it means to have personal style and to really take joy in dressing up. I think it's a forgotten art for a lot of women (and men) in America, these days. I'm not saying "BOO casual clothes." Today I put on yoga pants and sneakers (bright pink sneakers, but sneakers) and ran out the door. I'm just saying that I think as a society we've forgotten that it can actually be really Fun and fulfilling to put effort into dressing up. Maybe some people hate picking and wearing clothes. Tziporah in the video below says dressing is like eating and you can choose how well you do it. We're always on the go and every commercial is for fast food or microwave meals, and as a society, function and speed comes before slowly enjoying the little things. It transcends many spheres. Anyway, here's to growing older with dignity, grace and an authentic exuberance for enjoying life, whether through your wardrobe or whatever else.

Halloween time!

2010-10-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Have been imaginary shopping somewhat furiously. The picture of Hermione Granger on my wall looks on in judgement, but comparatively, I am keeping up with my studies. Also, have been listening to my Monster Mash/Screaming Jay Hawkins Pandora station and it has introduced me to a couple AMAZING blues artists. I knew Fats Domino before but I'd heard Blueberry Hill too many times and didn't know all the other great songs he'd done. OTIS RUSH. Oh my gosh, so wonderful. How was I not familiar with this name before now? Sometimes I have nerdy thoughts like: I ALMOST want to teach so I can introduce young people to amazing, soul-quenching music. So delicious.

And as for the fantasy shopping....oh la la la la laaaaaa.... Etsy, Etsy, Etsy, you do that voodoo that you do so well.

I kind of really want to be a vintagey majorette one year.

Margot Fonteyn

2010-10-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

For a class, I watched a documentary on Margot Fonteyn, the famous British ballerina whose career incredibly spanned more than forty years. She was so beautiful and elegant. She reminded me of Audrey Hepburn with her big smile and perfect coiffure. Her life was full of tumult, intrigue and (at least from an outside perspective) unfortunate romances, but I almost wonder sometimes: is everybody's life this crazy? Maybe. We just don't sit down and take account of every event the way a film can. Anyway, here are some lovely photos and a video of the exquisite Margot.

Pretty Things

2010-09-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

September Vogue has some pretty pictures. I love it when magazines go Vintage-crazy.

Amateur Hour!

2010-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

Somebody (and by somebody I mean Emma of Emma's Music ) asked if I would do a tutorial of the Betty Grable hair. It was sweet of her, and let's face it, I've got some free time....for about a week, and then I'm off to finish my formal education. I'm bad at editing and it took forever but it was fun. I'm not a perfectionist by any means so the look isn't perfect but it came out alright, I think. Hope you enjoy!

The steps are simple.
Damp hair, rolled up and tied with rags...let dry (I did this overnight...but still went to the grocery store with a turban on....looking quite flamboyant).
Comb it out nicely or not, depending on your preference.
Do a French twist type number in the back, pile the curls on top of your head, as far forward as you like, arrange them, sticking pins wherever necessary, add garnish wherever you see fit.

The adorable swinging sixties

2010-08-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

When you get right down to it, I romanticize the past. Basically this means, anything that's a little bit forgotten, I find fantastic. The past never REALLY leaves because everything that is happening now is a result of it, but I love looking back at a moment in time and delving into it. I love old movies and thinking about what a department store in 1964 or 1969 (or any given year) would feel like. Even ten years ago would be fascinating to time travel to when you think about it. Time. Change. The moving back and forth. Endlessly intriguing. But blah blah blah to get to my point, I was sick and watched lots of movies including the silly and charming Cactus Flower (1969) starring Goldie Hawn, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau. It's a fluffy romantic comedy (but it still beats a lot of stuff they keep re-doing in the genre today) in which Goldie Hawn struts around in mod make up, hair, clothes, looking perfectly adorable-oh-my-goodness-too-cute-let's go shopping right now. Meanwhile, Bergman is her usual wonderful (her meaty acting chops shine through even in a light film like this). She seems out of place in 1969. She's so womanly and classic and sort of....sexy in a subtle, shadowy way. The complete yin to Goldie's yang. Or the yang to her yin. Whatever, you understand. Let's look at pictures of young Goldie Hawn and be inspired.

A touch of Betty Grable

2010-08-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

I did my hair in rag curls for the first time, mainly because I had rags from cutting up a shirt and shirt dress to sew so they would fit me better. The results were quite nice, both the sewing and the hair. I decided to pile the curls on top of my head comme Betty Grable and put a big hair flower in.

The shirt I tailored, thanks to this how-to. Pardon the leotard/legwarmers scenario.

A wonderful summer recipe!

2010-07-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

I never post details about what I bake which is funny since I bake fairly often, especially when I've got free time and my mother's heavenly, fully stocked (herbs, spices, sugar, flour, oil, you name it) kitchen to frolic in. About a week ago I experimented with one of my favorite sites, tastespotting and found this fantastic recipe for a lemon-thyme-blueberry bundt cake! It is amazingly delicious. Perfect with tea, iced tea, coffee.

Cup of coffee at 7pm? Brilliant.

2010-07-30T02:29:00.000-07:00

Whoops. Oh well. Here's an excuse to talk about my mini-fantasies about my next hair appointment (if I can afford one this summer). I re-watched some of Mad Men season 3 and then saw the premiere of the new season and am like most sane human beings in regard to my Christina Hendricks-worship. Am considering stepping out on a limb that I haven't touched in four years: BANGS!

Life, Love and Old Hollywood

2010-07-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Hepburn and Tracy in their first film together, Woman of the Year (1942)

I've been reading Katharine Hepburn's autobiography, Me: Stories of My Life and what makes it such a fun read isn't just that it's about this huge celebrity, but that it's about a woman who really knew what she wanted and went for it, and also had some very lovely relationships with people. The book is aptly titled, apparently, because she says that she was always a "'me me me' person"....except when it came to Spencer Tracy. How charming is that? She talks about her big family, growing up in Connecticut, her parents fighting for suffrage, birth control and public health, her father teaching the kids how to do acrobatic tricks, her tomboy childhood, her ability to do a headstand at eighty-something, her friends, her first husband who loved her so well and was always there for her even after the marriage ended. Reading it, I realize what's most fun is that people loved her and she loved them. At the end of the day, that is the best life lived, isn't it? It's such a sweet realization. I can't wait to hear what she'll say about people like Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant.

Another semi-related thought is about Jeanette MacDonald, an amazing actress and singer primarily famous in the thirties and forties, featured in early musicals with Maurice Chevalier.

I bought a record of her singing mostly opera and it got me wondering about her career and life. I looked online a bit and her life was really quite interesting, too. She was in love with Nelson Eddy, another great singer/movie actor and nearly married him, but (according to wikipedia) there was a load of drama: when MacDonald became pregnant, Louis B. Mayer ordered an abortion and she supposedly miscarried but Eddy didn't believe her. When Eddy later tried to reconcile, MGM once more pushed him away as MacDonald had already gone and married Gene Raymond and the studio thought divorce would be bad for business. So then Eddy married somebody else, too. He was at her side both times she was in the hospital close to death, and when she did die in 1965, Eddy broke down on The Tonight Show. Man, am I a sucker for romance. On that note, here's MacDonald and Eddy singing.

Just because...

2010-07-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been showing this video to EVERYONE. I like funny cat videos, so sue me.

Les cheveux!

2010-07-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Oh summer. Time to play with hair. Homemade strawberry rhubarb pie and corn on the cob. Time to make waffles in the morning. Sunshine. So much joy. I think I'm getting a pinch better at the loopy faux bang thing.

I love putting my hair up like this because it also makes my hair big, fluffy and curly the next day. La la la la la la don't make me go back to school, please. Sigh.

This gal has good hair tutorials, by the by.

OhMyGoodness Where Have I BEEN?

2010-07-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, fine, well I will tell you (whoever you are). I have been enjoying myself. Occasionally I have been swooning and sighing and mean red-ing, but fortunately, my time has mainly been filled with ENJOYMENT. No, I haven't gotten to everything on my summer to-do list but it was mainly a fantasy list to pick and choose from. A list of things I have been up to:

Marathon viewing TRUE BLOOD, my new television love affair. I am always reluctant to start new shows, but this one has me completely hooked. I am tempted to even go so far as to say my love for it exceeds my love for Weeds ( something I hadn't imagined possible). In less than a few weeks, I have watched the first two seasons and the first two episodes of season three. Lord.

Taking ridiculous pictures in my floppy 70s hat.

BAKING PIES. And making people eat them.

Dancing and frolicking to dance music and 80s music like Prince, Queen, Whitney Houston... while wearing leg warmers.

Listening to records! Buying new ones for pennies!

And of course playing my ukulele, having fun with friends and rehearsing.

The Girl Can't Help It

2010-06-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

The Girl Can't Help It (1956)

Oh Womanhood. Jayne Mansfield was actually a very intelligent woman and I think it shows. Something about her demeanor in this ridiculous movie comes across. Her body may look like huge Marilyn pin-up competition but you can tell she's more than just a body. It's an entertaining film, if slightly creepy. It's dripping with 1950s stereotypes (men drooling over five million shots of her perfectly cinched in, curvaceous, bodacious bod), but the music is fantastic (performances by Little Richard and Abbey Lincoln, shown below, as well as others) and like I said, Mansfield adds a pinch of something human. I don't mean to bash Marilyn Monroe. I think she was beautiful and not at all untalented but she played such a dumb blonde sometimes, and as a woman, it's easy to feel sorry for her trapped in that character, and wish that she could have dropped that silly high-pitched voice and just acted normal for once.

Suggestive.....? I say so.

Suggestive? ......I say so.

Good Lord.

I read somewhere that this movie influenced John Lennon because of all the music.

Gorgeous lighting. Gorgeous lady. Gorgeous singing.

Also, terribly of note: you know how all your favorite new hip hop songs involve great little tunes/beats? Remember how you loved Kanye West's Golddigger and then realized it was kind of because of Ray Charles. This movie made me realize that Fergie ripped off Little Richard and THAT is why I love that one song she sings sort of kind of. No offense to modern musicians. Let's face it, oldies music kicks some majorly considerable arse.

in the summertime

2010-05-21T02:35:00.000-07:00

When the present overwhelms, dream about the future.....horrible advice that I live and breathe by. I am praying I can graduate in Fall but all these obstacles just popped into my view and now I have to hope for miracles and the kindness and understanding of people with POWER. Ugh.

Blah blah blah.

To calm my addled nerves...a list of summer goals (with pictures):

More yoga, more stretching. Have achieved the "easy splits"....onto the "difficult splits".

Not sleeping in and missing the sunrise....at least not every day.

Having fun with friends.

Writing more ukulele songs. Practicing lots.

Driving. A car....

Practicing sketching, doodling, painting.

Writing sloppy plays and poems.

Taking hot, long, luxurious baths.

Kissing a good man or two. What? Who said that? Me? Whoops....

Watching some more crazy, old French movies.

Watching lots of PBS on my mother's huge tv, whilst enjoying fancy tea.

Face masks. Learning to make my own shampoo?

Learning to knit, finally? Taking up embroidery!

Reading novels. And plays. But also NOVELS.

Loving everybody and simultaneously being less of a pansy.

Maybe being actressy and getting my resume sorted and getting some headshots.

I am WOMAN

2010-05-16T01:20:00.000-07:00

We're so inundated with images of tiny, lanky women, and we accept this ONE ideal....which is BORING. God bless Christina Hendricks and the people who cast her, if I put on weight, I don't just think about being "fat" or "thin" any more...I have her image in mind, too. It is silly, I know, but I admit, it really helps. She's perfect just the way she is....dear women everywhere and every size, love yourselves. Be who you are, stand up for yourselves, and you'll inspire others, too.

My grandpa passed down to me his Helen Reddy record. I don't think I would call my Finnish-American grandfather a feminist. At all. But the fact that he appreciates Helen Reddy (among many other musicians) and Mel Brooks and anything with dancing involved (Riverdance, Ballroom competitions, my middle school tap and jazz escapades, you name it) is what makes him such a fascinating and delightful character.

a sloppy springtime poem

2010-05-11T01:09:00.000-07:00

...for whoever wants to read it. I may delete all this later....

I am all worried over the messiness of studiousness/non-studiousness, my lack of focus. I wish I could discipline myself but all I want is to lie around and watch PBS. There was a great American Experience episode on American whaling and Moby Dick, etc. Really eerie, interesting stuff. here is a sloppy poem. Tomorrow morning I take a test and go to classes and rehearsal and hope to God I can get the grades and get out of here. I think when I am in the same place too long I go crazy. Here. Back home. Anywhere. I need travel. I need stretching. Maybe all the moving around and driving across country as a kid impacted me more than you'd think. blah blah blah here's a bad poem for the void.

you must pardon me, please, if you please
if it pleases you to pardon me, you must
no

even if it doesn’t please you, I ask you to forgive me,
have mercy for a person who fumbles in the dark and falls down, shakily, wearily, with a headache, and a heart all pangy and beating like birdwings flapping flapping flapping on

do you ever stop and marvel at your heart? it doesn’t get to rest….all your life it beats and ticks like a clock, counting and measuring the breaths that come in and go out, the pain and the joy, the moments of silent wonder, of exasperated loneliness, of vapid despair, of holy loving lovely love, of happiness, of worry

poor old heart…..I don’t even thank you in the morning when I wake up. you kept me going all night long when I was off dreaming. you didn’t have to…something could’ve stopped you. you could’ve gotten tired, gotten bored and said to hell with this body, this soul….you didn’t. and you beat, you beat, you beat

unrelated sidenote: Jerry Maguire would only be an okay movie if it weren't for Cuba Gooding Jr. and Regina King. Just a thought.

In which we fall in love with Maira Kalman.

2010-04-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

BECAUSE SHE is WONDERFUL.

And Scene!

2010-04-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

What do I do with my spare time? Well, I go antiquing. Or I sleep. Or I watch movies. Sometimes I go see plays and go out with friends and things like that. Other times....I just watch movies. Now, for your enjoyment: a tour through my viewing schedule!

This past week or two I watched Damn Yankees (1958) for the first time. It's a ridiculous 1950s musical but as we all know, ridiculous things can be fun. Also, when a musical tries (even very vaguely) to delve into ideas of making deals with the devil, etc and so on, you have to give it a little credit for at least digging even an inch deeper than the average musical comedy fare. Also, I've gone into another slightly Woody Allen mood. I watched Play it Again, Sam (1972) for the first time, and re-watched The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). What draws me to these films, personally, aside from Woody's natural woodiness, is the love affair it shows between people and old movies. I, too, am a fantasist and I sometimes talk to my framed Humphrey Bogart picture. Don't worry. I only Pretend he talks back...

BOB FOSSE!!!! He was married to Gwen Verdon and they make a great team as is seen in both of these clips.

Man tries to pick up woman. Woman needs serious help.

I kind of want this to happen to me...but not....but a little bit...yes.

Reasons Why Imaginary Relationships Rule

2010-04-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

HAN SOLO will Never

-ignore my text messages and phone calls

-make me feel dumb

-tell me that I don't need to lose weight, but I could tone up

-impregnate me

-embarrass me

-make me regret my life choices

-make me feel unappreciated

-be a boring date

-be under-dressed

-be needy

-stop being sexy

Note: I'm not saying "real" men have subjected me to all of the above...I'm just pointing this stuff out. WOW I am a night owl these days....

Fantasy Shopping

2010-04-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

Via Anthroplogie!

23 favorite female film stars

2010-04-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Because the list of 21 male film stars was fun, but I needed two more slots for women (they're worth it). Honorary mention goes to Maggie Gyllenhaal, Zooey Deschanel, Helen Mirren and a bunch of others I'll think of later.

Whoopi Goldberg

Carole Lombard

Ingrid Bergman

Jean Arthur

Mae West

Grace Kelly

Barbra Streisand

Marion Cotillard

Diane Keaton

Mary Louise Parker

Dianne Wiest

Penelope Cruz

Kristin Scott Thomas

Kate Winslet

Kelly MacDonald

Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith

Cate Blanchett

Audrey Hepburn

Myrna Loy

Barbara Stanwyck

Katharine Hepburn

Meryl Streep

things to love

2010-03-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

-springtime springtime springtime, blooming, sunshine,

-feet aren't frozen

-acting class, stretching

-ukulele chord sites

-lovely friends

-photographs

-lots of hot tea with plenty of honey

-the incredibly cheap fruit and vegetable stand!

-netflix instant view allowing me to finish the last season of Weeds

-corny lines in old movies

-Barbara Stanwyck saying corny lines in old movies

-cleaning my room late tonight

-no class on Wednesdays

-feeling like your own Woman again

-not knowing what happens next, not needing to know

une femme est une femme

2010-03-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

I did nothing today except sleep in (glorious), make Swedish pancakes (using whole wheat flour because we ran out of the normal stuff...not so fantastic), and finish watching the Jean-Luc Godard film, Une Femme Est Une Femme (1961) starring the adorable Anna Karina, who I think is my new style muse of the day. I dyed my hair auburn recently and after seeing this movie.....

I am suddenly in the mood to get bangs....

....have blue eyeshadow on at every moment....

...and wear lots of colored tights and berets and bows and adorable matching bras and slips.

Something about the coming on of spring seems to put me in a nostalgic French mood. Maybe it's because the two times I was in France were in Summer. Anyway, I am not a film student, but I do watch a Lot of the things. This one is the second or third Godard I've seen, and I have to say I like them. They're so theatrical and playful. So much of American cinema is about convincing us that what we're seeing is REAL, even when it's ridiculous. I like all of that...

winking at the camera

and "THIS IS A MOVIE" stuff that goes on in old, artsy films, and even in old Woody Allen movies.

I think it's refreshing and fun and we don't see a lot of it in American movies. The use of music in Une Femme Est Une Femme reminded me a little of the use of music in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004) directed by another Frenchman, Michel Gondry. Both films use dramatic music underneath the dialogue, but tend to take it away during the pauses in between. Also, the music seems much larger than life, as though a bank is being robbed and a man has been shot, when all that is happening is a simple domestic argument. Both films revolve around couples struggling to work together, and now that I think of it, it's funny because the big conflict in Une Femme is that the woman, Angela wants a baby, but her boyfriend, Emile doesn't. This conflict even comes up in one scene from Eternal Sunshine.

I love their strange bedtime ritual of dragging the lamp around the room to see which books they want.

Here's a nice little video about the movie, too.

ennui

2010-03-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I played with photo booth. Oh, did I mention I dyed my hair? I dyed my hair. Not a crazy crazy color, but I like it.

Late night fantasy shopping

2010-02-08T01:19:00.000-08:00

A telling peek into my psyche....

-Etsy, Ebay and Agent Provocateur

Possibly my favorite song of the moment.

2010-02-07T02:06:00.000-08:00

Help! I Need Somebody!

2010-02-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

I am playing a streetwalker in 1912 in the Eugene O'Neill play, The Iceman Cometh. I was told to curl my hair with a curling iron to get Mary Pickford-like curls. The trouble is that my hair is only about shoulder length and a curling iron just curls the ends of my hair making me look very 40s/50s/60s. I've been bouncing around the internet trying to find a good tutorial but have had little luck. Does anyone know a good way to get these curls? If you do, Please help!!! Am worried pin curls or rag curls may not be enough but maybe there's a trick I could do with one of those.... Hmm, double hmm.

Let's look at dresses!

2010-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

I didn't catch all of the Golden Globe awards, but I watched a little and looked at dresses online. Funny to think that while Robert Downey Jr. (one of my few living fantasy men) was accepting his little statue, I was watching the movie for which he was nominated. Websites are always saying which dresses are good and bad, and people on tv, as well, and often I disagree with them. It's so much fun to be opinionated about these things. Here I go!

The people at yahoo.com, I think....or wherever I was looking (honestly can't remember) adored Christina Hendricks' gown and I did too...but I kind of thought she and Calista Flockhart should have traded dresses. I liked both of them and thought they looked lovely, but Calista is so tiny that the dress she wore made her look very frail. She could do with some voluminous ruffles.

They also gave Tina Fey a thumbs down which I felt was a little wrong. I admit I personally think the dress might've been nicer/felt more formal in a different shade, but it fits her nicely, and no one else wore that silhouette. I think following trends is dull, and Tina is no follower.

I Wake Up Screaming!

2010-01-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

This 1941 film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone has to have one of the silliest, most nonsensical titles in Hollywood history. The title has nothing to do with anything in the movie, unless we really dig toward the argument that it alludes to the idea that what happens to the main characters is rather nightmarish. Based on a novel by Steve Fisher, adapted for the screen by Dwight Taylor and starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature and Carole Landis, the film noir tells the story of a young, gorgeous waitress named Vicky Lynn (Landis) who gets discovered by an agent type named Frankie (Mature) and some other well-to-do gentlemen. She becomes a Hollywood actress and is on her way to fame until she is tragically murdered. Soon, the chief inspector is trying to frame Frankie for the murder. Yada yada yada, Betty Grable plays Vicky's sister who falls in love with Frankie and so on and so on.

Betty Grable and Carole Landis

Vicky's sister recalls seeing a scary man following her sister.

Lots of good scary man shadows in this film.

Vicky Lynn's (Landis) screen test.

After Vicky's death the film centers on Grable and Mature.

The most compelling part of the film is the reality surrounding the tragic history of Carole Landis. I read a little online and it turns out that she, though beautiful and not untalented, made quite a few movies, but her career quickly faded with a cancelled Twentieth Century-Fox contract in the mid-forties and in 1948 she ended her own life at the age of twenty-nine. Eerily enough, her last film was entitled Noose.

My dream movie theatre

2010-01-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

So I have this dream about a refurbished old movie theatre... One day I'd like to do a million glorious things and one of these things concerns owning the perfect movie theatre-Disneyland for film lovers, especially nostalgic, old movie lovers. There would be cartoons and old previews and serials and shorts and then old movies would play. Here is a line up of what I think a night at this theatre would be like:

Old Hollywood's Obsession with LIVERWURST

2009-12-31T00:30:00.001-08:00

Yeah. I'm talking about this. I'm asking the hard questions. I am a pioneer. Well...probably not, but anyway....anybody else ever notice that there seems to have been a huge cultural keenness toward liverwurst in the past, at least according to old movies? It's right there with ham, roast beef and chicken and furthermore, I dare to suggest that it far surpasses tuna, turkey, bologna and salami in terms of prevalence and recognition in old films.

Let's take a JOURNEY THROUGH TIME!!!

Item A:
Spellbound (1945), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. The crucial moment comes from about 3:00 till 3:47.

Item B:
White Christmas (1954) directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen and Danny Kaye. Crucial moment near the beginning.

Item C:
Charade (1963) directed by Stanley Donen and starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Crucial moment within the first minute.

Liverwurst, liverwurst, liverwurst. Sandwiches. Sandwiches. Sandwiches. Shrug.

I'm sort of a city gal...

2009-12-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

...however, the films The Wizard of Oz and Atonement (which I am currently viewing) have convinced me I would quite like to live near a large poppy field. A poppy field just strikes me as so whimsical and romantic. That's all for now....am busy being Christmassy.

Take the A' Train*

2009-12-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

I didn't take the A train, but I did take a train home from school. It's nice to be home, I just PRAY we don't get iced in or snowed in this year. If we do, I will cry and that is no joke.

*Duke Ellington

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-05T18:51:00.001-08:00

Am going to a party for the first time in a long time and it is kind of 1920s themed. I'm going more 1930s-ish-ish. I love themed parties because it's an excuse to get all dolled up and do my hair and make up. I've had such a heavy school schedule I rarely get to have so much fun prettifying. It's also usually the only time I take silly pictures of myself on the ole computer.

Is it just me or do I look a little Claudette Colbert from a certain angle? Not the Cleopatra sex-kitten Claudette, more the helpless, naive, "Peter! I'm hungry!" from It Happened One Night.

You may observe:

The Best Song from one of the Worst Babs Films Ever Made.

2009-12-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), directed by Vincente Minelli and written by Alan Jay Lerner, is a ridiculous musical. It's a Barbra parade, and though it's all sort of fun, it's not made for one sitting. It's like a slice of fudge chocolate cake, but the kind that is so fudgy, you just can't handle more than three bites. I should also add that any Barbra movie has entertainment value...because, after all, it's Barbra.

Melodrama, 1950s Style!

2009-11-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen Written on the Wind (1956), directed by Douglas Sirk, written by George Zuckerman, based upon a novel by Robert Wilder, starring Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall, I will not shame you... Nor will I tell you to rush to youtube or wherever and watch it. It's a film that, fun to watch alone, would be best with a friend or two who enjoy old movies/ kind of bad old movies. There is just so much 1950s Cultural America/Societal Morality in this movie, it kind of makes me dizzy. I know the stars are supposed to be Lauren and Rock, but if I were titling this film I'd go ahead and call it Good Girl Vs. Tramp, as Dorothy Malone character is really the scene thief. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

This film teaches little girls that nice girls wear less exciting clothing, don't drink, don't have sex before marriage, stand by their husbands, and try to marry rich, and don't really want careers if they can have a husband, big house and babies. None of this is necessarily BAD, but oh dear Lord, I could sit here all day talking about women and men and the onslaught of conservatism in the US, post WWII. I shan't bore you with it. All I mean to say is that this film is terribly amusing in its main theme: Don't be a slut. Pardon my....Corsican (why not?). The main characters really do not interest me in this tale. We all love Bacall (playing the character of Lucy) but her character is snore-inducing. She's pretty and smart, and she and Rock Hudson (playing Mitch) have clear chemistry from the start. It's also overpoweringly clear that Mitch is a nice gentlemanly fellow while his millionaire friend, Kyle (played by Robert Stack), is a playboy with no interesting character traits aside from showing Lucy a gigantic walk in closet full of pretty dresses and hats. Blah blah blah she says she falls in love with him on the plane (whatever, writers...I know it makes the plot work, but I don't believe it for a second). He wants to deflower her, she says no (being a good girl), and then they get married, and there's talk of infertility which drives Kyle to revert to his old alcoholism.

The fun, interesting story arrives in the character of Kyle's sister, Marylee (played by Dorothy Malone) who may as well have been plucked from the cover of a cheap pulp fiction novel of the day. Her clothes are sexy (!), her hair is a little too yellow and she wears a little too much eyeshadow. There's nearly always a hard drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other.

She's actually a very pretty woman and at melodramatically poignant moments in plot, we see her softer, loving side. If only Mitch would love her, she wouldn't have become such a wanton woman!!! (Music cue!!!) I won't spoil the plot for anyone in case you're interested but, a couple people fall down stairs, there's a court scene and a ridiculous, happy ending. I think that's all you need to know. Most of the screen caps are of Dorothy Malone as she clearly has the best acting job in this picture. The woman gets her own bad girl music cues for goodness' sakes.

Watch as she dances wildly, her she-devil music blaring! Her very wickedness strong enough to kill! Look out, powerful women are dangerous! Okay, she's not that powerful, she's sort of messed up...but you know, if we wanted to dig deeper....I'll shut up now.

Check out the gorgeous court looks on these dames!

Gorgeous!

I challenge anyone to watch the beginning of the film, followed by this classic Celine Dion music video, and tell me they don't complement each other beautifully (giggle).

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T14:13:00.001-08:00

I wore my most autumnal dress and posed like a fifties housewife. You may observe.

Just when I think Etsy can't possibly get any cooler...

2009-11-21T21:50:00.000-08:00

IT BLOWS ME OUT OF THE WATER.

Anybody who loves pop culture and/or pop art is about to lose it. Ladies and gentlemen, BEHOLD BAOSTUDIO in all its glory!!! I know that I hardly ever wear t-shirts and I don't really need more than a few tote bags, but this company makes me want to buy them out, their products are so devastatingly lovable.

Movies, Politics, Comics, Oh MY! (and some poetry too)

2009-11-18T23:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've really sat down and written a mean blog. I am always impressed with these blogging folks who constantly have interesting thoughts and ideas they compile together neatly and beautifully on a regular basis. Furthermore, I don't know how they find time or energy. Well, that being said, I seem to find enough time to watch episodes of Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, Colbert, Family Guy and Glee on my computer...and let's not forget my recent foray into at least somewhat-forgotten movies of my childhood via Netflix streaming (I may post on that later).

But ANYWAY...I'm going to spill some babbling thoughts on you. Get ready.

First Stop on Margaux's Wild Ride: Communism and Artists as Liberals (vs) Patriotism and Nationalism in Post(ish)-Cold War, Pre-9-11 American Film!

Wahoo!! Who's excited?!!?? Me too. The first film I'd like to observe with you is REDS (1981) directed and produced by Warren Beatty, who also wrote the film with Trevor Griffiths. Warren also stars as John Reed alongside Diane Keaton's Louise Bryant and Jack Nicholson's Eugene O'Neill. Now, I don't know Mr. Beatty personally, but well...I'll give him some credit. This is a big picture. It's a sweeping piece full of drama, and there are a lot of interesting stories that we don't see in many films, including stories from people who knew Reed, Bryant and O'Neill or were at least around during the period. However (I'm gonna say it) the film struck me as a little self-indulgent at times. In terms of filmmaking and editing, I know little, however, I know enough to realize when a director is being redundant simply because he loves his movie too much to let go. I find this ironic because in the film, it's lighted upon that good writers are smart enough to know when to cut things out. For example, we see Beatty and Keaton being steamy with one another to the tune of the Russian (Bolshevik? Soviet?) anthem, at least two or three times, and honestly, I'm not against steam, but in a three and a half hour film about the Russian Revolution and an American communist reporter and his lady love, do we need all the repetition? We get it. They're in love and they make love, and the dog is always hungry and wanting to come in the room. Another example of unnecessary regurgitation might be found in the train scene in which an old gentleman tells lots of funny jokes that Louise (Keaton) finds funny. We get it. He's funny. We only needed one or two examples. Not seven. Then we see about three long, drawn-out arguments Reed has with the Russian Communist Party over the Americans needing their own party that he will lead. Did we need three examples? Couldn't they have just said no, once? In the end, Reed realizes he loves his wife, Louise more than Communist Revolution (something he should have figured out a long time ago, but hey, it makes a crazy story, so that's something). I think, from what little I've read of Warren Beatty, and that's not saying much...his feeling or interpretation of Reed is that the man was fighting for justice for all mankind. But from what I saw in this film, I felt that at least in terms of Beatty's portrayal, Reed had more interest in leading people than helping them, in getting credit and being an important part of a political movement. Sure, he believed in it, but he blindly rushes off to Russia, putting himself in danger, as well as his wife. And for what? I have to say I found the movie sad and fascinating, but not at all inspiring. Maybe that is exactly the feeling Beatty set out to bestow upon me, in which case I salute him.

The next film on my mind that I recently re-watched was part of my Netflix-streaming nostalgia kick. This film being Air Force One (1997) directed by Wolfgang Petersen, written by Andrew W. Marlowe and starring Harrison Ford. I remember seeing this film in the movie theatre when I was about ten years old. My mom and I liked it, over all. Watching it again, now, and looking at the Russian Communist terrorist seems so strange and somewhat comical to me. In this day and age, I don't feel like anybody is afraid of Russia or sees the nation as a villain any more. Okay, perhaps older generations have their suspicions, and clearly there appear to be many American souls who think the words "communist" and "socialist" are synonymous with "satanic". It's an interesting little time capsule of political feeling. The film takes pride in a president who stays out of trouble, speaks his mind, does what's "right" and gives impressive, surprise speeches. I always loved those speeches in movies because I feel like they just don't happen as beautifully in real life...okay, maybe I should have said "cinematically". This movie is just such an American fantasy. Harrison Ford is one of our movie heroes and there he is-leading the nation and kicking terrorist ass. It's such a joke, and yet it bleeds into our culture. Who's the governor of California? That's right. And if Harrison Ford ran for office anywhere? Yes. He would win. I found this scene interesting in juxtaposition with the scene from Reds.

The movie is an Hurrah USA! It's a celebration of patriotism, maybe one could even say nationalism. I believe I can even recall the line, "Here come the Good Guys," when American military aircrafts come in to assist the hijacked Air Force One. I don't know how I feel about it all, but gee, if it isn't fun to watch. It sucks you in, and how could you ever doubt Indiana Jones as the face of America? Now, I'm not saying Terrorists aren't "bad guys". I think I agree with that...but...well, you know what I'm saying (I hope)...the political climate is so different these days.

You think I'm done? Sit back down and sip your cocoa. This broad's just gettin' warmed up. Next stop? Well, why not look back to the year 1940 at this wonderfully amusing and patriotic comic!? The superhero of these tales is none other than The Fighting Yank. I came across the comic on this marvelous blog whilst sitting in my theatre history class. It's amazing how multi-tasking on a computer can make a class more interesting. I nearly read an entire issue, giggling.

And last but not least, because I wrote a (sort of messy) research paper on him, let's look at some early, Communist poetry from one of our favorite American poets, Langston Hughes!! He was called before McCarthy and the gang in the 1950s but basically said, "It's cool, Fellas. I'm not a radical any more." To which they replied, "Oh good, that's a relief. Okay, see ya later."

White Man

Sure I know you!

You’re a White Man.

I’m a Negro.

You take all the best jobs

And leave us the garbage cans to empty and

the halls to clean.

You have a good time in a big house at

Palm Beach

And rent us the back alleys

And the dirty slums.

You enjoy Rome—

And take Ethiopia.

White Man! White Man!

Let Louis Armstrong play it—

And you copyright it

And make the money.

You’re the smart guy, White Man!

You got everything!

But now,

I hear your name ain’t really White Man.

I hear it’s something

Marx wrote down

Fifty years ago-

That rich people don’t like to read.

Is that true, White Man?

Is your name in a book

Called The Communist Manifesto?

Is your name spelled

C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-T?

Are you always a White Man?

Huh?

I believe that poem was written in the early 1930s. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my rambling. There's more to come....!

Hilarious.

2009-11-13T00:39:00.001-08:00

Click the photo. The first sign on the left reads "Most Beautiful Lady," and the next sign says "Most Beautiful Suit." Check out the facial expressions. Glorious.

It's my party and I'll put off my homework if I want to.

2009-11-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

I have ten pages to write. That I haven't begun to write. That I don't want to write. Today is my birthday and it feels like the least birthday-ish birthday. I get the day off from school every year, but my relaxation has been clouded by this paper and the fact that I'm still not perfectly healthy as I so desperately wish to be. I think maybe I will try to stay up late, cleaning my room (a messy room=a messy brain, for me, anyway) and getting something-ANYTHING school-related, Done. I shall just have to postpone dress up/celebration of my birth until this weekend and Thanksgiving. Mmm, Thanksgiving!

FRIDAY

2009-11-06T23:07:00.000-08:00

I have been so very very busy avec school, you wouldn't believe it. We're talking twelve-thirteen hour days here, folks. But now I'm home and I made myself pasta and aside from homework and rehearsing this weekend, I can take a break and collect myself and breathe a little more deeply (through my mouth since my sinuses are HORRID currently). But this rambling and whining must cease!!! I don't have many thoughts unrelated to my cold, and all the things I've got to do, but.......I had a good Halloween. Here are some silly pictures I took of myself as Little Red Riding Hood. Happy November!!!

Homework.....

2009-10-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not doing my homework...yet. It's going to be a long night...and a long day tomorrow. But you know what? It's going to be okay. And I'm going to make it. We're all going to make it. Before I do the things I should be doing, I decided to share/promote a DELIGHTFUL BBC made for tv film. I speak of The Young Visiters (2003) starring Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and many other well-known and well-loved British actors. It's a deliciously whimsical tale based upon a novel by Daisy Ashford which she wrote at the age of nine, in 1890 (although it wasn't published until 1919). The story concerns a man named Mr. Salteena (Jim Broadbent) who stands in the middle class of English society but wishes to marry a lovely, snobbish young woman who is only drawn to him when he declares that he knows many nobles (a bit of a white lie). The story is so different to others set in Victorian England, because it's drawn more like a fairy tale than a moral piece, or a tale about the struggles of society and how they aren't easily managed, life is tragic, and so on. In this Victorian society, dreams can come true after all.

Bill Nighy!!

This production is done so beautifully. London is made up into some sort of wonderland.

Rising up in the ranks!

I came home for a nap...

2009-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

...which turned into lying in bed with popcorn whilst viewing the classic 1993 film, Heart and Souls. Does anyone remember this one? As a kid, it was one of my favorite movies (I was probably a sucker for romance before I could walk...). The movie stars Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Shue and a bunch of other people I'm not as familiar with, but they're pretty famous actors. It seems to me that although ghosts, spirits and vague allusions to Christianity and the afterlife reappear in film a lot, the romance/ghost film had a bit of a heyday in the 80s and early 90s.

This movie is SO ridiculous and yet....and yet....I admit, a part of me still loves the schmaltzy ridiculous romance. I was pondering this just now: does being exposed to things make you who you are, or is it how you react to those things? I suppose it's a dumb question and the answer is both. I've just always loved romance. Not that I'll go see your average 2000s rom-com. I think that this movie still gets me because a) it's nostalgic, b) the story is cheesy but at least the silly ghosts' unfinished business plot is enough for the mind to play with so that we're not tied up in some more cliche romantic storyline and c) it's Robert freaking Downey Jr.

How to Keep Sane: Late October Resolutions and Old Movies

2009-10-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

To keep me going, to keep me sane. To get me to graduate college.
1.Look at to-do lists as things I CAN and WILL accomplish, NOT as things to worry about, or as things that will be difficult.
2. Work a little bit each day, so that the week something's due, I do not panic.
3. Have the wisdom to see that I WILL survive and that the world is love and I am love, and we're all going to get through it together (or something equally happy).
4. Read ahead for classes. Ask the smarter people for help when my brain goes blank in geology. Do the pre-tests online.
5. Realize I only have about a month until Thanksgiving and then a week or so and it's Winter break.
6. Find out who I need to talk to about transferring credits/graduation.
7. Pray. Remember to be thankful.
8. Pick up the ukulele once a week, at least.
9. Allow myself a movie once every day or two. Even if it's just to fall asleep to or something.

Last night I used up number nine on a sweet little film entitled The Ghost and Mrs. Muir(1947) starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and written by Philip Dunne (based on the novel by R.A. Dick). It tells the tale of an English widow and her little daughter in 1900, as they move into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a dashing sea captain. Mrs. Muir and the ghost form a sweet relationship, yada, yada, yada. Also enjoyable is the Hollywood version of the English accent. So cheesy and delicious.

Stress-shopping...

2009-10-16T17:52:00.001-07:00

and stress-eating. I don't BINGE when I'm stressed or anything, but there is definitely always chocolate involved. In terms of shopping, I tend to go through long-ish periods of not buying and then BAM I need a fix. Kind of did that recently. In my defense, I have hardly any tights or stockings that aren't full of holes and I don't own a lot of pants, so the stockings purchases were completely necessary. However, I Maybe didn't need to buy two new dresses online. And I Maybe don't need to consider buying one or two more. What happens when I DO graduate college and I have no financial aid money? I guess I'll just have to become a clothing seller myself and go to lots of garage sales. Though honestly, I kind of think that sounds like tons and tons of fun.

Anyway, black or red? I haven't bought either dress but am....sort of thinking about it (she said shamefully).

Poppies in October

2009-10-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like Sylvia Plath always brings to mind a brooding, depressed, angsty girl in her late teens or early twenties. I will admit that I first heard about Sylvia Plath through the film 10 Things I Hate About You, when I was eleven or so. All that aside though, I think she was so marvelously complex and her poems are chalk-full of evidence. They're so strangely worded, they're so full of unusual flavor and intensity and female perspective, that it's only natural that women are drawn to her. I just love her style, and I really like her lighter poems. Some of them are truly gorgeous. In honor of October, here is one of my favorite Sylvia Plath poems:

Poppies in October

Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts.
Nor the woman in the ambulance
Whose red heart blooms through her coat so astoundingly ----

A gift, a love gift
Utterly unasked for
By a sky

Palely and flamily
Igniting its carbon monoxides, by eyes
Dulled to a halt under bowlers.

O my God, what am I
That these late mouths should cry open
In a forest of frost, in a dawn of cornflowers.

Confession time...

2009-10-08T10:19:00.001-07:00

Now that I'm going to be an auntie, my etsy browsing sometimes leans toward items for a little baby girl. Let's hope that she likes vintage things and lace dresses and dolls...of course, what I really hope is that I have a daughter one day who likes those things.... So funny to think about.

Okay, here are a few cute baby things I like.

French vintage baby clothes and toys from myredboots.

Sophie, the giraffe. She squeaks!

Crocheted monkeys from twinklekids2.

PS I just realized my last two posts covered marriage AND children. I think I creeped Myself out just a little bit. I promise next time I'll go back to talking about Cary Grant or 1930s clothes or something. Sheesh.

If I ever get married...

2009-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

THERE WILL BE HATS.

OH Etsy. Etsy, Etsy, Etsy.

Window shopping....and then some accidental window buying.

2009-10-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

I meant to clean, grocery shop, do my homework and study all day. I have cleaned and bought groceries. However the scholarly part of my day seems to have been spent surfing the web for materials for a Halloween costume as well as just fun, frivolous things like vintage stockings, gloves, hats and jewelry. Ummmm....whoops. Oh Etsy, how I love thee. Let me count the ways!!!

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

And so many more.....

What did I BUY? Why a hooded cape for my LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD costume!!!!!! YESSSS.

One of my Favorites.

2009-09-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite singers is Eleni Mandell and I only discovered her a month ago, thanks to the television show, Weeds. Here is an adorable music video that you may enjoy.

happy things!

2009-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Jean Arthur.

Being in a class where I'm assigned to write plays about whatever I like. Here come people who talk like they walked out of the twenties, as well as ghosts and parrots and old mansions!

This picture is a bit off-topic, but I love vintage valentines.....and there's a parrot.....

Getting assigned a monologue from a Shakespeare COMEDY.

Trader Joe's.

Playing with Photo Booth on my Mac (I have a new one and it has new things and new things are exciting).

je ne comprends pas

2009-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

I don't understand how anyone can call Shampoo (1975) a comedy. Directed by Hal Ashby, written by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty, it takes place on election night, 1968 and concerns a hairdresser named George (Beatty) who sleeps with every woman he claps eyes on. As far as I can tell it's just a movie for Beatty to be a ladies man (which they say he was in real life). So...um...yeah.

Things to like about this film:

Goldie Hawn being sweet and adorable, wearing mini dresses and having big eyelashes

Feathered hair

Julie Christie's ridiculously posh British accent

Jack Warden (Saul from While You Were Sleeping)

Crazy-silly 60s/70s clothes

Random Carrie Fisher appearance

The entire soundtrack is The Beatles and The Beach Boys...feels like a road trip with my grandpa

The end in which the primary women George chases desert him (thank God)

Things to hate about this film:

Pretty much everything else.

Sorry, Warren Beatty, I don't like you in this movie. At all.

Here are some screen shots of the moment of truth. After this, all the dames head for the hills and George is left to cry alone (mwa ha ha).

Secondhand Rose

2009-09-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Am SUPPOSED to be packing. Kind of decided to play with my hair instead. Have been listening to my Funny Girl record a lot lately and it's just so much fun to sing along. I felt only slightly rude yesterday when my grandparents arrived and didn't quite understand why I had to sing along to "You are Woman, I am Man" instead of conversing with them like a normal human being. I did pin curls again last night (my hair length right now is nice but I feel best when it's somewhat curly) and then today I tried my amateur hand at a mini-faux-bang. I don't have a whole lot of forehead so I didn't go overboard. I look kind of silly, but I like it. I took pictures. You may observe.

I think it's kind of a sloppy job, but I'm not that obsessive about looking exactly perfect.