Graphic Design: Flower Fairies

I loved reading Cecily Mary Barker's poems about fairies and pouring over the beautiful illustrations when I was little. I still love these pictures. The larger image is from a website called www.fineantiqueprints.com. (It's from 1920.) There is such a timeless innocence about these images...very much like Beatrix Potter's work.

Fashion Flash: Fingerless Gloves

Fingerless gloves are a great thing for an artsy Southerner such as myself. They give your hands added warmth in the winter, but don't smother them like conventional gloves. Plus, since your fingers are free, you're provided with the added dexterity of movement that those marshmellow finger blobs don't offer. Or, if it happens to get really cold, you can layer your spiffy fingerless gloves under real gloves/mittens.

Fingerless gloves can cost a lot in the store. I bought a book to figure out how to knit them, but that was not a success. Determined, I came up with this alternitive:

Find an old sweater, preferably one that's shrunk a tad. Cut the arms off at the length you wish your gloves to be. (I like mine to end at the wrist. This way you can use the sweater cuff to hold it all on.) Cut a hole in the side where your thumb comes out, and presto! fingerless gloves. Try to felt these in your washer so that nothing wravels.

(The gloves pictured are from www.urbanoutfitters.com.)

Favorite Book: Swan Lake

You might look at the title of this book and think that it is about the ballet Swan Lake. You would be entirely wrong. Swan Lake, by Mark Helprin, combines the classic legend of a prince bound by the structures of society and a mysterious girl who lives by a lake (and just might have an air of the supernatural about her) with a historical context to make a riveting tale filled with alternating humor and deep insights into the human soul.

This version of the story takes place in an Eastern European country and is told by an old man who used to be a secret agent for the emporer. The emporer has died and the nobleman Von Rothbart aspires to take the country from the true heir, the prince. The prince has fallen in love with a girl he met while hunting, Odette, who is really an exhiled princess. But once the prince returns to the palace, Von Rothbart and his misstress, the Empress, successfully seduce the prince with the decadent world of parties, women, and luxury. Odette waits in the woods, pregnant, not realizing that the man she once loved has sold his soul to the world and forgotten her...unless a stubborn old man and an army full of assasins can make him remember the swan lake.

This breathtaking novel is a quick read, so you have no excuse not to read it. If you love a sweeping romantic epic filled with looming mysteries, lush, seductive settings, and heroes who are thouroughly confused as they try to sort out their life, then you need to read this book!

Fashion Flash: Givenchy

I went on the Givenchy website, www.givenchy.com, for the first time today. From what I had seen on "movie stars," I expected it to be more light and ethereal. Instead I found it generally dull and uninspired. The designers don't seem to take a real woman's body into consideration: if it makes a model's hips look huge, why should I wear it? Givency seems to be like many modern artists are: they worry so much about being cutting edge that they lose the humanity and the genuine inspiration. I did, though, like the four dresses pictured above. They are all gowns that, if I had the right ocassion (and enough money,) I would wear. I love the unique neckline on the red dress, and as for the others...let's just say when I was little I wanted to be a fairy.

Ballet

There is something so soft and yet so strong about a ballet dancer. They can move as if they are made of nothing, as if they can float on the air. Then you see how solid and muscular they are, and you know that you are looking at some of the greatest athletes in the world. These are photographs of dancers from the NYC ballet. I love their poses and how the shapes that their bodies create are both fluid and firm. I always wanted to be a dancer. I'm good at most types of dance, but I never had the right turnout to become a professional ballet dancer. Oh well. One of my favorite things to do, now, is draw them. I've made a really cool sculpture of a dancer.

Food, Glorious Food! (Blue Sky Soda Edition)

I have loved Blue Sky all natural sodas since I first tried them, but yesterday I found one that was especially glorious (I'm serious 'bout my food, ya'll!) It's called White Tea Soda Pomegranate. Before all you picky eaters squeal "ewwwww!" and wrinkle your noses at me, let me say that it doesn't taste weird at all: sorta like a 7up Plus without the Splenda aftertaste. Plus, white tea and pomegranates contain natural antioxidants which help to shield your skin from the sun and prevent aging. Sounds like a pretty good anti-wrinkle routine for me!

Added bonus: the can looks pretty.

Film Flash: Rebel Without a Cause

I am completely in love with James Dean (please don't tell Marlon Brando or Johnny Depp.) So many teenagers nowadays think that life was easier growing up in the 1950's. This film brilliantly bridges that generational gap. The cast gives very real, raw performances: all you'd have to do is dress the teens in Old Navy and Hollister and you'd have a thoroughly modern piece. Human beings haven't really changed throughout the ages. We've just bought new outfits.

Graphic Design: Wrapping Paper

These wrapping papers, and the ones from my two previous blogs, are from www.papersource.com. I love the whimsical, bold designs, and as for the bugs, well, I have a brother who is obsessed with them, so I thought it was appropriate. It's always a good idea to have some non-Christmas and non-birthday wrapping paper around. or you'll end up like me and wrap every gift in newspaper...

Theatre: The Magician's Nephew

This theatrical production of the magnificent C. S. Lewis classic gave me goosebumps. Director Alan Poindexter deftly handled the story, creating a piece that didn't shy away from the deep symbolism and haunting elemental and spiritual threads evident in the book. The costumes, set, and music tied together beautifully. This Narnia, like Aslan the Lion (who was dumbed-down in the recent movie) isn't safe, and the stylized, ethereal look of the show reminded me both of Tim Burton and the film Finding Neverland. The show is running at Children's Theatre of Charlotte until the end of October. (Buy tickets at www.ctcharlotte.org.) Whether you're an avid Narnia fan or not, you have to see this show!

(One of my favorite images from the show: Near the end, when the witch is alone in the garden, she turns around with her back to the audience, raises her arms to the sky, and laughs. The stage is completely black except for her standing there. It starts to snow. I had goosebumps!

Film Flash: Big Fish

Don't think that you can relate to a Tim Burton film? Try seeing Big Fish. This gorgeous film is about a man dying of cancer whose life story is equal parts truth and myth (that has been repeated so much that he takes it for fact.) As his son tries to sort through the lies to find the facts, he learns not only more about his dad, but also more about himself.

This is one of Tim Burton's lighter flicks visually: he goes for more soft, ethereal, and child-like elements than usual. The cinematography is stunning and creative. In fact, the whole movie is stunning. All the facets fit together so well, you don't find yourself just noticing the music, or acting, or costumes. They complement eachother so well that, after you finish the film, you just marvel at how beautiful it all is.

I love clothes that are comfy. Sure, I enjoy dressing up, or fixing my hair, but I actually feel the most gorgeous when I'm wearing a slouchy sweater, holey jeans and a sloppy half pony-tail. I instantly fell in love with this sweater from www.ae.com. It's soft, and slouchy, plus it combines two of my favorite colors (brown and blue.) Just looking at it makes me want to curl up in front of a fireplace, wrap myself in an old quilt, grab a good book and some hot cocoa and let the world drift on by. (Of course, it also makes me want to play "Thompson family football." That consists of just killing whoever has the ball. )

Favorite Book

I was always the sort of girl who was "anti-domestic skills."
Then I realized how incredibly awesome it can be to actually rely on yourself, not others, for cooking. The other day I found this cookbook, How to Be A Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson. It's irreverent, funny, and treats cooking with a level of respect often reserved for art books, yet revels in the sheer messiness of it (one of my favorite parts.) Favorite recipes thus far? White Chocolate Macadamia Brownies, Chocolate Orange Cake, Pizza Rustica and White Chocolate Banana Cherry Cupcakes.

Favorite Book

Till We Have Faces is my favorite book of all time. Ever since I first read it in seventh grade, I have read it at least once every year, and every time I read it I fall more and more in love with everything about it.

Till We Have Faces is the Greek myth of Psyche and Cupid retold in a semi-historical context and narrated by Psyche's sister, Orual. For those of you who don't know the myth, I'll supply a brief summary.

Orual, a princess of Phars, is looked down upon by her abusive father (and the rest of the world in general) because of her supposed ugliness. Her main joy in life is caring for her stepsister, Psyche, and spending time learning from the Fox, a Greek slave. As Psyche grows older, she becomes so beautiful that people start to worship her as a goddess. The priest says that the gods are angered by this and that Psyche must be sacrificed to the Shadowbrute, the god of the mountain, and become his bride (and his meal.) Orual goes to the mountain to find Psyche and secretly bring her home, but Psyche, alone in the wilderness, is convinced that she lives in a grand palace and will not leave her "husband." The events that follow challenge every idea of love you might have had, from the bond between sisters to marriage to the power we love to feel over our own lives.

C. S. Lewis will forever remain my literary role model. Chances are, you'll hear me talking about more of his work later (such as The Screwtape Letters, A Grief Observed, and The Magician's Nephew. Those are some of my absolute favorites!)

The Music That's Rockin' My World

Song: I Will Be Artist: The Proclaimers Why: It's such a fun song. I like to roll down the windows of my car and blast it. The Proclaimers sound a bit like Buddy Holly, a bit like the Beatles, a bit like a wannabe country rock band. Oh, and did I mention they have the most mockable Irish accents? It is not possible to listen to them without trying to imitate them. And that looks really funny when you're cruising down the road with your windows down.

Song: Sirens Artist: Jane Eyre The Broadway Musical Cast Recording Why: Okay, so any true musical theatre purist is probably wringing there hands in rage that I should dare to like Jane Eyre, one of the "condemned musicals of Broadway." But some of the songs (not all, just some) are really good. Like "Sirens." In the song, Mr. Rochester is thinking about how much he loves Jane, how he is inexplicably drawn to her (as if she's a "siren"), but another voice, the memories of his past, call to him also. Near the end of the song, Mr. Rochester, Jane, and the ghost from the attic are all singing at the same time (but different songs.) Okay, so maybe this still sounds corny. I like it!

Song: When Love Comes to Town Artist: U2 and BB King Why: It's U2. It's BB King. Need I type more? This song is bluesy and passionate and everything that's great about U2 and BB King rolled up into one incredible 4 minutes 18 seconds song.

Graphic Design: Kandinsky

I think the reason I started loving Kandinsky so much is that his work reminds me so much of my dad, whose an architect. Kandinsky's paintings have a mathematical quality to them, much like arts of architecture, music and the sciences. At first glance at this painting might make it seem unorderly and chaotic, but the painter actually had strong reasons for everything he did, from what colors he chose to what shapes he overlapped together. If any one ever tells you that abstract art is primitive, show them this work, and they'll have to agree that there is a sophistication to it.

Fashion Flash: Rebecca Romijn

Rebecca Romijn wore this dress to the premiere of X-Men: The Last Stand. I'm not normally crazy about gold material on clothing, but something about this one just works. It comes across as light and ethereal rather than gaudy, and catches your eye in a good way. This dress is also such a success because it manages to have Napoleonic-Era influences (empire waist, cap sleeves) without the rest of her figure being lost in a giant dress.

Quote of the Week: Sunday, October 1st

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

~Dan the Choral Major